From: garyb@gcm.com (Gary Blumenstein)
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
Subject: Gorge Trip Thanks!
Date: 20 Dec 92 19:59:12 GMT
Organization: Greenwich Capital Markets, Inc.
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Fellow Windsurfers,

I'd like to announce my deepest and heartfelt thanks to Roger Christal 
and Wilton Hart for making my recent trip to the Columbia River Gorge 
so memorable, informative, and fun.  Although I didn't get a chance to 
meet Wilton face-to-face, over the past few months he supplied me with 
a wealth of useful information in preparation for my trip.  In fact 
Wilton put up with a constant barrage of email questions from me to the 
point where it's a wonder how he ever got any work done!  Wilton, I owe 
you more than one Full Sail Ale!

Roger on the other hand, not only took me on a first-class, all day 
guided tour of the Gorge, but he and his gracious wife had me over for 
a home cooked feast at the end of our journey.  Talk about hospitality!
            (-: (-: ARE YOU LISTENING EASTERNERS!  :-)  :-)
  
For those of you who may be interested, I visited Portland over the weekend
of December 12th prospecting for a better way of life.  Thanks to Roger and
Wilton, I now have a better understanding of the culture and appeal of the 
area.  To phrase it in a nutshell, I'm impressed!

My tour of the Gorge took place on a windless day and there was no sailing
activity to speak of.  So you might want to skip the rest of the message if
you only want to hear sailing stories -- there are none here, and keep in 
mind this was the dead of winter in the Gorge (some hard-core types still 
sail but for the most part, it was quiet).

Saturday 10:30am, From Roger's house in Portland we drove east on I-84
approximately 20 minutes to Rooster Rock State Park.  Roger's video camera
in-hand, we proceeded to create our little video documentary.  Since I've
gotten back home, I think I've watched it no less that a dozen times!  The
day was cloudy and cool (45 deg. F.) with some fog.  A typical winter day
in Portland for that time of year.

At Rooster Rock I was shown the launch site which is so famous for the big 
east wind.  Recall the scenes of Mike Kitts sailing there in the movie 
"Raw Power".  Back at Roger's house, he showed me a video that he shot on
Thanksgiving day (remember *that* day Wilton? You should have gone sailing! 
:-).  There was liquid smoke shore to shore, as Roger put it, "a total 
white out".  Ahem, I'm supposed to sail in *that*!  You gotta be kidding.
You can die out there!

Next we took a drive down the old Columbia River Scenic Highway which
runs above I-84 and travels past Multnomah Falls and many other spectacular
waterfalls that are found along the Oregon side of the river.  The air 
smelled of pine from all the Douglas Fir trees.  The quiet, fog-shouded 
mountains in the forest gave the whole scene a surreal atmosphere.  I was 
beginning to like this place.

Later, we headed back down to the main highway and crossed the Bridge of 
the Gods near Cascade Locks over to the Washington side as my tour guide
and I entered the famous "nuclear corridor" for a look at some of the most
well known sailing sites in the Gorge.  We checked out Bob's Beach, the Boat
Launch, Home Valley, Swell City, the Hatchery, and Dougs beach.  Along the
way, Roger was pointing out the launches on the Oregon shore, these included
The Marina, the Hook, the Event Site, Viento, and Rowena.

A few miles past White Salmon, WA we crossed over the Hood River bridge and 
headed into town where we stopped in to meet Brian and Lorrain Carlstrom at 
Windance Sailboards.  They were busy doing construction remodeling their shop.
We checked out their boards and looked at the used consigment equipment on
sale.  We took a drive through the rest of town and saw most of the better
know shops and custom sail lofts.

I have to say for me, the trip was a great introdcution to the Gorge.  Since
we were not preoccupied with sailing, we could take our time and thanks to
Roger, I learned a great deal about the history and ways of the area.  Once
again, hats off to you guys for making my visit a great one!

- Gary
-- 
        /         garyb@gcm.com ...rather be windsurfing!
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