Columbia River

It's wide and gorgeous. We reached it from the south side, crossing that very big and long bridge (luckily there wasn't too much wind) in Astoria and got on Route 4 and then Route 14 (both beautiful) after crossing the outskirts of Portland.
Two hundred years ago, almost to a month, Lewis and Clark discovered this river and the magnificient landscapes of the Northwest. Lewis got killed a few years later in a city next to the Natchez-Trace (I learnt that during the trip...). Thomas Jefferson ordered both the Louisiana purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition after hearing about the forays Captain Cook had made along the Oregon coast. These names, Jefferson, Cook, Lewis and Clark, are what dreams are made of. The country was nonetheless populated long before and the "Bridge of the Gods", somewhere along the Columbia River, was the name of a Native American folktale according to which people in ancient times could cross the river by foot. Geologists recently discovered that a landslide a few centuries ago had actually blocked the river for a while before it found its bed again. So the "Bridge of the Gods" was not only a tale, it was the truth, told from generations to generations.
We're camping out tonight at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Hood River under a full moon. What Lewis and Clark did not have to put up with was the train going right next to the campsite but they had other worries.
And I have internet in my tent, provided I can get access to a cellular network. On n'arrête pas le progrès.
Oh, another thing: From today on, the little compass on my motorcycle is showing the direction I am riding as East, after showing West for two weeks. Go East Young Man (not that young anymore, though).