Hood River
Today was one of the most eclectic of our journey. After our usual sumptuous breakfast, we left the Sea Lion to board two buses at The Dalles, where Lewis and Clark encamped exactly 200 years ago, from October 25-27, 1805. This precise overlap of our voyage with the Corps of Discovery gave us the fortuitous opportunity to visit with Lewis and Clark re-enactors, who have been retracing the route of the expedition since May 14, 2004. Most of this living history group was camped at the Columbia River Gorge Museum and Discovery Center. (Pictured on this daily report is one of the re-enactors, who portrays his direct ancestor, Private George Shannon, the youngest member of the expedition, only 18 when the Corps left St. Louis.) We spent an informative hour and a half at this fine museum, perusing an impressive exhibit which recreates the cargo carried by Lewis and Clark: food, clothing, medicines, tools, scientific instruments, weapons, Indian presents, and other items totaling 30 tons!
Upon leaving the museum, our buses followed the old Columbia gorge highway to Rowena Summit, affording a wonderful vista of the gorge. We then, depending on personal preference, enjoyed one of four options: a four and a half mile bicycle ride on a section of the old gorge highway that is now restricted to foot and bike travel; a hike of the same route; a shorter hike; or shopping and exploration of the quaint town of Hood River, Oregon.
After lunch, we boarded our ship and headed back down the Columbia. We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon, our fifth consecutive sunny day (!), and a trip through the Bonneville Dam, the first constructed on the river (1937). After passing Beacon Rock, which Lewis and Clark first saw on October 31, 1805, we sailed into the afternoon sun and relished several of the beautiful waterfalls which punctuate the Oregon side of the Columbia, and a snow covered Mt. Hood.
Tomorrow we will reach Astoria, Oregon, near the site where the Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1805-06 and spend the day with several on shore activities.
Today was one of the most eclectic of our journey. After our usual sumptuous breakfast, we left the Sea Lion to board two buses at The Dalles, where Lewis and Clark encamped exactly 200 years ago, from October 25-27, 1805. This precise overlap of our voyage with the Corps of Discovery gave us the fortuitous opportunity to visit with Lewis and Clark re-enactors, who have been retracing the route of the expedition since May 14, 2004. Most of this living history group was camped at the Columbia River Gorge Museum and Discovery Center. (Pictured on this daily report is one of the re-enactors, who portrays his direct ancestor, Private George Shannon, the youngest member of the expedition, only 18 when the Corps left St. Louis.) We spent an informative hour and a half at this fine museum, perusing an impressive exhibit which recreates the cargo carried by Lewis and Clark: food, clothing, medicines, tools, scientific instruments, weapons, Indian presents, and other items totaling 30 tons!
Upon leaving the museum, our buses followed the old Columbia gorge highway to Rowena Summit, affording a wonderful vista of the gorge. We then, depending on personal preference, enjoyed one of four options: a four and a half mile bicycle ride on a section of the old gorge highway that is now restricted to foot and bike travel; a hike of the same route; a shorter hike; or shopping and exploration of the quaint town of Hood River, Oregon.
After lunch, we boarded our ship and headed back down the Columbia. We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon, our fifth consecutive sunny day (!), and a trip through the Bonneville Dam, the first constructed on the river (1937). After passing Beacon Rock, which Lewis and Clark first saw on October 31, 1805, we sailed into the afternoon sun and relished several of the beautiful waterfalls which punctuate the Oregon side of the Columbia, and a snow covered Mt. Hood.
Tomorrow we will reach Astoria, Oregon, near the site where the Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1805-06 and spend the day with several on shore activities.
