We Don't Want to Go!

Love this picture!

loading up,

hugs Grandma,



some final pictures around town,



washing the dust off the car, we got to stop at Erica's favorite market one last time for change,
Erik helped his Dad with the brickwork for this park,
Erik's mom work here at the courthouse for years,
heading toward La Grande,







driving along the Columbia River-Washington State is on the other side,

Columbia River Gorge,




Mt. Hood,

fish on the fence, we passed one with horses but I missed it,





a visit to the Bonneville Dam,
spill way,
all the turbines have been replaced, the last was put in just last year,


the salmon still need to get up and down the river,

there is a maze for them to go up,
and a little detour for them to go down river,

this is the "waterfall" for the fish to jump up-we saw a few but there is an easier way that most of them were taking,





we got to actually go inside the dam,
there are loads of roses in Portland,






this was our favorite for smell, color and look-it's called Memories. Erik smelling it: it brings all my memories back,
we got caught for about 20 minutes with a barge needing to go through the locks,

I hopped out to get pictures of flowers,




and discovered a huge cashe of blackberries,
oh my gosh, feasted on everything we could get to,

this is supposed to be the largest freestanding single rock in North America, Beacon Rock is 848' tall,

Next stop was beautiful Multnomah Falls, the second largest continuous waterfall in the US. It is fed by an underground spring with water cascading 627',

there is a trail that leads to the very top of the falls-we couldn't resist,







at the top,
















back down to the bottom,

we drove by the coolest neighborhood on the way to our hotel in Portland,
can you imagine, I wonder if they have a mosquito problem,
Erik talked about how they used to sail up here and stop at the island in the back ground as well as other ones up the Columbia.