two east coast kids on the west coast: day 20 - hood river, oregon to george, washington (310 km)

We left Hood River and a great 6 days of relaxation behind to seek out our last adventure on this whirlwind tour. We had heard from a friend about a place called the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington (yes, the town is called George in the state of Washington – how clever).

The Gorge Amphitheatre is a 20,000 seat concert venue located above the Columbia River Gorge and is considered one of the premier and most scenic concert locations in North America and the world. When we looked up the venue on the internet a few weeks before the start of our trip, we were blown away by the images AND the fact that the Dave Matthews Band would be performing the labour day long weekend, just around the time when we’d be ending our trip and heading north to Vancouver. We were sold.

The drive to George saw us heading inland into the Washington desert. It was very reminiscent of the landscape in Nevada and Colorado with the white, mountainous landscape, followed by corn fields, reminiscent of Nebraska and Iowa. It felt twilight zonish, as if we were retracing our original steps and heading backwards!

The concert. What can we say about Dave? Dave rocks! The concert was like an out-of-body experience. I kept saying to Chris, “I can’t believe I’m here!” Surrounded by the breathtaking scenery coupled with listening to the songs of such a rockin’ band was the most perfect way imaginable to celebrate the near-end of our journey.