Maryhill and the Dalles

June 13, 2012
It was a very windy day, 25-35MPH so we went to The Dalles, OR to cruise the town.We found an old fashioned J C Penney store in downtown where we found some clothes we didn't know we needed so we bought them. Then to the Clock Tower Ale House where we had a beer and got directions to a pizza house for lunch. If you are ever in The Dalles go to Spooky's Sandwich and Pizza place. It is the best! We had some there and for two more meals as well.
Then we crossed the river and went to Maryhill Winery. What a nice place and our hostess was very knowledgeable. We tasted 4 or 5 wines, a real good port and bought some of their products. Then to a local winery, Waving Tree to sample their Sangiovese. It was pretty good so we bought one.

Then back to the park and the wind. The river looked more like the ocean with breakers and rolling waves. Later in the evening a paddle wheel cruise ship came by going up river with the wind at its back. In the photo you can see that the flags are blowing in the direction they are traveling.
The next morning we drove home through Yakima with sunshine until we got to Snoqualmie Pass. We go out again on July 8 for most of the month.

Maryhill and the Dalles

June 13, 2012
It was a very windy day, 25-35MPH so we went to The Dalles, OR to cruise the town.We found an old fashioned J C Penney store in downtown where we found some clothes we didn't know we needed so we bought them. Then to the Clock Tower Ale House where we had a beer and got directions to a pizza house for lunch. If you are ever in The Dalles go to Spooky's Sandwich and Pizza place. It is the best! We had some there and for two more meals as well.
Then we crossed the river and went to Maryhill Winery. What a nice place and our hostess was very knowledgeable. We tasted 4 or 5 wines, a real good port and bought some of their products. Then to a local winery, Waving Tree to sample their Sangiovese. It was pretty good so we bought one.

Then back to the park and the wind. The river looked more like the ocean with breakers and rolling waves. Later in the evening a paddle wheel cruise ship came by going up river with the wind at its back. In the photo you can see that the flags are blowing in the direction they are traveling.
The next morning we drove home through Yakima with sunshine until we got to Snoqualmie Pass. We go out again on July 8 for most of the month.

Maryhill State Park

June 12, 2012

We drove about 130 miles North to Maryhill State Park on the Washington side of the Columbia  River.This is a nice park with full hook ups and our site was right on the river. After getting set up we drove about 15 miles to Goldendale for lunch. There isn't much going on in this town. We had a mediocre lunch at Gee's Family Restaurant. Back at the park we tried to find a fruit stand to get some fresh produce. Nothing is in season yet. Went back to our site and enjoyed the rest of the day. Here is our trailer and the view from our site. You can see that the river is a little rough. The next day the wind blew 25-35MPH so it was really rough.

J\

Maryhill State Park

June 12, 2012

We drove about 130 miles North to Maryhill State Park on the Washington side of the Columbia  River.This is a nice park with full hook ups and our site was right on the river. After getting set up we drove about 15 miles to Goldendale for lunch. There isn't much going on in this town. We had a mediocre lunch at Gee's Family Restaurant. Back at the park we tried to find a fruit stand to get some fresh produce. Nothing is in season yet. Went back to our site and enjoyed the rest of the day. Here is our trailer and the view from our site. You can see that the river is a little rough. The next day the wind blew 25-35MPH so it was really rough.

J\

Smith Rock and Golf

June 11,2012
Today was a great day for taking a hike. The temp got to the upper 70's so we went to Smith Rock to hike some of the trails. We thought it being a Monday the park wouldn't be crowded. It wasn't as busy as yesterday but there were plenty of folks hiking, sightseeing and climbing. We walked one trail that was across the stream from the climbing faces of Smith Rock. It's amazing how the climbers go up the rocks that are beyond vertical. Here are a few pics of them and some interesting rock formations.
There are four climbers on the large picture below.

 On the left is Monkey face. We call the one on the right angry face. Some say it looks like an elephant, lion or gorilla.



We hiked three trails for a total of about 3 miles. Lots of scrambling over rustic steps and rocks with elevation changes.
We got back to our trailer for lunch then Don played golf. He walked the course which was about another 3 miles. He was pooped after the day

Smith Rock and Golf

June 11,2012
Today was a great day for taking a hike. The temp got to the upper 70's so we went to Smith Rock to hike some of the trails. We thought it being a Monday the park wouldn't be crowded. It wasn't as busy as yesterday but there were plenty of folks hiking, sightseeing and climbing. We walked one trail that was across the stream from the climbing faces of Smith Rock. It's amazing how the climbers go up the rocks that are beyond vertical. Here are a few pics of them and some interesting rock formations.
There are four climbers on the large picture below.

 On the left is Monkey face. We call the one on the right angry face. Some say it looks like an elephant, lion or gorilla.



We hiked three trails for a total of about 3 miles. Lots of scrambling over rustic steps and rocks with elevation changes.
We got back to our trailer for lunch then Don played golf. He walked the course which was about another 3 miles. He was pooped after the day

Smith Rock on a Sunday

6/10/2012

We spent the day mostly in the RV park. Our long hike yesterday took it's toll on our feet so we decided to relax and go for a drive back to Smith Rock. It was Sunday and pretty sunny so the place was packed with hikers, picnickers, watchers and many climbers. We walked around a little and took some pics of some of the activities. One of these is of a couple at the top the rock. You can hike up to the top but not for us. It is more than we wanted to take on. The other is of a climber half way op the "Red Face". Smith Rock is about 600' high. Then a little grocery shopping and pack to the park.

Smith Rock on a Sunday

6/10/2012

We spent the day mostly in the RV park. Our long hike yesterday took it's toll on our feet so we decided to relax and go for a drive back to Smith Rock. It was Sunday and pretty sunny so the place was packed with hikers, picnickers, watchers and many climbers. We walked around a little and took some pics of some of the activities. One of these is of a couple at the top the rock. You can hike up to the top but not for us. It is more than we wanted to take on. The other is of a climber half way op the "Red Face". Smith Rock is about 600' high. Then a little grocery shopping and pack to the park.

Dry Canyon Park

June 9, 2012
We had a pretty good day with the weather mostly clear but windy and only about 60. Went for a hike at Dry Canyon Park in Redmond. This park goes right through the city. It is a natural hike through the canyon with a paved path winding 3.7 miles. There are covered gazebos for picnics, soccer and baseball fields, disc/Frisbee course, dog park and a big skate park. They do a great job keeping the path clear and the other facilities clean. We started our hike near the mid point of the park and walked to the South end and back. Then to a nice lunch at Black Bear Diner. This is part of a chain with restaurants all over Oregon , California and some in Washington and other states. Great food and plenty of it. The sun came out in the afternoon and the wind even died down in the evening. Tomorrow it is supposed to get to 70 and higher for the rest of the week.

Dry Canyon Park

June 9, 2012
We had a pretty good day with the weather mostly clear but windy and only about 60. Went for a hike at Dry Canyon Park in Redmond. This park goes right through the city. It is a natural hike through the canyon with a paved path winding 3.7 miles. There are covered gazebos for picnics, soccer and baseball fields, disc/Frisbee course, dog park and a big skate park. They do a great job keeping the path clear and the other facilities clean. We started our hike near the mid point of the park and walked to the South end and back. Then to a nice lunch at Black Bear Diner. This is part of a chain with restaurants all over Oregon , California and some in Washington and other states. Great food and plenty of it. The sun came out in the afternoon and the wind even died down in the evening. Tomorrow it is supposed to get to 70 and higher for the rest of the week.

Waterfalls

June 5, 2012
I neglected to make this post before we left the Gorge.Well it was raining hard but we decided to drive about 25 miles down river on the Oregon side in search for waterfalls. We got off the main highway and came to Horse Tail Falls and the rain stopped! These falls are about 230 feet high in a beautiful wooded setting.


From here we went on to Multnomah Falls. These falls are 620 feet high dropping into an upper pool and then a lower one. Several years ago a 40 ton rock fell from the upper falls into the pool. This is equivalent to a school bus filled with cement. There was a wedding party on the bridge that got soaked and some were sent to a hospital. The lodge at the falls is a beautiful stone building. There was a terrible fire in the woods above the lodge that was controlled only 13 feet from it. Here are some pictures of the area.


Above are the falls and the lodge. The upper right is the entire falls showing the bridge where the people were soaked when the rock fell. The lower right is a shot through the trees of the lower falls. This is a beautiful part of the drive and we were lucky to
have the weather break for us.
We stopped at a bakery in Hood River called Knead to get some fresh bread. We think the french bread was cooked in a wood oven. It had kind of a smokey taste and a great crust.Then back to the RV park for dinner and a nice evening.
Tomorrow we are off to Crooked River Ranch near Redmond, OR.

Waterfalls

June 5, 2012
I neglected to make this post before we left the Gorge.Well it was raining hard but we decided to drive about 25 miles down river on the Oregon side in search for waterfalls. We got off the main highway and came to Horse Tail Falls and the rain stopped! These falls are about 230 feet high in a beautiful wooded setting.


From here we went on to Multnomah Falls. These falls are 620 feet high dropping into an upper pool and then a lower one. Several years ago a 40 ton rock fell from the upper falls into the pool. This is equivalent to a school bus filled with cement. There was a wedding party on the bridge that got soaked and some were sent to a hospital. The lodge at the falls is a beautiful stone building. There was a terrible fire in the woods above the lodge that was controlled only 13 feet from it. Here are some pictures of the area.


Above are the falls and the lodge. The upper right is the entire falls showing the bridge where the people were soaked when the rock fell. The lower right is a shot through the trees of the lower falls. This is a beautiful part of the drive and we were lucky to
have the weather break for us.
We stopped at a bakery in Hood River called Knead to get some fresh bread. We think the french bread was cooked in a wood oven. It had kind of a smokey taste and a great crust.Then back to the RV park for dinner and a nice evening.
Tomorrow we are off to Crooked River Ranch near Redmond, OR.

Redmond and the area

June 8, 2012
We went into Redmond to do laundry and wash the truck then to Peter Skeine Ogden Park. There is a railroad bridge that was built in 1911 here. It is 326 ft above the Crooked River. The workers had to climb rope ladders to get to the construction site and wade or swim across the river for access. They opened it with about half the rivets installed. The remaining 21,500 rivets were installed while there was train traffic going through. Here are a couple pics of it. One is through the girders looking at Pilot Butte, the other a waterfall that is fed by a small stream on the top of the gorge.



There is also the original vehicle bridge here that was built after the railroad bridge. When it was complete there was about 20 cars crossing it per day. By the 1990's there was over 8000 vehicles per day so they built a new one next to it. It is 295 ' above the gorge and it spans over 400 feet.
It turned out to be a pretty clear morning for our exploring but was windy and we are at over 2000' elevation. We visited a couple of the local watering holes in the afternoon and back to camp for the evening. More wind and down into the 30's at night. Boy do we love our cozy trailer on trips like this. Tomorrow more exploring with weather permitting.

Redmond and the area

June 8, 2012
We went into Redmond to do laundry and wash the truck then to Peter Skeine Ogden Park. There is a railroad bridge that was built in 1911 here. It is 326 ft above the Crooked River. The workers had to climb rope ladders to get to the construction site and wade or swim across the river for access. They opened it with about half the rivets installed. The remaining 21,500 rivets were installed while there was train traffic going through. Here are a couple pics of it. One is through the girders looking at Pilot Butte, the other a waterfall that is fed by a small stream on the top of the gorge.



There is also the original vehicle bridge here that was built after the railroad bridge. When it was complete there was about 20 cars crossing it per day. By the 1990's there was over 8000 vehicles per day so they built a new one next to it. It is 295 ' above the gorge and it spans over 400 feet.
It turned out to be a pretty clear morning for our exploring but was windy and we are at over 2000' elevation. We visited a couple of the local watering holes in the afternoon and back to camp for the evening. More wind and down into the 30's at night. Boy do we love our cozy trailer on trips like this. Tomorrow more exploring with weather permitting.

River Rim and Redmond, Oregon

June 7, 2012
Today is going to be kind of iffy regarding weather so we decided to go into Redmond and check out the town. On the way we followed a sign to Steelhead Falls. At the trail head we hiked about .5 mile to the falls on the Deschutes River. The falls were pretty small but the hike was fun. Not far from a pioneer cemetery we saw two lone headstones by the side of the road. I wonder if these people were related.....


Redmond is nice but with a lot of empty buildings downtown. I guess the housing crunch and economy has really hit them hard. You can get some screaming deals on houses around town. Contractors overbuilt several years ago and we all know what happened with open lending. We went to a local brew pub for lunch and then drove to Smith Rock State Park closer to our park. This place is amazing. Climbers from around the world come to be challenged by the monoliths in the area. We saw a climber coming down the face of a huge rock. We are going to come back here in a few days when the weather is better and take a hike around the canyon and rock. Here is the rock just before sunset.


Back at camp I was greeted by one of the park dogs, Timone. He is a deer legged chihuahua. He was pretty timid when he first came by but I had him on my lap after a while. Now the rain has stopped and the sun is out with a little wind. This has been the weather since we hit the road this time. Sunday it is supposed to get into the 70's and warmer for next week.

River Rim and Redmond, Oregon

June 7, 2012
Today is going to be kind of iffy regarding weather so we decided to go into Redmond and check out the town. On the way we followed a sign to Steelhead Falls. At the trail head we hiked about .5 mile to the falls on the Deschutes River. The falls were pretty small but the hike was fun. Not far from a pioneer cemetery we saw two lone headstones by the side of the road. I wonder if these people were related.....


Redmond is nice but with a lot of empty buildings downtown. I guess the housing crunch and economy has really hit them hard. You can get some screaming deals on houses around town. Contractors overbuilt several years ago and we all know what happened with open lending. We went to a local brew pub for lunch and then drove to Smith Rock State Park closer to our park. This place is amazing. Climbers from around the world come to be challenged by the monoliths in the area. We saw a climber coming down the face of a huge rock. We are going to come back here in a few days when the weather is better and take a hike around the canyon and rock. Here is the rock just before sunset.


Back at camp I was greeted by one of the park dogs, Timone. He is a deer legged chihuahua. He was pretty timid when he first came by but I had him on my lap after a while. Now the rain has stopped and the sun is out with a little wind. This has been the weather since we hit the road this time. Sunday it is supposed to get into the 70's and warmer for next week.

Crooked River Ranch

June 6, 2012
We drove about 130 miles into Oregon to the River Rim RV Park at Crooked River Ranch. Our drive took us right by Mt Hood. What a spectacular site. It is larger in bulk but not as tall as Mt Rainier.

The drive down was nice but with a couple of passes at over 4000' we took it real easy. The RV park is small, 24 sites, and on the rim of the gorge above the Crooked River. Our site is on the edge with a view of the rim and part of the golf course at Crooked River Ranch. Real nice folks run the place. Went into Redmond, about 5 miles away to pick up supplies. We will visit here in a day or so. Back to camp after a stop at a local watering hole. Here is a shot of the rim and some visitors to the park.

Crooked River Ranch

June 6, 2012
We drove about 130 miles into Oregon to the River Rim RV Park at Crooked River Ranch. Our drive took us right by Mt Hood. What a spectacular site. It is larger in bulk but not as tall as Mt Rainier.

The drive down was nice but with a couple of passes at over 4000' we took it real easy. The RV park is small, 24 sites, and on the rim of the gorge above the Crooked River. Our site is on the edge with a view of the rim and part of the golf course at Crooked River Ranch. Real nice folks run the place. Went into Redmond, about 5 miles away to pick up supplies. We will visit here in a day or so. Back to camp after a stop at a local watering hole. Here is a shot of the rim and some visitors to the park.

White Salmon, Day 2

June 4, 2012
OMG did it rain hard today. It started during the night and was steady hard until after noon. We decided to go to Hood River to check the town out and have lunch. Hood River is a very trendy place for tourists and outdoor sports participants. We went to Big Horse Brew Pub for lunch. We had a couple of beers and shared a good sandwich. Then to the Full Sail Brewery and Pub. Very nice place overlooking the river. We each had a drink and I bought a hat. Went back to the RV park for the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to go see some waterfalls.

White Salmon, Day 2

June 4, 2012
OMG did it rain hard today. It started during the night and was steady hard until after noon. We decided to go to Hood River to check the town out and have lunch. Hood River is a very trendy place for tourists and outdoor sports participants. We went to Big Horse Brew Pub for lunch. We had a couple of beers and shared a good sandwich. Then to the Full Sail Brewery and Pub. Very nice place overlooking the river. We each had a drink and I bought a hat. Went back to the RV park for the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to go see some waterfalls.

White Salmon, WA

June 3, 2012
Once again I forgot to post an entry so here is more from White Salmon. We drove about 170 miles to Bridge RV Park in White Salmon. This is a real nice, clean park. Our site is right by the Columbia River on the Gorge. Oh yeah, there is a set of railroad tracks between the park and river. Quite a few trains go through with freight, coal or the Amtrak train. Not too disrupting. We drove here on Hwy 14 along the Washington side of the river. This is very scenic traveling along the Lewis and Clark Trail. This would be a cool trip to take and make stops to view the sites and hike the trails. White Salmon is a quaint town with and interesting history. The town of Bingen is next to White Salmon. In their day these towns were very busy with shipping wood products and manufacturing. I read that now there is quite a population of techies who work in a local business. The weather is not too great. Cloudy with some wind.
We drove down river a few miles and watched the wind surfers and para-surfers. These people really cruise across the water and jump probably 10' off the waves.

We enjoyed our fireplace through the evening. Early to bed for a day exploring waterfalls on the Oregon side of the river tomorrow.

White Salmon, WA

June 3, 2012
Once again I forgot to post an entry so here is more from White Salmon. We drove about 170 miles to Bridge RV Park in White Salmon. This is a real nice, clean park. Our site is right by the Columbia River on the Gorge. Oh yeah, there is a set of railroad tracks between the park and river. Quite a few trains go through with freight, coal or the Amtrak train. Not too disrupting. We drove here on Hwy 14 along the Washington side of the river. This is very scenic traveling along the Lewis and Clark Trail. This would be a cool trip to take and make stops to view the sites and hike the trails. White Salmon is a quaint town with and interesting history. The town of Bingen is next to White Salmon. In their day these towns were very busy with shipping wood products and manufacturing. I read that now there is quite a population of techies who work in a local business. The weather is not too great. Cloudy with some wind.
We drove down river a few miles and watched the wind surfers and para-surfers. These people really cruise across the water and jump probably 10' off the waves.

We enjoyed our fireplace through the evening. Early to bed for a day exploring waterfalls on the Oregon side of the river tomorrow.

Summer Kick off party

June 2, 2012
We joined about 20 others at Tracy and Erik's house for her Summer Kick-off bash. Was cloudy but we were able to chase the sun around her house and enjoy the day. Kids had squirt guns but it was a little chilly for that. In the afternoon we got out Erik's BB Gun and shot at beer cans. Kids and adults participated. Of course we always have to have a fire in the evening. We went back to the Olympia Campground for the night and set out the next day for the Columbia Gorge. Stay tuned.

Summer Kick off party

June 2, 2012
We joined about 20 others at Tracy and Erik's house for her Summer Kick-off bash. Was cloudy but we were able to chase the sun around her house and enjoy the day. Kids had squirt guns but it was a little chilly for that. In the afternoon we got out Erik's BB Gun and shot at beer cans. Kids and adults participated. Of course we always have to have a fire in the evening. We went back to the Olympia Campground for the night and set out the next day for the Columbia Gorge. Stay tuned.