Oregon

After a short three weeks stay in Florida and hosting my beautiful granddaughters we hit a road again. A direct Jet Blue flight from Ft. Lauderdale took us to Portland, Oregon. We rented an Avis car and headed to our Portland hotel Kimpton River Palace (2 nights) located on the riverfront. Recently Portland received a lot of bad publicity due to the riots so we were pleasantly surprised to see how clean and flower filled was a path along the river in the front of the hotel during our morning walk.

Our first destination was an Oregon Coast seaside town of Cannon Beach located 1.5 hours from Portland. The centerpiece attraction of Cannon Beach is the staggering Haystack Rock, found just offshore. Surrounding Haystack Rock to the north and south are white sand beaches. We walked along sand dunes and visited Ecola State Park that extends right from the beach with stunning views of the coast. We had lunch in a charming town which offered a lots of shopping and a handful of restaurants that are among the top dining spots anywhere along the coast.

At night back in Portland we had dinner in a very interesting contemporary Russian cuisine restaurant Kachka that was featured in New York Times several years ago.

We left early the following day for Columbia River Gorge located just 30 miles from Portland. As you drive along a Historic Columbia River Highway on the banks of a mighty Columbia River you can find hundreds of stunning waterfalls.

The largest one is Multnomah Falls. This 620-foot two-tier waterfall is truly breathtaking. We hiked a steep mile long trail up to the Multnomah Falls Upper Viewpoint admiring the views. I highly recommend to make this a first stop while exploring the area because of the limited parking and the crowds later in a day.

Next we drove to a Sherrand Viewpoint at the end of Larch Mountain Road to see an incredible view of 5 snow covered volcanos from a single vista point, St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson. What a sight!

We also stopped at Crown Point Vista House to view a beautiful scenery of the Columbia river valley below and explored two more waterfalls, Latoutell Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, that were beautiful in its own way.

At the end of a long and exiting day we drove to our hotel at Hood River town, Columbia Cliff Villas(2nights).Our River front room was a treat. Celilo restaurant for dinner in town was an unexpectedly delicious.

We started the next morning with a hike to the stunning Wahclella Falls.

Afterwards we visited a very unusual attraction: Bonneville Fish Hatchery. The best part was the ponds that are home to some large rainbow trout and gigantic sturgeon. All of the sturgeon were big, but 48 year old Herman stood out at 10 feet long and weighing 500 pounds. We were not sure if he was a fish or a dinosaur.

To relax we took a two hour cruise aboard the Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler. We learned about the history of the Columbia River Gorge and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We also got to try a locally sourced beer in one of the dozen Microbreweries in the area.

We ended a day on a deck of 3 River Grill with the best views in town.

We saw a good deal of waterfalls and a nice change of pace was a visit to a Hood River Fruit Loop. The Hood River Fruit loop is located in the beautiful Hood River Valley at the foot of a majestic Mt. Hood. The twenty-nine members offer you a variety of wines, fruits, vegetables, flowers, ciders, and food. The most outstanding were two stops. On the first one, the Gorge White House Fruit Stand & Winery, we got to pick up our own strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and cherries while admiring views that reminded us of Tuscany. The second stop, the Lavender Farm, brought us to Provence.

We continued a trip to see and hike around two beautiful lakes, Lost Lake and Trillium Lake , which both offered great views of Mt. Hood.

After a good dinner at sushi restaurant Oishi and spending a night at SCP Hotel Redmond, we drove a Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway that offers stunning mountain views including Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, and South Sister. We stopped along the way at three of 14 alpine lakes in the area to enjoy various recreational activities. I swam in a chilly water in one of the lakes. Even though it was close to 90 degrees outside there was snow on the ground.

Later we drove to an amazing Newberry National Volcanic Monument. It includes 54,000+ acres of lakes, lava flows, and spectacular geologic features in central Oregon. The highest point within the Monument is the summit Paulina Peak (7,985 ft.), showcasing views of the Cascades, Newberry Caldera and across the High Desert. Volcanic lake Pauline had the boat rides to the hot spring on the shore. I would recommend to spend a few hours there relaxing and swimming. Also do not miss a hike on a mere 1300 years old, the Big Obsidian Flow that is the youngest lava flow in Oregon. A one-mile interpretive trail climbs up and onto this impressive lava flow of obsidian (black glass) and pumice.

It took almost 2.5 hours to get to our next hotel Resort at Eagle Point for a three nights stay. The accommodations were very comfortable and brand new which is a rarity in Oregon.

The weather was extremely hot(high of 113 degrees) but it did not go past 80 degrees at the Crater Lake National Park at the 7000 plus feet elevation.

It is impossible to describe the beauty of a spectacular deep blue Crater Lake. With a depth of 1,943 feet, a Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States – and one of the most beautiful. The water’s intense blue color is an indication of its great depth and purity. Surrounded by cliffs, the lake is fed entirely by rain and snow. It was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption. Wizard Island is a volcanic cinder cone which forms an island at the west end of the lake.

We drove along a lake rim stopping at the view points, taking pictures and admiring a scenery. It was one of the highlights of the trip.

By lunch time we returned to the hotel to get ready for our next adventure, Oregon unique outdoor concert experience located at the one-of-a-kind 53-acre Discovery Park under the Table Rock cliffs.

We arrived there by a speed jet boat on a Rogue River. The entire concert by a group Indubious (Reggae) was performed on a private lake’s floating stage. Everyone was dancing, drinking beer and it was a very unusual fun evening. Even though it was 106 outside, a humidity was very low and the tents and the water mist showers outside kept us cool.

An unprecedented heat of 116 degrees continued. The only way to beat it was to be on the water. A white water rafting trip on Rogue River was arranged by an Orange Torpedo outfit. We selected the easiest trip that started at the ominous “Hellgate Canyon” with some fast water that continued until you enter the narrow gorge of the canyon, where we could relax in the pools, staring up at canyon walls and taking in a scenery around us. It was an exiting morning.

Later on we got to see a charming town of Ashland where an annual Shakespeare Festival is held and where you can deep into mineral hot springs. Unfortunately, due to heat and Covid, neither was available.

It was time to move to the last part of our trip, Oregon wine county, Willamette Valley, Oregon version of Napa Valley.

On a way there we stopped at King’s Winery, one of the most beautiful and scenic wineries I ever saw. It was surrounded by the rolling hills of wines and lavender. We tasted one of the most popular Oregon wines, Pinot Gris, accompanied by a delicious plate of local cheeses, meats, honey, mustard and nuts.

Our hotel for the last three nights was the Allison Inn and Spa. It offered stunning walking trails with open air art gallery, gardens, vineyard and valley views.

We visited Atticus Private Winery where a Pinot Noir wine tasting was presented by the owner inside her beautiful house. She told us a fascinating story how she ended up being an Oregon wine farmer while being originally from Ft. Lauderdale.

A dinner at the Joel Palmer House where each dish was cooked with local mushrooms was very good.

The temperatures finally went down to mid 60 and it was a perfect weather for our last hike. Considered the best hike in the state, The Ten Falls Trail was an amazing one. It takes you around Silver Creek Canyon, passing ten beautiful waterfalls, very tall moss covered trees and wild flowers meadows. You can actually can walk under the falls. The hike is 7.2 miles but there are numerous shortcuts.

While driving toward the hike we passed several gorgeous flower fields.

Dinners at Tina’s was exquisite.

On our last day we visited a Durant oil mill and tried varieties of locally produced olive oils and vinegars. It was a substitute for a delicious lunch.