The Drive, Day 14, Thurs, 9-10 Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls, Visit McCombs...

I was up at 6:58am. We love seeing Trans Siberian Orchestra at Christmas time. Since I order tickets every year, that puts me in a category for early ticket purchase. These tickets are very much sought after. You pick the show you want to see and get pre-approval for a code to order early on a day for those tickets. I received my eMail alerting me to this, I requested the time we wanted to attend, they sent me the code. I had to be on the phone by 10am EST. We were in Pacific Time. Ugh! I awoke before my alarm, quietly got up with my cell phone, tablet and pen. I went into the bathroom and closed the door. I turned on the light and set up the counter like a desk and the toilet was my chair. I placed my call so I was in the queue. They give you a counter so you can see the queue emptying out. It took about 30 minutes for them to get to me. I purchased the tickets we wanted. Then...this girl went back to bed! I had timed our excursion for the afternoon so we could have some catch-up time for sleep. 

I used Viator to book this days adventure. They would provide a driver and guide to travel The Historic Columbia River Highway. The was the first planned scenic roadway in the United States. I have underlined on this map the places we would stop on this tour. 

Our driver would pick the guests up in Portland and provide transportation and access to several of the waterfalls along this stretch of highway. We were to meet our driver in downtown Portland across from Pastini's Restaurant. We found the recommended parking garage and walked to the restaurant. Since we were early and since we had no idea how meals would go this day, we opted to have a good lunch in Pastini's. Oh my heavens, we both had the lunch portion of 5-Cheese Lasagna. It was superb. 

Claude's youngest sister, Kayla, and her son, CJ, would join us for this outing and the next day's outing. We were so happy we would get time with them. The arrived a bit early from their home in Vancouver, Washington (across the river). They road some kind of train into Portland. We met them outside the restaurant and waited for the van to arrive as other passengers joined the group. 

You could make out Mt. Hood as we drove to the Historic Columbia River Highway. 

Our first stop was Vista House. This offers a wonderful 180-degree view of the Columbia River Gorge. It sits 733 feet above the Columbia River. Our guide, Aaron, called this the 'most expensive bathroom' in America. Hmmmm...

CJ, Claude, Sandi and Kayla.

These pictures give a 180-degree view of the Columbia River Gorge beginning from the end closest to the Pacific Ocean and going inland. Stunning!!

Our first waterfall was Latourell Falls. It falls 249 feet. There is a 1/4-mile walk to the falls. Not hard but it is up and down a hill. The Historic Columbia River Highway was completed in 1915. Philanthropist and civic groups donated property to create scenic retreats along the route. Guy and Geraldine Talbot donated the land around Latourell Falls.

Aaron, our guide, found this banana slug. 

To me this was very, very cool. When we walked the trail at Quinault Rainforest, I noted this huge clover plant I had never seen before. It covered the ground in many place, grew out of fallen trees, it was amazing. Aaron saw a big patch on the hill and called us over. This is actually an edible plant. He asked if anyone wanted to try it. I called out, "ME". He gave me and Claude each a petal of the clover. It tasted light the peel of a Granny Smith apple. Delicious. 

When we hiked back up the hill, Aaron again stopped at a bush and found this little berry. It is a huckleberry. Again Aaron asked if anyone would like to try it. I again said, "ME". It was quite yummy. We had been told to eat huckleberries in Montana and never got to do this. I guess Oregon is as good to try a huckleberry right off the bush!

Our next waterfall was at Shepperd's Dell. This is a 2-tiered fall. The upper tier falls 42 feet. The lower tier falls 50 feet. In 1915 George Shepperd donated 11 acres and a waterfall as a memorial to his wife. This area was used a place of worship for his family. Today, it is known as Shepperd's Dell. 

This is a Douglas Fir. It is the Oregon state tree. Aaron asked me what the Kentucky State Tree was. I quickly replied, "Tobacco!" We all had a chuckle. 

We then visited Horsetail Falls. The water falls 176 feet. 

This was fun to me. Kayla shared her pictures with me. She took this one of me taking a picture of Claude. The next picture is the picture I took of Claude and Horsetail Falls.

I did get a picture of Claude with his youngest sister, Kayla. It suddenly dawned on me that there is quite and age difference in these two. We got married when Claude was 20. Kayla and Lynette, were the 'little girls' at that time. They were like 7 and 8. That is a 13-year difference. Claude remembers lots of interaction between his three other older siblings but not as much with Lynette and Kayla. He would have been graduated and gone when they were starting elementary school. 

We got back to the van and Claude noticed their license plate. Fun!

In the parking lot was this colorful bus. My sweet friend, Laura, and her hubby, Howard, have purchased an older school bus. Howard has fitted it out for them to travel with Jessie, their daughter. Howard has painted their bus white. I suggested they add flames down the side. I sent this picture to Laura and told her they should join us and fit right in.

Our fifth and final stop for this tour would be Multnomah Falls. This is the most photographed of the waterfalls. It has two tiers that drop a total of 620 feet. In 1915 timber tycoon, Simon Benson, donated the site of Multnomah Falls along with 300 acres to the city of Portland. This included Wakeenah Falls. 

The bridge across the middle is Benson Bridge. It was built in 1914 and .the gap between the two tiers. It was a popular spot for brides to have their pictures taken. That was until a huge rock gave way and fell down. Now it is it not a place for bridal pictures. They are more careful about the number of people on that bridge and it is measured regularly to see if it is moving. We did not hike up to it. 

This is the Multnomah Falls Historic Lodge. In the basement of this building we found an ice cream shop. Claude and I each enjoyed an Oregon Berry Shake. Oh my it was delicious. 

We all boarded the van for the drive back to Portland. Aaron was the most verbose guide we had on this trip. He could drive and talk constantly in all types of traffic. We all really enjoyed this tour. This is the way to see the waterfalls for sure.

Once back to Portland, CJ and Kayla rode in our car to their train stop where their car was parked. Then we followed them to Kensi for dinner. Chris, Kayla's hubby, would join us for dinner.

Kensi is an authentic Japenese restaurant that CJ had fallen in love with. The server came and asked if we wanted an appetizer. Claude and I do not typically order appetizers since the meal usually fills us up. CJ quickly spoke up and ordered and appetizer for us all to share. They were little balls covered in some type of flakes. I took one and so did Claude. Interestingly, Kayla and Chris did not take one. I cut mine open and out popped a little tentacle with tiny suckers on it. Oh My!! It said, "It is a baby octopus!" in a surprised and sad voice. I have always said octopus is something I never wanted to eat. Yet, her it was in front of me and my nephew sitting beside me watching my reaction. Claude and I did eat ours. It as actually very good. The octopus was kind of like eating a clam in New England clam chowder. 

We all had a good visit and meal together. Then we headed back to our hotel. But first, a picture of our McCombs family: CJ, Kayla and Chris.

The Drive, Day 13, Wed, 9-9 Astoria-Megler Bridge, Ft Clatsop, End of Trail Marker...

Day 13 we would finish the Lewis & Clark Trail. While we we do some other things associated with their journey, we would actually go to their final winter fort and the monument erected in Seaside, Oregon to commemorate the end of their journey.

We left Aberdeen, Washington about 9am. Our mileage to begin the day was 3485.7 miles. The hotel had no breakfast so we found a McDonald's for a biscuit breakfast. 

Our first point of interest was crossing the Columbia River on the Astoria/Megler Bridge. This is a 4.1 mile long steel cantilever truss bridge. It connects Megler, Washington and Astoria, Oregon. It is part of Route 101. It is also the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. 

First, pictures of the drive to the bridge: 

There is a lot of controlled logging in this part of the country. We past lots of forest that were cut and lots of logging trucks. They replant trees and rotate the areas in which they log. This picture is of the logging truck in front of us, some full grown trees at the top of the hill, young trees below them and cleared land after logging in the bottom right of the picture. When we visited China, one of the places was huge forests with controlled logging. 

Many of the cities seem to favor metal artwork along the streams or main streets of their towns. I love it!

The Pacific Ocean was to our right as we drove south. We drove past lots of inlets and bays along Hwy 101 but these were not the ocean. 

Tide was out. 

We came upon the Astoria/Megler Bridge and had a nice drive over it. Not tons of traffic. Nice clear day. We could see shipping boats in the channel. Our drive began on the Megler, Washington end of the bridge. It has the arched spans making it high enough for some ships to pass under. The bridge flattens out over the Columbia River. Then it rises to pointed spans on the Astoria side of the Columbia River. This allows ships to pass under this side. 

After crossing the Astoria/Megler Bridge, we drove the 12 minutes to Ft. Clatsop in Oregon. Ft. Clatsop was the winter fort for the Lewis & Clark expedition from Dec 1805 - Mar 1806. They would spend the winter making salt and gathering food and supplies for the return journey in March 1806. 

There is a statue of Sacajawea and her baby, Jean Baptiste whom Clark nicknamed Pomp. We had to have our picture with Sacajawea!

We opted to walk to the replica of the fort and the grounds first. 

Fort Clatsop was named after the Clatsop Indians. The Corps of Discovery would spend four rainy months in this location. Nothing remains of the actual fort. In 2006, this replica was made using William Clark's journal and floor plans. The belief is this fort sits within a few feet of where the actual Fort Clatsop would have stood. 

Along the left side of the fort were the enlisted men's quarters. Three sergeants and 24 men squeezed into these three small room and the orderly room on the right side. 

Along the right side were four rooms. 

The front room was for the interpreter, Charbonneau, and his wife and child, Sacajawea and Pomp.  

The second room was for the officers, Captain Lewis and Captain Clark.

The third room was the orderly room. Some of the enlisted men may have slept here.

The final room was the store room. Claude is standing in the door to it. 

At the back of the fort was another doorway that opened to get to the spring. 

There was a short loop outside the back entrance to the fort. We walked that loop. 

We also spent a little time in the visitor's center. They had a display of the three winter forts constructed by Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Engineers. 

Camp Dubois, December 1803 - May 1084. No reconstructed camp is at this location in what is now Hartfield, Illinois. 

Fort Mandan, November 2, 1804 - April 7, 1805. Washburn, North Dakota.

Fort Clatsop, December 1805 - March 1806. Astoria, Oregon. 

This was a cool statue entitled "Arrival" by Stanley Wanlass. The characters in the statue top to bottom are Meriwether Lewis, a Clatsop Indian, and William Clark. To the left is Lewis' Newfoundland dog, Seaman. Around the Clatsop Indian's neck is a medal with Thomas Jefferson's image on it. These were handed out along their journey. There is a Starry Flounder in the hand of the Clatsop Indian. Kind of captures it all.

Along one wall was a map of the journey. I have circled the three winter camps we visited. 

Note this flag has 15 stars and 15 stripes. This was the flag after Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791 and Kentucky in 1792. After this flag, the stripes were limited to 13 to represent the 13 original colonies with stars increasing as states were added to the Union. This is also the type of flag the was flying for Ft. McHenry in Baltimore that inspired the writing of "The Star Spangled Banner". 

We drove the 22 minutes from Ft. Clatsop to the End of the Trail Marker. It is located in Seaside, Oregon. Claude drove around the monument and then back down the street to a nice parking place not too far away.

I walked around the base of the monument and took pictures of all the scenes depicted on it.

After a careful study of this splendid monument, we found a bench and watched the ocean and people for a while. As we sat there, I asked Claude if he felt we should walk down to the ocean. He assured me he did not. I assured him I was very happy with his response. 

We opted to find somewhere to have seafood for our meal-of-the-day. We found The Crabby Oyster and enjoyed a nice seafood meal. Then we drove on to Portland and found our hotel. Claude made not of the fact that from this point forward we are heading back east. In the evening, Claude fixed us peanut butter and jam on mini-bagels for a light dinner. 

During this evening, I would purchase tickets for us to attend the North American Championship Rodeo in Louisville in November. I set my alarm to be up at 7am to get Trans-Siberian Orchestra tickets. 

Gasoline this day was $5.16.