At 0600 hrs under starry skies the National Geographic Sea Bird locked through the John Day Dam. The John Day is the highest lift lock in the United States and here we dropped 110 feet to the level of the downstream water. The great guillotine gate rose and we sailed under it and continued down the mighty Columbia River. Before we reached The Dalles Dam two hours downriver we were treated to the sight of Mount Hood, a great stratovolcano of the Cascade Range rising high in the south. The morning sun struck the snow-covered mountain and it glowed pink in the morning light—alpenglow. At The Dalles Dam many of us were up and on the deck to watch the lock operation. We sailed on and were soon docked at The Dalles and ready for our morning adventures.
We boarded our coaches and drove to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. Here, we saw a fascinating presentation on birds of prey—with real birds: a great horned owl, a red-tailed hawk, and an American kestrel. This excellent museum has displays on Lewis and Clark, geology and natural history, the Oregon Trail, and much more. Some of us opted to stay at the museum while others set off in groups to bike or hike the 5.5 miles back to the ship or take a nature walk around the grounds with our naturalist Grace. It was a beautiful sunny morning with a pleasantly cool breeze and we enjoyed this weather to the fullest.
Maryhill Museum was our first afternoon destination. The collections here are described as eclectic and that is an understatement—it houses everything from Rodin and Indian basketry to exotic chess sets. The setting is on a high hill overlooking vineyards and the Columbia River. From here we used the ship’s spotting scope to look across the river and see the wagon tracks of the Oregon Trail, made as thousands of pioneers on their way west came over the hills and glimpsed their first view of the Columbia River with Mount Hood rising in the west. Following our visit at Maryhill some of us returned to our ship while most of us visited the Cascade Cliffs Winery for wine tasting and a tour of the winery. This is a biodynamic winery where all of the wastes (i.e.: stems and skins) are returned to the soil. We visited the vineyard and tasted some of the wines directly from the barrels. Then we enjoyed a spectacular sunset before returning to our dear National Geographic Sea Bird. Our evening presentation was on some history and the Cascade volcanoes.
