We drove and cruised back into the land of trees today. Disembarking the ship in The Dallas, Oregon, we rode coaches on a segment of the Historic Columbia River Highway. From the Rowena Crest Nature Preserve, a vantage point along this beautiful old road, we could look out over the gorge and see the highway we had just traveled clinging to the precipitous slopes. We also noticed that the grass and shrublands of the east were giving way to the Ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forest of the west. This transition took place in a span of only about 15 miles. After this fine start to the day, we enjoyed a ride on the Mt. Hood Railroad and the absolutely spectacular fall colors along the Hood River. And all of this was before noon. Our early afternoon was filled with a presentation on the techniques of observation which Lewis and Clark used to identify plants never before described by science. As the sun set behind the mist veiling the upper walls of the gorge, we finished our long day cruising below the beautiful waterfalls coursing down the forested cliffs.