END OF TRIP OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER CRUISE...STORY IS BACKWARDS, POSTED A LITTLE EACH DAY SO THE "LAST SHALL BE FIRST".

KEVIN NEIL SANG US "SONGS OF THE COWBOY", MANY FROM THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS...COOL WATER, WAGON WHEELS, ETC.  AND THREW A FEW JOKES IN, TOO.

BUT THIS GUY WAS THE STAR OF THE TRIP...IAN SIMPSON, A NATURALIST AND HISTORIAN. I WENT TO ALL OF HIS LECTURES.  HE WAS BORN IN AUSTRALIA, CAME TO THE USA IN 1980, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, KNOWS HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY BETTER THAN A LOT OF PEOPLE....HE BLEW MY MIND OF HIS KNOWLEDGE, HE WAS DRAMATIC IN SEVERAL INSTANCES, VERY HUMOROUS.....I LEARNED A BUNCH, ABOUT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE, AND THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION.  HE MADE IT SO INTERESTING, THAT I REMARKED TO HIM, THAT IF MY HISTORY BOOKS WERE WRITTEN LIKE HE TALKED, I MAY HAVE GOTTEN AN "A"...AS IT IS, I ALWAYS HATED HISTORY, AND PASSED THE COURSE BY THE SKIN OF MY TEETH! (please don't ask me any history that i "learned"....i perhaps forgot half of it, in my old age!)

CLOSEUP OF THE BUSH STARTING WITH A "C"

LINDA AND ASTOR COLUMN, ASTORIA, OREGON
MURALS ON COLUMN CELEBRATE NORTHWEST HISTORY AND ARE EVENTS ROM  1792 TO 1818.  CONSTRUCTED OF CONCRETE, DEPTH OF FOUNDATION 12 FEET, HGT. 125 FT., 164 STEPS ( WHICH I PERSONALLY CLIMBED WHEN I WAS 21 WHEN WE LIVED IN SEATTLE....THAT WOULD BE 60 YRS. AGO!  AIEEEE!!) ORIGINAL COST $27,133.96.

FROM THE COLUMN...AWESOME SIGHT

WE WERE GIVEN THESE PLANES TO THROW OFF THE HILL....I SAW ONE ABOUT 3 BLOCKS AWAY ON OUR WAY UP, ON TOP OF A BUSH....MINE CRASHED IN TEN FEET. PPPPPTTTT!

THIS IS A MONUMENT THAT IS ABOUT FISHING AND INDIANS, AND I CAN'T FIND MY NOTES ON IT.

MORE THAN THE COLUMN, I WAS DELIGHTED TO HAVE A "I WONDER IF IT'S TRUE" MOMENT NEAR THE COLUMN.  I WAS TOLD, OR READ, THAT THIMBLEBERRIES GROW IN OREGON AS WELL AS IN MICHIGAN AND MAIN.  HERE IS LIVING PROOF!

MANY OF THE POSTS IN THE HARBOR OF ASTORIA GREW FUZZY HATS

AND BRIGHT  GREEN ROCKS...ALGAE.  WE WENT TO SEE THE SEA LIONS, BUT

THEY WERE TOO FAR OUT TO REALLY GET A GOOD LOOK.  BUT WE HEARD THEM BARKING.

ASTORIA HARBOR

THERE WERE MANY OF THESE BUSHES HERE...GOOD SMELL, FULL OF HONEYBEES, AND I WROTE THE NAME DOWN AND CAN'T FIND IT...ALL I KNOW, IT STARTS WITH A "C"

THE CAPTAIN ....INVITED US TO THE BRIDGE TO SEE WHAT HE DOES UP THERE
HE HAS BEEN A CAPTAIN FOR OVER 30 YEARS

MT. ST. HELEN'S.....WE WERE DOCKED AT KALAMA, WA...RODE THE BUS FOR MANY MILES ON CURVES AND CLIFFS AND BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

WE WERE AT THE HIGHEST LOOKOUT...JOHNSON RIDGE OBSERVATORY.  YOU CAN PLAINLY SEE THAT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN BLEW....1340 FT. OFF THE TOP, AND AFFECTED 230 MILES.  10 ACRES ARE DEEMED A NATIONAL PARK, AND NO TREES ARE PLANTED ON THAT PROPERTY.

AFTER THE MT. BLEW, THERE WERE AT LEAST 500 LOGGING TRUCKS A DAY, GOING AS FAR AS THEY COULD TO SALVAGE LOGS. (LOG JAM?)  OVER A MILLION TREES WERE PLANTED OUT OF THE PARK ZONE. IN THE PARK ZONE, TREES WERE LAYING LIKE MATCHSTICKS, AND THOUSANDS OF TREE STUMPS LEFT.
57 PEOPLE DIED IN THE BLAST, AND SEVERAL PEOPLE ESCAPED BY A MIRACLE.  THE STORY OF THIS ALL WAS POSTED ALL OVER THE  PARK MUSEUM....NOT MUCH TALKING WAS HEARD, AS WE READ OF THIS STORY ON THE WALLS....HORRIFYING AND AWESOME AT THE SAME TIME.

SPIRIT LAKE IS NOW SMALL, BUT SEVERAL SMALLER LAKES WERE FORMED

SLOWLY, THE WHOLE 23 MILES OF DESTRUCTION IS REGROWING AND REJUVINATING...THE FLOWERS, ELK, DEER AND SMALL ANIMALS HAVE COME BACK,  THE DEEP ASH DUNES ARE STARTING TO GROW GREEN.

sorry, wrong place...pics below

FORGOT THIS INFO ON SAM HILL

THESE ITEMS ARE ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE SACAJAWEA PARK
THERE WERE ALL THE TOOLS, CANOES, TEPEES, ETC.

THIRD HIGHEST FALLS IN THE U.S.A.  THERE'S A TRAIL THAT LEADS ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP, CROSSING AT THE BRIDGE....WE DIDN'T CLIMB.(I wonder why?
WE HAD AN INTERESTING PASSENGER...SHE WAS A "TASTING ENGINEER".....TASTED AND SMELLED FOOD PRODUCTS FOR MANY COMPANIES ALL OVER THE WORLD.

YOU CANNOT BE ON A DIET ON A SHIP!  ALWAYS A SALAD OR SOUP FOR LUNCH AND DINNER, THEN MAIN COURSE, THEN DESSERT.  IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN THE MENU, JUST ASK....YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT.  BREAKFAST WAS MANY OPTIONS...COOKIES PASSED OUT  MID MORNING AND AFTERNOON, ROOTBEER FLOATS AND HOT FUDGE SUNDAES PASSED OUT AT OUR EVENING PROGRAMS.....NOPE, NO DIET.
THIS DISH IS CRAB CAKES

ONE DESSERT

MELT IN YOUR MOUTH FILET MIGNON

SITTING ON OUR BALCONY, HAVING COFFEE AND WATCHING THE LANDSCAPE GO BY
TALK ABOUT  WOOO!

WE SAW MT. HOOD FROM MANY ANGLES AS THE RIVER CURVED BACK AND FORTH.  SOMETIMES WE WERE IN WASHINGTON, SOMETIMES IN OREGON...CROSSED THE RIVER MANY TIMES.

I WAS IN AWE OF THE BIG/TALL TREES....THIS PIC DOESN'T DO IT JUSTICE.  THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!  WE DON'T GROW THEM LIKE THAT IN OUR CLIMATE.

AWESOME SCENERY

ANOTHER MUSICAL EVENING...NICE OLDIE SONGS

HOOD RIVER SUNSET
THERE WAS A CREOSOTE/RAILROAD TIE FACTORY HERE
50% OF THE COUNTRY'S BOSC PEARS ARE GROWN IN THIS AREA
THE DOUGLAS FIR TREE WAS ACTUALLY NAMED AFTER DOUGLAS, WHO WAS A BOTANIST.  (cant remember if it was first or last name)
A FIFTEEN YEAR OLD BOY BROUGHT FIRECRACKERS TO A CAMPSITE (ILLEGAL IN THE STATE), SET THEM OFF, AND STARTED A MILLION ACRE FIRE, WHICH YOU COULD PLAINLY SEE WHERE IT HAPPENED...HE IS NOW 18, AND IS REQUIRED TO DO MANY HOURS OF COMMUNITY WORK, PLUS PAY SO MUCH OUT OF ALL HIS PAYCHECKS TILL HE REACHES THE AGE OF 28.

OUR DINING ROOM...YOU COULD SIT WHERE YOU WANTED...WE HAD A  NICE GROUP TO VISIT WITH (MOST OF THE TIME..)

HANK CRAMER SANG SONGS TO US ALL ABOUT THE LEWIS AND CLARK STORY, SOME SONGS WERE THE ORIGINALS FROM THE EXPEDITION DIARIES

ON OUR BALCONY

TAKEN FROM OUR BALCONY....MT. HOOD, IN THE DALLES, OREGON

WELCOMING COMMITTEE, AND THE "SHERIFF" WE WERE GIVEN A BAG  WITH THINGS TO SEE IN THE DALLES...VERY COMICAL

GATEWAY TO THE DALLES, RIGHT BY OUR SHIP

FROM THE TOP OF THE BLUFFS, WHERE WE VISITED AN ART MUSEUM CALLED "MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART"

IN FRONT OF THE MUSEUM....THERE WERE WINDFARMS ALL ALONG THE TOPS OF THE BLUFFS, FOR MILES

 THERE WAS AN EASEL SET UP IN THE MUSEUM FOR ANYONE WHO WANTED TO DRAW THAT THERE GUY OVER THERE....SO YUP, I DID.

HERE ARE A COUPLE PICS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CHESS SETS...OVER A HUNDRED FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.  click to enlargee

CLICK TO ENLARGE

OUTSIDE SCULPTURE...WAS SURPRISED WHEN I WALKED AROUND IT, REALIZED THAT THE STATUE WAS MADE OF MANY  "SLICES" OF THIN METAL

AS I WALKED AROUND IT, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED

MT. HOOD IN THE DISTANCE

SAM HILL WAS A CRAZY, WILD, IMPULSIVE ENTREPRENEUR WHO  LEFT THE LEGACY OF THE ROADS ALONG THE COLUMBIA...(all others said its not possible, even tho there were railroads).  OUR GUIDE SAID THAT THIS IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE SAYING, "WHAT OR WHERE THE SAM HILL, ETC".....HE HAD THIS STONE HEDGE MADE NEAR THE ART MUSEUM

BEAUTIFUL DAY, DOCKED RIGHT BY A HUGE PARK....WE DID A TWO MILE WALK ON THE TRAIL.  RIVER IS VERY COLD, ALTHO WE SAW A FEW PEOPLE WADING, AND KIDS PLAYING IN IT...MANY PLEASURE BOATS, PADDLEBOARDING, ETC.