Today was the first time during this vacation that we weren't doing any major traveling, instead we planned to visit a couple of waterfalls about 20 miles west from where we were staying and to explore parts of the historic Columbia River Gorge Highway, which is part of the old US Route 30.
We headed out around 10.30 am and took the I-84 west. At Cascade Locks, we stopped at The Bridge of the Gods, which is this very cool steel bridge that spans the Columbia River Gorge. We continued on the old US Route 30 and entered Ainesworth State Park, we stopped at a rest stop for a little hike, then explored the Horsetail Waterfall... it was absolutely gorgeous. After that we went even further west to the Multnomah Waterfall, a 611-foot-tall roaring, awe-inspiring cascade of icy water. . This waterfall is absolutely stunning and definitely worth a visit. We did hike up to a bridge from where you have an awesome view of the waterfall and we managed to take lots of pix and absolutely stunning video of the waterfall. After that we hiked back to the base of the fall and decided that it was time for lunch. We checked a restaurant near the fall, but neither Harry nor I were willing to pay 12 bucks for a burger. So we got back onto the I-84, headed east and picked up lunch at Dairy Queen. Taking lunch back to the hotel was definitely the easier thing to do.
After lunch we relaxed for a couple of hours at the hotel and then we headed back out. This time we wanted to explore parts of the historic US Route 30 east of Hood River. So we got onto the I-84 and headed east. One of the first few exits lets you explore the historic Columbia River Gorge. We took that exit and followed US Route 30. This is a very scenic road, but also very windy. Highway 30 brought us higher and higher up where we found several great spots to stop and view the gorge from high above. One of the places was called Memaloose Overlook. From there you have a absolutely gorgeous view of the Columbia River Gorge. You have an almost 180 degree view from up there and it is definitely well worth the drive. We then continued on highway 30 and reached it's highest point at Rowena Crest. This is another place from where you can enjoy absolutely stunning views of the Gorge. We then took the narrow and windy US Route 30 down back to I-84 and followed it to a city called The Dalles. We drove across the Dalles Dam Bridge and into Washington.
We took US Route 197 north to Highway 14 and followed the 14 west. The scenery of the the Gorge on the Washington side is equally impressive. I just wish there would have been more turn outs, so that you can stop to take pix and videos. We stopped at one turn out and got quite a number of great pix and some good video as well. After that we took the Hood River Toll Bridge back to Oregon. While we were crossing the Gorge we got some awesome pix of
Mt. Hood and Toll Bridge. Turns out that this bridge isn't paved, and you have to drive over steel plates across the Gorge. On top of that this bridge is very narrow and a drawbridge... and it was very strange driving over it but you definitely get some stunning views.
All in all it was a really great 3rd day of our vacation and Harry and I enjoyed it a lot.
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