28/10/2019 - Harrisburg → Portland → Multnomah Falls → Portland → Roy / USA (479 kilometers)

It was slowly getting colder. We left Harrisburg in the morning with only 2 degrees Celsius. Once again, we stopped at our car rental, this time at the airport in Portland, to exchange our car. The next few days were supposed to get colder and colder as we drove up into the mountains. We asked for a 4-wheel drive in case we got stuck in deep snow. We exchanged our VW Jetta for a Nissan Kick after 795 miles and drove to the Multnomah Falls. The Multnomah Falls are the second-highest year-round waterfalls in the USA. They plunge 189 meters in two stages. We started our visit at the Visitor Center. It was a special visit. We spent at least half an hour there. Two older, very lovely ladies have been volunteering there for many years. They told us non-stop about the waterfalls and the historical road that we should definitely drive along. When one of them heard us speaking German, she suddenly started speaking too. She had lived in Germany for a few years and happily told us some stories from her time there. After tearing ourselves away, we walked across the historic Benson Bridge and had a delicious lunch by the fireplace at the Multnomah Falls Lodge before driving along the mentioned historical road. The Historic Columbia River Highway is originally a 120 kilometer-long scenic road. It passes numerous waterfalls and offers scenic views of the Columbia River Gorge. Construction started in 1913, making it the first scenic highway built in the USA. We drove along the picturesque road and discovered the Wahkeena Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls, and the Latourell Falls. We ended our journey at the Vista House. From this historic rest stop on the 225 meter high cliff, we enjoyed one last impressive panoramic view of the area. The final stretch of the day took us to the small town of Roy. On the way there, we read the description of our new car and realized that it didn't have 4-wheel drive. Since we were passing by Portland again, we stopped at the rental station again. By chance, we spoke to the manager who apologized for giving us the wrong car and made sure we got the right one. After 64 miles, we exchanged the Nissan again. We got a Mazda CX5, so we became a bit bigger again. Now we just had to complete the last stretch and unfortunately arrived in the darkness. We couldn't catch a glimpse of Mount Rainier anymore.