Feb 19-20 Olympia To Hood River Washington

Feb 19-20
Olympia to Hood River,  Washington
   A bit of bad weather arrived with freezing temperatures and light snow.  We opted to spend two nights in Olympia, the capital of Washington.  The city sidewalks were dusted with about 2 inches of snow but schools were closed for the day.  This would be a warm springtime snow storm in Maine.  The temperatures were in the mid thirties with spring flowers in bloom.  We actually had coffee in the morning at an outside seating with large soft snowflakes falling.
   Olympia is located at the south end of an inlet section of the Puget Sound.  It has a waterfront area with a farmers market, waterfront restaurants, and fishing boats.  The Farmers Market was only open on Saturdays this time of the year, so we were not able to experience that.  I remember visiting the Saturday Farmers Market in Eugene when Kate was in college.  It seemed to consume the entire town with fresh foods and handmade items.
   We have reservations at Lake Chelan on March 2 so we are trying to plan our trip across the Cascades without getting trapped on icy mountain roads or a snow storm.  On the advice of locals, we  decided to take the Columbia River Gorge Route 84 across the Cascades.  We needed to backtrack south just north of Portland, Oregon then east on to Route 84.  More snow was falling but we managed to drive to Hood River.  We found a lovely 1920 hotel and spa overlooking the Hood River, The Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa.  This is an ornate hotel with classic brass and glass chandeliers, an Otis 1920 elevator that needed an operator to take us to our room, and a glass enclosed dining room overlooking the Hood river.  There are seven acres of landscaped gardens that surround the property that provide walking trails to waterfalls, a beautiful dog friendly spot.  Even though there is snow on the ground the rhododendrons are blossoming, the daffodils are budding and the English Ivy covers stone walls along the pathways.  Since there are only 6 guests in the hotel, we have been treated like royalty.  We plan to stay here for two nights as we watch the weather forecast and road conditions.