Falls & Dr. Seuss Trees

Candy: Last night the light from the laptop on Tim's face was especially interesting and I took this shot as he was writing the post. I think he's so incredibly amazing, and goodlooking too.

Today we spent one last time on Cannon Beach with Chase before we piled into the Element and drove through Portland and on to Spokane, Washington, where we're staying tonight.

As we drove along the Columbia River Gorge on I-84, we decided to take a brief detour from the interstate and drive a short, scenic route.

Was it ever scenic! Turned out that the road went right past several waterfalls, and we were able to stop and see Wahkeenah Falls and Multnomah Falls within 3-4 miles of each other. Here's a shot of Wahkeenah Falls after its drop and where it trickles over the rocks on its way down the hill (right).

We walked about 2/10 of a mile up a switchback trail built in 1915 that went up to the bridge crossing Multnomah Falls. The spray from the waterfall drenched both of us and was slightly chilling on what was a mostly overcast day at that point. I imagined that it must be a really refreshing place during the summertime, though, when it's hot.

Here's a panorama I made of the falls (left). The trail continues upwards all the way to the top of the falls. We didn't feel like walking that far today!

Another interesting thing we had seen since our arrival in Oregon nearly a week ago were some funny-looking trees that were completely covered with a light green moss.

I think they look like Dr. Seuss trees, and I took a few photos of them for you to see whether you agree. Here are a couple (below).

See what I mean? They look shaggy and have interesting curves in their trunks and they look like they should be in any book by the famed wizard of funny-sounding words.

Later, as we drove across the Columbia River just south of Kennewick, Washington, the terrain became more ranch-like. It was almost reminiscent of the hill country in west Texas, except there was much more green grass. We saw several mountain goats standing on the hills and grazing as we drove by.

The skies were several shades of brilliant blue, which, combined with the green on the hillsides made for a very energizing drive through southern Washington to Spokane.

We're looking forward to seeing the "big sky" of Montana again tomorrow. Our intention is to stop between Butte and Billings tomorrow night.