The dawn greeted those of us out on deck by spectacularly illuminating Oregon’s tallest mountain: Mount Hood. This massive volcano loomed over The Dalles, our destination and the focal point of the day’s activities. After breakfast we took a pair of coaches out to the Gorge Discovery Center. This museum has an excellent assortment of interpretive displays on the region’s natural and cultural history, including some great information on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Staff at the Discovery Center brought out live raptors to show us and we took a nature walk around the grounds, learning about the native plants. Many of the species we saw were described and collected by Lewis and Clark. Many of us chose to take an energizing 5.5 mile bike ride back to the National Geographic Sea Lion in town.
In the afternoon we all went out to the Maryhill Museum in Washington. We enjoyed the beautiful grounds and scenery at the museum and its impressive and eclectic collection of paintings, sculptures, and Native American artifacts. The museum was built by Samuel Hill in the early 1900s as a home for his family. Sam Hill went on to become famous for being the driving force behind the construction of the amazing Columbia River Highway that passes through the Columbia Gorge on the Oregon side.
Our next stop was the Maryhill Winery, with a quick visit to Sam Hill’s life-sized replica of Stonehenge. We continued enjoying wine when we got back to ship, as cocktail hour kicked off and we recapped our day.
The documentary we watched after dinner was on Celilo Falls. These were a collection of raging falls and rapids in the Columbia River, east of The Dalles and now submerged by The Dalles Dam Reservoir. Celilo Falls was the most important fishing site for Indians of the Pacific Northwest, as well the main hub of cultural activity for 10,000 years.
This was a fun day full of learning experiences at two outstanding museums!
