September 4 - A Joy Filled Day with Friends along the Columbia River

Woohoo! Life is so good! What an amazing day riding with friends along the Columbia Gorge! It just kept getting better and better. Gene Lord did an A+ job leading several of us on a memorial ride to honor Randy Copeland. After leaving Latus we visited with Randy’s widow, Lourey and prayed together. Then we headed east along the Columbia Gorge to one amazing vista after another on our way to Spooky’s Pizza in the Dalles.

After leaving Lourey’s house we drove to Sandy, then the twisty backroads of Bull Run and Aims, and finally the Historic Columbia River Highway on our way to the Vista House. It was a little smoky, but we were still able to have fun looking out at the Columbia River Gorge and taking photos. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and all of us were jovial.

From the Vista House we continued on the Historic Highway past Wahkeena Falls, Horsetail Falls, and Multnomah Falls and on to the Rowena Crest Viewpoint. I absolutely love waterfalls and it really doesn’t get any better than driving on a curvy road with friends looking at one beautiful waterfall after another. The Rowena overlook gave us an amazing view of the Columbia River as well as the curves on the road below.

Lunch at Spooky’s was fantastic. I am trying to be careful about what I eat after indulging all summer. They had a gluten free crust that was not only healthy but delicious, especially when topped with Canadian Bacon, beef, and tons of tomatoes.  

On our way back home, Gene led us through the back side of the Rowena curves and up to a fork in the road with the historic highway to the left and the interstate to the right. My heart soared when he turned left and proceeded to take us on yet more backroads on the long way home. What a great day!