Postcard from Portland & The Dalles

Morning yoga, hot soaks under the stars, green carpeted hills and towering pines, nourishing rain that keeps everything blooming, Oregon is an oasis after the desert.

I am awash in a sea of green. Arriving from the deserts of California and Arizona, the Pacific Northwest is a feast for all my senses. Earthy smells, cool air, sunlit rolling hills that are nearly neon-green. And rain—the source of all that is blossoming from the soil and budding on the trees.

Photo of Cascade Range by Philip Mascher, Amy & April reunion. Collage designed by Marielle Velander.

No surprise that Portland greets me with rain in this early spring season. I am layered up and ready, or so I think. En route from the airport to her home in The Dalles, my friend April pulls into the parking lot for a view of the majestic Multnomah Falls, a waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge, the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon at 620 ft (189 m) in height and the most-visited recreation site in the Pacific Northwest. I consider walking over for a view but April laughs at my Florida version of a rain jacket. The waterfall is spraying a lake’s worth of water, sure to douse those who get close enough, and the downpour is steady and so without proper rain gear, April hops out to snap a photo for me. Ah well. This Florida hibiscus flower fresh from desert will need some time to acclimate to wet, lush, and chilly Oregon.

Multnomah Falls

As soon as we exited Toothrock Tunnel on I-84 heading east, the heavy rain and mist that had followed us from the airport seemed to lighten. As we passed Cascade Locks all of a sudden that rain and mist disappeared and we were treated to the beautiful bright sunshine and azure skies that characterize the dryer side of the Gorge and a typically sunnier section of the Columbia River (a nod to April’s lovely description). The views of the Cascade Range along the river are spectacular. The Dalles enjoy a mild climate, with plenty of sunshine and warm, dry summers. I seem to be here during a week when the skies open and Mother Nature soaks the ground, keeping everything nice and green for the benefit of the crocuses, daffodils, and tulips, the pink magnolia and cherry blossom trees and the wedding-dress spray of the white dogwood trees.

April on the move, April & Philip, and Amy foraging. Collage by Marielle Velander.

I learn from the Oregon Encyclopedia that the Dalles is one of the oldest permanently occupied places in Oregon, significant to Native people for over ten millennia and to Euro-American settlers since the 1830s. The city, the largest in Wasco County, is located on a bend of the Columbia River at the east end of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. As I help April forage miner’s lettuce on a nearby street, I gain an appreciation for the bounty of the land that the original settlers enjoyed. In downtown Dalles, we pass an iconic building, the Sunshine Mills, now the home of Quenett and Copa Di Vino wineries owned and operated by James and Molli Martin, both from The Dalles. They introduced to the States the concept of Copa Di Vino, or "Wine by the Glass", after a journey through Provence on a bullet train. And if you’re in town, stop by Shannon’s Ice Cream for yummy homemade ice cream and quirky art.

Source: Sunshine Mill Artisan Plaza and Winery 

This final week of what I am now calling Amy’s March Madness Month (the best kind of madness, the traveling kind) has been an oasis of calm, serenity and connection.

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