October 5

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

The Final Day

We cast off a little after 4:00 am this morning so when we woke up we were in the midst of scenic cruising along the Columbia River headed eastbound, back to Portland.  This is not THE most scenic part, but anywhere along the gorge is pretty amazing.  Clearly the best shots of the day on the river were in the beginning as the sun rose slowly on the horizon.  And about half an hour after sunrise the rain began....couple that with the mid-40 degree temperatures and it was only the truly dedicated who were on the top deck watching the scenery glide by - yes, that included me :)

We docked in Portland at about 2 pm and by 2:30 we were on the bus for the final excursion of the trip, an adventure to the Vista House.  Unfortunately with this being the ONLY rainy day of the trip it spoiled what probably would have been a very panoramic vista.  Here are two shots of what we saw and what it typically looks like....

While this afternoon's adventure was far, far from one of the "better" excursions we've ever been on, for me, it was a far better choice than staying on the ship all afternoon.  It's one of the few issues that the cruise line needs to workout, as it was explained that the traffic around Portland really has led to a lot of complaints from past passengers....so today they tried an out-of-Portland proper adventure, but we still got caught in traffic on the way back.

The cruise was great - highly recommend American Cruise Lines, and in particular this itinerary.  The scenery is the star of this adventure, but the excursions are fun.  On both trips we loved the college kids who were the staff on board, and our girl J.C. was a real sweetheart with the way she adopted us for all our meals.  As one trip ends, another adventure is on the horizon!

October 4

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

Morning:  Fort Clatsop & Astoria Experience

Well, there were two stories from the morning's excursion.  First, we really enjoyed the crisp weather walking through the woods around the historic Fort Clatsop site; and second there was controversy before we even left the dock!  A little after 9 pm we got on board the bus and began what we thought was the same tour we'd been on a year and a half ago.  One lady sitting next to us asked Kim that she thought we were only doing the fort, and the tour was free.... we said "No" that this excursion was an optional/pay trip and included both.  And therein lied the controversy!

Kim went to the bus driver who was having a conversation with our cruise director Monica.  Kim returned and said that they were in disagreement about yes or no the column was included.  The driver got on and apologized because he said he had ALWAYS done the column as well, and apparently we would NOT be doing it today.  CLEARLY as you can see above, the upper half of the image shows the description of the tour which says we WILL go to the column; and the bottom half shows we will be paying $40.  So we only did the fort.  When we returned I asked not one but three "directors" who all gave me "deer in the headlight" looks when I explained that on the description sheet only one tour had "Fort Clatsop" in the title/description; and it said we would also see the colum; and in the payment option sheet there was only one item with "Fort Clatsop" and it clearly said it was $40.  So which was it?  Was it free or not?  We only got one-half of what we were promised.  The reply I received was that this "needed to be updated" and the only way to go to the column beginning this year is the free shuttle.  So I said, so did we pay or no?  And from now on the tour is $40 for ONLY the fort?  The reply was yes, and "don't worry about this" pointing to our sign up sheet.....so we'll see if we have to pay!  Regardless we enjoyed the morning considerably!

Less than 200 yds from the fort - where canoes went into the river

Another view of the canoe launch/river

The "BEST Fish & Chips" In the Pacific Northwest (or so they say)

Afternoon Excursion:  Cape Disappointment

This afternoon I ended up being the only one on the tour, we'd been here before but I just thought the scenery (and the chance to be out in the coolish weather) was too good to pass up.  It was about a 30 minute bus ride across the big bridge (four miles long, see top banner at beginning of this page) to the Washington side of the river and then out to the peninsula where the Pacific Ocean meets the Columbia River.  It's so treacherous (over 2000 wrecks) that to cross you must have a special "bar pilot" board your ship while in the Pacific and bring you over the bar into the river.  Luckily for us, as we were arriving you could just spy a ship beginning to cross....and by the time we were ready to leave he was entering the Columbia and crossing past the light house.  A very cool afternoon!

I just thought this was one of the better "portrait" photos of me, so.....it's MY web page, so I'm adding it :)

October 3 - p.m.

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

Mt. St. Helens Excursion

OH MY!  We saw it!  Now that may seem pretty obvious at first take, but if you're following along on our journals for this trip (and for that matter, ALL of our adventures) you know that when we were on this very same adventure in June 2017 we could not see ANYTHING more than three feet away because of all of the fog.

And what we did NOT know THIS year until after our time at the observation center was that at this time of the year typically tourists have a 50-50 chance of seeing Mt. St. Helens because of the cloud cover!  That would NOT have been cool.  And I must add that when we left the ship, we went to make a left onto Interstate 5 (the only way to get to the mountain) and the on ramp was closed....I immediately thought, "you've got to be kidding me, not again!"  But our driver Jodi was WAY too clever for the traffic issues and circumvented the situation to get us onto the freeway and on our adventure with just a short delay!  JODI-JODI-JODI!!!

On the way back down the mountain to the ship we viewed an hour long documentary about the day that the mountain blew up (see the before-after picture above), and of all the statistics that were so amazing to me, the one that stood out was that the avalanche of mud and ash would have completely covered the city of Seattle and would have been so deep that it would have covered the entire space needle.  Just a monstrous environmental event.  Here are photos from our day on the mountain.....

First look from the valley heading to the observation area

THERE it is!

Mt. Adams, already snow-covered, in the distance....no clue there was another mountain near by!

From the observation deck - last year, nothing but fog

The Queen of the West docks right on the beach!

Our obligatory selfie!

October 3 - a.m.

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

October 3 Columbia River Gorge Scenic Cruising

THIS is why we returned!  As great as yesterday's scenery was, this morning's was even better (as I expected).  Words just don't describe it.....and I'll probably have not one, but two fifteen minute highlight videos from just this morning and they STILL won't capture it like being here.  And for us "Florida Kids," the mid-40s temps were just an added bonus.  Enjoy the pics......

Horsetail Falls

Multnomah Falls

Working on building this web page!

October 2 - p.m.

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

October 2:  Multnomah (NOPE) Falls

So, you have to be wondering WHY would he label this afternoon's excursion as the "NOPE" excursion?  Let's back up to the 2017 Columbia River Cruise for just a tad of background.  On that adventure, on the day we were slated to see Mount Saint Helens we drove 90 minutes up through winding, fog-covered, mountainous terrain (and the bus broke down), only to find that the fog was SO thick we couldn't see anything beyond the rail - literally, just a blanket of fog.  And so we had to drive the same 90 minutes back (through fog, on winding mountainous roads) to the ship.  And tomorrow is the day we return to Mount Saint Helens.  We've been hoping we would not get a repeat of such weather and that we'd actually SEE the mountain top.  Why go into this now as background - hold your horses pardner....because TODAY we were driving to see Multnomah Falls.  And if you've been there before you know that it's spectacular.  You stand at the base of the falls in front of the "splash pool" and you see the double-drop of the waterfall that is so far up you just cannot believe it; then you climb the path to the bridge that crosses the falls above the base of the first drop.  And if you are so inclined you can hike to the very top of the falls.  Last year upon visiting here Kim was VERY unhappy that we were only given an hour and told expressly that you wouldn't have time to climb all the way to the top.  Why not have two excursion busses for those that wanted to stay longer?  So we were unhappy that we didn't have MORE time here - that's key to the story, we wanted MORE time last year.  As a footnote, for those of you who know my wife.....yes, she hiked to the top anyway!  That's my Kim :)  Fast forward to today.....Kim wanted to do the hike again, but prior to our leaving for this trip from Fort Lauderdale she'd done research and due to the awful fires they had a year ago the upper trail was closed.  So even if she had time and wanted to climb to the top, she wasn't going to be able to do that this year.  We board the bus and ride the little more than thirty minutes to the falls - a scenic and delightful ride as everyone on board would agree.  We pull into the parking lot and our driver, Jodi, dramatically pauses the bus on the turn in the parking lot so we get the full view of the falls and there is an audible, collective "wow" from the guests on board.  We all file off, we walk under the railroad bridge and we immediately see a collect of park rangers who are standing on the other side of some cones and tape cordoning off the area with signs that say "CLOSED."  You can see on the hillside to the left of the falls, as you look at them, the damage from the fires (you could even still smell the smoke in the air), and you can hear the workers cutting down the gigantic trees.  So I head along the tape to what most certainly must the the pathway to the splash pool and the path to the bridge only to see a flat, rock wall.  Wait.....where's the entrance to get to the falls.  I turn around and see our American Cruise Line director talking to the park ranger and the look of chagrin on her face answers the question before I can even approach and ask her.  Yes, the falls are close today.  So we have an hour to stand outside the gift shop.  Sooooo, like last year we have an outing where we don't get to see anything, well, we can at least see the falls today from a distance we must admit.  And at least it was only a thirty minute ride, not ninety.  Karrie, Peggy, and I all agree that it must be due to the bad karma of Kim's shirt today which has emblazoned across it, "NOPE" - ha, ha, ha.  And ironically when Kim enters the gift shop the first thing she sees (and buys) is a hat that says across the top, "W.T.F. - Where are the Falls?" - how appropriate for today's adventure!  Pics from what we did see:

Thumbs down - especially considering the falls WILL be open tomorrow (WOW)

Meanwhile, Randy and Ed went to a car show which WAS open :)

Dinner......
Today at lunch we discovered our most favorite waitress, J.C. was celebrating her 20th birthday.  We'd enjoyed her smile and service for the first two days and when we went into dinner yesterday we were disappointed that six chairs had napkins on them already at J.C.'s table, so we had someone new.  When the staff brought out a surprise birthday cake for the twins J.C. came over to wish them happy birthday and we said we wanted to sit at her table but the seats were reserved already.  She smiled and said, that SHE had done that to because she wanted US at her table.  We felt bad.  So when we found it today was her birthday the twins thought it would be a good idea to get her something.  They let me give her the flowers and a Starbucks gift card - she was so overwhelmed, and was about brought to tears :)  A sweet thought by our wives for sure.