Wednesday, February 27, 2008

A scenic drive

I came here to work. Honest. I sat at a display most of the day today, and managed to get a great deal of work done while I was there.

But... I took a local seminary's recruiter's suggestion and headed back north to the Columbia River Gorge to drive along the Columbia River Highway. I took my time, stopping to see waterfalls along the way. It was an absolutely perfect day, partly cloudy, mid-50s, a little bit of a breeze. I could not have planned a better side trip for the day. There will be pictures when I get home.

I drove on up the interstate for awhile after I came to the end of the scenic highway. I turned around to return and drive on to Eugene, OR, just before sunset. The darkness slowly enveloped me while I chased down the sunlight heading west toward Portland. The last light of the day hovered over the river on the horizon until I finally exited to get something to eat....salad with smoked salmon. Yum!

Tomorrow, I'll return to Portland by way of the Oregon coast. If the weather's as good as it was today, I'm in for a real treat. Even if it's foggy and cold, it'll be a treat. I love the many moods of the coast. Whatever the day offers will be wonderful!

8 comments:

Kathryn said...

It sounds wonderful...So glad you are getting a chance to enjoy all that beauty. Looking forward to pictures :-)

jo(e) said...

Oh, I'm envious! I went to a conference in Eugene a couple years ago and drove along the coast near Portland with some friends, and it was just beautiful.

Unknown said...

It all sounds great! (I remember when jo(e) blogged her trip!)

Jan said...

Sounds lovely. I really like the Oregon coast. I also remember driving down the Columbia gorge when we moved from VA to the Oregon coast many years ago.

Linda said...

Jo(e)- is that the trip when you got car sick?

Thanks, everyone! The coast was beautiful. I got to see it with the sun shining and the fog rolling in. More later. I've got to catch a plane in a bit.

jo(e) said...

Yep, that's the trip where I got carsick. The twisting roads in the mountains did me in.

It's such a beautiful part of the country.

JM said...

i remember that story of jo(e)'s too!

Linda said...

I drove from Newport up to Tillamook along the coast. I'll blog about it later, but I sat on the beach in Oceanside ( a little north of Tillamook) until there was no light left in the sky, then drove back to Portland. I couldn't tell from the map that the road from Tillamook to Portland went over a mountain. It was dark by then, and I couldn't really see what I was driving through. It was windy and hilly, but my first clue that there was significant elevation was the snow piled up on the sides of the road. I wish I could have seen the mountain and forest in the daylight.