October - 2 a.m.

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

We spent the night docked in The Dalles, Oregon and then a little before 7 am we set sail for Hood River.  The first three hours of the morning would be our first taste of cruising through the panoramic Columbia River Valley.  And to be honest, while I am REALLY enjoying sharing this vacation with the family, the real reason that we were ready to return to this identical cruise that we had taken in June 2017 was for the cruising scenery like we would see today.  The sun had just come up as I began snapping photographs......

Kim and Karrie joined me for a while and at about 8 am we took a break to have breakfast.  Even the views out the window were spectacular....

View out the window from my seat

Close up of the view, more like what I actually saw!

I had a light breakfast and excused myself to return to the top deck for more pictures....

While we were cruising after breakfast, Kim took advantage of the exercise machine to multi-task a workout while watching the scenery go by.  Can't be a gym like this - or an "office" like mine this morning!

Finally we sailed right under a bridge with only feet to spare (trust me - you'll want to see this in the highlight video I'll make later this week!) and then literally parked RIGHT on the shore.  The captain was steering from the front deck and I was him literally land on a tennis ball sitting along the water's edge; I went to him and told him how impressed I was because I KNEW he was aiming for that marker!  LOL!!  What a great morning!

October 1

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

October 1:  The Dalles

Yesterday we left Richland and began sailing just a little before dinner time.  So I went up to the top and took some photos of the setting sun and scenery.  It's the reason we've returned to this cruise....

Also, for those who have mentioned that this looked like a cruise they may be interested in, here's a shot of our stateroom.  They truly are small, but you really...REALLY are never in your room.  And on our level for example, just ten steps away is a huge living room with all kinds of comfortable furniture, 24 hour snacks/coffee/soft drinks and panoramic windows.

Last night at dinner, for the second consecutive evening, the entertainer for the evening sat at our dinner table.  We discovered that Perri was going to be giving a lecture on pictograms and petroglifs.  She said that while we would be passing by an area know for this (where she gives tours) we would not have a chance to stop and see them.  BUT, she told us the captain had said you could see one of the bigger ones if you were up early.  Kim and I had just gotten up when that announcement was made and because you would need binoculars to see it, we didn't rush up.  But after getting coffee we went up to enjoy the crisp morning air (49 degrees!).  We were surprised to see a gathering of about a half dozen people at the front of the ship, including Perri, and that the ship was right up to the shore line.  Turns out there was another petroglif that Perri had never seen before!  Here's the photos of it, including close-ups:

NOTE the highlighted area - this is where the petroglif is

What's also interesting is that these were drawn prior to the building of the Dalles Dam in the 1950s and that dam raised the water level over 40 feet, so who ever did this scaled the cliffs to etch this into the side of the cliff!  After breakfast we were approaching another lock and so I took some pics of the before and after as we were dropped nearly 75 feet.

Just a side note.....The Dalles was the official end of the Oregon Trail.  Here settlers would either settle or catch a ship to move farther west by river along the Columbia River as we will be doing.  Also, this marks the entry into the Columbia River gorge.  And if you think you've seen beautiful scenery, just hold on Nellie, it's about to get REAL!

Ed & Peg Off To Explore The Dalles

Cascade Cliffs Winery Excursion

We were off on our excursion a little after 2 pm when we took our bus back to the Dalles Bridge we'd crossed under this morning and drove over to the Washington side of the river.  There we drove along the scenic mountains and river setting while our bus driver Lynn told us about the area, and in about twenty-five minutes we reached the picturesque winery.

We were met in the vineyard by the owner's sister, Joanie, who offered us all a sampling of one of their white wines.  They are known for their red wines however and after an introduction to their history (they are the oldest vinery operating in the area) we moved to a shaded area where we had several red wines, and then later whites under a canopy of grapes.

After about forty minutes of sampling we got to see the grapes being crushed and separated from their skins, then to walk around the grounds where I took a few photos of their magnificent piece of property.  As a thank you for taking the excursion American Cruise Lines paid for all of us to keep our signature wine glass.

September 30

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

September 30:  Pendleton Underground City Tour

This morning we docked in Richland, Washington and we were scheduled to make the bus trip to Pendleton for the Underground City Tour, as well as two accompanying adventures.  But as it turned out, only I went on the excursion while the others stayed on board for the day.  (So no comments about me dominating the pics today!)  One of the best parts of the day came when I approached the bus and saw our driver for the week was Jodi, who had driven us around a year and a half ago, and she was great!  Here are pics from today's adventures.....

First, a 90 minute drive south to Pendleton, which included crossing the Columbia with the fall leaves

The Underground City used to cover nearly the entire city of Pendleton

(Note:  the city had 32 bars and 18 brothels until the 1950s!)

Stairs going down to the underground city (L) / Stairs exiting back to ground level (R)

In Hop Sing's Laundry & Apartment (dime for a hot bath while he washed your clothes!)

Posing in the Underground Ice Cream Parlor with hand-crank ice cream maker (I'll take your order now!)

Some of the tunnels

Lunch at Hamley's

ADULTS ONLY!

Pics on the bathroom walls (NOTE:  Kim told me to be sure to take these today!)

At the cultural institute they had a cut-out to pose behind....

Final Stop:  The Pendleton Wool Factory

Back home to the Queen of the West!

September 29

Columbia River Cruise 2.0

September 29 - Transfer to Ship & Sailing

Today was our final day in Spokane and the day we were to head out from the hotel to our ship, the Queen of the West. Breakfast was provided by American Cruise Lines and our welcome packets had told us to meet in the lobby at 9:45 am with our luggage and boarding passes. There were nearly 70 guests who were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn - Spokane Airport who were to board the provided charter busses and we were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of our cruise line director. He appeared around 8:30 to answer questions and checked us in as we left the lobby to board one of two busses. We drove south through the Palouse area of Washington and this brought back a lot of memories to Kim and I as we'd driven this route many times to visit our oldest son Jeff when he first began his college football career at Washington State University.....a throw-back photo of me on the sidelines in the late November "game of the year," the Apple Cup vs. arch rival Washington.

The trip took about 1 hour and 45 minutes before we arrived in Clarkson where we soon boarded the Queen of the West to begin our cruising adventure!

On the bus - headed for Clarkson & the Queen of the West

One happy girl to be back on board a river cruise ship

And we're off!

The ONLY way to cruise the Pacific Northwest

Sailing around the bend in the Snake River

The first lock experience of the adventure

Views Along The Snake River