Oct 11, 2009 -- Portland, OR to Hood River, OR

Since we had lived in the Portland area for five years (Nov, 1977- July, 1983) we decided to drive by our old house in Lake Oswego.  It had changed little -- only all the trees were bigger.  Here's the house:

We had a chance to meet the current owner as he prepared to run an errand.

Next, we drove through downtown and saw some of our old haunts.  It was fun.

We headed east on I-84 up the Columbia George.  We wanted to go up Mount Hood.  We got a good look at it as we left Portland.  That's the Portland airport in the foreground:

There are many pretty views and attractions in the George.  One of them is Multnomah Falls, a total of 611 feet high (upper plus lower falls):

It had gotten windy and rather chilly, so we had a picnic in the car in the parking lot of the Falls.  Then onward to see more sights.  As we got closer to Mount Hood, it loomed larger:

We decided to take the winding road to Mount Hood Meadows, a favorite skiing Resort for folks in the area. They did have their snowplow guidepoles up:

Sadly, the gate at the ski area was closed because there had been very little snow:

We could vouch that there had been SOME snow:

It was really funny when we put the well known ski resort, Timberline Lodge, into our car's navigation system and it showed this very winding track to the Lodge:

So, off we went.  Here is the view as we approached Timberline Lodge.  Talk about tall POLES!:

Once we got to the timber line we had a wonderful view across the valleys below toward Mount Jefferson to the south:

We arrived at Timberline Lodge and went inside.  Bill immediately found a comfortable chair and had a seat.  He seemed to like the warmth of the huge "living room:"

Here is a look down at the huge circular fireplace in the main room.  It is a popular meeting point for guests and visitors alike:

The Lodge is very rustic and caters to all ages.  Here is the bar's lounge (on the upper level):

Looking out across the valley offered pretty hues of blue.  That's one of the night ski trails at the bottom of the picture:

Here is a picture of the outside of the Lodge.  The strange white structure is a vestibule to stop the wind and snow from blowing into the main entrance:

And, yes, there was some snow on the ground.  We got a bottle of it to take home:

It was getting late and we didn't have a reservation for a motel for the night, so we headed back down the mountain to the Town of Hood River next to the Columbia River.  We found a quaint spot for the night, the Vagabond Lodge, which was built decades ago and was "charming."