Clare and I went on a Road Scholar trip to Oregon.  We did go a couple of days early to see some of the Portland area that wasn’t scheduled on the trip.  Since we are avid wine drinkers, Oregon was a place we had wanted to go to try some of their outstanding wines. We started in Carlton since we’d heard so much about Ken Wright’s outstanding Pinot Noir.  From there we did try several more wineries and sampled some very good wines in the area.

We visited the Hoover-Minthorn House in Newberg which was Herbert Hoover’s childhood home after both his parents had died.  Once we met up with the Road Scholar group, we visited Mt Hood, specifically the Timberline Lodge that was built during the Great Depression.  Our Road Scholar guide was extremely knowledgeable and pointed out that they really built the lodge in the wrong location since the next time Mt Hood erupts, it will wipe out the lodge.  Enjoy it while you can.

We visited the Portland International Rose Test Garden.  That’s me with a statue of a Royal Rosarian greeter.  As I recall, the roses were sent from Europe during World War II since there was a great fear that many varieties would be destroyed during the war.  It was Portland’s gain.  There is also a Japanese garden that we explored.

We spent a day in downtown Portland exploring the city.  It’s really a very interesting city with many sites to explore.  One sign post was of particular interest since it pointed to so many other cities and places to visit.

We took a trip to the coast and our guide was telling us about the potential of a tidal wave hitting the Oregon coast.  Looked like nice surfing out in the ocean.  We stopped at one point where there was a sign that indicated that it was a tsunami assembly area, interestingly right in front of a cemetery.   We then moved on to a Lewis and Clark encampment and watched a musket shot demonstration.

Another day was spent going up the Columbia River Gorge and hearing about the geography of the area.  I found it absolutely fascinating to hear how the Columbia River Gorge was formed.  The guide took us to some of the most wonderful waterfalls along the gorge.  We also visited some of the eastern part of the state to see the dryer part.  Our last stop was at the Bonneville Dam which was also quite interesting.  Seeing the fish swimming along the fish ladders behind glass was really fascinating.