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.