In the 'hood'. Mt Hood and driving the scenic Mount Hood Highway, Oregon

A moment of joy when Mt Hood could be seen on our road trip from Central Oregon up to the Columbia River.

A brief detour down the Old Dufur Road, just magical scenery.

Foothills of the Cascades, winter colours so peaceful.

We navigated the descent from the High Desert of Central Oregon, past Mt Hood and connected with the Columbia River at The Dalles. Exploring this section of I 84, the US 30 and 14 is our final destination in Oregon.

The Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia River.

Our first stop was the Bridge of the Gods high above the Columbia River Gorge. 

A bridge of many stories.

As we pulled up I suddenly connected all the dots - buying Cheryl Strayed' book "Wild" (2012) when I was last in Oregon from the famous Powell's Books in Portland; loving her story and her remarkable 1100 mile hike on the PCT; watching Reese Witherspoon in the movie adaption of the book (2014); and the Bridge of the Gods is a key moment in the book and in the movie when Strayed completes her hike on this Oregon-Washington State line.

We paid the toll and crossed the mighty Columbia River on this iconic bridge in the mist and rain. A special moment experiencing technical mastery and nature in the same place.

I think this is a good time to watch the movie again and to pay special attention to the Oregon scenery and to this bridge.

And of course, I am remembering being here at Mt Hood in the summer of 2014 with Shawni and Craig.
It was the year of their wedding in the Bahamas, and Fred and I spent 3 months travelling the west coast of the USA, visiting all the national parks. The kids joined us for a couple of weeks,  we were in Oregon to explore Mt Hood and in Montana for Yellowstone.