It's so nice to see familiar country viewed through new eyes. I'm REALLY enjoying this report.
A couple of fill-in facts if interested.
Sam Hill: Around the American west (and farther afield) an old alternative saying to "What the hell?" is "What in the Sam Hill?" (It's obviously a holdover from parents telling children not to swear.) But who was Sam Hill? Well, he's the guy who brought the Columbia River Highway - the twisty one - into existence, along with other quirky landmarks around the Pacific Northwest. He was his father-in-law's (James Hill - no other relation) chief attorney for the Great Northern Railway, which brought him to Seattle and Portland in the early 1900s. He was a huge advocate for "good roads" at the dawn of the automobile area, and, as a Quaker, a devout pacifist and Utopian. In addition to being the father of the Columbia River Highway, he tried to establish a Utopian community at Maryhill (named for his mother) an hour east of Hood River. The community never caught on, and his big manor house became a museum after his death. The
Maryhill Museum is a quirky and quite remarkable place, full of Rodin sculpture (Hill was a big part of the Parisian arts and dance scene) and other fabulous exhibits, set in grounds with strolling peacocks, on top of the cliff overlooking the big river. Just down the road is a replica of Stonehenge, built by Hill and dedicated to local soldiers killed in World War I. (Like many of his day, Hill believed that Stonehenge had been a sacrificial site, hence the connection to the war.) Hill also built and dedicated the Peace Arch, the memorial that straddles the US-Canada border south of Vancouver.
Peace Arch -
Stonehenge -
Vista House: It's too bad your tour didn't pull off the highway at Chanticleer Point (aka Portland Women's Forum Viewpoint) for the iconic view of the Gorge
including Vista House:
Hood River Valley: I'm glad your tour included a stop in the Hood River Valley. For my money this is one of the premier visitor/holiday destinations in the west, as it includes so much scenic variety in such a compact area. Hood River and its neighboring White Salmon, WA is a world center for windsurfing and kiteboarding on the Columbia, where the Gorge provides reliable winds. There's white water rafting on the White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers, hikes into the Mount Adams wilderness, winery and microbrewery visits in Hood River and up the Valley, and more wine at Maryhill. You can visit tranquil lakes with views of Mount Hood, see the many waterfalls along the Gorge walls, visit Herman the Sturgeon at the Bonneville fish hatchery (and kids can feed the baby trout with a 25c bag of food) or take the
Hood River "fruit loop" drive past fruit stands, orchards and vineyards, "U-pick" berry, apple and lavender farms. You can ride the "magic mile" ski lift from Timberline lodge up to the permanent ice field on the side of the volcano, or walk through fields of wildflowers in the brief (and late) alpine spring. And on and on... And it's all an hour or so from PDX.
Just sayin, it's something of a "sleeper" destination for overseas visitors. Glad you saw some of it.