Cruising on Thursday: The Dalles

 Anyone care to wager what makes the sun so beautifully and scarily red, first thing in the morning? Indeed. Today the air is hazy... wildfire smoke. We've had a good run.

We spent the morning at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and the National Neon Sign Museum. Super interesting and definitely exceeded expectations. This area has a lot of history. A history of hard working people who forged a life for themselves in tough conditions, using the natural resources provided by this land.

The neon sign museum came about when one guy started collecting them in his youth and spent a life time learning the art of making them too. 

He and his wife own the place and are restoring the historic building it resides in, to its former and very original looking, glory.

Did you know there are only two real colors and the others are all a blend, or colored glass to contain them? Argon glows blue when electrified. Neon glows bright red. 

This is the owner's son, David. I believe his parents make him earn his keep it the summers between his years at college.  Kidding! (A tiny bit)

David was an excellent guide. Knowledgeable, well spoken, entertaining and considerate. The guided tour was just the right length and very interesting. 

And what the heck does Ronald McDonald have to do with any of this, you ask? No idea! But he seemed to want to take a selfie with us, so we complied. 

After lunch, we were off to the Maryhill Winery... Oh boy! Oh boy!

We loved the tour and learned a bit about wine making tour. The view from the winery over the river was spectacular too. But I think it's fair to say, we came to taste! 

Donnie lead the way.

We tasted all of these in order. What you see in the picture is Dallice's really unprofessional wine-taster opinion. (I never claimed to have skills, I claimed to have enthusiasm. Different, but both are equally important.) All we can really determine here is that I have to start buying more Reserve Wines. Those smaller batches the winery's save and label/price as a bit more special.

The rosé was great. Beautiful flavor and easy to sip. Too easy. I'd like to remember it as the taste of a summer afternoon - fresh fruit and bird song.

Pinot Gris (the same as Pinot Grigio... the Italian version). Really did taste like nectarine, IMHO. Also easy to drink too much of on a hot day!

Lot 12 Reserve was a "mistake". Someone added 50% Merlot to the Barberra and whoops... a star was born. It might have been my favorite. Crazy good flavor and yep, the cocoa spoke to me as you would imagine.

Skip ahead... the other ones in the middle were not awful but not delightfully memorable either. 

The last one: Zinfandel Reserve.  Mmmm... yummy.  Could I taste spiced rum or cloves? No. Thankfully. But I think detected the hint of blackberry jam that is in the description. 

Given all that I taste and don't taste, I might subscribe to our sommelier's theory that one builds a smell/taste library and from that, draws upon the data and memories they have to attribute names to what they taste. 

My library I conclude, is full of fruit and chocolate memories. Some spices. But little in the way of oak, toast, cedar and tobacco.  I can live with that. After all, when does when develop a taste for cedar? My only recollection involves fancy closets or mulching the garden!

Sunset back on the American Song. Another treat! We passed through a lock as cocktail hour was in progress. Who doesn't love food, drink and an interesting view, all at the same time?

Looking forward... 

And then the view from the back of the boat as the lock closed after we entered.

I might have been the only person on the boat to run to the front again... or to run, in general, if you don't count our exceptional waiter, Vu.

You've heard the expression: "Take a picture. It will last longer" right?  The locks were a highlight of the trip and I'd like to remember them forever, honestly. I took pictures and a video!

No photos of dinner tonight. Give me a break... I had a wine tasting, a cocktail hour and wine at dinner. It's a miracle I hadn't fallen overboard, let alone had the where-with-all to take the pics I did.

Cruising on Wednesday: Multnomah Falls and Stevenson

Maybe I forgot to mention this, but the Columbia River is also the state line between Washington and Oregon.  Disembark on the south side of the river, you're in Oregon. Disembark on the north side and you are in Washington.

Waking up to a gentle cruise on a scenic river, under blue skies, is pretty magical. Welcome to the Columbia River Gorge.

Today we disembarked in Stevenson, WA then took a shuttle to Multnomah Falls located over the bridge on the Oregon side. Brace yourselves; there are a lot of pictures!

It was a short but very scenic drive on the new road, over the old bridge, alongside the old road. This is the area near the Cascade Lock... which I slept through as we were lifted up this morning. Dang it!

The hike to the top was about a 600' elevation gain along a narrow hiking trail that was mainly switchbacks. An invigorating workout that about a half dozen of us managed - along with our excursions director, Rebecca. I'd say it took all of 75 minutes to get up and back down and that was 15 minutes longer than the bus driver told us we had. Oops! Couldn't be helped, man. That was about as fast as it could be done after omelets and French toast for breakfast.

Taken from that bridge you see in the above pic:

Taken from the top: 

From the top, we had a small cascade before the water slid past us and then over the edge.  The leaves were just starting to turn those rusty shades that indicate fall is coming.  It smelled so good up there.

That's the visitor center and viewing platform for Multnomah Falls, down there. Hello, Donnie!!!

We went back to the boat for lunch, then launched into an afternoon in Stevenson.

I honestly don't know what you mean.... Strawberry shortcake is totally appropriate if you climbed a towering waterfall! This gal had to keep up her strength if she was going to keep up with Donnie and learn about the dam this afternoon.

Gotta love some of the signage around Stevenson. I mean, if you are the train driver and you come upon this, isn't the first question "why not just 30 seconds?"

I don't remember too much about Stevenson. I think it was one of those blink and you miss it, towns.

The dam and fish ladder was interesting though. It never occurred to me that fish had to get around a dam. I figured they either lived below or above it and didn't need a ladder. I was wrong!

Turbines for hydro-electric power generation. Very important and supplying a ton of people in various states with electricity.

The fish ladder! A means by which salmon can circumvent the dam and get further up the river for spawning. Even more surprising than a fish ladder is that it's someone's job to count fish as they swim past the windows, in order to gauge numbers and use this data to regulate fishing. Now there is a job I don't see getting a lot of applicants for! A bit of a snooze, eh?!

Lamprey. Ugly little suckers. Kinda like eels? Traditionally eaten? IMHO, the stuff of bad dreams.

Back to the boat... And time for cocktails and dinner!

As the American Song cruised through this stretch of the Columbia at dinner time, we were treated to a host of sailing, parasailing and windsurfing type entertainment. 

I think I had the lamb for dinner! Gosh... I guess it was great or I would have remembered the only bad meal. I certainly delighted in the flourless chocolate torte, that I do remember!