WE HAVE VISITORS AND SURPRISING WEATHER

The weather in Hood River is pretty wild. The norm – as we knew before we arrived – is wind. Eight days out of ten, that means WINDY. One or two days out of ten will be breezy. The RARE day will be dead calm.

My parents arrived at our gate around 11 am on Monday. The wind was breezy in Hood River, the sky a mix of clouds and sunshine. We decided to spend the afternoon touring the western portion of the Historic Columbia River Highway, home to the most well –known icons of the gorge, Multnomah Falls and Vista House at Crown Point.

It is a wonderfully scenic drive and we had a big surprise: no wind at Crown Point, high up on the side of the Gorge. Wow, did we luck out!

Tuesday was even more surprising: no wind at all in Hood River. Odel took advantage of the calm to head out on the golf course, and my mom, dad and I took off for a beautiful, sunshine filled day of sightseeing.

I was beginning to think they wouldn’t believe that Hood River’s economy runs on wind, but the weather returned to normal on Wednesday: a calm morning followed by a freshening breeze building to high sustained winds and tree-bending gusts. How lucky we were on Monday and Tuesday!

I’ve got lots of photos of our sightseeing. Here are some of the highlights of this beautiful area, starting with a view of the Vista House (very tiny in this photo) on Crown Point, taken from the Portland Women’s Forum State Park.

On Tuesday, we had clear views of Mt. Hood (south of Hood River) and Mt. Adams (north of Hood River, in Washington). I took these photos when we visited a nearby lavender farm:

The photo of Mt. Hood, above, was taken looking south. I turned around and took the photo of Mt. Adams to the north.

Though the lavender was incredibly beautiful and fragrant, I was dazzled by the poppies:

Next we headed to Lost Lake, on the northwest side of Mt. Hood, for a picnic. I took this photo from our picnic table:

On the way home, we stopped at one of the many fruit stands along the “Fruit Loop”, a scenic drive through the orchards in the highlands above Hood River and the gorge. We found fresh Bing cherries, and just-picked strawberries – the small, delicate ones with a juicy red heart, just the opposite of the huge, firm, often hollow strawberries shipped to grocery stores. Hurray for local produce! By the way, the Hood River County Fruit Loop Cherry Celebration is coming up in a few weeks, July 11-12, 2009. Ummmmmmmmmmm…!

On Wednesday, Odel and I were back at work while my mom and dad explored on their own. We had dinner at Dixie’s Southern Grub, the third time Odel and I have eaten there. Once again, EVERYTHING was delicious. I won’t go into a description of each of our far-above-average dishes – I’m afraid I’d get started and never stop – but we HIGHLY recommend Dixie’s to anyone who is looking for an excellent dining-out experience in a comfortable, casual (and remarkably kid-friendly) setting. A day on the Fruit Loop during the Cherry Celebration, dinner at Dixie’s… now that would be a good, good day.