1998 Oregon, Not the Coast II (7/8-10/1998)

Wednesday, July 8, 1998 (continued)
Now we followed Old Route 30 through Hood River, joined OR-35 south and then detoured to Panorama Point. Had a sweeping view of the Hood River valley full of apple and winter pear orchards, and of Mount Hood, startling clear in a blue sky! Wow!

View of Mount Hood from Panorama Point

Hood River Valley fruit orchards

Winter plums

Back to OR-35 and stopped for gas ($9.90 on Discover in Pine Grove) and at a fruit stand ($5 cash). We could see snow-capped Mount Adams behind us. Played peek-a-boo with Mount Hood as we drove closer. Mount Hood is a snow-capped dormant volcano at 11,240 feet in elevation, the highest point in the state of Oregon.

Approaching Mount Hood (PBB)

Approaching Mount Hood (PBB)

We turned west on US-26, and soon arrived at Timberline Lodge’s six-mile switch-backed driveway, driving up to the timberline! Now we could see Mount Jefferson, another snow-capped mountain to the south.

Mount Jefferson from Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge detail

Timberline Lodge was a huge stone and wood building constructed by the WPA in 1936-1938 and dedicated by Franklin D Roosevelt. Several movies were filmed here, including “Bend in the River,” “All the Young Men,” and the exterior for “The Shining.” We checked in and went to our small but comfortable room. Lots of carved wood and rustic stone. Frank Lloyd Wright-like Prairie School style rustic wooden furniture. And big wrought-iron fixtures. But there was a TV in the room. Had a tiny bathroom with a shower stall, sink, and toilet. It had wooden blinds. We have a great view of Mount Jefferson. 

Handmade textiles in our Timberline Lodge room

Timberline Lodge door

Hand-wrought lamp in room

Explored the lodge with its outdoor pool, sauna, a balcony over the main lobby with a huge central fireplace, and even study carrels! Big windows! There was a dining room, a couple bars, an auditorium. It seems they were building an addition, and the museum displays were out of place. We liked the Gentian Bedroom model. There was iron hardware on the doors.

Hand-wrought lamp in lobby

Fireplace in lobby

We then went outside and climbed in Alpine tundra with a few tiny wildflowers. Walked past banks of snow, and yet we were plenty warm enough! Mount Hood towered over us.

Spermophilus lateralis/Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Brynne in snow in July!

Brynne and Mount Hood

Phlox austromontana/Mountain Phlox

Brynne & Kent on the terrace

Returned to the room to relax and shower before dinner. Went to the mezzanine to sit and play cards, and get a drink ($7.20 on discover). Ale for Kent, hot cocoa for Brynne and me. Our dinner reservation was at 19:15. Taken to a window table. This time the children’s menu had Crispy Fried Chicken, with sautéed vegetables! And waffle fries and a chocolate chip cookie, which we all shared for dessert. Kent and I shared the Plank Salmon (with roasted new potatoes, sautéed veggies, and kimchi) and grain-and-bean cakes with roasted veggies and rice pilaf. Salad came first with Oregon greens, craisins, and Tillamook cheddar cheese. Then a sorbet of lemon, thyme and pistachio. After our entrees, we were more than full. Kent had two more ales, and Brynne had Slice with a maraschino cherry in it. We were given a local raspberry dessert wine at the end of the meal ($67.65 on Discover). Took a walk outside where there was a full moon. Back to the room, and Kent and Brynne fell asleep by 21:30.

Thursday, July 9, 1998
Mount Hood, OR to Portland, OR
Woke up at 7:15 to the clop, clop, clop of ski boots walking by. It seemed hundreds of people were heading up the mountain to ski or snowboard. We went to check out the Day Lodge, the gift shop, and places to eat. Decided to have breakfast back at the Cascade Dining Room. Got to see Bruno, the resident St Bernard dog of Timberline.

Bruno, the resident St Bernard dog

The sky was fairly clear, and it was sunny and warm. Brynne had scrambled eggs, six slices of bacon, and new potatoes sautéed with white onions, with rye toast. I had three thick apple oatmeal pancakes with syrup, whipped cream, hazelnut praline butter, and walnuts. Kent had 10-grain hot cereal with milk, dried cranberries and brown sugar. Breakfast was enjoyed by all ($28.15 on Discover). 
After we checked out ($137.80 on Discover, $2 cash for postcards) we went to see the ski lift and skiers.

Mount Hood Ski Lift

There really are skiers on Mount Hood!

Perhaps Lupinus oreganus/Kincaid's Lupines

Then we drove down the winding driveway and took US-26 west back toward Portland. In Sandy, we went to the Jonsrud Viewpoint to look back up the Sandy River valley at Mount Hood. This was another orchard valley. We found a restroom but did not find the marionberry jam at a Safeway. Drove into Portland to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), where our Jacksonville MOSH membership got us free admission, plus tickets to the laser show in the planetarium. Went through the health exhibits with lots of hands-on and computer activities. Then earth phenomena (tornadoes, earthquakes). Saw Part II of the special Missing Links Alive exhibit about early man. Downstairs to the first part. We attended the 14:00 laser show done to Motown music. Went to the physical science exhibits. (25 cents for a postcard.)

After we left the science museum, we intended to head to the airport, but missed getting on I-84. So we headed up I-5 to Peninsula Park, to see one of the largest sunken rose gardens in America, landscaped in Elizabethan style with floribunda and tea roses. Still very much in bloom.

Peninsula Park Sunken Rose Garden

Peninsular Park Blueberries

Drove along Killingsworth back towards the airport, and back to the Marriott Courtyard and checked in for another two nights. Today you could see Mount Hood from Portland. Now we drove along Sandy Boulevard to Burnside, across the Willamette River and up 23rd Street to Flanders. We were a bit early to meet Doug M at Sammy’s, but went ahead and got a table inside. Doug was late for 18:30, but he had been on the road. They had good Caesar salads and pasta dishes. Brynne had fettuccine with creamy garlic sauce, I had spaghetti with pesto clam sauce, and Kent had chicken and prosciutto with angel hair pasta. We could not finish even half our pasta dishes. There was also very good parmesan garlic bread. Paid $87.50 on Discover. We walked the few blocks to see Doug M’s attic condo, very nice and spacious. Said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel via 23rd Street to Lovejoy, the Broadway Bridge, to I-5 then I-84, I-205 to East Airport Way. The clouds and Mount Hood were turning pink. Trying to get to bed earlier, tonight at 22:30.

Friday, July 10, 1998 
Portland, OR 
Up at 7:30. Nine and a half hours of sleep? Went to the Courtyard Café for breakfast of cereal and bagels, pretty light ($17 on Discover). Started to re-pack. About 9:30 we left to drive downtown to the southwest corner of Portland.

Portland's MAX Light Rail

Found our way to Powell’s Bookstore at 1005 Burnside, the largest independently-owned bookstore in the country. Supposedly you can find any book you could possibly want, both used and new. The place has its own map. We bought Brynne a few used books ($3 cash), because she has already read all the books she brought. We thought to go on a brewery tour, but no tours at this time. Parked in a garage near Pioneer Courthouse Square and walked to Finnegan’s, an upscale toy store. Bought something ($15 cash) in order to get the parking ticket validated. The Square was created in 1983 when a parking garage was leveled, and it is now terraced down to the lower level. Known as the “living room of Portland,” it was a people-watching spot. Today it was busy with busy workers shoveling sand into boxes and stamping it down. They are getting ready for a sand sculpture contest.

Pioneer Courthouse Square: Allow Me or
Umbrella Man (1983, by John Seward Johnson III)

SW Yamhill St btwn 5th and 6th Aves:
Animals in Pools (1986, by Georgia Gerber)

SW Yamhill St btwn 5th and 6th Aves: Animals in Pools
(1986, by Georgia Gerber)

Parking Garage at SW Morrison St and 3rd Ave:
Upstream Downtown (1992, by Gary Hirsch)

Portland, nicknamed the “City of Roses,” was a stopping point for the Chinook on their trading route. Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove built a city on this site in 1844, calling it “Stumptown” for the tree stumps scattered on the site. Renamed in 1845 by the flip of a coin as each of the men wanted to name it after his hometown (Lovejoy was from Boston and Pettygrove was from Portland, ME). It is the third largest freshwater port on the Pacific Coast. Parks were planned as part of the city. We walked down to 1st Avenue and then north to SW Ankeny St to see Skidmore Fountain at the “entrance” to the Old Town.

New Market Theater (1872), was a theater and public market

Kent & Brynne at the Skidmore Fountain

Henry Weinhard had offered to let beer flow in the fountain. We then walked to the Tom McCall Waterfront Park where the city bulldozed a four-lane highway along the west bank of the Willamette River, transforming it into a park.

Bridges over the Willamette River

There were a lot of joggers, and bronze drinking fountains donated by Simon Benson.

Benson Bubblers (1912) are bronze drinking
fountains donated by Simon Benson,
a local lumber businessman

It started to sprinkle rain as we walked along. Passed the Salmon Street Springs Fountain, the type for kids to run through.

Salmon Street Springs Fountain (1988)

We meandered over to the front of the Civic Auditorium at SW Clay Street and 3rd Avenue. The Ira Keller Fountain is one square block of waterfalls, pools, trees and grass. Every minute 13,000 gallons of water flows through. The fountain was designed by Lawrence Halprin. 

Ira Keller Fountain (1970)

We continued up 4th Avenue around City Hall, and past the Portland Building, a city government building. Went in Niketown (1990), another store needing its own map.

Inside Niketown

Headed uphill to look upon the South Park Blocks, a strip of green planted by the townspeople in 1852. Returned to the parking garage ($1.45 cash), keeping an eye out for a German restaurant. Ended up driving along Burnside to Sandy Boulevard to find the restaurant we had seen yesterday, the Rhinelander. We ate in the Gustav’s Bierstube section. Kent had Mother Myer’s Sampler with Wurst, Jägerschnitzel, rotisserie pork, Sauerbraten, pickled cabbage, mashed potatoes, and a potato pancake! And a couple beers. Brynne had chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes and pickled cabbage, and I had the Jägerschnitzel; our big meal for the day. Left $40 cash.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Grotto (National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother), a 62-acre religious sanctuary and botanical garden. Built in 1924 by a Servite friar who had successfully prayed for his mother’s recovery at childbirth. Maintained by the Servite friars and nuns as a place of reflection for all faiths. The grotto is hewn from a 10-story or 110-foot basalt cliff, making it an outdoor church.

The Grotto

The Grotto

Paid $2 each for tokens to take the elevator up to the gardens and a chapel overlooking the airport with the Columbia River in the distance. There was a hazy view of Mount St Helens, a bit flat-topped. The gardens were simple with a stream, reflecting pond, very tall evergreens, the friary, and sculptures.

Marilyn Moyer Meditation Chapel (1991)

Brynne & Kent in the Meditation Chapel

View from the Meditation Chapel, but cannot see Mount St Helens here

Servite Monastery

Hydrangea macrophylla cultivar

Statue of Mary above the Grotto

Back at the hotel, Kent left to get gas ($8.75 on Discover) for the car and return it to Avis at the airport ($290.75 on SunTrust for rental). He took the hotel shuttle back to the Marriott Courtyard. Later he walked to McDonald’s for McFlurries for a snack ($3.78 cash) at 18:00 (21:00 Jacksonville time!). Went to bed about 21:30-22:00. 

Saturday, July 11, 1998 
Portland, OR to Jacksonville, FL 
Awakened at 4:30 (7:30 Jacksonville time), dressed and caught the 5:00 hotel shuttle ($9 cash for all shuttle tips) to the airport. Got bagels and muffins, juice and coffee for breakfast at Panache ($8 cash). Then to the gate to check in. Suddenly we were boarding as we were scheduled to leave at 6:12. On the plane we had breakfast choices of raisin bran cereal, or a banana and muffin, or French toast with syrup, cantaloupe and yogurt. Arrived at DFW about noon. Went to the Admiral’s Club for restrooms and pretzels. Learned our 12:47 flight was delayed until 13:28, and was moved to a closer gate. Returned to the Admiral’s Club to wait. When we went to board the plane, we were to pick up a bag lunch as we went down the jetway. A turkey and cheese sandwich with mustard, tortilla chips, dried fruit, cookies, and a water.

View from airplane: barely-seen mountain slightly left on the
horizon is Mount Rainier, center on the horizon is Mount Adams,
and center front is Mount Hood

Arrived in Jacksonville about a half hour later than the scheduled 16:16. Took the shuttle to Ace Parking to pick up the car ($29.64 cash). You could smell smoke when we landed, and we drove home in the hazy smoke of wildfires. But it was still sunny and hot! Picked up Sparkle ($71 on Discover for boarding) before going to the house. Good to be back home!

1998 Oregon, Not the Coast I (7/7-8/1998)

Tuesday, July 7, 1998
Astoria, OR to Portland, OR
It was almost 9:00 before we checked out and went back across the bridge over Young’s Bay, Had breakfast at Denny’s ($15.75 cash). I had three pancakes. Brynne had scrambled eggs, two pancakes and hash browns, and my bacon. Kent had poached eggs, pancakes and hash browns. He also first had coffee at the hotel. It was a gray overcast day as we drove first to Fort Clatsop National Memorial ($4 cash). Had out National Parks Passport stamped. 

Arrival (1980, by Stanley Wanlass)

Here there was a replica of the fort where Lewis & Clark spent the winter of 1805-1806. It was named for the Clatsops, a local friendly Native American tribe. We could try on clothing of the time.

Kent wearing a racoon cap

Quarters of members of the party

Stump table (PBB)

Fort Clatsop kitchen

Flintlock gun demonstration

Brynne with a dugout canoe

Saw a demonstration of a flintlock gun. Hiked to the spring, and down to the canoe landing. They had nice paths of wood chips.

We drove along Business US-101 into Astoria and found our way to the Flavel House, a Queen Anne Victorian house with a cupola and lots of gingerbread trim.

Welcome to Astoria sign

Acorn Man or Ikala Nawan/Man
Who Fishes (1987, by Peter Toth)

Flavel House (1885, Queen Anne Victorian style)

There were many Victorian houses in the area, but none so grand as this one built in 1885 for George Flavel. We then found our way to the highest point in Astoria on Coxcomb Hill, 635 feet above sea level above the Columbia River. We climbed the 164 steps in the 125-foot high column built in 1926 to commemorate the discovery, exploration, and settlement of the area.

Panoramic view from Astoria Column on Coxcomb Hill

View straight down

Astoria Column

This was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rockies. On the column exterior was a spiraling frieze painting of the history of the area. Bought a few postcards and returned to the car. 

We found US-30 and headed east, driving 40 miles to Clatskanie with a detour to a Twilight Eagle Sanctuary, but there were no eagles or nests to be seen.

Twilight Eagle Sanctuary

At Clatskanie, we drove up a hill to Flippin Castle, a restored 19th century gingerbread trimmed residence crowned by twin cupolas. Closed and in need of painting.

Flippin Castle (1900, in Queen Anne Shingle style)

We saw some sun, but mostly low-lying clouds. No views of Mount Rainier or Mount St Helens from St Helens. We ate lunch in a Burgerville in St Helens. Cheeseburgers with Tillamook cheese, but too much special sauce, and very potato-y fries. Brynne had the chicken fingers. Left $13 in cash. Continued on US-30 to Portland; not a very scenic route along the Columbia River, with pulp and paper mills, ports, a nuclear plant, etc. But also wooded hills, wildflowers, and farms. 

We arrived in Portland, took I-205 south, then turned west on US-26 to Washington Park and the Portland Zoo. Able to enter with our Jacksonville Zoo membership (50 cents cash for postcard). Not an easy zoo to get around. It is known for breeding programs of Asian elephants, Humboldt’s penguins, and black rhinos. A real attempt at natural environments and education. We went first through the rainforest with steam, thunder and lightning. Bats, birds, and crocodiles.

Fruit bats (PBB)

Saw the visiting koalas, one was eating and one napping. Next zebras, giraffes, and a pile of naked mole rats. Past the goats to Alaska Tundra with grizzly bears and a wolf.

Ursus arctos horribilis/Grizzly Bear

Africa with hippos and rhinos, and birds.

Hippopotamus amphibius (PBB)

Past the concert lawn with a Birds of Prey demonstration, to the elephants. Went through the Elephant Museum. Saw golden eagles, then the Primate Gallery with gibbons, orangutan, De Brazza’s monkeys, lemurs, tamarins, etc. Sun bears, polar bears, penguins, and finally the Insect Zoo.

Larosterna inca/Inca Tern and
Spheniscus humboldti/Humboldt Penguin (PBB)

Humboldt Penguin diving for fish

Ursus maritimus/Polar Bears (PBB)

We bought tickets ($7.50 cash) for the train and soon boarded to go to Washington Park.

Diesel locomotive #5/Oregon Express at the Washington Park Station

Walked past the International Rose Test Gardens, just packed with blooming roses. The rose garden was established in 1917, with 4 acres, 400 varieties, and 10,000 bushes on three terraces. 

International Rose Test Garden

We finally figured out the direction to the Japanese Gardens ($14 cash), and climbed the steep hill. Designed in 1963 by Professor Takuma Tono, an authority on Japanese landscaping. One of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan. Five traditional gardens including the Strolling Pond Garden with a pagoda lantern from Sapporo, Portland’s sister city, a Moon Bridge, Zigzag Bridge, and a deer chaser noisemaker (water pouring into a bamboo tube hinged in the middle, and it clacked when tipped forward to empty and drop back to the ground to be filled once again. 

Chisen-kaiyu/Strolling Pond Garden

Moon Bridge

Zig-zag Bridge

Waterfall to the Lower Pond

The Tea Garden with a Tea House. The Natural Garden of streams and waterfalls, and paths with tiny bridges.

Shizen/Natural Garden

The Sand and Stone Garden with abstract weathered stones in a raked bed of sand meant to suggest ripples of the sea.

Kare sansui/Sand and Stone Garden

Near the pavilion was the Poetry Stone with a haiku carved on it. Sapporo Plaza with a drinking fountain, a gift from Sapporo in 1988. Also the Iyo Stone from Shikoku in Japan. Finally the Flat Garden with raked sand and plantings depicting a sake cup and gourd bottle signifying a wish for the visitor’s happiness.

Hiraniwa/The Flat Garden; Plantings symbolize
the sake cup and gourd bottle

Antique Entrance Gate

From the pavilion deck, a view of the city of Portland, but not of Mount Hood. Although it was sunny in Portland, there were low-lying clouds all around it. We used the restroom and returned to the train station, catching a different train from the one on which we arrived. This was the Zooliner. 

We departed from the zoo and drove towards the airport to our hotel, Courtyard by Marriott. Checked in to Room 203. Free hors d’oeuvres for guests tonight, so we had fruit, potato salad, baked beans, ribs and sausage links, and drinks for dinner. I went out later to a K-Mart for film and batteries ($37.66 cash).

Wednesday, July 8, 1998
Portland, OR to Mount Hood, OR
Up at 8:00 and had breakfast at the Courtyard Café, buffet-style ($17 cash). Checked out and drove to I-84 E/US-30 E. exited at Corbett to follow scenic Old Route 30, the Historic Columbia River Highway. It was first built in 1915, the first paved road in the state, based on European highways that followed the topography. We stopped at the Women’s Forum State Park for a first view into the immense Columbia River gorge, which was misted-in by clouds. Saw the first of several rock formations, Rooster Rock at water level.

View from Women's Forum State Park

And you could see the Vista House ahead. That was our next stop in Crown Point State Park.

Vista House at Crown Point State Park

Built in 1918, the multi-level Vista House had views, a gift shop ($13.45 cash for postcards), displays, and live examples of all the wildflowers in the area. Located at 733 feet above sea level, we were rising in elevation. 

View of Rooster Rock from Vista House

Next we went to the Guy W Talbot Park to find Latourell Falls, but ended up back on the highway, at Latourell Falls. A short walk to see the falls in its entirety.

Latourell Falls

Monadenia fidelis/Pacific Sideband Snail

These are the first of 11 waterfalls in the gorge. Saw a large snail on the path. Next stopped at Bridal Veil Falls State Park that had its own little lodge, a B&B.

Bridal Veil Falls

Took a winding up and downhill path to the waterfalls. Lots of salmonberry bushes here.

Okay, not salmonberry, but Rubus odoratus/
Purple Flowering Raspberry

Continued on the path to the gorge overlook, with lots of wildflowers and birds. The Swainson’s thrush was the dominant song.
Continued, seeing but passing Wahkeena Falls, to Multnomah Falls ($1 cash donation) with its bigger lodge. Here there were two sets of falls for a 620-foot drop, making this the biggest falls in the gorge, although skinny. Also one of the highest waterfalls in the country.

Brynne & Tamiko with the Upper Falls
and hiding the Lower Falls

Walked up to a footbridge above the lower falls, and saw the interpretive museum.

View from bridge of storm damage at Lower Pool

We drove past the Horsetail Falls, then at Dodson we left the old Route and got on I-84 E. Passed Beacon Rock (848-feet high), the largest monolith in the United States, sitting across the river.

View of Beacon Rock from Bonneville Dam

Stopped at Bonneville Dam at the Visitor Center ($10.15 cash for postcards) on Bradford Island. Wandered through the museum, then took the elevator up to the observation platform. We could see the Oregon-side Powerhouse, and the Spillway Dam.

Bonneville Dam Visitor Center (Brynne & Kent)

Spillway Dam

Fish Ladder

We also looked down on the fish ladder. Took the elevator to the lowest level to look through the viewing windows underwater on the fish ladder. Saw mostly eels and shad. Went out to the Fishway and did see larger fish, probably salmon, swimming against the current, and sometimes jumping up a step.

Underwater viewing of the fish ladder

Bonneville Dam Fishway

Navigation Lock

We drove to the Navigation Lock to take a peek, then to the fish Hatchery, a huge place with lots of growing-tanks.

Baby salmon

Millions of little salmon. Artificial spawning takes place in November and December. Pete Seeger worked at this dam, thus his song “Roll on Columbia.”

Fish Hatchery Salmon Fountain

Drove through a tunnel and stopped in Cascade Locks for lunch in the Cascade Locks Inn, like a diner. I had a tuna melt, Brynne had chicken strips, and Kent had a Chef’s Salad ($18 cash). Stopped in Marine Park to see the old lock where folks were fishing. Had a view of the Bridge of Gods to the state of Washington. Supposedly the bridge was once natural, and legend says it collapsed when two warrior gods (Mount Adams and Mount Hood) fought over a goddess (Mount St Helens).

Bridge of the Gods (1926)

Continued to Hood River, and ended up at the Columbia Gorge Hotel to get a view of all the windsurfers in the river below.

Tiny little windsurfers seen below

Apparently back water from the dam (which filled the Cascade Locks) and prevailing winds from the Hood River valley make this an ideal place to windsurf. We explored the flower-landscaped grounds and the lobby of the grand old hotel. 

Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, OR

Waterfall in the hotel gardens

Gardens of the Columbia Gorge Hotel

Next: 1998 Oregon, Not the Coast II.