Gorge-ous Day

It was my day to volunteer at Multnomah Falls yesterday - my regular co-host is my younger sister, Denise - but she was on vacation in Boston, so hubby filled in.  It was a perfect Autumn day in the Columbia River Gorge!!  Dry, sunny & chilly!  We started our day with lunch in the historic Lodge.  They have a daily sandwich special, we both had it, a Cordon Bleu Burger with a slice of Canadian bacon, Swiss cheese, Dijonnaise sauce on a Kaiser roll.  We also had the soup, Cheese Broccoli.  Yum!  You could smell the woodsmoke from the huge fireplace and see the leaves turning.  

A shot further back with the falls...

 Closer...

We then heard that there was a Salmon in Multnomah Creek that was spawning, so we went to look.  Do you see her there?  Her tail is all white, it's beat up from her waving it over the pebbles to dig a hole to lay her eggs.. then a male needs to fertilize them. 

A closer shot of her.  After she spawns and he fertilizes the eggs, they will die.  When the eggs hatch in the Spring, the little babies will swim down the Columbia River out into the Pacific Ocean where they live and feed for 2 to 3 years.  Then when it's time, they swim up the river, back to the stream where they were born, and spawn - finishing the cycle of life.

 While were were looking at this salmon, I heard a train approaching and quickly aimed my iPhone at the engine.  Hubby was an engineer and drove these trains for 30 years.

We enjoyed an afternoon full of meeting folks from all around the world!  We helped them plan their travels and answered their questions.  Many people asked me about the blanket I was crocheting.  :-)  When heading home, we pulled out at the viewpoint to get a shot of the gorge in the alpen glow of the late Autumn sun.  

Closer.. of Rooster Rock (the rock below left) and Vista House on Crown Point. 

Then we drove up onto the Historic Columbia River Highway to Portland Women's Forum State Park to get this golden glow photo of Vista House. 

I then spotted a patch of what I think are Michaelmas Daisies that were still flowering..  

The sign for the park (I'm serving my 3rd year as president of PWF) - and the "Rock" that signifies the park.  To learn more about this group and this location click HERE. 

Heading towards home we spied this field of Blueberries and hubby got a shot of the red leaves. 

We pulled into Corbett Country Market to pick up a loaf of bread and met the new (young) owner of this historic market - the last in town.  I introduced ourselves to him and shook his hand and wished him good fortune in his ownership.  We've been going here for 37 years, through many owners!  We first knew it as "Dave's Market".

The check out counter... and lots of poor critters hung on the wall. :-) 

We're having a beautiful sunny Fall day today - we plan to relax and putter about to catch up after 5 days at the beach and volunteering yesterday.  Tomorrow we're meeting my 2 sisters and 1 brother and their spouses for dinner at The Country Kitchen restaurant for some family time.  

My dear husband will be having surgery on Monday - please keep him in your thoughts.  It's a repair at the incision site from his cancer surgery.  Poor guy!  I will be crocheting away in the waiting room.  I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope you all have fun plans this weekend!!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)