After leaving The Dalles last evening the National Geographic Sea Bird made its way downstream to Hood River, a beautiful town that sits around the waterway that is its namesake. It was about a two-hour sail to reach our dock, get tied-off, and spend a peaceful night just off the Columbia River proper! So right after breakfast we were off on our luxury coaches, this time with several choices of places to visit. First, there was the Draper Girls’ Farm for a taste of local fruits, and another great photo opportunity. Or a chance to visit the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, an incredible collection of restored, and functioning, airplanes, cars and motorcycles, some dating from the very early 1900s. There was also a chance to spend a little time in the town of Hood River after a visit to the farm.
As soon as the morning’s activities were finished, and everyone was back on board, our trusty ship departed again, heading further downriver toward destination for our afternoon activity leaving from Cascade Lock, just upstream from Bonneville Dam.
Almost immediately after we arrived at Cascade, and tide-off in the historic lock, we departed for one of the most well visited attractions along the Oregon side of the Columbia River, Multnomah Falls. It was a quick 15-minute bus ride back downriver to this magnificent cascade of water, plummeting a total of 611 feet over the basaltic cliffs down toward the river below! This is a wonderful photographic opportunity for even the newest of photographers, and the conditions this particular day were almost perfect!
After returning to the ship, Sea Bird again set sail downriver to Bonneville Dam. The lock was available for us to enter and transit through as soon as we arrived only a few short minutes after leaving Cascade Lock. So we entered, tied off to the floating ballard, and made our final descent down to the lower Columbia, and onto the only stretch of remaining free-floating river, going 140 miles to the Pacific! The bonus came in the form of a wonderful sunset that greeted us as the lock gates swung open, giving us a warm welcome to the adventures tomorrow, and a brilliant end of another great day on the Columbia River!
