The Dalles was a nice enough area, but I try not to hang around too long at a place where a room at Day’s Inn is over $250 a night. I had picked the cheapest motel I could find, and it was still $90. Leaving the hotel, the radar looked clear, but it was very overcast and foggy. I headed up the Historic Columbia River Highway, which was wet, but beautiful. So much better than hopping on I84.
Once I got through Rowena, things got fun. The Rowena Loops, as I believe they’re called, were a great, if short, set of switchbacks and views of,well, fog. The skies couldn’t make up their mind whether they wanted to open the floodgates, shut them, or just let a few drops through here and there.
Riding up to Panorama Point State Park, I was hoping to get above the fog a bit to catch a glimpse of Mt Hood.
I’m sure it’s in there somewhere. I decided to ride the loop down around Mt Hood to see if I could see it closer up. What I actually ended up seeing was miles and miles of heavy rain and fog with visibility slightly further than a cat can vomit. No, really, it was down to about 200 ft. I never saw Mt Hood, just the temperature dropping down to 41 and the rain pick up. I don’t mind riding in rain, but riding in rain in slow traffic is no favorite of mine. At one point, there were 10 of us vehicles stuck behind a Subaru Forester doing 15-20 mph. I’m from SC, where seing a Subaru is about as rare as seeing 13 small children riding a yak through the McDonalds drive through. I’ve noticed that there are two types of Subaru drivers, excluding the WRX/STi guys. There are the Subies covered in bumper stickers about coexisting, treehugging, etc, going 10 or more under the speed limit. Then there are the drivers putting all their faith in AWD and driving 15-20 MPH over the limit.
Once I got through Portland, the rain slowed, then stopped, as I headed for the coast. Not a whole lot to report between Portland and the coast, so here’s a few pic to finish out this installment.
World’s Shortest River
I rode down US 101 to Florence, where I camped. It was a beautiful night. I knew I was not on an East Coast beach as shown by the Warning- Elk signs along the beachfront.
Today’s Takeaway: I haven’t the foggiest.
Guesstimated Time of Arrival 