The Gorge

 Not had a really sunny day to take pictures of this, but this is the Columbia River.  The land on the right of the picture is Washington State.   On the left is Oregon.  Apparently this was once a much smaller river, but the state has it dammed up for hydroelectric production.

In the summer it is a huge wind surfing destination.  Word on the street is the water isn't very SANITARY!!!  Those who indulge can get a nasty thing called "River Rash".  YUCK!!

Cherry orchards, vineyards, and pear trees are everywhere here.  They say that springtime is beautiful.  Can't wait!!

The following are little carvings made of WHALE BONES.

We stayed with the carver and his little wife.  Monica thought they were cute.

The walrus and seal above are soapstone.

This one is made of driftwood.  I think his teeth are bone.  See his little toenails?

The nose on the polar bear is made of
baleen (filter system in the mouths of baleen whales)

This is the mouth of a baleen whale.

See the back of it's mouth in he hairy stuff.  That is baleen.

Look at that tongue.

Another bear with a baleen nose.  My word for the day...baleen :)

cuteness...

Probably can't make this out, but this bridge was cool.  

Railing is metal simulation of salmon swimming up stream.  Leads to a nature center.

The red flag is to tell the fire department where the hydrant is when the snow buries it :)

This is in our back yard for the next few weeks.  The weather is constantly changing.

If the weather is clear, you see this...

Mt. Hood

For more information see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood

Hello to all!!!!

Our Foggy week

It has been very foggy this week.  This is what it looked like most of the week.

This is a grain elevator.  They 

were made of wood. 

We saw several of these.

The fog and clouds finally cleared out.

This is White River Falls.  It was loud.

This is the view down the canyon.  That building in the bottom is an old power station.  They also used the water to grind wheat.  We hiked down the gorge to the river bottom.

 This is the lower falls.  The metal and wood at the bottom of the picture

is the roof of the mill in the previous picture.  See

the big pipe.  It funneled water to the turbines.

These are the turbines.  Very old and very vandalized.

Me...

This is the White River.  It connects with the Descheutes.  The White river has trout, the Deschetes has salmon.  I hope to see the salmon swimming upstream before we leave Oregon.

 This is me and Joe.  They spent several years in Alaska.  He is quite the pro at fishing.

Hope to learn some tricks.

We are both doing well.  Monica is sleeping tonight.  I think she is wore out.

Both of us will turn in early.  

Til next time...

Smith Rock

This is Monica with our new friends Stew and Suzie 

at a place called 'Smith Rock'.

We passed it on our way to up to their place 

and had to climb it. :)

I don't know if you can appreciate the size of this place, but it is a huge ROCK.

The moon and Monica!!!

←

Do you see the little
people?  They are climbing all over this thing.

See the little people...

The Crooked River runs around this whole area.  There is a gorge nearby.  It is spectacular.

I apologize for the shadows...wish we could have been there when the sun was higher

in the sky.

We hiked over the top of this place.  The trail was pretty steep and narrow.  Needless to 

say we were winded when we got to the top.  We saw these guys climbing on this rock...

See them on top of it?

This is the rest of it...

It is crazy high...see the little man on the top?

Thought this was a cool picture...

This is the other side of the big rock...look like anything?

See any resemblance?

It is called

"Monkey Face"...

Those climbers are on the back side of Monkey Face.

More pictures of the river.  Stew said there were trout here, but no salmon.

The salmon are up north in the
Gorge.  We go there in a couple of weeks.

Me inside a hollow rock :)

Eddens and Watsons...thought we might get this for our next vacay...

Some of the views...

That is Mount Jefferson to the right...

 This gives you and idea how steep the   

 trails are...

This is for those who don't make

it off on their own strength.

These could be seen in 

different places...

In the summer months rattlesnakes are common.

Wow!!!  What a place.  It is beautiful...much like the people we are meeting.

One thing stands out here, everyone is health conscious.  This place was

crawling with hikers and their dogs and kids.  There were climbers

all over the place too.  It was cold, but it doesn't seem to matter.  The climbers

actually like this type of weather.  The rocks get too hot in the summertime.

As long as you are moving, you don't notice it much.

Smith Rock wasn't my only new experience this week.  We preached

on an Indian reservation.  It is like a different world there.  They are an independent

nation ruled by the tribal leaders.  I wish we could have done more of the cultural

things.  Didn't take pictures...not sure how that would be viewed.  Maybe the next time we are there.  I also accompanied 3 local witnesses to the prison where they conduct meetings twice a week.  There were 14 in attendance.  I must say I was a little nervous, but all the

guys were very nice in the end.

We are well.  Adjusting to everything so far.  Hope you are all well too.

Til next time...