Skamania Lodge - Bringing you another Washington State Vacation

Skamania Lodge - Awesome!

It is July, 2011 and I know I've written about my travels with my "Senior Citizen" friends but this time I have to mention the privilege of traveling with the "Greatest Generation" in current times.  I escorted a group of Senior Citizens to this wonderful Washington State Lodge, they shared life, history, experiences and most of all a true appreciation of the world around us.  Traveling with these great people from the younger ages in their mid 70's to the richest age of mid 90's I grow beyond belief with a real insight on life in general. To sum up the adventure would be a disservice to this generation but we must move on to our great adventure in Stevens Washington at the Skamania Lodge. My last thought on this subject is for you to reach out and find your own group of elders to take on an adventure either close to home or far off, you'll be more rewarded then your traveling companions while also enriching and fulfilling their lives;  remember you too one day will want to continue to live and experience life, won't it be nice to have someone take time to share their energy & time with you?  Giving and sharing forward makes living a treasure and not just a life.

Okay, on to our great adventure south of Seattle; we left on the Amtrak Cascades at 7:15 a.m. in the morning enjoying a wonderful coastal ride to Portland, Oregon.  We boarded our bus for a short ride to the Skamania Lodge along the inner waterways of the Oregon & Washington boarders, the Columbia River Gorge, with a quick look at the Multinomah Falls then crossing the Bridge of the Gods to our home for the next few days. Upon arriving at this wonderful resort we were greeted by a wonderful staff attending to our luggage and personal needs, we attended a wonderful reception offered by the lodge on the Garden Terrace followed by a wonderful lunch at the River Rock Lounge & Restaurant, one of two great eateries at the lodge; more on the food later.

Our rooms were wonderful, everything we all expected, warm well designed, fire places, large bathrooms with the best amenities and the beds, well to say they were heavenly might be a play on a type of bed used at a big hotel chain so I'll just say some of my guests asked the hotel staff where the pillows, linens and accessories came from, I felt as if I was sleeping on a cloud with the best comfy pillows ever, here is a quick shot of my room:

Besides eating, we participated in the following activities some of which can't be explained in simple words so I encourage you to visit the area and do each of them at least once.  On our first day we enjoyed to lodge taking in the views, vistas and many took a plunge in the pools some even took in an hour on the golf course. The next morning we again took our time to enjoy the lodge and surrounding only to take off to Mt. Hood on our wonderful bus with the most enriching lecture and guide, his name was Gary from MTR.  We spent time on Mt. Hood, visiting the lodge some took in an afternoon adult beverage while others hiked around or watched the wonderful younger generation snow boarding; yes you read this right, it is the middle of July and the snow was plentiful, the young men and women where entertaining while adding some tricks of the trade making this a show in itself.  Here is a picture of the snow in the mountain at the lodge on Monday, July 11:

Now this isn't the only incredible spot we visited, maybe the most impressive it has only become more beautiful over the years, my last visit was with friends sometime in the early 1980's or so? We climbed or hiked to the vista, not this time however as just taking in the mountain from the back of the lodge along with Mt. Washington from the front side of the lodge more than satisfied our need for adventure, the beauty of it all can't be explained simple words.

The evening came too quick but not without another spectacular meal at our lodge we had dinner in the main dining room as we did last night, it didn't disappoint any of us as a matter of fact it seemed to be even more appetizing the second time around.  I'll go over the foods and menus later in this writing, along with our experience with the staff at the lodge. During dinner we watched the children playing baseball and kick ball while others gathered around the open fire pit in the garden to share a wonderful glass of wine, friends, pets and each other we enjoyed watching them share, laugh, play and relax which is a rare sight these days. The sunset came fast as some of my guests retired to the library for a friendly game of bridge, others went swimming and a few strolled the grounds as the sun set over the mountains:

Our next adventure started at 9:00 a.m. from the lodge to the Mt. Hood Railroad along the Hood River up to Parkdale

Back to the lodge and the area, taking in one of the walking trails only enhances the feeling of being in nature, the rock hot tubs created a sense of peace and entitlement along with a refreshing feeling of being alive.  At the lodge both dining options offer spectacular food, the River Rock and the Cascade Dining Room (the main dining room).  My first meal was lunch at the River Rock, tasty, fresh, local and flavors only a true regional chef could create, dinner on the first night included several entrees (had to try more than one) that started with a wonderful salad wrapped in a cucumber, appetizers are a piece of art themselves, but the entrees rocked; prawns and pasta, second was a wonderful pork dish with fingerling potatoes, fresh veggies then onto a vegetarian meal of green Thai curry and local produce with jasmine rice; desserts topped off the evening offering such items as brownies with vanilla bean ice cream, cookies and chocolate sauce or creme brulee with fresh berries and many more offers.  Breakfast offers everything from a well balance buffet to a wonderful fresh crab omelet and everything in between including Belgian Waffles are you hungry yet?

Staff and servers at the lodge can only be summed up in a single word "exceptional" in every way, I've traveled all over the world shared my adventures with my senior friends of all persuasions, back grounds, education levels, some are retired professors, lawyers, doctors, architects and others business owners and operators and we all agreed to the description of each staff member including the bell staff, front desk staff, servers, bar staff, housekeeping staff, spa technicians and grounds keepers as again "exceptional"!  No other words best describes the overall experience, kindness and professionalism.

Don't miss out, take a grandparent, friend, child or immediate family and hit the road for Skamania!