highlights of my 7-14 cruise

Yesterday, I took my Black Cali for a cruise east in the Columbia gorge, to Stonehenge, the full size reproduction of the Stonehenge in England.  I drove out I-84, the Interstate that runs along the river on the Oregon side of it to Biggs Juction, 104 miles east of downtown, and crossed over the bridge into Washington.  I turned east on WA14, the two lane highway that runs along the river on the Washington side, and was at Stonehenge in less than an hour and a half.

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Using the walls of Stonehenge to frame the sights to the east

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Looking west, the way I had come:

There is the bridge I crossed twice.  I had considered a trip back to Portland on WA 14, which is a nice driver’s road, but I’ve been that way recently, and since I had bought a day pass for Oregon State Parks, I figured I’d get some more use out of it in Oregon, so I drove south across this bridge and into the Oregon Outback.

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Here, we are on the Columbia Plateau, decending into Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

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In the 22 years I’ve lived here, I have driven most every highway in the western part of the state, and (lots) more than half of them anywhere else in the state… but this highway, OR 216, I had never been on before.  That was a delight to find!  216 took me through the heart of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation along the Descutes River:

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Highway 216 led me to highway US 26, east of Mt. Hood, and I took 26 home, over and past Mt. Hood:

Six out of 255 pictures taken – I love my digital camera.  I see a few slideshows coming, and significant single shots too – it was a very good trip.  It would have been nice to have some company, maybe, but going alone meant I stopped where I wanted and drove wherever.  (I had no set plan for this drive – in fact, I did not plan to go over Mt. Hood)

Ok, well, the hard work is done – 255 shots edited and six posted up to Photobucket… several dozen more will be uploaded and posted here – stay tuned.

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