Saturday, May 12th - Hood River, OR

I left the coach at 8:15 this morning and trudged down the hill to the Union Pacific railroad tracks that run beside the Columbia River. Steam engine #844 was supposed to leave The Dalles at 8:00 and pass this way enroute to Portland with a full train of passenger cars. There were several other "railfans" waiting, along with me, above the tracks on a rock ledge. We waited and talked... talked and waited...for about 90 minutes. Finally, we got tired of waiting and left the lower area to return to our campsites. just as we reached the top of the hill overlooking the tracks, we heard the train steam whistle. I quickly grabbed the camera and set it to REC mode to get a movie clip and the magnificent sounds of the steam drivers and whistle.

It was a beautiful sight! Chugging along at about 40 mph. Somehow, in my haste, I did NOT get the movie clip I had hoped for. Seems that I had inadvertently pushed the REC button twice which stopped the recording so, all I have is the story.

Later we drove west to the town of Hood River, another quaint town alongside the Columbia. We ate a late breakfast and then shopped and toured the town. Then we drove over the Hood River toll bridge and visited a glass blower shop in White Salmon, Washington. We drove along the north side of the river (in Washington) and returned to Oregon at the The Dalles bridge. We went to The Dalles Dam Visitors Center and watch a short movie on the making of the dam.