Sept 5, 2013
There was a terrible storm brewing for the Pacific Northwest
off the coast that promised wind, thunder storms and a lot of rain. I saw on
line that between 8 and 9 this morning there is a break in the rain. The
thunder storm started just after midnight and at about 5:45 AM I heard and saw
the storm. When I got up at about 7:30 I hustled and got the final things ready
to put in the trailer for our trip to the Columbia Gorge. It was raining pretty
hard so I went to the store for a couple last minute things. I got home at
about 8:15 and the rain had stopped. We got everything in the trailer, pulled
it out in front of the house and hit the road at 9AM just as the rain began. We
drove through Olympia in mixed rain and bright hazy skies. We arrived at
Maryhill State Park on the Washington side of the Columbia south of The Dalles,
OR. It was warm, high 70’s, so after we got set up we went to the Maryhill
Winery. What a nice venue this is. We were there two years ago and liked a port
wine they have. After a tasting we purchased a new choice and their latest port
release. Then it was back to the park to enjoy the afternoon and evening.
That’s when the fore mentioned storm caught up with us. We had all the rain,
thunder and lightning and wind forecasted. First in the late afternoon, then
again after dinner. The forecast is for warmer and dryer the next few days. No
worries, we are here for the Hood River Fruit Loop tour. This is a celebration
of the farmers and their crops so we have 30 plus places to visit and enjoy the
harvest.
Sept 6, 2013
It rained through the night but by 10 AM it stopped, hopefully
for the duration of our trip. We drove to Hood River to begin the Fruit Loop
tour. Our first stop was Pearl’s Place. This is a small building with quite a
selection of fruit. We bought a couple of items. With all of the stands on
the tour we have limit our purchases so we don’t end up with more items than we
can, or should, eat. Then it was on to The Gorge White House. This is a very
nice stand with a small restaurant and a beautiful home that is on the National
Registry of Historic Places. There is quite a display of memorabilia in the
house and the adjoining fruit stand.
Next we went to The Fruit Company which is
a commercial packing facility with a self-tour showing the history of farming
in the Gorge area. Manual and mechanized planting, picking and processing are
displayed. It was quite interesting. Then we visited Smiley’s Red Barn,
Rasmussen Farms and Apple Valley Country Store and Bakery. It was almost 2 PM
so we went to lunch at Spooky’s Pizza. We discovered this place two years ago
and they have very good pizza. We shared a sandwich and a pitcher of beer and
went back to the RV park. The weather was nice throughout the day and evening. We
went inside at about 11.
Sept 7, 2013
After breakfast we drove to Hood River to complete our tour
of the Fruit Loop. We visited 5 more fruit stands/ bakeries on our trip today. We got back
to the park at about 3 and had a light lunch. It was a beautiful day on the
river with virtually no wind and the temp near 80. We took a walk around the
park checking out the clientele. There is a good mix of families and retirees. We
have a new cook stove for cooking outside instead of using our range in the
trailer. It’s a two burner propane unit that really puts out a lot of heat. We
cooked up a couple of steaks for dinner and ate outside.
Sept 8, 2013
After breakfast we took a drive on the old Columbia River highway. It
starts along the Columbia and climbs to the Rowena Crest viewpoint about 400
feet above the river. This area was formed 12,000 – 15,000 years ago by the
melting of an Ice Age.
Here is a view of the mighty Columbia from Rowena Crest.
There is a 3 mile round trip trail at the crest that takes
you to a viewpoint 1000 feet above where we were. We did not climb this.
Several reasons, it was hot, it was a mountain climb which we avoid when we
can, and there is a danger of poison ivy and rattlesnakes. We stopped at River
Tap Pub for lunch and watch the last of the Seahawks game. Then it was back to
the park to enjoy the beautiful day.
Sept 9, 2013
Another beautiful morning on the Gorge. It is supposed to be
90 this afternoon. We had some things to do in town so after breakfast we went
into The Dalles for gas, propane and some groceries. Later in the day we went
to The Maryhill Museum. This area was settled by Sam Hill who prior to settling here had a mansion in Seattle. He also was responsible for the construction of the Peace Arch on the Canadian border. This is a fantastic place full of collections showing
the history of the Maryhill area, the friendship of Sam Hill and Princess Maria
of Romania, the artist Rodin, and the native Americans from around the US.
Originally the museum was the palatial home of Sam Hill. It was built in the
early 1900’s, had 7 bedrooms each with their own bathroom suites and many rooms for
entertaining. In one of the exhibits showing Sam Hill’s accomplishments as a
road builder there was a shovel that as used in a project near the Siskiyou
area in 1913. It was marked with the names of people involved in the project,
one of which was W. C. Leever, county commissioner. I have some genealogy work
to do to see if he is related to me. If you are ever in the area go visit the
museum. It is wonderful.
Sept 10, 2013
We got up and packed to drive to Prosser, about 85
miles north to visit Washington wine country
No comments:
Post a Comment