On a sunny weekend in Oregon, the crowds split west for the coast. But I like to go east. Hit highway 84 out of Portland, and in just under an hour you’ll be in Hood River—an earthy little windsurfing/cycling/bohemian town right on the Columbia River. Here’s why:

The Weather: As you drive east away from the Willamette River valley, you leave behind the Northwest rainforest weather pattern (AKA RAINNNN!!!), entering the more arid climate of central Oregon. This is a life-saver when you wake up on yet another drizzly morning and just achingly NEED to see the sun shining. Chances are pretty good that those rays are hitting earth out in Hood River.



The Produce/Vineyards: Due to the aforementioned climate, produce is a little more abundant earlier and later in Hood River. As you take Highway 35 out of town, the “back way” up to Mt. Hood, you pass farm stand after farm stand piled high with peaches, berries, all manner of greens, and five-gallon buckets bursting with fresh-cut dahlias. The countryside is also spangled with vineyards boasting tasting rooms run out of tidy turn-of-the-century farm houses.







The Hood River: Swimming holes abound in Hood River—and although the town is right on the massive Columbia, I prefer the pristine, ethereal blue-green waters of the Hood River. It’s like a mainline straight from Mt. Hood, and although it can feel chest-clutchingly icy at times, on a hot day, that’s exactly what the doctor ordered, right?



The Drive: The journey is its own reward, as they say. From Portland to Hood River, you wind along beside the behemoth Columbia River, with gulls tearing through the air a hundred feet up and big freighters bobbing along beside you on their way to (or from?) the Pacific. You are traveling in reverse the very same path that Lewis and Clark took all those many centuries ago, and I often try to imagine what the Columbia River Gorge looked like to them back then, all wild and golden in the evening’s dying sun.