Hood River & The Columbia River Gorge
As we made our way back down the river for our day’s activities, we received an early wake up to the sounds of the John Day lock. It was a longer process than usual as we were sharing it with a massive Tidewater Barge. We motored on into the open river to see a beautiful pink sunrise coming above the east mountains.
After a quick breakfast we geared up for our eventful morning through The Dalles and into Hood River. Two coach buses took us along for a very scenic drive to the Colombia River Gorge Discovery Center where we learned about the history of the Gorge and the people of the region. The center holds a very significant part of the Lewis and Clark history within its walls. After looking around inside and walking along the trails outside the museum we loaded back into the buses to continue our visit. Driving on a part of the old Historic Highway, we made our way up to what is called the Rowena Overlook at 800 feet above the Columbia River Gorge. We were told it is an eerie place to be during a full moon.
The rest of the morning was split into a variety of activities. The shoppers of the group headed on to look around the sporty town of Hood River. The rest went up to the Old Scenic Highway to do some walking. The serious leg stretchers journeyed along for a little more than four and a half miles going through tunnels and over bridges with a beautiful mountain to the left and an intense cliff with a gorgeous outlook over the Columbia River Gorge to the right.
The entire group reconciled at the ship for lunch and spent the afternoon cruising. We celebrated our trip through our final lock, Bonneville Lock, with warm cider (spiked if desired) on the bow. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the bow looking at the beauty of the river and waterfalls coming through the evergreens. Multnomah Falls stood out among the rest as it falls 620 feet. We motored away from the falls in anticipation of dinner and our final day’s adventures.
As we made our way back down the river for our day’s activities, we received an early wake up to the sounds of the John Day lock. It was a longer process than usual as we were sharing it with a massive Tidewater Barge. We motored on into the open river to see a beautiful pink sunrise coming above the east mountains.
After a quick breakfast we geared up for our eventful morning through The Dalles and into Hood River. Two coach buses took us along for a very scenic drive to the Colombia River Gorge Discovery Center where we learned about the history of the Gorge and the people of the region. The center holds a very significant part of the Lewis and Clark history within its walls. After looking around inside and walking along the trails outside the museum we loaded back into the buses to continue our visit. Driving on a part of the old Historic Highway, we made our way up to what is called the Rowena Overlook at 800 feet above the Columbia River Gorge. We were told it is an eerie place to be during a full moon.
The rest of the morning was split into a variety of activities. The shoppers of the group headed on to look around the sporty town of Hood River. The rest went up to the Old Scenic Highway to do some walking. The serious leg stretchers journeyed along for a little more than four and a half miles going through tunnels and over bridges with a beautiful mountain to the left and an intense cliff with a gorgeous outlook over the Columbia River Gorge to the right.
The entire group reconciled at the ship for lunch and spent the afternoon cruising. We celebrated our trip through our final lock, Bonneville Lock, with warm cider (spiked if desired) on the bow. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the bow looking at the beauty of the river and waterfalls coming through the evergreens. Multnomah Falls stood out among the rest as it falls 620 feet. We motored away from the falls in anticipation of dinner and our final day’s adventures.
