He just did NOT want to have his picture taken!
This is the best snap I got. I guess if I'd crop it, it would be okay. It does show the bit of white on his wing coverts...
We woke up this morning well rested, and hooking up went easily and well. We were soon heading west again on Interstate 84 along the Columbia Gorge. The Gorge is known for its winds (think wind-surfing) and the windmill farms have taken full advantage of it.
The wind was enough that the Columbia River had white caps. Forry kept having to compensate for the crosswind gusts as he drove --
Unlike many of the river canyons we've seen as we traveled (think Salt River or Colorado River), you don't look down into the canyon at the river. The freeway (and the highway on the Washington side) is actually right alongside the river all the way through the Gorge. The Gorge is actually the passage the mighty Columbia has made through the Cascade Mountain Range.
As we were driving along these bluffs with their new spring grass, I spotted two Big Horn Sheep Rams on one of the rocks. They had huge spiral horns. I was so excited to see them, I scared Forry with my shriek of surprise. A few miles later, we both saw a group of ewes with their lambs grazing on one of the steep hillsides.
The Columbia is a busy transportation route. There are barges on the river, railroads between the freeway and the river, and lots of semis on the road.
This is John Day Dam, one of the many dams on the River that provide cheap electric power to the Northwest --
This one of the overpasses at Hood River that shows the salmon heading upstream --
One thing surprised me. I had thought that there was a pretty strong campaign going on to eradicate Scotch Broom (an "escaped" landscape plant that spreads widely and quickly -- and causes allergic reactions in many people). It doesn't look like it had been very successful!
We arrived at the KOA campground at Cascade Locks about three pm. The park is very shaded and between the trees and the mountains, there is NO satellite TV! With all the large conifers, it is also very dark. We had the lights on in Auntie Violet by four o'clock!
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