August 29, 2007
Wednesday
We got on the road at 0320, leaving Nevada City headed for Sandy, Oregon. Daylight eased over the horizon as we passed through Redding. We arrived at Cousin Nancy’s house at 2:30. Nancy is the daughter of my Dad’s first cousin, Irving. Our paternal grandfathers were brothers.
Nancy drove us to Timberline Lodge where we sat in a window seat and had a beer and dips and chips and looked at the mountain that defeated us a couple of decades ago. Cousin Jim, Catherine, Doug and Greg and I drove to Mt Hood one day with the intention of climbing it the next day. Weather was not kind to us. We climbed through knee-high snow to the top of the ski lifts and encountered a thick blanket of fog. Choosing discretion over valor, we retreated to the lodge and warmed ourselves before the fire before returning home.
Thursday
We drove to Edgefield Resort in Troutdale, owned by the famous McMenamin brothers of Portland. They specialize in restoring old properties that are otherwise destined for destruction. Edgefield was a poor farm during the Depression. The McMenamins have restored the hotel, built a golf course, turned the powerhouse into a brewpub and were preparing that night to host Stevie Wonder in an outdoor concert.
Nancy introduced us to Lemon Drops and we carried the glasses as we toured the gardens and
looked for the statue of Jerry Garcia, formerly hidden in a patch of wild blackberries. The berries have been cleared and Jerry was in full sight, an unfortunate circumstance for the people who used to hang out there.
We drove up the Historic Columbia River Gorge to Chanticleer Point, a scenic view point from which we could see Vista House on Crown Point and the broad Columbia rolling toward us. Then we drove to Vista House and admired the view of Chanticleer Point and the Columbia River rolling away from us.
Nancy took us next to Multnomah Falls, the number one tourist destination in Oregon. Then we went.JPG)
to Bonneville Dam, where Woody Guthrie wrote
"Tom Jefferson’s vision would not let him rest,
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest’
Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest,
So roll on, Columbia, roll on."
Nancy persuaded the security guard to allow us to visit the Visitors Center where someone counts the number of fish who climb the ladder every day on their way upstream to spawn. Then we visited Herman the Giant Sturgeon in the fish viewing ponds. Sturgeons don’t climb ladders so they inhabit less of the river than the salmons.
We called our motel in Coeur d’Alene and told him we would be late arriving. He said he’d leave the light on for us and the door unlocked and we could register in the morning.
We had late lunch/early dinner at the 6th Street Bistro in Hood River, sitting on the outside deck and watching windsurfers sail above the Columbia.
We said good-bye to Nancy at 5:00 and headed up river for Idaho. Gail drove to Kennewick just over the border into Washington. I drove the rest as we passed through a cold front that put a few drops of water on the windshield and we arrived at the Flamingo Motel in Coeur d’Alene at 10 pm..JPG)
Wednesday
We got on the road at 0320, leaving Nevada City headed for Sandy, Oregon. Daylight eased over the horizon as we passed through Redding. We arrived at Cousin Nancy’s house at 2:30. Nancy is the daughter of my Dad’s first cousin, Irving. Our paternal grandfathers were brothers.
Nancy drove us to Timberline Lodge where we sat in a window seat and had a beer and dips and chips and looked at the mountain that defeated us a couple of decades ago. Cousin Jim, Catherine, Doug and Greg and I drove to Mt Hood one day with the intention of climbing it the next day. Weather was not kind to us. We climbed through knee-high snow to the top of the ski lifts and encountered a thick blanket of fog. Choosing discretion over valor, we retreated to the lodge and warmed ourselves before the fire before returning home.
Thursday
We drove to Edgefield Resort in Troutdale, owned by the famous McMenamin brothers of Portland. They specialize in restoring old properties that are otherwise destined for destruction. Edgefield was a poor farm during the Depression. The McMenamins have restored the hotel, built a golf course, turned the powerhouse into a brewpub and were preparing that night to host Stevie Wonder in an outdoor concert.
Nancy introduced us to Lemon Drops and we carried the glasses as we toured the gardens and
looked for the statue of Jerry Garcia, formerly hidden in a patch of wild blackberries. The berries have been cleared and Jerry was in full sight, an unfortunate circumstance for the people who used to hang out there.We drove up the Historic Columbia River Gorge to Chanticleer Point, a scenic view point from which we could see Vista House on Crown Point and the broad Columbia rolling toward us. Then we drove to Vista House and admired the view of Chanticleer Point and the Columbia River rolling away from us.
Nancy took us next to Multnomah Falls, the number one tourist destination in Oregon. Then we went
.JPG)
to Bonneville Dam, where Woody Guthrie wrote"Tom Jefferson’s vision would not let him rest,
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest’
Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest,
So roll on, Columbia, roll on."
Nancy persuaded the security guard to allow us to visit the Visitors Center where someone counts the number of fish who climb the ladder every day on their way upstream to spawn. Then we visited Herman the Giant Sturgeon in the fish viewing ponds. Sturgeons don’t climb ladders so they inhabit less of the river than the salmons.
We called our motel in Coeur d’Alene and told him we would be late arriving. He said he’d leave the light on for us and the door unlocked and we could register in the morning.
We had late lunch/early dinner at the 6th Street Bistro in Hood River, sitting on the outside deck and watching windsurfers sail above the Columbia.
We said good-bye to Nancy at 5:00 and headed up river for Idaho. Gail drove to Kennewick just over the border into Washington. I drove the rest as we passed through a cold front that put a few drops of water on the windshield and we arrived at the Flamingo Motel in Coeur d’Alene at 10 pm.
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