Today began w a gourmet breakfast. The place was Gracie's in southwest Portland.
This is Michael's German pancake, with which Amy may be familiar. He rolled it w lemon & powdered sugar. It was good.
My bread pudding French toast was mundane by comparison. It was also a disappointment. Karen had the even more mundane eggs Benedict, which were excellent. Barb was having a crappy day & just had a croissant.
We ate there to be near the International Rose Test a Gardens. Started during WWI in case England was bombed out of roses, it's 5 acres of scenic & nasal beauty. It was reported by one of the keepers that we were there at the best time - every variety was in bloom! Having been in Regent's Park in London in prime time, I can say this is the best rose garden I've ever seen. I insert just one pictorial example:
Then it was east towards Mt. Hood, which, unlike Mt. Rainier, seems to stand still just fine.
Due to a fortunate event, I found the National Geographic webpage for "Road to Mt. Hood." This turned out to be wonderful, as NG's directions took us not only along the path of the early settlers, but to various other wonders, too. There are too many pictures -- here's a weblink to an album of all of them I shot or collected (clearly, I could not take them all): https://picasaweb.google.com/105397618648885302074/Day5Extras?authkey=Gv1sRgCO6gqMb92e2RXg&noredirect=1
The first big highlight was the Columbia River Gorge. It is gorgeous, pun intended. Here's my shot of it east from the highest point on the Historic Columbia River Highway (HCRH) --
The HCRH includes multiple waterfalls. I convinced the car (I was driving so convincing was easy) not to stop at ALL of them, as we wanted to make Mt. Hood sometime in the light. The tallest and most spectacular is at Multnomah. The falls here are 569 feet -- Niagara (acc to a quick Google search) is by comparison 167.
From Multnomah Falls, NG sent us to Bonneville Dam. See link for pics. The thrilling thing there was the fish hatchery. The thing is -- they are all swimming upstream, dying (pun intended) to spawn. Including a few salmon. There is video. Outside from the roof you could look down into the locks and see them jump up the levels -- it was amazing, beautiful and something you may never see again. Michael's quip was "all that just to get laid." All that?!?!?!
The next stop was Mt. Hood winery. Karen was the only taster in a quick stop, purchasing a single bottle of Oregon Grenache. Their wine was pretty good AND the view of Hood, and an unknown snow-covered mountain to the north (Mt. Defiance, OR?) were amazing.
As you can see from the link, we had many shots of Hood. It is amazing you can get so close and see so much, much on quality four lane highway. NG again steered us perfectly -- putting us on Trillium Lake with this money shot:
It was 55 & the water was actually pretty warm. There was a bald eagle circling overhead.
Then the five hour trek across state, with Michael doing a superb job at the wheel in the dark through the windy valleys of central Oregon. It was a late night. And the B&B Karen chose for the night immediately failed the Steve test -- it has no heat!
The Barb of the day takes setup. It starts with my daughter saying she thinks she's being "trolled" about my having gotten a tatoo (it appears in some of the photos). Which led to us having to see Urban Dictionary for a definition, which I read aloud: "Anyone who fails to recognize a troll and responds to it with anger or annoyance is said to have been "trolled". Being trolled often results in large quantities of butthurt." To which Barb, who was having gastric issues, said "My butt hurts." We laughed, in part in sympathy.
Wednesday is coastal day to the Redwood forest. Wish us good weather and safe winding.
From Multnomah Falls, NG sent us to Bonneville Dam. See link for pics. The thrilling thing there was the fish hatchery. The thing is -- they are all swimming upstream, dying (pun intended) to spawn. Including a few salmon. There is video. Outside from the roof you could look down into the locks and see them jump up the levels -- it was amazing, beautiful and something you may never see again. Michael's quip was "all that just to get laid." All that?!?!?!
The next stop was Mt. Hood winery. Karen was the only taster in a quick stop, purchasing a single bottle of Oregon Grenache. Their wine was pretty good AND the view of Hood, and an unknown snow-covered mountain to the north (Mt. Defiance, OR?) were amazing.
As you can see from the link, we had many shots of Hood. It is amazing you can get so close and see so much, much on quality four lane highway. NG again steered us perfectly -- putting us on Trillium Lake with this money shot:
Then the five hour trek across state, with Michael doing a superb job at the wheel in the dark through the windy valleys of central Oregon. It was a late night. And the B&B Karen chose for the night immediately failed the Steve test -- it has no heat!
The Barb of the day takes setup. It starts with my daughter saying she thinks she's being "trolled" about my having gotten a tatoo (it appears in some of the photos). Which led to us having to see Urban Dictionary for a definition, which I read aloud: "Anyone who fails to recognize a troll and responds to it with anger or annoyance is said to have been "trolled". Being trolled often results in large quantities of butthurt." To which Barb, who was having gastric issues, said "My butt hurts." We laughed, in part in sympathy.
Wednesday is coastal day to the Redwood forest. Wish us good weather and safe winding.
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