Furrylittlegnome’s Western adventure continues in the Pacific Northwest with a scenic drive east of Portland, Oregon to the Columbia River Gorge. 
The Columbia River runs between Oregon and Washington State and is the fourth largest river in the USA. Furrylittlegnome cannot lie to you, folks. As a spoiled little gnome from the Northeast, she had no idea how beautiful this place could be!
While driving East, the view of the gorge and Cascade Mountains are amazing. While furrylittlegnome kept looking to her left, taking lots of photos, her first stop was to the Vista House. Built in 1917, the purpose of the Vista House remains the same today – to be used as a “comfort station” for travelers along the Columbia River. Inside, there are restrooms and even a small gift shop. Outside? Lots of scenery…
Down the windy road are waterfalls, yes, waterfalls. The smaller of the two waterfalls gnome visited is Latourell Falls. After “meandering” (it was more like a hike) along a slippery path, furrylittlegnome could not get over the noise of rushing water and all of the different shades of green she saw here.
Next stop: Multnomah Falls.
At 611 feet, two words to describe this sight are awesome and powerful. This waterfall is the tallest in Oregon and is split into an “upper falls and “lower falls”. 
No, no, no… furrylittlegnome did not make her way to the Benson Bridge. It was raining and gnome needed shelter. She went inside the lodge and had lunch before making the trek back to Portland…
furrylittlegnome 
Falling water can be rather loud. Niagara Falls was great, we took the Lady of the Mist boat tour to get up and close. I can’t imagine all the public parks that have to cut hours, service and might even close because of our government and the budget. I’m not into politics. But really you can’t make money if you shut things down can you? We have a small local airport that may end up closed. Putting folks out of work isn’t going to aid the rebuild of the economy.
Thanks for the photos. 🙂
The waterfalls were powerful and amazing, but the mountains and their ranges were just as wonderful. It is such a shame the general public loses out because the government can’t get its act together.
Since I’m on a break – naturally I’ve had the chance to catch up on a few things. Here you are my dear – you’ve been tagged! Go here to see the break down: http://knowledgeknut.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/ive-been-tagged-by-utesmile/