Saturday, September 8: Our son Mark Carter-Piff was here for a visit. He was very interested in Hood River in the Columbia Gorge, so we decided to drive there and have a look. We had for a long time already wanted to do this, and with the lovely weather and his interest in the area we went. On I5 north to I84 and then east until we came to the turn off for the Scenic Highway. There our first stop was: Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic View. What a nice view over the area. Next was Crown Point or Vista House which I had once visited years and years ago whilst we were living in Richland, WA. Next stop for us along the highway was Multnomah Falls. There we stayed for a while because it was so lovely. The next fall we stopped at was the Horsetail Falls. After stopping at Meier’s Overlook we reached our goal Hood River. By the time we got there it was late lunch time and we had something to eat in a restaurant with an outdoor seating area. We sat there for over 1 hour. After driving around a bit in Hood River we went across the toll bridge from the Oregon side of the Columbia to the Washington State side of the river. By this time Mark Carter-Piff was driving and he made a small detour to Bingen before going on the return trip. But this time we drove on the Washington side and stopped at a number of places. I got very tired and slept some in the car, but do remember our stop at Beacon Rock. What a glorious day – what a grand outing – how much fun we had – and such a lovely scenery, it was just a wonderful day. We sure would like to do it again someday soon.
