As an early start to Mothers Day weekend, John, Ingrid and I decided to take a day trip across the historic Columbia River Highway on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. The highway runs alongside the Columbia River Gorge, known as the lowest crossing of the Cascade Mountains. The entire area is magically beautiful with its lush greenery and wispy cloud cover. There are many, many waterfalls along the way, which are always a delight to see, and a plethora of places to hike and hang out for the day. One of our first stops was Multnomah Falls. Ingrid was very happy to be there!
The falls is a 611-foot-tall, 2-tiered roaring cascade of icy water that allows visitors to experience the power and beauty of nature up close and with ease. According to Native American folk lore, Multnomah Falls was created to win the heart of a young princess who wanted a hidden place to bathe. Although you can see the top portion of the falls from the highway, to view both tiers you have to walk to the viewing area located in a carved-out opening in the rock face. We have made the hike up to the bridge on the second tier many times, but decided to give it a pass yesterday, since we had the four year old with us.
Rene Best musician
Creating these memories together is the best part of these little trips.
My daughter had given us a gift certificate to have lunch at the lodge, so we enjoyed that very much. Although this photo doesn’t show it, there was a stellar view of the falls crashing down the side of the mountain from our table. I even tried to shoot a little video of it with my phone, but there was too much glare on the upper window panes. Pity, because it was very beautiful and set the mood for a lovely lunch.
After lunch, we took one more look at the falls, then got back into the car and headed further up the highway to the Bonneville Fish Hatchery which is located at the mouth of Tanner Creek . We must have walked for miles along the grounds. Flowers were blooming and little ponds and forested areas were stunning. One of my favorite sightings was this resting spot for ducks. See them scattered across that log in the pond?
The highlight for Ms. Ingrid was the opportunity to meet and greet Mr. Herman the sturgeon. Herman is about 11 feet long, weighs in at around 500 pounds, and is right around 70 years old!
Here is a little video of Ingrid offering up some sugar for the old guy.
The ponds were teaming with trout. Their rainbow scales glistened as they jumped about.
Ingles had a great time feeding the ducks!
After we explored the beautiful grounds and paid a visit to the gift shop so Ingrid could pick out a Mothers Day gift for her mom, we headed up the mountain to the Vista House. We stopped for a brief visit to Horsetail Falls on our way there:
Horsetail Falls roars and leaves quite a spray. Fortunately, Ingrid was prepared with her hooded jacket!
I have written about the Vista House previously. Ingrid loved all of the marble and the stained glass windows. We walked all the way to the top, down to the basement and back up again.
This brief video can give you an idea about how glorious the view was yesterday, but even this doesn’t begin to capture the serenity and feeling of peacefulness that this beautiful location imparts. It is an absolutely stunning location! The views seem different every time we go, because the big sky plays such a huge role in the overall appearance of the view. The Columbia majestically twists and turns its way through the Cascades. Lovely, in every respect, and so amazingly close to home! We visit here often.
What a fabulous way to end the day! We headed back to Portland for a quiet family evening together. On our way back, a dear friend called to wish me Happy Mothers Day, and to remind me that I am loved. I appreciated that so very much. Love is the answer to just about everything, folks. Ingrid had a sleepover and woke me this morning with a beautiful little music box playing Beethoven’s, “Fur Elise”
Perfection!
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