Hood River Adventures

The traveling contingent of the Plein Reiners left cloudy, rainy Juneau on Friday May 2nd for points south. After overnighting in Portland and Seattle, the Portland contingent (Paul, Mary Pat, Mary Claire, Maryanne (gotta get all those Marys in!), Sue, Jane, Cristine and Jay left in two cars for Hood River, Oregon. Along the way traveled the Historic Columbia highway, saw many waterfalls, and ran into a wandering Juneauite (Joel Orelove) at a funeral for Sherlock Holmes (I'm just the reporter here . . .)

We arrived at our condos in Hood River, (some more directly than others - Nancy and Barbara and their always fallible sense of direction took some "adventures" before arriving.) We walked around the charming and trendy downtown of Hood River. After beers and wine at the Full Sail brewery, dinner was consumed and all walked back UP to the condos for a lively round of charades.

Everyone is quite excited to turn on the lights after being in uberconservation mode in Juneau.

Sunday was PERFECT! Sunny and warm at 70 degrees, not windy. We set out for Rowena to a high bluff area over the Columbia to a spot recommended by a local artist, formerly from Juneau, found in a local pottery shop! After a great morning of wild flowers, vistas and thinking about ticks we had lunch al fresco in one of the numerous parks in downtown Hood River. A really cute store was spotted by (guess . . . . ) Nancy, which lured most of us in, the economy was duly enriched and then off to our afternoon painting expedition which was to the valley behind Hood River.

The Hood River valley is full of flower fruit trees, vineyards, and seems like a large green pocket of heaven in a fairly dry landscape. A good afternoon of art activity later, a pleasant drive back and then a little wine and relaxation at the condo. We picked Celilo, a beautiful restaurant downtown for our splurge dinner. WONDERFUL food. Several of us had the black cod with morrells, greens and who knows what else. Just amazing, and a gorgeous atmosphere. Two large paintings by Ellen Dittebrant in the restaurant. (Nancy and Barbara have taken workshops from her.)

Home to sleep and get ready for the big drive up to Riverside and Cache Ranch!