Hood River, Oregon

Well, last I left you I was in Eugene heading for the McKenzie River to explore with Fred, my past husband (better than ex). He lives in Vida about 25 miles out of Eugene on 2 acres in the woods. He has lots of critters visit him on his deck and he has a regular B&B (Bird Bash) with feeders galore. One picture I sent was of the mama turkey and her baby, who visit him twice a day. This is his retirement and I have to admit it looks so peaceful.
Monday and Tuesday we visited the waterfalls I have already sent pictures of and loved hiking in the mountains. We went up to Belknap Hot Springs to camp overnight and soak in the mineral pools. (See pictures) Then I was able to go over 242, the Santiam Pass road to Sisters and I have included the lava strewn top of the pass with the observation tower of the 3 Sisters, phenomenal mountains in the Cascades. I wrote you from Sisters, a quaint town in the high desert.
I drove to The Cove at the Palisades SP and camped in the bottom of the gorge, which has a beautiful lake Billy Chinook (named after a Native American who lived in the area) for water skiers. The area is rimmed with plateaus (palisades) all around the lake and they have created a trail up to the plateau, 1mile up 600 ft, 2 miles to the end of the plateau and back and then back down 1 mile for 600 ft drop in elevation. Thank God for hiking poles as I would have never made it without them. The view of the Cascades and the lake below was breathtaking, certainly not seen or felt in the pictures.
After viewing the bridge at Crooked River with a 300 ft. drop to the bottom, where they warn you not to take your dogs "Many dogs have died here!' it says on the sign, I went back to Smith Rock SP, a climbing park, which drops you 300 ft down to the bottom to view the formations, rock climbers and spectacular views.(Boy that was a run on sentence, if I ever saw one) I was told that people bike it, so off I went down, down, down the trail, part biking, part walking my bike braking all the way. When I got to the bottom I figured it would be an easy ride. Wrong! For a little bit it was and then the narrow, rocky ascents and descents started. I was the only bike down there with everyone else walking leisurely about. I got some great pictures of the climbers and formations, but decided to head back up after an hour. I chose the shorter, steeper way to push my bike back up. An Englishman said "Hats off to you!" for doing it and by the time I got back to the car I was exhausted.
After water and turkey jerky to sustain me, off I went up the road to Hood River. Mt. Hood is a fabulous ski area where they ski all year round and they have a very historical lodge, where they give you a fabulous historical tour of it. I reached Judi's place around dinnertime. As I came over the mountain, I was greeted by fruit orchards, farms and vineyards as I meandered through the country to Judi's house in the shadow of Mt. Hood. It was heaven. When I rolled in the driveway, I saw a petite woman on a riding lawn mower speeding around the huge yard with definite intent to get every part of that yard. Judi greeted me at the door and when I inquired who the woman was, she announced it was her 95 year old mother. Oh, my goodness, I hope I am that spry when I am that age. She still drives and Judi says she can still hike the 3 mile loop aroound Lost Lake up the hill. We had dinner followed by a 2 mile walk around the "neighborhood" and walked back through the cherry orchards eating the most beautiful cherries I have ever seen!
Today Judi is working for a couple of hours and we will meet downtown to have lunch at the Hood River Hotel and then drive across the Columbia to check out the Skamania Lodge and get a coconut/lime wrap at the Bonneville Resort and Spa. How decadent! Over the weekend we will hike Lost Lake, bike down the Klick-a-Klack (sp?) abandoned RR path to the bottom and then on the Fourth go to Goldendale, a sweet little town in WA for a parade and Fourth of July celebration.
I am sitting right now looking out a picture window onto Mt. Hood, which is obliterated by clouds, watching bicyclers and walkers pass by regularly. This is absolutely the most beautiful place. I am so lucky to be able to take this trip and thankful for all my friends along the way who are hosting me and showing me their piece of heaven. If you have left comments, just to let you know I only get them if you are on Facebook, so if you have comments, I'd love to hear from you, but you will have to email me directly. Sorry!

Well, the last time I wrote we were off the Bonneville Hot Springs for a lime/coconut soak and wrap. Pictures show the beautiful lodge, outdoor fountains and huge hot springs pool. From there we explored the Skamania Lodge and watched the kite and sail boarders in the wind jumping over the chop of the water trying to avoid the big barges that come down the river. You have to be pretty strong and brave to do that! We visited the Lavendar farm where I am encircled by lavendar with Mt. Hood in the background. This sweet, little old lady named Verva paints these beautiful pictures and mugs and glassware. I just had to have a mug to remember her and the farm by.

On Saturday we took off to the old historic Columbia Gorge Road on the Oregon side, which goes through the Hoosier Tunnels of basalt. You will see pictures of my along the Italian laid wall overlooking the Columbia. I biked the 10 mile loop trail and Judi walked half of it. So dramatic and good to get out on the bike again. After picking up Mom, we traveled 20 miles up the mountain to Lost Lake, a picturesque natural lake where Judi and her family have gone for years with a fabulous view of Mt. Hood (when it isn't covered in clouds - it was that day). We hiked around the lake 3 miles and you can see Judi amongst the bear grass (white flowers) and me bundled up with the lake in the background. We left Lost Lake and found a place where a lot of photographers go to get Mt. Hood, and took many shots.

Sunday was an interesting day!. We met up with Judi's sister and husband for brunch and then off to WA to Klickitat way UP to the central/southern WA brush area to ride down the old railroad grade to where we parked our 2nd car. Roger wanted to go the scenic way up and it turned out to be a one-lane, narrow, rutted, dirt road with 600 foot drops below. I was clutching to the seat in front as Judi's mom and I were riding in the jumpseats of the truck. Pretty exciting! When we finally got on top and got out the bikes, we were hit with 56 MPH winds and a RR grade of BIG basalt rocks. Roger has been waiting to make this 20mile decent for years and was up for it. Judi hasn't biked for years, but was also game. I decided to listen to my body and opted out and went down to a spot on the trail 2 miles down to check on our intrepid duo. After fighting the wind for 2 miles, an hour later they arrived. Judi had fallen and really scraped up her arm and leg and Roger was saying "I didn't sign up for this!" Needless to say we pushed their bikes in amongst the gale winds and headed off back home. We had a relaxing 4th of July dinner, movie and fireworks over the Columbia Gorge in town.
Well, I am heading out today up toward Yakima, Ellensburg and Leavenworth in the Cascade Range over to Anacortes to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island, BC.