Today Trish did tons of cooking for the three day holiday set that begins tonight. Trish insisted that instead of watching the kids, I wire a meter into our breaker box so that we would know how much power we’ve used when we visit people:
…Or maybe not.
In the afternoon, we decided to visit Portland’s famous Powel’s book store. On the way, we visited the old synagogue building as well as the townhouse we lived in before moving to New York. The four row houses pictured were all occupied by members of the Synagogue. Ours was second from the left:
After we returned, I went for a brief bike ride. It was nice to see Beaverton and TV highway again. Here are the stats:
In the morning, we continued heading West towards Portland. We briefly visited Marina Park in Cascade Locks, where our son and I went to look at the historic locks used to get sternwheelers past the falls on the Columbia. Meanwhile, Trish put ice on our daughter’s forehead where she had been hit by the chain of a tire swing when she was pushed a bit too hard.
We next went to the fish hatchery at Bonneville Dam. Here, millions of eggs are harvested from salmon and trout and grown into fish that are released into the river to maintain Oregon’s commercial and recreational fisheries:
Next we went to visit Bonneville Dam itself. The locks were closed to visitors this time of year, so we couldn’t see the ships raised up and through the locks on their way upstream. We did get to tour the massive generator room that contributes to the hydropower that supplies 68% of Oregon’s power needs. We also saw the fish ladder that allows the migratory salmon to get around the dam and back to their stream of origin for spawning:
In the fish counting area under the fish ladder, we saw lampreys clinging to the glass:
Quite a few fish of all sizes went by as we watched:
Continuing west, we visited Multnomah Falls. It was just a quick stop, so we didn’t hike to the top:
After that, we continued west and ended our day at the synagogue we used to attend before moving to New York, Kesser Israel. We will be parked here for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New year, which begins Wednesday night and runs into Shabbos. The congregation has a new building in a different part of town, but we look forward to seeing many of our old friends and reintroducing them to our son who was only a few weeks old when we moved away.
We drove 55 miles today. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.
As we say in the Hancock song, “218, take me home…”
The bustling metropolis that is Clarno, Oregon:
We opted for the Aboriginal Skills class in the morning time slot. I’m pretty sure our daughter is the only girl in her school that has used an atlatl:
Some farewell photos:
Flowers blooming thanks to a recent flash flood:
I was sad to leave, but also glad to leave behind the sense that it was a long, long time ago when I was in my 20s.
We decided to take the slightly longer but much flatter Columbia Gorge route to Portland. We dumped tanks and refilled water at an RV park along the way for only three dollars!
After a brief visit to the grounds of the Maryhill Museum and a grocery stop in The Dalles, we stopped for the night at the Forest Service’s Wyeth Campground. At only $10 a night, it was the cheapest option around.
We drove 135 miles today. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.
On Shabbos we hung around camp, and at night I helped out with the Astronomy program. Sunday morning, we opted for one of the interpretive hikes. Here’s our fearless guide:
We talked primarily about all the special features the various plants we encountered have to allow them to thrive in the arid grasslands of Eastern Oregon.
We hiked to the top of the Palisades:
I opted for the “pioneering explorer” stance in this photo:
The contrast with the High Sierras was quite stark. They’re both beautiful in my opinion:
After getting a few hours less sleep than I’d like, we headed North towards La Pine. It’s a lonely road, but in the end we reached Bend where we picked up a few things at my first ever visit to Harbor Freight.
At last we reached the sign that I had been waiting 20 years to see again:
I had staffed here for three summers in the 90s, and attended programs as a student for a half dozen years before that. It was good to be back!
After getting everything set up, I went for a quick ride. On the way, I passed through the town of Clarno, population 2 or so. The abandoned grange hall had been repainted and fixed up. There were a number of RVs parked there, so I asked what was going on. Turns out it was a Clarno family reunion, and Grandma Clarno had purchased the grange hall from the BLM and turned it into a family museum.
Crossing the John Day river:
The climb out of the John Day River valley was brutal, here are the stats:
I’ll be doing some Photography and Astronomy instruction this weekend. It really is great to be back!
We drove 193 miles today. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.
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