A very different landscape

Road trip from Seattle east of the cascade mountains and then south to such a different dry hilly landscape ( many wind farms in this area) and then a bit more south to the Columbia River Gorge. It was a very cloudy day so one couldn't see any of the Oregon mountain peaks....alas... But it's still such an impressive geologic wonder to think that 15 million years ago molten lava came out of the earth near the eastern edge of Washington and Oregon causing the thick crust of basalt rocks near the river, and then the river was carved from the rock by a huge flood at the end of the last ice age (12,000 years ago? ) when a dam broke in Montana and huge amounts of water roared thru the Columbia Gorge and the cascade range. This route along the Columbia River saw Lewis and Clarke on their way to discover the west coast of the US in 1805.... We're going to go to that place where the Columbia meets the Pacific Ocean next week..
Staying in Hood River OR tonight ..near where the wind surfers hang out ... . And enjoyed a great dinner ( with local salmon from the Klickitat river here) out with Seattle friends who have a cabin nearby and happened to be there at this time!