I drove up to the Columbia River Gorge on the Thursday before I left. My friend warned me that the traffic would be terrible and I should expect delays.
The traffic was light compared to the SF Bay area. There was a stretch of 405N that was bumper to bumper, with cars moving at around 30mph or so. It cleared and sped up as soon as we hit 30 E.
The drive up to the gorge along the Old Columbia Highway was very pretty. I got lost around the town of Troutdale and had to dig out my GPS to get back on track.
I drove up to the visitor center, with stunning (and very familiar) views of the gorge.
I stopped at a few falls and hiked up. The signs were correct in that the distance to the top was 0.3 miles. What the sign neglected to mention was that it was about 600ft up. It was fun speed-walking past people who did not expect that 
I watched the sun set over the river and then drove back to Portland.
