A Moment of Silence and Driving the Gorge

I will begin my post today asking for a moment of silence for the families and friends of 9 students that were slain by an armed man in Roseburg, Oregon yesterday.  This happened on the Umpqua Community College campus - the town where my brother and sister-in-law raised their five good children.  We are saddened by this.  An Army veteran at the school that day was a hero, he pulled all the alarms in the hall, shouted at the other students to run, then as the gunman tried to enter the room that he was in he charged him and tried to keep him from coming in and was shot 7 times.  He is still alive and the gunman is not.  For that I am grateful.  

When I was volunteering at Multnomah Falls last week a young man and woman came in and asked about how to find Oneonta Gorge.  We gave him directions and told him that they would have to do some wading in the water to get to the back of the narrow gorge to see the waterfall.  I asked him if he'd share a photo with me if he got one.  Yesterday I got a text and there was the image!  His name is David Blanco.  Thanks, David!  I love Oneonta Gorge and have hiked back into it on a hot day.  There are mosses and lichens there that grow no where else in the world.  

My treasurer's report went well and we had a good meeting of the Portland Women's Forum.  After the meeting I drove my friends Sally and Bev across the Columbia River to Washougal, Washington to visit the Pendleton Woolen Mill Company Store.  I love the display of Chief Joseph pattern blankets.. so many colors.  Which one would you choose?  I'm drawn to the ones with turquoise in them.

These are the big blankets.  Sally found a pretty bag to buy in a cobalt blue pattern.  Bev got a black sweater.  I didn't buy anything.  Yes, shock and disbelief.  But the trip was for Sally who was given a gift of money as a thank you for her years of service as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Friends of Vista House.

Sally asked if we could drive further up the gorge and I had no afternoon time constraints so we headed East on Route 14 in Washington and enjoyed the views of the river.  I pulled into the Beacon Rock State Park and feasted my eyes on this gorgeous stone monolith.

There is actually a hiking trail to the top of this rock.. I've never climbed this.. would you do it?  :-)

We drove up a forested road to see the campground and were rewarded with this flaming tree.

This creek through the park is usually roaring with water but right now it's pretty meek.

We visited the Little Viking Drive-In in Stevenson and each ordered an ice cream cone.  I drove us to the park by the river while we had our cones.  Say, what is that I see beyond the big oak tree?

So, after we were done with our ice cream I walked down to get a better view.  OH.. wow.. look at that big beautiful sternwheeler!  

It's the American Empress.  What I wouldn't give to look inside!

You can book passage on this vessel for several different cruises.  I think of how nice that would be.

This is a beautiful vessel.

Standing on the grass of the park there I looked West to see the Bridge of the Gods.  Can you see it way down there?  It was a hazy day.  This park is where the wind and kite surfers launch from the beach to ply the waters.

There is the bridge in the hazy air.

I looked down and saw a branch of the oak tree that had blown down.

And many cute little acorns were on the ground.

I drove East a ways to try to capture an image of the paddle wheel.  

The light wasn't good for this shot.. but it's still neat to see it from the stern.

We then headed to the Bridge of the Gods to pass over back to Oregon.  

I drove through Cascade Locks and into the Port of Cascade Locks Marine Park. I took us down to the new brew pub to show Sally - and while there we saw a BIG boat.. it was National Geographic "Sea Star".  You can also book passage on it for quite the adventures.

I then drove us to the marina end of the park and we enjoyed looking over the river and the marina where I told the girls of some of our adventures when we had our sailboat "Stargazer" there for several years.  I then snapped an image of the Sternwheeler Columbia Gorge.  If you've read my blog for a while you'll recognize this boat which I've sailed upon many times.

It's a swimming day.  I am going.. yes I am.. but I'm a bit tired out.  But I'm going.  I am.  Do you have any fun plans for the day?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)