Day 2 - Tuesday September 18th

Day 2 started with a bang; literally! The 6 E-types were lined up in the parking lot of the Sunset Motel in Hood River, ready to make a grand exit. David drove out onto the roadside ramp and severely grounded his exhaust causing him to stop abruptly. The following car was unable to stop and rear-ended him! There was no damage to either car, but it did rather spoil our grand exit!

The first objective of Day 2 was to explore the Columbia River Gorge with visits to the Bonneville Dam, Horsetail falls and Multnomah Falls. I don't have any photos of the visit to Bonneville Dam as I missed the turning and ended up by the roadside working on a dead speedometer and leaky exhaust...

Business as usual

I did get a head start to Horsetail Falls, which gave me time to hike up to its baby sister, Ponytail Falls which can be viewed with an unusual perspective...

Ponytail Falls viewed from behind/under the falls

View across the Columbia River Gorge from above the Horsetail Falls

Rick, Chris and Gary arriving at the Horsetail Falls

The Multnomah Falls

At this point the group split into two, with one group stopping for lunch at the Multnomah Falls, and the other proceeding on a route somewhat shortened from the original plan. We crossed over the Columbia River at Cascade Locks using the "Bridge of the Gods" into Washington state.

Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River - check out the steel structure in the mirror....

The route then followed the north side of the Columbia River east before heading north towards Mount St Helens. The section of road known as Wind River Road was the driving highlight of the day. It twisted upwards through dense forest and was completely deserted (apart from one highway patrol officer who fortunately seemed to be preoccupied with another vehicle...). We caught an occasional glimpse of Mount St Helens through the trees, as a taster for what is to come tomorrow. After lunch at the Cougar Bar and Grill, decorated  with a stuffed cougar, deer and raccoon hanging in the rafters, we headed west towards Longview.

Cougar Bar and Grill, Cougar WA

As we drove north on a short section of I5, we were passed at high speed by of all things, a '67 Willow Green E-type! It was driven by Rick Hughes, who lives close-by, and had volunteered to shepherd us through Longview, and join us on the final leg of the day. He took us to County Line Park on WA-4 alongside the Columbia River where we introduced ourselves and stretched our legs.

County Line Park - WA-4

I think my grandmother told me something about these things, but I can't remember what they are for...

The final leg of day 2 was over water. We took the Wahkiakum County Ferry from Cathlamet, WA to Westport, OR across the Columbia River. It is the last regularly scheduled car ferry to cross the Columbia River between the two states.Very relaxing...

Next time you are on a ferry, try setting up a route on your Tom-Tom GPS. The WARNING message is a killer...

Isn't it strange; wherever those E-type guys are, they can't resist opening the bonnet and comparing notes...

Tomorrow we will be driving up to Mount St Helens, and taking our cars on a helicopter ride....