On The Road

frosty

The Historic Columbia River Highway is the oldest scenic highway in the US; the first paved road in the Gorge expressly designed for sightseers. It was started in 1915 when auto ownership exploded in Portland, and finished in 1922. It was designed by Samuel G. Lancaster to integrate the road with cliffs, forests, and the river and much of it was constructed by Italian stonemasons. I didn’t get a lot of pictures, but here’s some idea of how he designed and built the road.

We also stopped at Bonneville Dam, built in 1937. It was the first federal dam on the Columbia, and together with Grand Coulee it produced enough electricity to make it cheap to refine aluminum (an electrical process), critical to Boeing’s bomber construction in Seattle. President Truman said “Without Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams it would have been almost impossible to win this war.”

On The Road – frosty – 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge – Oregon – Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area – EngineeringPost + Comments (15)

frosty

Multnomah Falls and the Columbia Gorge were on our must-see list. We got an early start and headed out the Historic Columbia River Highway. First stop was the Falls to try to beat the crowds later on in the day. Going mid-week before the summer rush was a good plan, but even so we had to get a timed entry permit and find a parking space.

There are half a dozen waterfalls along the highway. After our stop at Multnomah Falls we stopped at four others. I’ve posted pictures of three of them.

On The Road – frosty – 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge – Oregon – Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area – FallsPost + Comments (18)

It’s Albatrossity Monday, and then it looks like we have some great trips ahead of us this week.

(click to see a bigger, non-blurry version)

Albatrossity

Eight years after our trip to see the solstice sunrise at the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, we found ourselves there again, and again at the time of the solstice. Elizabeth was heading to a literary conference in Moscow Idaho, and a drive across some blue highways was a getaway for me. So here are some more pics from the high Bighorn Mountains at the beginning of alpine summer there, to be followed by more pics as we headed west toward Idaho.

On The Road – Albatrossity – Westward 2015, week 1Post + Comments (13)

way2blue

I love to snorkel—so after colleague cautioned years ago now that coral reefs were in serious decline—I explore tropical reefs whenever I can.  The Cook Islands are fairly remote, midway between Tonga & Samoa to the west and Tahiti to the east, thus somewhat protected from catastrophic ocean warming.  As with most (all?) of the South Pacific island chains, Rarotonga’s volcanic interior formed over a mantle hotspot.  Persistent mantle plumes form series of seafloor volcanos as a consequence of the Pacific oceanic plate moving northward toward the Aleutian Islands that subside below the sea surface with time (same as the Hawaiian Island chain).

On The Road – way2blue – Rarotonga, Cook Islands [2 of 2]Post + Comments (14)

way2blue

So.  Cook Islands.  I’d been wanting to visit another island nation in the South Pacific that retained traditional culture, not completely dependent on tourism.  The Cook Islands had been recommended by a friend who’d visited 10 years ago.  The 15 islands of the Cook archipelago stretch across ~1400 kms of the South Pacific.  They were first settled around 1000 AD by Polynesians thought to have migrated from Tahiti, ~1100 km to the ENE.  Rarotonga is the largest & most populated of archipelago, and the island we visited first.

On The Road – way2blue – Rarotonga, Cook Islands [1 of 2]Post + Comments (17)

Paul in Jacksonville

In June of 2021 my son and I enjoyed an extended auto trip to visit my sister and brother in law in the Chicago area. On one of the days during the visit, we went to an antique car show in the town of Plainfield, Illinois. I’m not an antique car buff, so I can’t tell you what you’re looking at. Perhaps you could help out in the comments?

On The Road – Paul in Jacksonville – Antique Auto ShowPost + Comments (33)

SuzieC

Hello fellow jackals.  WaterGirl found out that in the last five years I traveled to Hawaii 3 times, and to Tuscany last October.  She asked me to compose a submission for On The Road and coached me through the process.

I visited Tuscany last October for 9 glorious days with a culinary tour group.  Our objective was to eat our way through Tuscany and see the world’s greatest works of art in between meals.  My friend and I stayed for 2 extra days because we certainly could not miss Michaelangelo’s David.  Here are some highlights.

On The Road – SuzieC – Tuscany 2023Post + Comments (28)