Vista House from Chanticleer Point, in the Columbia River Gorge

Please scroll down to see today's dahlia, TG-12, from the Canby Dahlia Trial Test Garden, sponsored by The Portland Dahlia Society and The American Dahlia Society, in co-operation with Swan Island Dahlias, maintained in honor of Nick Gitts, Sr. Dahlias on trial--not for sale.

The last full week of September Lamont's friend John came to Portland from Lafayette, Louisiana, for vacation. On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20, Mama and I drove him here and there in both Portland and the Columbia River Gorge.

Y'all won't believe it, but I decided I could drive up to Vista House from the east and then down along the Historic Columbia River Scenic Highway, from Latourell Falls to Wahkeena Falls to Multnomah Falls to Oneonta Gorge and the Oneonta Tunnel to Horsetail Falls. I convinced myself that if I went up there from that direction, I would be on very few scary, high, curving roads--that's the way Lamont took Mama, Lucy and me last November. And I figured that I could drive all the way down even with the curving, high, scary roads because 95% of the time, I'd be hugging the earth. By that I mean I would have the other lane to my left which meant the thin air was at least that far away from me. Out the passenger window all I could see was earth, trees, ferns, the woods.

Our first stop, Chanticleer Point (now known as the Portland Women's Forum Scenic Viewpoint), provided the opportunity to get this vista and its photograph. You can see the actual Vista House there in the distance, on the right atop Crown Point, 733 feet above the Columbia River.


This is a closely cropped shot of Vista House. In the blurry background you might be able to see bits of the Bonneville Dam. I'm not sure about the name of that rock sticking up. I need to do more research. I did discover that Chanticleer Point stands at 705 feet. That's why I said drive up at the first of this post.


Here's a shot of Vista House that I took in May, 2007, when our friend Milton and Kay were here visiting from Mississippi. I didn't take one like this last month--some sort of work was going on which meant plywood here and there.

As we made our way down into the Gorge, Mama kept saying from the back seat, "You don't look scared from back here. You're doing just fine." And I later found out that John told Lamont he thought we just might drive off the road to the right a couple of times--I knew I got close to the edge, but I couldn't help myself. I did make it, though. Hooray for me!

Look beneath the dahlia for more information about Crown Point and Vista House.

Dahlia TG-12.


From the Oregon State Parks Web site: Millions of visitors driving from Portland through the Columbia River Gorge don't realize the full impact of its beauty until they come around the bend near Corbett at exit 22 and see the famous building on the top of the cliff to the right. This is Crown Point and the building is the Vista House.

Just as the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom, the Vista House serves as the symbol of the Columbia River Gorge. In fact, the architect of the Vista House -- Edgar Lazarus -- and Emma Lazarus (who wrote the poem of the Statue of Liberty), were brother and sister.

The Vista House was built in 1916 at the same time as Highway 30 (what is now the Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway, and the only way to reach Crown Point). The building was designed to be a place of refreshment and enjoyment of the Columbia Gorge. The popular clifftop viewpoint recently underwent a $3.2 million restoration to repair and rejuvenate the building's key historic features.

The octagonal building with its copper dome houses a museum, gift shop and interpretive display of historic and geologic points of interest in the Gorge.

Vista House is open daily from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. beginning March 14. Beginning April 19, visitor hours are extended to 9 a.m.-6 p.m. The building remains open daily through Oct. 31.

ELLEA, Monday, November 3, 2008, sightseeing with Lamont in his new-to-him Volvo stationwagon

Our plans for Monday included eating brunch at Bijou Cafe, joined by Lamont who would meet us there. We rode the #17 bus. Don't Lucy and Edna (Mama) look like veteran mass-transit-users?

We got our first look at the new bicycle parking spaces in front of the Bijou.

I love this photo of them, at our table at the Bijou.

Knowing how delicious it is, I got the goat cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onion omelet. It comes with potatoes and toast--but I gave the toast to Lamont and got a buttermilk pancake on the side. Plus I had a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, truly the nectar of the gods. Mama and Lucy split a short order of pancakes and a side of bacon. I cannot remember what Lamont got, but I do remember that he cleaned his plate.


After devouring our scrumptious food, we walked a block to Lamont's car so that he could serve as our transportation and tour guide for the day. Our plan was to head for the Columbia River Gorge, east of Portland, with as many stops as possible where sights could be seen from the car. Typical rainy weather plus the physical stamina of Lucy and Mama set the parameters for us. As you'll see, though, they got out of the car a few times and kindly posed for photos.

The entire drive to our first stop, the Vista House, brought us one glorious autumn sight after another. I couldn't get any shots, though, because we were going too fast on the interstate. Here are several shots I took once I got out of the car at the Vista House, standing upright despite the strong, buffeting winds.
This photo faces east and a bit south, I think.

There in the mist you can get a glimpse of the Columbia River--to the far left is Washington state. The gray streak bordered by autumn-colored trees is I-84.

I got a bit of the Vista House in this photo, as well as the roadway that Lamont drove on to get us up to the 733-foot summit known as Crown Point. This was the third visit for Mama and me, but it was our first time to come from that direction. I found it much less scary to approach that height on the Historic Columbia River Highway. That's the way we came, once we had exited I-84 at Troutdale, Oregon. The white specks in the trees are actually fence posts along the shoulder of the highway. For those of you who are history/info buffs, the two links make for rewarding clicks.

It didn't take us long to realize we'd be much better off inside the warm, dry car, so we continued on the Historic Columbia River Highway to our next stop, Wahkeena Falls. Here are a few photos of the scenes we saw.

I took these photos through the windshield, as Lamont continued to drive.

Lucy and Edna (Mama) stand on the sidewalk beside Wahkeena Falls. Mama took one look at this photo and said, "That wind at Vista House blew my hair inside out!"

Lamont points to the top of the falls, just visible through the trees that have lost lots of their leaves.

Here's the first VW bus of the day--we ended up seeing seven or eight, I can't remember for sure.

I had to squat down to get this photo, and I still couldn't get the entire falls and its creek-like-self in the same photo.

Here's the part that's closest to the sidewalk.

The sound was wonderful!

I like this close-up of water pouring over one of the rocks.

Across the road, the water continues to rush.

Half a mile from Wahkeena Falls, we stopped at Multnomah Falls.

Mama took her glasses off to keep them dry--the sprinkling rain continued to fall.

More beautiful scenery followed, as we drove towards I-84 and the Bonneville Dam, our next planned stop.

What an astounding road to travel this must have been for folks in Model Ts!

Once we got back onto I-84, we passed a follow car. The decals in the back window, lower left corner, provided a good clue as to what the oversize load was, just ahead on a flatbed truck.

I think it's part of a wind turbine base, no doubt.

Once we got to the Bonneville Lock and Dam, we stopped for a few photos. Aren't these trees gorgeous?

Here's the powerhouse, on the Oregon side of the dam and the river.

I-84 is elevated, with the beautiful trees behind it and the low clouds overhead. Come to think of it, I don't know the height of those mountains, so I don't really know if it's correct to call those low clouds or if they're mists of fog, or what. Pretty neat looking, though.

Here's the spillway, on the northern side of the river, the Washington side.

When I got out of the car to take the previous few photos, I saw an odd-shaped structure and a narrow rose garden. Naturally, I had to go for a closer look. Here's the odd-shaped structure.

And here's some posted info about it.

Only two rose bushes still had pretty blooms on them, first the creamy white Garden Party and then the soft yellow Summer Sunshine.



We continued east on I-84, towards Hood River, Oregon, where we planned to go south on 35, eventually connecting to 26 so that we could go west, back towards Portland and home. I like this shot of a short tunnel we encountered.

Another pretty vista.

And another one.

The last time I saw this row of trees on Highway 35 was last October, when Mama, Marsha and I made the Hood River Fruit Loop Tour. I was driving then and couldn't get a photo.

We three women were awestruck at the brilliant red tree on the east side of the highway. I took this photo out Lamont's driver-side window, and I'm pleased with how it came out.

Wish I knew what sort of orchard this is.

I don't know what's made so many evergreens turn this yellow. But I doubt that it's good.

Here you have two photos of a Runaway Truck Ramp, quite a scary sight!


Here's another one of the VW buses that we saw on Monday. We're on Highway 26 now, not too far from home. Lamont got us there safe and sound, in plenty of time to rest up for "Dancing With the Stars." Love that paso doble team dance!