Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for oregon
Biking the Columbia River Gorge
By Linda Tancs
Is there a bad time to bike the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon? It all depends on your seasonal preferences. Weather in summer east of the Cascades can top 100 degrees fahrenheit. And be prepared for spring rains, icy winters or slippery fallen leaves in autumn. So, pick your poison, as they say. Whichever season you choose, be sure to take in the scenic delights offered by the Historic Columbia River Highway (a national scenic byway), the first scenic highway in the nation. Three Highway State Trails are now open, and more are under construction. Beginning at the city of Troutdale and traveling east, you’ll find Oregon’s most visited waterfall, Multnomah Falls. Views of the Gorge include Portland Women’s Forum Scenic Viewpoint, Vista House at Crown Point and Rowena Crest. Enjoy the view; just remember to share the road.
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Desert Dreams in Winter
By Linda Tancs
Ah, winter. In the midst of Arctic 50-mph winds, I’m trying hard to embrace its virtues. Or at least think of warmer, drier climes. How about the Alvord Desert in Oregon? Cracked and dry in summer, like winter hands–or lips. So at least it has something in common with the here and now although you’d freeze your tail off there, too, at the moment–except for the hot springs. Lying in the shadows of Steens Mountain, it only gets six inches of precipitation per year. Reminds me of Dickens’ “Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit”: “Look round and round upon this bare bleak plain, and see even here, upon a winter’s day, how beautiful the shadows are!”
