Columbia & Snake Rivers Cruise on the
American Harmony
10/6/25 to 10/21/25

Click on the above link buttons that will take you directly to a particular page or area of the review; or you can just click through to the next page at the bottom of each page.
Page 1 – Pre-Trip in Portland, OR
Page 2 – Embarkation, Ship; Kalama, WA; Astoria, OR
Page 3 – Ports of Call: The Dales, OR; Richland, WA;
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Clarkston, WA; Post-Trip to Walla Walla, WA

Ports - Continued

The Dalles, OR

The distance to the Dalles from Astoria is about 180 miles, 60 miles more than from Kalama as in the original itinerary. So, we would arrive at the Dalles a few hours later. This was good and bad for us. The good was that we would get to enjoy cruising on a pretty part of the river. The bad was that we would have to modify the tour that Jim planned for us.

The scenery along the river was just breathtaking, especially with the golden glow of the rising morning sun.

Along the way, we got a glimpse of the top of 11.245 ft. tall Mt. Hood. I kept watching to see if we would get a better view, and then we did. I really love seeing snowcapped volcanos.

As we continued, the terrain was changing, but still gorgeous.

When we stopped at The Dalles dock, we had another nice view of Mt. Hood that we could look at all day.

Our original plan for the day was to rent a van to drive to a wine tasting, then visit a museum and Stonehenge. Not the well-known one, but a replica. With the shortened tour window, we passed on the wine tasting so we could see the other two attractions. Jim walked about a mile away to the rental car agency and came back to pick up the rest of us at the ship. He walks a lot every day, so he enjoyed the walk.

Our first stop was at the Maryhill Museum of Art. Construction of what was to be the private mansion was started in 1914. Before it was completed, he decided to make the building “a museum for the public good, and for the betterment of French art in the far Northwest of America.” Sam Hill received many gifts from the royal family of Belgium due to his long-time friendship with the King. The museum was officially opened to the public in 1940, 9 years after Sam Hill’s death.

When we arrived at the parking lot, we were met by a large turkey. He will be a popular guy next month for Thanksgiving.

As we headed up the steps to the entrance, I was distracted by an unusual piece of art in the yard called the Quantum Man. It changed as we moved past it.

We had a nice view looking down and across the river. We were in a much drier climate on this side of the mountains.

The first room we entered had some amazing pieces of furniture.

This piece was the corner throne of Queen Maria of Romania.

I also liked the statue of Diana, Queen of the Hunt.

Of course there were rooms with lots of paintings and other pieces of art.

Another section of the museum contained stages that outlined famous Paris landmarks with bent wire and sculpted miniature mannequins.

Another section contained statues by sculptor Rodin.

A special exhibit in the museum was of unique chess sets. There were a bunch of them.

From the special exhibit area, I was able to walk out onto the patio next to the cafe, where there was a nice view across the river.

I returned to the museum to check out their extensive indiginous people exhibits. It was a very nice one.

As I left the building, I was able to get better photos of the unique Quantum Man in better light at different angles as I moved past it.

They also had a nice garden area with statues.

After leaving the very nice museum, we drove about 5 miles to a replica of Stonehenge built by Sam Hill in 1918. It was a memorial to the soldiers who died in WW1. It is quite a sight!

The monument dedication plaque has the following inscription:

In memory of the soldiers and sailors of Klickitat County who gave their lives in defense of their country. This monument is erected in the hope that others inspired by the example of their valor and their heroism may share in that love of liberty and burn with that fire of patriotism which death can alone quench.

There are plaques on some of the columns with names of soldiers who died during WW1 that were from Klickitat County.

I walked to the other side of the monument to see the view from the monument.

I then walked down the hill a bit to get a photo of the monument with the sun shining on it rather than in the shade.

As we were heading back to the ship, we were thrilled to see a snowcapped mountain in the distance. We pulled over to a scenic viewing area where we could take photos. This was the sign telling us what we were seeing.

This beautiful mountain was 12,307 ft. tall Mt. Adams.

We had already seen Mt. Hood, and it wasn’t clear enough to see Mt. Ranier but we were thrilled to finally get a glimpse of Mt. St. Helens 70 miles away.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable day seeing things we couldn’t have seen on any of the ship tours. Jim came through with another winner of a tour.

Cruising the Columbia River Gorge

We would be cruising up the Columbia River all day. The first part would be the prettiest while going through the gorge. Once the sun got high enough, the glow made the mountains even prettier.

It was interesting to see the stark contrast of the green vineyards on the dry mountains.

We knew that we would be cruising by the Maryhill Museum of Art and Stonehenge at some time but didn’t know when. I was lucky to come out to check at just the right time to see the museum from the ship.

We finally saw Stonehenge way up on the hill.

In doing research about the Maryhill Stonehenge, I learned that Sam Hill is buried 50 yards from Stonehenge. I was surprised I hadn’t seen his grave. Then I saw that it was much further down the hill I started to climb down to get a better photo. I actually did get the gravestone in the photos from the ship, but I have to blow them up to see it.

Continuing the cruise, we had more views different scenery and of Mt. Adams.

We then came to the John Day Lock and Dam. With a 110 ft. lift, it is the highest of any in the USA.

As we went in, I went to the back of the ship to watch the door come down to seal the lock.

Then I moved to the front to watch the lock fill up.

There were so many seagulls waiting on the side for the door to open and let us through. Once we did, it was a feeding frenzy.

While we were going through the lock, the ship had a lock party, with the crew and passengers dancing and celebrating. I was too busy taking photos of us going through the lock, but my buddy Jim was on the upper deck.

He took several photos that he shared with me. So, I can share a couple with you. They were having a good time.

After passing through the lock, we had an even better view of Mt. Adams.

The scenery for much of the rest of the cruise flattened out.

Richland, WA

We were docked at our first port in the state of Washington. It was another gorgeous morning as I looked out from the ship.

Richland’s place in history is that it was the location for the world’s first industrial scale nuclear reactor to produce plutonium for the Manhattan Project. The government took over the whole community of Hanford nearby for its giant complex in 1943. Everyone living there had to move out with just 30 days’ notice.

We wouldn’t spend any time in Richland other than to drive through on our excursion to Pendleton, OR. We were taking the $120 per person full day Pendelton Experience Signature Collection excursion. There were 49 passengers on the almost full bus. We had an amazing guide named Rosemary. She was so much fun and gave us such a great tour. Her love of the Richland area shined through during the tour.

The drive to Pendleton was around an hour and a quarter. As we came into town, we passed by the site of the Pendleton Round-Up, a major annual rodeo. The rodeo’s slogan is "Let 'er buck!" It is the battle cry of the rodeo and the Wyoming football team.

Pendleton is a small town with a population of just over 17,000. 1,600 of which are inmates at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution. We would get to explore the cute town, but we first were going to visit the Pendleton Underground Tour. This is an area of tunnels and shops that were built under the town in the early 1900’s. We were told that it was used by the Chinese immigrants who weren’t allowed to be on the streets after dark. It is now pretty much a museum of Pendleton’s past.

We went into the tour office/shop where the tour would begin. There were lots of interesting things to look at. I particularly liked the white mountain goat above one of the doors.

Rosemary had shown us a video on the bus ride of a famous saddle maker, Duff Severe, who has his saddles displayed in the Smithsonian Institute. The video also showed us some of the miniature saddles he made after his arthritis prevented him from doing such large jobs. One of the jobs for these saddles was to a casino owner that wanted four of them. Each had either a club, spade, heart or diamond on them. These miniature saddles were in the shop because the purchaser died before they were finished. Very unique and beautiful! It must have taken a long time to make each one of them.

We were then given an orientation by our excellent guide, Sue Ellen. She would bring the tunnels to life for us. She told us that we would only be exploring about one block of the tunnels that originally covered sixteen blocks.

We walked around to the side of the shop where there were steps leading down to the tunnels.

The first room was a bar with cowboy mannequins playing poker and a dance hall girl on the bar.

We then walked through a tunnel to the next room, Hop Sing’s Chinese Laundry.

The next room was the Empire Ice Cream Parlor. It did seem out of place underground.

We then came to an area that was used as a type of hostel. There was a sleeping mannequin in one of the beds.

We continued through the halls and entered the Empire Meat Company. Sue Ellen told us about the butchering process in the tunnels.

We next came to a prohibition card room where illegal whiskey was served to gamblers.

The last area we came to after a long tunnel was a large game room that even had a duck pin bowling alley in it.

It had been a most interesting tour. We were now looking forward to exploring the cute town above. Rosemary gave us a brief orientation walk utilizing the town map she provided us all with. We were most impressed with the many statues along the street. The first one was of Stella Darby. She was the madam of the Cozy Rooms hotel. A once very popular brothel.

Another statue was of Aura Goodwin Ralley, the Mother of Pendleton.

Brothels must have been very popular in Pendleton, since we passed by another one called the Working Girls Hotel.

Another statue was of George Fletcher. He was a black cowboy who came in second place in the 1911 World Bronc Riding Championship. He was apparently much better than the white cowboy who won a $350 saddle. The crowd didn’t agree with results, and Fletcher was considered the “People’s Champion.” The local sheriff and rodeo director took up a collection by selling pieces of Fletcher’s hat. They raised $700 for him. Fletcher was also inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Another statue was of Kathleen McClintock who was very active in Pendleton’s various societies. The statue is dedicated to all women who have served as the face of the Pendleton Round-Up.

We then walked over to the Sisters Restaurant, where we would have the included lunch we chose a few days before the tour.

After lunch, we had free time to explore on our own. We saw a sign indicating that the road was on the Oregon Trail. It was a 2,000-mile trail that connected Independence, Missouri to Oregon. It took 4-6 months to travel it by covered wagon.

Rosemary told us that we should visit Hamley and Co. Western Store. It has been in the same location since 1905. It was purchased by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. This is where Duff Severe learned his trade before opening his own store. It is a huge store with everything western and Indian. Just a great shopping experience.

We were also allowed to enter the saddle making area to see the craftsman at work making belts and saddles. It is a very slow labor-intensive process.

We continued walking around the cute town.

We wanted to try the hot chocolate samples at Alexander’s Authentic Sicilian Gelato shop. Rosemary raved about how good it was. She was right. It was outstanding. She also told us about the 1910 Pendleton Whiskey Pumpkin Swirl ice cream. We had to try it, even at its $14 per scoop price. It was very good, but not worth $14. The shop was very expensive for everything they carried.

We next took the bus to the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute located on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. It is a very nice facility with so many interesting exhibits.