Just do the old highway from Hood River to Rowena as an out and back and grab dinner (or lunch) in HR. It's worth taking in a few other sights in the Gorge (Crown Point, some waterfalls)...but The Dalles isn't high on that list.
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"The older you do get, the more rules they're gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin', man, L-I-V-I-N." - Wooderson
'14 carbon Synapse - '12 CAAD 10 5 - '99 Gary Fisher Big Sur