I decided to be in the Gorge for a few days, explore, stay at a place that I could work from. This did not turn out to be a great plan. The historic hotel I stayed in looked cute and had WFH areas inside and out, but my room was terrible. There is no way it was one of the original rooms. This was a converted space with no charm, 6 overhead lights controlled by 4 light switches spread around the room, the desk area was cramped, the window didn't open and the panes were covered in a thick plastic for privacy. Since it's a very sloped area, my room in the back was partially underground. It also smelled like dog. I woke up my first morning there and was like 'wtf, what am I doing? Maybe I should grab a bus back to Portland'.

On my Welches trip I stayed in a tiny converted space that was way smaller and worse than every other room there, but I'd also chosen that room and paid a lower rate. I did no such thing here, this was a regular booking. So I have no idea what why I got put in that space.

But, I'd paid for it so I stayed and made the best of it. The weather was nice, the air clear and I was in the Gorge.

View stepping out of the hotel:



View from park:



I wound up going back to Hood River for a bit the day I changed to my final hotel: