Does the sun shine in the Northwest?

And the Lord said, "Let there be light for Joann and Jack to enjoy Oregon." Lo and behold, there was light. We started the day with liquid sunshine and then the sun came out and it was a beautiful day. Because of the clouds we haven't seen Mt. Hood yet, but we still have hopes. Our travels today took us from Pendleton to Portland with many stops on the way. If it's possible to have sensory overload, today would be the day for that to happen. Every thing was beautiful from the scenic Columbia River Gorge to the Portland skyline. Our first detour was to England to see Stonehenge. (Just kidding, of course.) The replica was commissioned by the same person who built Maryhill (a French like Chateau turned museum) as a World War I memorial. After visiting Stonehenge, we continued down the road to Maryhill Museum. The building was started as a personal residence situated on 6,000 acres on the Washington state side overlooking the Columbia River. The owner changed his mind right before the house was finished and turned it into a museum. His name was Sam Hill and his wife and daughter were named Mary, thus the museum is called Maryhill. The albino peacock was on the grounds of Maryhill. We then crossed the Columbia river back to Oregon and went down the Old Columbia River Road passed several waterfalls. The Fall in the picture is called Multnomah Falls and at 620 feet it is the second highest waterfall in the nation, which flows continuously. Our next stop was Vista House, which is perched on a cliff overlooking the Columbia river. That's where the River picture was taken. We then drove on to Portland where our first stop was Pittock Mansion. It is owned by the city and it's reminiscent of the Newport, RI, mansions. Afterwards we went to an authentic Japanese Garden. Words cannot describe its beauty. We've selected two photos from there, and it was hard to decide which ones were the best. The last photo shows the Portland skyline from the Portland Rose Garden. We were a little early for the roses to be in bloom, but there were many other things in bloom to make the trip worthwhile. Oregon is dark lush green dotted with fresh Spring green and highlighted by thousands of blooming plants. Yes, our senses are on overload and we had to head to the hotel.