River Cruise Day 7: Camas & Washougal, WA

 This was a day for just "cruising the river". We passed through the Cascade Locks, but going up and down a lock was kind of old hat by now, so we spent most of the morning sitting on the upper stern deck breathing fresh mountain air and listening to nature.

We also wondered about the construction problems that were overcome to build the railroad and highway systems that intermingled along the river's shoreline.

We were fascinated with levels of the train tracks and highway roads, especially after we realized the train tracks on both levels disappeared into a mountain tunnel. 

Barbara watched as we steamed by a beach we thought was tidal but was, in fact, an rude awakening as to the shallowness of the river and its diminishing depths.

A bit bit further down the river, we were alerted to the distant view of Horsetail Falls, No stop was made, but the ship did slow its progress a bit so pictures could be taken.

 

While waiting to disembark at Camas-Washougal, we toured the Faberge collection that had been gifted to this vessel from the family. 

 

Once the ship docked, we had one hellacious hike up a floating dock to the land. The crew actually had to carry an occasional wheelchair up the ramp as it was too steep for pushing. (A definite design flaw! We discovered later that this was a first stop of this new facility. )

Once on land, we took the Hop ON-Hop Off tour of the towns. We hopped off at the Pendleton Woolen Mills where we DID spend our money!

Back on board, we sipped wine and indulged in a small feat of snacks as we watched Mt. Hood in the distance gradually get close enough for me to capture a fairly clear picture.

River Cruise Day 6: Stevenson, OR

 Today, we toured the Bonneville Dam.  On our way to the dam, our local guide shared a wonderful story as we drove past the entrance to The Bridge of the Gods. The scientific facts are that the retreating ice age glaciers left a land bridge over this narrow section of the Columbia which in pre-historic times collapsed, forming rapids. The Native American version is the King of the Gods was angry with his two adult sons fighting over who was going to succeed him, so he shot an arrow to the north and told one son to go rule that side of the river. The second arrow flew and the other son was told to rule there. For a while, life was wonderful, THEN both sons fell in love with the same woman and their sibling antagonism became rampant. The King had had it. He turned one son into Mt. Hood and the other son into Mt. Adam and smashed the land bridge. Mora;: Do not tick off your Dad.

The up-river side of Bonneville Dam as we approached the site entrance.  (Excuse the window reflection, the bus driver wouldn't stop to let me peek out the door. Sigh.)  This dam allows limited fishing from the shore line but not from powered river craft.  The only exception is made for the Native American tribes indigenous to the area as they have right to fish the Columbia with no limits as a result of a treaty made in the 1800's when the US government wanted some of their land.

 

At the actual dam, we saw the 8 generators, five had their lightbulbs lit indicating they were on-line.  Turbine tidbit: Bonneville uses a Kaplan adjustable Turbine that looks like a vertical propeller with adjustable pitch blades instead of a paddlewheel. 

Then we toured the series of open flues built into the dam as a “fish passage” in lieu of a fish ladder for the upstream spawning-ground-bound river denizens.  Truthfully, we didn’t tour the flues, we walked along top of them trying to see the fish through the dark water. 

Through the viewing windows we saw Shad (an invasive species that is causing serious problems for the native fish), Lamprey eels, Steelhead, Coho, and Chinook. Bonneville has both a human counting fish and a computer counting fish: the human counts types of fish as the computer tallies numbers. Just look at the 2021 totals for this one dam.

Personal comment: it is extremely difficult to get a really good picture of rapidly moving fish when you're viewing them through several inches of semi-reflective glass. 

As we left the dam site, someone on the bus asked the series of water plumes coming off what looked like a pipeline. Turns out, the plumes are water jetted out over the river to keep the fish-hungry birds away from the fish, especially during spawning season, as they are exhausted after exiting the fish ladder flues of the dam.  How cool! 

On the way back to the ship, Barbara and I "hopped off" the bus to walk around this scenic little town, shopped a bit for sundries and headed back to the dock.

 

On the way I spotted this huge shrub and tall slender cactus (I think?) No idea what they are. Anyone recognize either of them?

Back aboard, we grabbed drinks from the bar and went up to the River Grille patio deck to relax after our “strenuous” (not!) day. I selfied me and the paddlewheel while Barbara was entranced by the sunset over the Gorge.

In our cabin, after getting ready for dinner, we sat on our deck watching the windsurfers and sailboats enjoying the wind hurtling through this narrowest part of the Columbia Gorge. 

Then we heard a noise, looked over our railing and spied Paul, our ship's Watchman starting to climb the rope ladder to the lowest deck while Oppo one of the engineers held the lifeboat steady to the hull.  As we turned to leave, a local day ferry hove into view.   Lots to see on the river.

We are really chilling out,  relaxing on this trip. The slowness of our steaming makes the land just drift by and neither of us worry about time or responsibilities for hours. 

This is much more restful than an ocean cruise. Neither of us remembers a time when we savored a cocktail before dinner every night in no big rush to eat.

River Cruise Day 5: The Dalles

The Dalles is the end of the overland Oregon Trail. It was here that travelers had to make THE Decision: to continue over land or to put their wagons and belongings on rafts and chance the Columbia River rapids. Neither was a safe choice.

We steamed into The Dalles about an hour late due to an unexpected uptick in tug/barge traffic at the lock just above The Dalles.  Rounding the bend in the river, anchored off shore we came upon the Lindblad/National Geographic ship Quest. According to our riverlorian, she spends the summers in Alaska and is on her re-positioning cruise to her winter home in the Sea of Cortez and the Baja Peninsula. One of my dreams is to take the National Geographic cruise to the Galapagos. 

 

The Dalles sits below the glacier covered peak of august Mt. Hood. This afforded us a perfect backdrop for our breakfast in the River Grille on deck 4. The first shot is with my regular phone camera, the second was taken using my binocular app set on 8x increase. The mountain remains majestic.

It calls to mind Erebor, the Lonely Mountain of Tolkein's Dwarf kingdom.

Our first stop this morning was the Columbia Basin Interpretive Center. The Lewis and Clark expedition exhibition was inspiring. This full-size replica canoe stunned me. How uncomfortable the men must have been to kneel on bare wood for hours. Plus, it is rather narrow and (according the docent on hand) very prone to tipping over! The traveling in one for months would be bad enough, but I cannot imagine emptying the scraped wooden canoe, then having to portage it through the shoreline growth! It must have taken 10 men; it is heavy and unwieldy.  My respect for the perseverance and the dedication of the men of the Lewis and Clark’s Company is boundless.

The Center’s floor contains a marble inlay interpretation of the Columbia River. On it I found Barbara ’s dad’s hometown of White Salmon…made sure she saw it! 

Adorning the trail walk outside the Center were metal life-size figures of native wildlife. My favorite was this impressive stag leaping! 

The history of the Columbia Gorge included an Ice Age exhibit of the fauna of the area. Hence, a selfie of me and full-scale rendering of an Ice Age Short-Tailed Bear. I thought that was kind of cool until I walked around the corner and found myself face-to-knee with a life-size Mammoth…and another selfie just had to be snapped. (It’s very hard to get even a little of yourself into the lens when you only come up to the critter’s knee!)

My second stop was to the National Neon Sign Museum. Myself and 5 others took this tour. I feel like all those who did not really missed something special. Dave Benko, the founder, has been obsessed with neon since he acquired his first piece at age 8. How do I know this factoid? Dave, himself, was the person who led my group on the tour of his collection. His enthusiasm for this unique art form is evident in his willingness to answer any questions and in his knowledge of his subject matter. He’s like a Pied Piper. I left the building willing to follow him anywhere! My pictures of the breadth of his collection did not do justice to what he has put together, so I have posted none. Google him and his museum or find them on FaceBook and Instagram. Definitely a must see if you are ever with 100 miles of The Dalles, Washington.

My day ended on a very high note!

When I walked off the gangway into the reception area of the Empress, I was more than ready to meet up with Barbara and tell her about my new neon-obsession and hear about her shopping trip. I was not expecting to see her waiting for me holding my little brown bag of gifts I’d lost yesterday! She was grinning ear to ear as she related the story: The museum found my bag just about the same time the Guest Services Director read my email. The ship was called and the Purser’s Office confirmed I was a passenger. My bag was handed to the driver of the last Hop On/Hop Off bus who delivered it to the Purser’s Office where it sat as the ship prepared for departure. This morning a message was delivered to the room while Barbara and I were out. She decided to watch my face as she held up the bag.

 

I so appreciate the way life delivers you little bursts of joy!

 

Barbara and I celebrated with two pre-dinner cocktails in the Paddlewheel lounge while listening to Marcus tickle the ivories in delightful renditions of Scott Joplin songs. Neither of us are big drinkers which was evident when after dinner (and wine) we were asleep within 90 minutes of returning to 324.

River Cruise Day 4: Richland and Pasco WA

 

We’re docked a place that allowed me to get a decent pic of this vessel. American Empress is small but picturesque. She served in Alaska for several years before being permanently moved to the Snake/Columbia Rivers route.

 

I'm still looking for the best spot to photograph her big red paddlewheel.

The ethereal beauty of the common dandelion stands out in an explosion of color.

I find picturesque subjects everywhere I look. I often wonder what people overlook while they have their faces buried in cell phones or newspapers.

We should look around us, not searching for dangers, but to find the unexpected little gems that should brighten our days or focus our thoughts on something different.

Today, our Hop On/Hop Off tour took us the REACH Museum. REACH is the term for an unobstructed stretch of water and this 50+ miles of the Columbia is the only section of that waterway which is open and un-dammed.  

The museum includes a significant section on the Hanford Nuclear Facility, the plant that created the plutonium core of the bomb we dropped on Nagasaki. I was familiar with a lot of what was shared as I read The Girls of Atomic City several years ago about the creation of the nuclear plant at Oakridge. Hanford was on an even larger scale; at its height, employing 55,000 people.

Several aspects intrigued me. After bringing hundreds of Airstream trailers to house the workers, Permanent homes were offered to upper-level employees. 19 floor plans were offered, each floor plan designated by a letter, hence the sobriquet “Alphabet Home.” Each letter home was assigned the same block. The homes that remain from this settlement are now prized possessions.

 The Metabulator jolted me. It offers, again, proof that our precedents were definitely as mechanically ingenious as we 21^st century folk believe we are. True, it took them a complex, slightly massive machine to achieve what we do with a FitBit or Apple watch, but nonetheless, they were there first.

Even the gift shop at the REACH acknowledged the past with its staff refrigerator! (Speaking of the gift shop, I was bummed to discover when I returned to the ship that I’d lost the bag of things I’d purchased. I asked our Purser’s Office to inquire of the two bus drivers I’d had today if it was left on their bus.  I emailed the Guest Services Director of the Center relating my problem and the bag’s contents, saying if it was found I’d gladly pay to have it mailed to me, as I did not have enough time to return to the Center before it closed.  Fingers crossed.)

Our next “tour” was to the Pasco Aviation Museum. Very interesting place as it is housed in the old control tower, but not exactly what I anticipated as the 1936 Stearman was hangered and unavailable for display. The models were astounding and our guide was enthusiastic. NAS (Naval Air Station) Pasco was the location for the first ever WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) served here. Creating a legacy that still exists as one of Pasco’s own is a NASA astronaut I did learn that "Pappy" Boynton was associated with NAS Pasco.

On a walk to the ship’s gift shop Barbara and I found a collection of Faberge works of art donated by Tatiana Faberge. After gawking and exclaiming for minutes, B and I, we retired to 324, napped, chatted, read for a bit. I went down to Paddlewheel Lounge to update this blog.