We awoke early, a little sad to be at the end of our
adventure, but looking forward to the day and the drive through the beautiful
Columbia River Gorge. Just west of The
Dalles we left I-84 to drive a nine-mile section of the Historic
Columbia River Highway (U.S. 30).
Not only were we sightseeing, we wanted to scope out a portion of the Historic
Columbia River Highway State Trail for a future bicycle ride.
The highway was a gloriously twisty climb, from the floor of
the gorge to the tops of cliffs over 900 fee above the river, with stunning vistas cloaked in fall colors.
The Transit seemed to enjoy the drive as much as we did, because it
performed flawlessly.
Thankfully, during this part of our drive, there was no
rain. But almost as soon as we returned
to I-84, a steady rain began, leading us to forego a stop at Multnomah
Falls. (No worries – Diane had been to the
falls before, and given our intent to return for a bicycling adventure, Rob
will see them in the future.)
Instead, we hatched a new plan – bicycle-related! We would drive into Portland’s Alberta
Arts District, one of our favorite places, have lunch at Bollywood Theater (delicious authentic Indian cuisine – Pork Vindaloo
for Diane and Aloo Tiki, Chole, Chutney & Paratha for Rob) and dessert at Back to Eden (100% plant based, vegan &
gluten free and totally delicious) and explore the wonderful wares at the Community Cycling Center. That plan (which replicates our 2016
celebration of our 46th anniversary) turned out to be quite
satisfying. We not only had wonderful
food, we got some good used bicycle parts, and for Diane, new waterproof
cycling gloves. Her last pair were a
gift from her dear mother, way back in 2000, when she learned Diane was
occasionally wearing yellow Playtex Living Gloves over her non-waterproof cycling
gloves. Since we were on a roll, we also
stopped at Bike Clark County, just
across the Columbia River, in Vancouver, WA, and got some more used cycling
goods.
Two hours later, our adventure was complete. We pulled into the driveway. Our house was still standing, and thanks to
our fine neighbor, Jim, our houseplants were thriving. We put things away, did laundry and grocery
shopping, and capped off the evening with an end-of-adventure-celebratory toast
of Drambuie. Yum!
Happy trails to all!
Rob and Diane
Traveling up out of the Gorge on Hwy 30
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| The view from the top. |
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| Diane with the mystical beaver on Alberta Street. |
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| Already planning another ride :) |
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