Sunday August 28, Hood River OR
The girls saw us before we left this morning and invited us over to try some of their “grits” that they had cooked up to go with their breakfast……like a porridge but much nice, really enjoyed it. Stopped at an orchard nearby and bought fresh peaches and field tomatoes, they are so good. This area grows so much of the countries peaches, pears and apples, there are orchards everywhere.
Then onto the Maryhill Museum, not far down the road. It looks so bizarre to see this huge Georgian designed building sitting in the dry arid hills overlooking the river. Sam Hill who owned 6000 acres surrounding the house built it as his residence, but never ever came to live in it. He turned it over as a museum in the late 1920’s and it houses some quite diverse collections including those of the Queen of Romania, miniature fashions from French designers displayed on wire frames and the arts of the Native Americans. The surrounding land is now leased out to ranchers and farmers.
Continued West and the dry arid desert hills started to be replaced with more trees and the temperatures were a little cooler. We crossed back over the river to Oregon and the town of Hood River on a very long and rather narrow bridge….Ian pulled the wing mirrors in when he met a truck coming in the opposite direction. Rather pleased to get to the other side. This part of the gorge is an extremely popular spot for kite surfers who come from all around the world to enjoy the waves and wind created by a strong westerly backing up a swiftly flowing river.
There was a really strong wind blowing today and the surfers were out in huge numbers. Sat on the bank and watched for ages, at times wondering why there weren’t some serious accidents as they seemed to be going in all directions.
Enjoyed a meander around the town, had a great atmosphere and stopped at a little café for a late lunch. Evidently the Chinook salmon are starting to run and the local fishing shop gave Ian a link to some local guides but they were booked for days, quite disappointing.
Had read about Lost Lake at the foot of Mt Hood, a 45 minutes drive from town. Supposed to be a great place with views of the mountain across the lake with a campground which sounded perfect. Drove up and the temperatures cooled considerably, but felt really disappointed when we got there as firstly the campground was in the forest some distance from the lake which was really choppy and quite busy. Not at all what we pictured, so decided to head back towards town where there was a County Campground on the Hood River. It turned out to be just fine, nice open sites and not many people here.
Had a really enjoyable evening with fellow campers, Leah and Rob from Seattle who had come down here for the kite surfing. Leah designs jewellery and Rick designs websites, and they were married 3 months ago, so had a good chat about wedding photographers!
Then onto the Maryhill Museum, not far down the road. It looks so bizarre to see this huge Georgian designed building sitting in the dry arid hills overlooking the river. Sam Hill who owned 6000 acres surrounding the house built it as his residence, but never ever came to live in it. He turned it over as a museum in the late 1920’s and it houses some quite diverse collections including those of the Queen of Romania, miniature fashions from French designers displayed on wire frames and the arts of the Native Americans. The surrounding land is now leased out to ranchers and farmers.
Continued West and the dry arid desert hills started to be replaced with more trees and the temperatures were a little cooler. We crossed back over the river to Oregon and the town of Hood River on a very long and rather narrow bridge….Ian pulled the wing mirrors in when he met a truck coming in the opposite direction. Rather pleased to get to the other side. This part of the gorge is an extremely popular spot for kite surfers who come from all around the world to enjoy the waves and wind created by a strong westerly backing up a swiftly flowing river.
There was a really strong wind blowing today and the surfers were out in huge numbers. Sat on the bank and watched for ages, at times wondering why there weren’t some serious accidents as they seemed to be going in all directions.
Enjoyed a meander around the town, had a great atmosphere and stopped at a little café for a late lunch. Evidently the Chinook salmon are starting to run and the local fishing shop gave Ian a link to some local guides but they were booked for days, quite disappointing.
Had read about Lost Lake at the foot of Mt Hood, a 45 minutes drive from town. Supposed to be a great place with views of the mountain across the lake with a campground which sounded perfect. Drove up and the temperatures cooled considerably, but felt really disappointed when we got there as firstly the campground was in the forest some distance from the lake which was really choppy and quite busy. Not at all what we pictured, so decided to head back towards town where there was a County Campground on the Hood River. It turned out to be just fine, nice open sites and not many people here.
Had a really enjoyable evening with fellow campers, Leah and Rob from Seattle who had come down here for the kite surfing. Leah designs jewellery and Rick designs websites, and they were married 3 months ago, so had a good chat about wedding photographers!
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