More rain and wind this morning due to the storms hitting the Pacific Northwest.  I decided to immediately head to some sight seeing while working my way East, inland.  Today I took 167 pictures and 14 videos.  It’s going to be tough choosing which pictures to post in tonight’s update.

I started with the Vista House.  This house / observatory was built over looking the Columbia River that separates Oregon and Washington.  Upon arriving, the rain and gusts were strong enough that I dug out my leather coat to replace the hoodie I had been wearing.

The view from the outside overlooks quite a bit of the river in both directions.

Much of the inside walls are either granite or marble.  The windows are stained glass.  Even the stall dividers in the restroom are made of the same marble or granite!

There was a gift shop and snack shop on the bottom floor so I grabbed a healthy breakfast of black coffee and shortbread chocolate chip cookies.  🙂

After the Vista House, I continued on the old highway towards Multnomah Falls.  I didn’t realize there would be several more picture opportunities and waterfalls on the way to the Falls and after them.  The Multnomah Falls have been famous enough to appear on TV and in several pictures over the years.  I had a picture of them set as my background on my work computer a few years back.

First stop was Latourell Falls.

I’m not a fan of heights (high edges), especially on narrow paths without guard rails while it’s raining.  Nothing I saw today would give pause to any experienced hikers, but for those of us that get a bit of vertigo with heights, some of it was a bit of a challenge.  However, I wanted the pictures more, so I overcame that in some areas today.

I crossed over a small bridge that I thought would make a nice picture.  When I parked and walked up to take the picture, I noticed a path of steps down from the side of the bridge.

Of course, I HAD to see where that went.

And a view of the same bridge from near the bottom

Next stop was Bridal Veil.  This had a few trails and wound around an overlook area where you could see the river, US 30 / 84, and railroad tracks.  I walked one of the trails and noticed a tree I’ve not seen before.  I don’t know what it is but the ‘leaves’ appears like clumps of moss on the tree.  Unless that’s just some kind of moss I don’t know.

Next stop was another waterfall, and I forgot to get a picture of the name, but I grabbed a picture of the dedication plaque.  Someone was kind enough to take a picture of me near the base of the trail.  I don’t even attempt selfies anymore as they turn out terrible.

Next stop was the famous Multnomah Falls!  Hard to select just a few pictures from this place

This next picture was taken from the bridge seen in the above picture

On the way down the trail, I stopped and stood next to this smaller side waterfall in the rain for a while.  I love waterfalls.  They’re probably my favorite thing in nature.  I would like to have a house not far from a waterfall like this where I could go and sit and listen to it while reading.

Next stop was a Oneonta Gorge

Oneonta Tunnel was next to the gorge and has been decorated with modern graffiti

The leaves falling from some of these trees are massive

Last waterfalls of the day were Horsetail Falls.  These were quite close to the road and I was able to feel the spray and hear the thunderous crash of the water.  Something about these falls seemed a bit ferocious

After the waterfalls, I stopped at one of the dams along the Columbia River.  Had to go through a security checkpoint to cross the dam and get to the visitor center.  Most of the pics are not very interesting. This shows the backside(?) of the dam holding the water back with the electrical lines going out for the electricity generated.  Some crazy amount if I recall… 2300W at 115,000 Volts.  Might have those numbers wrong.

I stopped in The Dalles, Oregon to charge the car and get some lunch.  The restaurant was Cousin’s something.  So, I walk in and the hostess greets with me, “Hi, Cousin!”.  That was a first.  I sat in the saloon side next to an active fireplace.  That felt good as most of my clothes were wet from rain and waterfall spray at this point.  The server carded me when I sat on that side of the restaurant.  I immediately liked her. 😉

During the drive today, I stopped at a rest stop that had a sign friends from my generation may appreciate

The rest stops in Oregon give out free coffee and sometimes snacks.  Definitely appreciated.

I decided to drive into Washington before calling it a day and head towards Spokane.  I ended up stopping at the SuperCharger in Ritzville because the location was just great for the night.  The SuperCharger is in the parking lot of a Best Western hotel, in a dark area of the lot without too many lights shining in the car.  Also means a 24/7 bathroom is available in the lobby.  Walking distance from the SuperChargers are a Circle K, Chevron, Subway, McDonald’s, Starbucks and a Taco Del Mar.

I had thought about staying in a hotel tonight since I didn’t get a shower today and feel gross, but this is about as good as it gets for sleeping in the car.  I also found a Petro truck stop going into Spokane so I can get a shower there in the morning.  I walked over to the Taco Del Mar to get some dinner.  When I entered, the guy behind the counter commented on my Path of Exile shirt.  So, we geeked out about video games while I ate dinner.  I then drove over to the front of Starbucks so I could connect to their wifi and type up this post in my car.  Nice not to use the data tethered from my cell tonight.

Thanks again for everyone’s comments, texts, calls, emails, and suggestions!  It is great to hear from everyone on this trip. 🙂

Tomorrow I’ll see if I can find an attraction or two around Spokane.  I need some downtime to catch up on laundry.  Then I’ll head into Idaho.

Miles: 3055

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