“It’s not the destination, it is the journey.”

“Getting there is half the fun.”

Often in our rush to get from where we are to where we want to be, we forget these old cliches. Everything about modern transportation is designed to move us as fast as possible. We often forget the very act of traveling should be a big part of the experience.

What if we took it one step further? What if the means of travel WAS the experience? What would that look like? I suspect it would look like the Columbia River Highway.

Built between 1914 – 1916, the Columbia River Highway was designed from the very beginning to be a destination itself. In an era where the general public was just discovering automobile travel, it was a highway designed to showcase one of the most beautiful areas in America. One of the primary design goals was to disturb as little of the natural landscape as possible. The highway was meant to complement and highlight the landscape, not scar it.

Today, Interstate 84 handles the bulk of the traffic through the Columbia River Gorge. While they rush along to their destinations, we’re going to take our time and discover classic roadhouses, waterfalls, and a building once derided as nothing more than a “$100,000 outhouse”.

Come check it out with us!