I
think I may have missed sending this out at the end of June, the reason we’re
here in the first place.
It
was a very nice venue.
I
don’t have any actual wedding photos because I was practicing not being
annoying and let the wedding photographers do their job.
Here
is a picture of part of our hoard, though, including Tom and Kathy.
Some
couples.
Elise
and Teigan.
Conner
and Brian doing whatever it is they’re doing.
It
was a good time. Even for Kyle and Alexis (not pictured).
Columbia
River Gorge. Northeastern Oregon. Southeastern Washington.
Potholes State Park by Moses Lake for the night.
Wonderful
rural scenery.
Rolling
hills, rivers, crops.
Even
a marina.
Different
from what we see from Interstate 90.
We
liked the state park too.
Evening
light.
Morning
light.
There
are a lot of waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. Googled them.
Sorted them down to four that did not require steep hikes:
Latourelle
Falls
Multnomah
Falls
Horsetail
Falls
Starvation
Creek Falls
Went
to the first one. Darn. The parking lot was full and people were
circling, clogging up the road, lurking for spots. Not for us. We
got through the traffic backup and went to the next one.
Darn.
Same thing.
Okay,
there is a pullover in the center of the freeway going eastbound for the next
one. From there we can walk through an underpass and see the falls.
Oops. The parking lot is so full, they closed the exit.
One
hope left, 20 miles east, away from the most popular spots. Starvation
Creek.
Pulled
into the parking lot. 10 cars. Looked around. 4 people.
Cool.
Nobody
actually starved at Starvation Creek, but they did have a grand adventure.
A
short trail to the falls.
But
wait, a short walk down a trail to another waterfall. Cabin Creek falls.
Another
stretch of trail to Hole-in-the-Wall Falls.
Jesse
took a selfie while we were there.
A
good waterfall day.
Deschutes
River State Park for the night.
Morning
view.
Sweet.
Elisa
and Solomon.
They
both got the entire day off work to spend with us, and we made the most of
it. Of course they were charming, as always.
We
finished off the day by driving east out of Portland, after rush-hour traffic
to the Columbia River Gorge. Along the way, Mount Hood peeked out.
Settled
in for the night at Ainsworth State Park, at a wonderful site; just like state
parks are supposed to be.
Easy
walks for my rehabilitating leg.
No
problem.
On
the water, drive your boat over the lift and it picks you up.
Then
the fork lift picks you up even higher,
…and
puts you away up on a shelf!
Meanwhile,
we’ve moved on. We’re at Paradise Point State Park down by Oregon for the
night.
It’s
not as nice as it looks. It’s right on the freeway, so it’s really
loud. No problem. We’re moving on tomorrow morning.
Along
the way. Mount Ranier makes an appearance.
Rainbow
Bridge.
Deadliest
Catch.
Judy
says if she were a boat, she’d be a tugboat. Or maybe a little working
boat like this.
And
what a nice spot for a park and waterfall.
