Links of Interest: Columbia & Snake Rivers

I was packing today. I was. Only I was....  Clay says he'll pack tomorrow. Anyway, to continue, I found a couple of pages of links that Cruise West had emailed me months ago. I thought if you are reading along here then these links might interest you as well, so here they are below.

The Caspian Tern
Caspian Terns can be found all along the Columbian Gorge. Their largest breeding colony in North America is found off the coast of Oregon, causing problems for young salmon releases along the Columbia River. The oldest known Caspian Tern lived to be over 26 years old.
Read about Caspian Terns at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/allaboutbirds/birdguide/caspian_tern_dtl.html

Columbia River Gorge Wine Country
The Columbia River Gorge is our nation’s first National Scenic Area. It is one of the most dramatic river canyons in the United States. The climate and terrain create conditions similar to those found in the wine growing regions of France’s Burgundy and Italy’s northern Rhone Valley. And hundreds of newer vineyard acres now occupy a variety of terroirs throughout the Gorge.
Read about this interesting wine region at http://www.winesnw.com/gorgehome.html

Fish Ladders and Hydropower
The numerous dams and locks along the Columbia & Snake Rivers would make passage impossible for spawning salmon were it not for the fish ladders that have been created. Older fish passageways required the young salmon to dive 40 feet or deeper to the level of the spillway. Now juvenile fish bypass facilities have been improved or installed on seven of the eight dams along the Columbia & Snake Rivers.
Learn more at http://www.nwcouncil.org/library/2003/2003-20/hydro.htm
 
Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs were an important form of pre-writing symbols used in communication as far back as 12,000 years ago. Incised into rock, they probably had deep cultural and religious significance, representing some kind of symbolic or ritual language.
Read more at http://www.crystalinks.com/petroglyphs.html

Maryhill Museum
In 1907 Samuel Hill, a wealthy entrepreneur bought 6,000 acres of land intending to establish a Quaker agricultural community. He picked the bluff for his home and it was constructed of steel I-beams, interior steel studs and poured concrete. No wood was used in the structure. His home became a museum with Rodin sculptures among his first acquisitions.
Find out more at http://www.maryhillmuseum.org/

Lewis & Clark
In 1803 Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with their Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean and explore the uncharted West. The thinking at the time was that they would find woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes and a mountain of pure salt. Instead they found over 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, the Rockie Mountains and the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.
Learn more at: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_intro.html

UPDATE: Clay packed today! Whew. That's done. So, tomorrow only have to do on line check in and print out boarding passes.

Southwest Airlines

So, today I got an email from Southwest Air reminding me that my trip is right around the corner. I appreciate that. What I don't appreciate is the sales pitch! Southwest Air has one of the most inclusive airfares. Bags of any kind up to a reasonable limit are not extra, etc. But, they do charge extra to do online check in and print a boarding pass more than 24 hours in advance. That is really what the nice reminder email was about, a sales tool to get me to pay $10 per person (per segment as far as I could understand!). So, I could have spent an additional $40 to print boarding passes for Clay and I today for the 2 flights it will take us to get to Portland. Sorry, Southwest. I will just wait and do it 24 hours in advance. And as I understand it from reading the website, then I will get to log on twice that day because when it is 24 hours in advance of the first flight, it is too early for the connecting one! Really once all the inconvenience and possibly the Early Bird Booking fees are considered, one or more of the other major carriers was priced quite comparably to Southwest. We'll see how we feel about it after all is said and done. But, for today still a little peeved.

UPDATE:
So, notwithstanding how the SW website described the instructions for online checkin, I only had to log on once to print boarding passes for both segments. So that was good news! Still no idea how the $10 charges are for Early Bird, per segment, etc. and I won't be finding out!