Journey of a Little Fox.

"Sometimes you have to get lost before you find yourself." ~ Author Unknown.

My journey started out as a vision to take a tour of the Grand Lodges of the Northwest, then it expanded to California being that there are not that many Grand Lodges of the Northwest.  I  expanded my tour to include Fancy/Nice Hotels being that I could not find as many Grand Lodges as I wanted to.

My first stop was down the road (relatively speaking) at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. This place looks fancy.

Listed on teh National Register of Historic Places.  Seems right up my alley. 

For a region of the United States that built it's fortune around lumber products it's interesting that they made this place out of stucco.   

This place has everything!  Gardens, views.

 It's own bridge.

It even has it's own waterfall. 

Goodbye Columbia Gorge.  Next stop: Mt. Hood.
Along the way, a fox gets hungry.  I know of a bakery up on the mountain that has free samples of cookies (yes, free cookies), pie, and jams.  Perfect place for a fox to refuel.

I started heading up toward Mt. Hood.  Along the way I found a little lodge.  It has a nice view of Mt. Adams in the background.  

Apparently this lodge is open only in the winter.  Looks nice doesn't it?

Hmm, a closed gate.....I wonder what's on the other side?

Apparently there is a mountain lodge way back there from the 1800s that is still standing.  It's a 10 to 15 mile drive on a rutted, potholed dirt road and only open to guided tours that fill up fast and are only offered by lottery.  It looks like it's a pretty cool place

Whew, that's a lot of adventure for one day.  Now I just need to find a place to sleep, perhaps by that bakery with the free samples.