When I first started planning out this trip my friend TJ Wilson had just moved from Texas to Oregon. At that time he was in the eastern half of the state. Someone said that I HAD to go to the Columbia River Gorge and was bummed to see that my route wouldn’t take me there. But now TJ and family live in Salem, OR and I completely forgot about the suggestion to check out the Gorge until I crested a hill and started to descend into it.