Pacific Northwest travel: Summer fun in Oregon’s Hood River Valley

You’ve got to love a country drive called the “Fruit Loop.”

This popular weekend road trip in Oregon’s orchard and vineyard-packed Hood River Valley, about 60 miles east of Portland, explores the broad base of Mount Hood just south of the mighty Columbia River Gorge. It’s a wonderfully scenic spot with views of two snowcapped volcanoes, Oregon’s Mount Hood and Washington’s Mount Adams. The fertile soils found at the base of Mount Hood and rarefied, glacier-fed water sources create a lush growing environment...