The
howling
winds (even blowing coffee out of the cup) down Columbia River Gorge continue,
and we head directly into it all, over the Sandy
powdery
whiteness
ncreasing towards
Rooster Rock,
Crown
Point,
Multnomah
Falls,
Ainsworth Park,
McLoughlin Cliffs,
Bonneville Dam,
Mitchell
Point,
Hood River,
Mosier,
views across to the Bordoin Mountains,
and on through
Rowena Gap
to
the
Dalles.
Beyond the trees,
it
is
Celio,
Deschutes River,
Miller Island,
Biggs
Bridge,
Rufus,
John Day
River,
Nook Cliffs,
Philippi and
Blalock Canyons and the
Rocks beyond,
windmills
and
Arlington,
Hurlburt Grade,
Willow Creek,
up on the Boardman Plateau,
past Siberian Tree Farm,
Echo
Meadows
Junction,
Rieth Ridge,
descending
into
Pendleton.
We're trying to go the least snowy way, but have we made the right choice? Up 11 past Adams and
Athena,
the cleared lanes growing faint,
at last into
Milton-Freewater, we have done it!
Over into Washington State,
College
Place,
greeting Claire,
Tisha,
Jim, and Tom.
Out
briefly
for a
supply
run,
then
settling in on
Christmas Eve
in the
snowfall... Merry Christmas Eve! On the 50th day of fall, way down south, high again 55, and more immediately:
Troutdale, 33
The Dalles, 25
Walla Walla, 19
