On July 31 my friend Jenny & I headed over to the Columbia River Gorge area to photograph a wedding. Since we both LOVE to take pictures, we made many side trips to see what photo opps might arise. WELLLLLL we found LOTS of things to take pictures of! Jenny is much better at these scenery/detail shots than I am and I can hardly wait to see what she posts on her blog. So here are some of my shots that I thought were decent enough to share, and even if they are not that great, I had fun taking them and I can't wait to go on some more side trips!
This first one is Mt. Hood, this was our first stop. I was amazed at how huge this mountain is and the fact that there was still snow on it when we were suffering in the 104 degree temp. that day!
We took a side road that led us into a little town called Parkdale where to our delight we found lots of wonderful orchards, here's my attempt at a pear shot.
Also in Parkdale, in fact just across the highway we had a great view of Mt. Hood with the orchards as foreground.
On our drive back out of Parkdale we spotted this farmer with his team of horses cutting the hay in his pasture with old time equipment. We asked him if he minded if we took some pictures and he told us to go ahead, these animals were used to being photographed as they are in all kinds of competitions, he even told us we could gets lots of great shots at an upcoming event in Dufer, Oregon...but unfortunately we had other obligations for that weekend and couldn't attend the event. Maybe next time!
Next we took a very quick trip onto part of the Hood River "Fruit Loop" and found several great barns to photograph. We are planning to go back and visit again in the fall when all the colors are changing.
Next stop was Hood River and the Columbia. I was fascinated with this bridge and waited for something of interest to cross over it, the semi showed up and I took way too many shots :) then the sail boat showed up and I started shooting again!
These windsurfers were amazing to watch! We got as close as we could to try to get some good shots and finally realized we were getting close enough to get hit by a kite if we didn't move on lol.
So when I first learned I was going to make this trip, I was SOOOO excited about getting to photograph all the waterfalls along the Old Historic Hiway....welllllll waterfalls IMO are not the easiest or most attractive things to try to photograph, in fact I threw out more waterfall images than I kept. I was not impressed with my skills(lack of) at taking waterfall shots. And yeah, I see the girl in this first one, I was going to clone her out, but decided I think she adds to the image! And THANKS to the man on the bridge (have no idea who he is) for raising his arms in his victory pose and making my shot more interesting!
This is the restaurant at Multnomah Falls, I loved the flowers and the busy window. We wanted to eat there but had to get going so we would make our check in time at our overnight accomodations!
And another couple of attempts at taking some water shots, I really think I need some practice at these. A little Photoshot fix up helped these next two a lot!
Another waterfall, and I think I may have this one posted out of sequence. I think this was the first one we saw this day and I also think that this is where my friend Jenny wandered down by the water and got a shot of some poeple swimming.....one of which she rushed up to show me, she called the subject Tarzan, I sure hope she posts it!
These next two are of one of the many old stone bridges that adorn this highway. I loved how the light was filtering through the trees, this is truely such a beautiful place to visit.
The following shots are of the actual lodge and the bedrooms there. The lodge is a very well kept historic farmhouse full of character and antiques. The owners have had this place in their family for many years and you can tell that it is a very special place to them. Both nights we were there every room they have was full.
This is the dining area of the lodge where we were served breakfast each morning. The food was wonderful and so was the service.
The next two shots are of the living room of the lodge where you can relax and look through old photo albums of things and places of interest in the area that cover a large number of past years. We enjoyed looking at not only the albums but all the fantastic antiques that are throughout the lodge.
These last two shots are the outside of the lodge and the grounds. You have to look closely to see the cottage. You have to watch for this place while traveling because it sets off the highway and is so homey looking you would never guess that it's not just someones private residence.
As I stated before I would highly recommend staying here if you want a nice quite cozy weekend or evening. I will definately go back and stay again! 
