A note from Judy:

I woke up this morning, opened the curtain, crawled back in bed and watched the scenery go by!  There is nothing more wonderful than waking up to beautiful mountains, rolling hills, sharp rock cliffs and farm fields out your window and the scenery keeps changing.  That is the beauty of a river cruise!  If you can, give it a try. 

This whole trip has been wonderful from the fabulous views out our San Francisco room to the wine country and then up the coast of California with its varied coastline.  Being a Maine girl, I loved the rocky parts, but it was all beautiful. Then the magnificent views of Crater Lake!  It was a beautiful day with beautiful reflections off the lake.  Even though we could only see two spots because the roads were still closed for snow, I will remember the amazement I felt when I walked up to the viewpoint and said wow!

Along with the beautiful scenery on the river I also enjoyed the opportunity to unpack and still keep seeing the world around me. On this trip we have also gone through at least six locks, which is always fun to watch. The museums, learning about the Native Americans, seeing the dams and of course the wonderful talks by Bill Wiemuth. He took us completely through the Lewis and Clark Exploration, the story of John Jacob Astore and the pioneers as they came across the Oregon Trail. These were all wonderful opportunities to learn with the ease of having it all scheduled for us.  A bonus was Bill’s lovely wife, Laura Sable, a professionally trained singer who performed many evenings for us.  Last night she honored women singers from every genre including an opera piece.

This last day of the cruise we took a 5-hour jet boat ride up the Snake River.  What a beautiful ride we had and a wonderful conclusion to our week!

Day 16 – Snake River

Not much to tell about today. Just a 5-hour trip up the Snake River and Back with lunch on the way. Mountains, river, big-horn sheep, bald eagles, turkeys and petroglyphs dating back 2,500 years. The usual. See the pictures, which I probably won’t get around to posting until tomorrow on the way back. It’ll give me something to do on the plane.

Thanks for traveling with us. See you next time.

Love,

Jon and Judy