Saturday, April 21, 2018

Day 9 - Hood River, OR - SeaTac, WA

A bright and mostly clear sky greeted us first thing at Hood River this morning.  After a Starbucks run, we drove through downtown before heading east.  At Mosier, we exited the interstate and returned to Highway 30, the Historic Columbia River Highway.  This scenic highway continued to impress us as it provided sweeping vistas, the chance to see an apricot orchard, and the ability to stop and really savor this sights all around us.  The highway ends at The Dalles, and after driving around their city center, we jumped back on the interstate and continued our trek east.










We soon turned north onto Highway 97 and very quickly came across a replica Stonehenge.  This version was built in 1929 by the same engineer who built the Columbia Highway.  It's meant to be an exact model, even including the horizontal lintels.  A wind turbine farm was also located nearby as the landscape changed from the river gorge into a scrubby, plains look.  Our journey continued across the Yakama Indian Reservation as we made our way to Yakima, and lunch.








With full stomachs, we turned the car back west.  When planning this trip, I really wanted to get up close to both Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens, but unfortunately it's still so early in the season that the roads leading to them are closed.  Instead, we took a great road in between Mt. Adams and Rainier that went over the Cascade range at White Pass.  We had the opportunity to see Rainier in the distance, but she shyly hid behind layers of clouds the entire day.  Mt. Adams was quite lovely to see.











We soon turned north and found ourselves in Friday evening traffic coming into Seattle from the south.  After getting settled, we headed out for a final meal in Seattle, this time opting to visit West Seattle.  We ate at Duke's Seafood and Chowder on Alki Aveune, which is across Elliott Bay from downtown.  The dinner was fantastic and we were soon visiting two spots at which you could see the skyscraper skyline across the water.







Bags are packed and we're ready to go home, with some regret at having to leave this beautiful part of the country.  Here's hoping for easy flights!



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