I’m going to make this quick because I find myself falling asleep in front of my computer.  A week on the road and crossing two time zones plus a change to Standard Time seems to be taking a toll on me.

We left Pendleton this morning and as soon as we hit Boardman we began to follow the mighty Columbia River.  This is one of my favorite stretches of road in all of Oregon.  When we get to the Gorge, I know I’m almost home, yet we aren’t into the heavy traffic of Portland.

A stand of trees that appear to have been planted in rows

An interesting bank of clouds

Looking across the Columbia River toward the state of Washington, I was surprised to see that there is still autumn color here.

If you look closely, you can see the train tunnel cut through the center of this cliff.

A train trestle bridge across the Columbia

The Dalles Dam. I wanted to get a picture of the Bonneville Dam that Woody Guthrie sang about, but by the time we got there it was raining. I wasn’t able to get a good shot.

You done good, God!

An island in the river

The rains begin

For my friends in Wisconsin, Packer colors!

Multnomah Falls Lodge

Normally, there is a place where you can pull off the highway and get pictures of this lodge and Multnomah Falls.  Multnomah falls is very high and it’s famous.  In fact, if those of you who aren’t from here get a chance to look at the Rand McNally 2018 Road Atlas, it’s pictured on the front cover.  Unfortunately, last summer there was a huge forest fire in the Gorge and the pull off and lodge are temporarily closed.  The lodge wasn’t damaged, according to their web page, but it will be a while before they are able to open again.

Last shot in the Gorge

Sentimental value…

For those of you who are new to my blog, Mark and I eloped in June, 2008.  We had a wedding reception at this hotel in September of that year.

This is the park where we were married.

The park is right next to the hotel.  We had called my pastor on the spur of the moment and asked him to marry us.  After the deed was done, we took him to dessert at the restaurant affiliated with the hotel and he said, “I guess I’d better ask you some questions…”  He did our pre-marital counseling after marrying us!  It wasn’t like we hadn’t been planning to get married before, but there were extenuating circumstances and we decided to get married a couple months early.  Our original wedding date (August 8th) ended up being when we buried my stepmother who died of cancer.  We waited until September to have our wedding reception.  So this area holds a special place in our hearts.

We have already seen my older sister and her husband and we are spending the night with my mother.  It’s good to be “home”!