OREGON'S COLUMBIA RIVER COUNTRY, a PARADISE for COUCH POTATOS

After living for seven years in Central Mexico, I sometimes yearn or the land and water I left behind in Oregon. Now that I wouldn't have to spend all my trips back clearing out my locker,� where would I go?

Nowadays I daydream of the Columbia River although you might expect I'd think of the Oregon Coast first of all.The Columbia River, especially at the estuary and farther up near The Dalles, tops my list, at least in sunny weather, meaning May through Sptember. Whether near the wide river mouth at Astoria, Oregon or from the state of Washington, the view of the mighty Columbia estuary can't be beat. I have happy memories of crossing the bridge between water and sky on the way to the Fort Columbia Hostel (which is no longer open so don't be concerned that it's in Washington).

The enterprising walker can amble along the Columbia as it passes through Oregon's largest city, Portland, and the second-growth evergreen covering that part of the state but the Portland segment of the river is not the part that keeps haunting me.���

Nineteenth century travelers from as far away as Europe used to consider Oregon's� Columbia Gorge one of the wonders of the world.� Now big dams like The John Day dam and Bonneville have tamed the Columbia those travelers knew. More tragically, the dams have changed the river that was home to Indian people for more than 7000 years. The river no longer churns past their fisheries at Celilo or The Dalles.

But leaving Portland,� you can still take the historic highway (old Route 30) past a series of waterfalls. Samuel Lancaster, Sam Hill and other roadbuilders designed this winding, narrow roadway to have the least effect on the surrounding woodland beauty as possible. An interesting segment goes from Troutdale to
Ainsworth
State Park
. Leave the freeway at

Lewis & Clark
State Park
on the
Sandy
River
and head south, then east on the Columbia River Highway past Women's
Forum
State Park
and the Vista House at Crown Point.

You may rejoin the freeway at Ainsworth State Park. Meanwhile you'll have driven past (or stopped frequently among) one of the greatest concentrations of waterfalls in
North America
- including Latourell, Shepard's Dell, Horsetail, Bridal Veil, Multnomah and many others. A popular stopoff is
Multnomah Falls
dspite its fairly ordinary gift shop and restaurant.

Farther upriver, you'll reach Tom
McCall
State Park and Rowena Dell, famed for its springtime wildflowers. Continuing east, you'll discover Crate's Point near The Dalles, home of the Gorge
Discovery
Center
and
Wasco
County Museum.

I didn't know the Columbia River before its taming. Like many Portanders, I mainly experienced it as a waterway taking me past the waterfalls within an hour or so of the city.Portland. But the best short excursion ever was by steamboat from Portland upriver to Stevenson on the Washington side..

Even farther up, the Columbia opens out until at last near Hood River and The Dalles the traveler gets a sense of the Oregon Plateau with its big sky and bordering hills, the light-filled open country that is my favorite part of the Columbia country - the place that keeps haunts me with its beauty, tempting me to make another trip back. This part of the river,� a favorite of windsurfers, is also a working waterway where you may see barges bringing wheat down from the Port of Lewiston to Astoria and Portland.

Four other couch potato destinations in Oregon:

�- The river valleys east to west from the Willamette Valley to the Coast. Traveling from Eugene, you'll go through the Siuslaw River country Ken Kesey immortalized in his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Not much has changed except that the old smoky cone-shaped charcoal burners are no longer allowed.� Another literary and landscape possibility - the Illinois River country farther south near The Oregon Caves National Monument, Although Jean Auel's novel, The Clan of the Cave Bear is set in prehistoric Europe, the traveler who explores the Oregon caves will be in similar country.�

�- Portland, where the Columbia and Willamette Rivrs meet, is known for its civilized downtown with small walkable blocks and at least one example of each major architectural style from the late nineteenth century cast iron building fronts to today's high rise condominiums. You may find yourself surprised to find that downtown Portland, despite� its rainy season, is home to many water fountains, both for drinking and ornament.� The coffeehouses, in any kind of weather, make restful stop-offs. You can even drink coffee in the historic Multnomah County Library Building or inside Powell's Bookstore, one of America's largest purveyors of new and used books.

�- Eastern Oregon, especially the drop-off where I sucked in my breath when I suddenly looked down on the great rift valley toward Paisley.� Not far from Paisley, archeologist Luther Cressman found sandals that had survived 9000 years in a dry rock shelter.�

�- My favorite coastal beaches are in southern and central Oregon Coast, particularly the beaches near Bandon, Florence, Newport and Waldport.

I haven't even mentioned fruit orchards in bloom or Oregon's chain of snowy mountain peaks or the fact that Oregon goes from sea level to ski level. Although Oregon is known as active sports country,whether you "only" drive the freeways or byways along the Columbia, you'll be in for a memorable treat.����