Trilium Lake, Oregon : August 2003

You have to give my husband a lot of credit. I’m not easy to travel with. Take Trilium Lake, for instance. I insisted that we do the Columbia River Gorge/Mt. Hood Loop during our Pacific Northwest jaunt. Which meant driving down to this area from Seattle and spending the day seeing the sights recommended in our Most Scenic Drives in America book. It points out places to stop, scenic views, and cool attractions.

He left the navigating to me as we started our ascent. Things went pretty smoothly. We started to get glimpses of Mt. Hood in the distance. Then we stopped at a cool ski chalet rest stop and I fueled up with a mocha before heading on to the next sites. As I sipped my mocha (made by a guy who used to live in Sterling Heights), I saw a brown sign pointing to Trilium Lake. No big deal. Then I saw another brown sign and I got concerned and looked at my map. Yikes! We’d missed two attractions just in that short 1/2-mile stretch. I was determined to see everything I could, so this was not a good thing.

When I yelped in alarm, the husband volunteered to turn around. “Yes, of course, turn around. I want to see Trilium Lake!” So we headed back to the sign and went in the direction it indicated. Which led to a dirt road that took us to some campgrounds. This is where I said, “Campgrounds? Where the hell is the lake?” (I’m a bit impatient at times.) The husband suggested that the lake was here, we just needed to look for some more signs. I suggested that we go back and take another turn. We took my suggestion, of course.

We ended up at another dead end in another campground (but got two amazing photos of Mt. Hood that we never would have seen otherwise). I was quite anxious and disappointed at this point. The husband was quite annoyed with me at this point. So we returned to his suggestion and went back to the other area, drove past the campground, and found…the lake. Not so hard, really, but I tend to make things seem harder than they are. I guess I like to add a bit of drama to the scene.

After the frustration ebbed away, we wandered over to this incredibly beautiful and quiet lake. Mt. Hood was, just as promised in the book, majestically reflected in the water. I got several great shots and we walked around among the fishermen, campers and fellow travelers, enjoying the scenery.

Sure, it all ended well, but I subject that poor guy to so much before the happy endings! I’m sure he’d relish the opportunity to tell you about my tirade when we got lost in the financial district in London while trying to find the Tower of London. It’s all part of traveling with me. At least it’s not boring!