Wednesday, August 26: We spent some time this morning catching up with some business back home and then set off about 10:30 AM for a hike to a waterfall. It wasn’t an extremely long hike (supposedly .8 mile) but first part of the trail was mostly uphill and then it descended into the canyon on a pretty tight switchback that zigzagged back and forth 6-8 times.

However when we reached the Elowah Falls the hike was definitely worth it! It was a very tall waterfall (about 300’) and the water fell on a large rock below. The splashing water created beautiful patterns as it danced across the rocks. We stayed for quite awhile in the cool canyon which we had to ourselves for part of the time.  I tested the water which was VERY cold.

Next we drove farther East up the Columbia River Gorge to the city of Hood River. We found a place called Panorama Point for our lunch stop which gave us a great view of the Hood River Valley with Mt. Hood in the distance to the south and Mt. Adams to the north.

We also visited a museum in Hood River - the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum. The place didn’t look very impressive from the outside and Jim had some doubts about whether it would be worth our admission price however once inside we were pleasantly surprised at the size and quality of the facility and we spent the rest of the afternoon there. They have a pretty extensive collection of planes, cars, motorcycles and other antique items. All of the planes and cars have been restored to functional condition. Some of the volunteers at the museum were men who worked on the restoration and it was fun to hear their stories. The oldest aircraft in the museum is a 1910 Curtiss Pusher which they have actually flown there several times.