Washington and the Columbia River Gorge

I woke up Saturday morning around 7 AM and looked out the window expecting to see classic lush Pacific Northwest fir tree scenery . Instead I saw a dessert landscape! Bill said we were near Pasco. Last night one of my dinner companions said he was from Pasco and commented that the Cascade Mountain Range blocked a lot of rain to his area and created a much different climate than in other parts of Washington. He wasn't kidding! According to the Amtrak guide Pasco is the last town on the navigable part of the Columbia river.

Between Pasco and Wishram taller buttes rise up in front of lakes and ponds. Its getting beautiful!

The scenery gradually became more green. I notice through the roomette window across from me that we are following the Columbia River. The left side of the Empire Builder definitely has the best view for this part of the trip.

I took my camera and headed downstairs to the window in the entry door.

That's Oregon on the other side of the river. The farther we went the more verdant the hills became until they were covered by the evergreens I'd expected.

I didn't want to leave the window but I was getting hungry. I had been told that the dining car would no longer with us after Spokane because it would become part of the Seattle bound train. I'm surprised that I slept through the the separation of the Empire Builder in Spokane. I figured the uncoupling and reassembling would stir me with the noise and motion. Actually I was kind of looking forward to it even though it would occur at about 2:30 AM!

Sleeper car passengers on the Portland section are entitled to a free packaged meal from the observation car's snack bar downstairs.
We were supposed to show the snack bar attendant our roomette number card that was given to us when we had our tickets checked. When I talked to the snack car lady she simply asked who sent me. I replied "Bill sent me" and she laughed and said that was the right answer. Ours was the only sleeper on the Portland segment of the train so Bill was the only one who would have told passengers to see the snack bar lady.

Breakfast consisted of a ham and cheese croissant sandwich, some yogurt, a sweet pastry/bread of some sort, and some fruit. I also hit Bill's coffee urn a couple of times.

The scenery became more and more spectacular. We passed through several short tunnels to make it even more interesting.

One of the photos shows a rock outcropping that is part of one of the upcoming tunnels. Now I wish I'd thought to stand at the back of the sleeper to get a photo of a tunnel from the rear door window.

Once in a while I caught a glimpse of the peak of Mt. Hood, Oregon's highest mountain. I was determined to get a photo of it from the train but was frustrated several times by a passing tree obscuring the view, or a curve in our route or higher hill across the river making the mountain less visible. Then ...there it was! I took the lucky shot...my favorite of the trip!