Columbia River Gorge

 We started our morning at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum in The Dalles, Oregon.  It was a wonderful museum.  It covers the history of the Gorge as well as the journey of Lewis and Clark.  The focus of the Lewis and Clark trip here was on the 30 tons of supplies along for use as well as what was inside the crates, barrels, bundles and boxes loaded on the boats.  It was another excellent museum.

Our next stop was the Bonnneville Dam on the Columbia River.  The dam has 18 turbines that generate a tremendous amount of electricity for the entire Pacific Northwest.  It was a great visitors center and we enjoyed the tour.  I even saw fish ladders for the first time - to allow the Salmon to get back upstream!

Terry with the turbines behind him.

Fish ladders - there are 60 of them, one per foot the river rises at the dam.  We saw plenty of fish in them too!

Our drive today was spectacular again.  We drove the Historic Columbia River Highway instead of the interstate and the views and waterfalls are amazing.  Our first waterfall was Horsetail Falls.

Horsetail Falls

Our next stop was Multnomah Falls.  It really is spectacular.  It plummets 620 feet from its source on Larch Mountain and is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States.  It is fed by underground springs and is right off the highway.  I really can't imagine what Lewis and Clark thought when they saw the falls.  There is a beautiful lodge built at the base of the falls and we had lunch there.  What an awesome setting!

Multnomah Falls - notice the bridge you can hike to for a better view!

We are on the bridge in this picture.

This is a picture driving down the Historic Columbia River Highway - beautiful!

Our final destination today is the final destination of Lewis and Clark - the Pacific Ocean.  We are staying in Seaside, OR tonight which is where Lewis and Clark build their salt works the winter they stayed here.  We will visit the salt works and Fort Clatsop tomorrow.   By afternoon we could finally say "Ocean in View" just like they did.

This is the view outside our room tonight and it's beautiful!