On the Road -- Columbia Gorge, Oregon

My on the road trip continued to the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, National Scenic Area.  We had a great tour guide, a geologist from the local university.  He sprinkled the tour information with plenty of geology talk and (surprisingly) humor.

Here we were looking down on the beautiful Gorge, it is easy to understand how this became  the first planned scenic highway in the United States.

 I could not pass up the opportunity of taking a photo of this artist and his rendering of the Gorge.  I think he did a pretty nice job.  I wanted to take lots of shots, but settled for just this one.  I somehow felt even this was an invasion of his privacy.

 Then it was on to Multnomah Falls, just a little further down the river.  It is almost impossible to get a shot of the entire falls in one photo.  They are that tall....620 feet from its origin on Larch Mountain.  It is the second tallest year round waterfall in the country.

 We had to hurry to catch the Amtrak Cascades train to Seattle.  This was one of the most enjoyable train rides I have ever taken.  Very classy.

Next stop...Seattle, Washington; stay tuned.

On the Road...Portland, Oregon

I finally took the trip to the Pacific Northwest that has been playing on my mind for quite a few years. While it probably would have been better if I had driven and stayed in each place as long as I wanted, I did see things that I would not have, if I had not taken the Road Scholar trip. It was more a sample of each city; allowing one to get a taste of many things and perhaps then, planning a longer trip to go back and see and do the activities that are most appealing. At that point, one would have a pretty good working knowledge of the city and further exploration would involve specific interests. Our first big stop was the International Rose Test Garden, which is located in Portland and operated by Portland's Park and Recreation Department.

Roses are not a plant that I have ever had to desire to grow but I certainly can appreciate viewing them for their delicate beauty and the aromas while walking through this park were truly phenomenal.  So I did not make note of any of the names of the beauties I have pictured below.  I suggest you do what I did...just take a few moments and enjoy each one.  Names are really irrelevant.

 

No these are not roses...but I thought they were pretty just the same!

Then our group worked our way through the City of Portland to enjoy some of the Public Art Program that is offered by the City.

One would have to look very closely to see this very nice rendering of Nassaridin Hoja, a classic Turkish philosopher/comic.  I found it atop a post that was used to cordon off a pedestrian mall walking area.

I suppose no trip to Portland would be complete without taking in the view of the famous Portlandia, a 1985 copper repousse by Raymond  Kaskey.  The work is based on the official Seal of the City of Portland and it is really big...34 feet 10 inches high.

This last item really caught my attention.  I saw it just at the end of our microbrewery tour.  So it is a kind of beer wagon but look closely and you will see that it is pedal driven and the peddlers sit facing each other and are perpendicular to the direction of the wheels.  I thought it was very interesting and I would have loved to see the thing in operation.  Notice in the green circle on the wooden fascia of the vehicle is a picture of how the people would be sitting.

Some things I did not get to see were: Powells Book Store; though we did drive by it and it is a full city block in size.  Oh my...I could spend some time in there.  Another place that we rode by but could not manage to fit into our schedule was a place called VooDoo Donuts...I understand it has almost a cult following and the donuts can get really weird, but no matter...rumor has it that they are all fabulous.  Maybe next time.