Columbia River Gorge

252 - 722

Portland to Boise today.




Great visit with Kate this morning; we drove by her cute new house (they close in September). This is her with our housewarming gift, a plunger that looks like a flamingo.


Followed the Columbia River Gorge, basically the route of the Oregon Trail.




Here is the Vista House. Once called the Western Statue of Liberty (I really expected there to be a statue!), it's located on the old scenic highway, way up on a bluff overlooking the whole Columbia River valley, a beautiful piece of old (1916-1918) architecture. The previous photo was taken from there.

The drive on the scenic highway was equally impressive, lots of vintage stone bridges (with decades of moss), old growth forest, and waterfalls like Horsetail Falls here.

That tour meant I cut it close getting to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival performance of Twelfth Night. Part of that was not accounting changing time zones -- Boise is in the Mountain Time Zone. But I made it and enjoyed outdoor theatre at its finest.

Best and funniest part of the show was impromptu. The theatre is in a park and backs up to some wetlands. In one scene a large colorful peacock-like bird ascended to the top of the set. One actor, in character, tried to shoo it away. Moments later, another character had to preen like a peacock, actually part of the play. The timing was perfect; you thought it was planned. The audience howled. And still the bird remained for most of the scene.

Tomorrow I stay in Boise so I can see The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival (yes, I know it is not a Shakespeare play, but it is a favorite of mine!). I will visit the Boise Zoo as well.