A Change in Plans

Dave and I planned to take one more short trip to Maryhill State Park this week.  We've been having some frost warnings this week, so I called the park to see if they had turned off the water hookups.  Sure enough, they had turned them off for the season on Monday.  Last year they turned them off on November 1, this year, on October 24.  It all depends on the weather.

So we changed our plans, and instead of heading east, we headed west.  The parks along the coast of Washington and Oregon rarely have to turn off their water because their weather is milder.  We wanted to go somewhere that was only about two hours from home, so we decided to go to Astoria, Oregon. 

Site A8 at Lewis and Clark RV Resort, Astoria, OR

Our favorite RV park in Astoria is Lewis and Clark Golf and RV Resort, just south of town.  It's a nice park, but even better, it's one of our 1/2 price Camp Club USA parks.  We are staying for three nights, and the price for a premium (golf course frontage) full-hookup site is $22.50 per night--a little higher than our $6 Washington State Parks, but not too bad, especially since there's a lot to see and do in Astoria.  We also paid $2 per night for WIFI, which used to be included in the price. 

The weather was beautiful when we got here on Tuesday, and Dave played the nine-hole golf course that afternoon. 

The golf course, as viewed from our site

Wednesday the weather was drizzly and cloudy.  We took the 20-mile drive along Highway 101 south to Cannon Beach.  We took a picnic lunch and ate in the car while we admired the Pacific Ocean from Tolovana Park south of Cannon Beach.  I could have sat there all day!  After lunch I visited a quilt shop in Cannon Beach.  I'm not ready to buy much yet, but I enjoyed looking at all their fabrics and supplies.  The store had a wide selection of Japanese-style prints and patterns. 

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Today (Thursday) the weather was beautiful.  We drove to Youngs River Falls, and after than we visited Astoria Column.  For some reason, even though we've been to Astoria quite often, we had never been to Astoria Column.  Dave made it to the top of the column but I chickened out.  The views from up there are magnificent, even if you don't climb the 164 steps up to the top.  The price is right, too, only $1 for parking and the parking pass if good for a whole year!

Youngs River Falls, located 10 miles south of Astoria

Astoria Column, built in 1926

Dave waving from the top of the Column

We came back to the motorhome to eat lunch, then headed out for a bike ride.  I had heard about a path from Warrenton to Hammond, but we could only find bits and pieces of the path.  Oh well, we had a nice ride anyway, even though it was a bit cold and very windy by the time we got going. 

The Astoria Bridge that crosses the Columbia River, as viewed from the Column

Another view of the Columbia River, looking across to Washington

Tomorrow we need to head back to Vancouver so Dave can referee his last varsity football game of this season.   After this weekend the teams will have another three weeks of play-offs, then it's on to the state play-offs for the teams that make it that far.

All is Well

Dave had quite a scare Monday night.  He was refereeing a junior varsity football game at Camas High School and tripped over a player's leg.  He went down hard, and landed on his forehead.  He was treated by the on-site medic who was concerned that he might have suffered a concussion.   No concussion, but Dave's little finger was jammed but not broken.  He was deemed well enough to continue the game about 15 minutes later.  By Wednesday, Dave was well enough to go golfing, so I knew he was on the mend.  If you want to see the fall, the incident happened to be captured on videotape.  Watch the white hat referee in the middle of the screen--that's  Dave.

On Wednesday, we babysat our 6-month-old granddaughter, Sophie, during her first overnight visit away from her parents.   They brought Sophie to our house, along with a bag of her stuff and her portacrib.  She went to sleep at 7:20pm, so it was an easy night of babysitting.  Sophie woke up briefly at 11 pm, but by the time I was beginning to make a bottle of formula for her, she was asleep again.  She slept until 8 am, which was later than I expected.  When I went in to get Sophie out of her crib, she greeted me with smiles.  What a good way to start the day!  Mom and dad came to get her around 11 am and after they left our house felt very empty and quiet!

Sophie--6 months

Sophie modeling her long-johns from Yellowstone.

I started a new hobby of re-learning how to sew.  My Kenmore sewing machine was over 30 years old and didn't work, so I bought a new Brother XR4040 sewing from the online Costco store.  A week later, the UPS man delivered my new sewing machine.  After learning how to wind the bobbin and thread the machine, I was able to sew some sample scraps later that evening.  What fun!  Everything worked well.  I haven't experimented with most of the 77 electronic stitches, but I've used the straight stitch (even though it's hard for me to sew straight!), the zigzag stitch, and the blind hem stitch.   My ultimate goal is to teach myself how to quilt. 

Brother XR4040

Respite at Maryhill State Park, WA

Dave has a few days off from officiating football, so we drove out to Maryhill State Park to spend a few days.  Now that it's October, Dave's Senior Off-Season Pass is in effect again.  We paid $50 for the season, which lasts until May 1.  The pass allows us to camp at any Washington State Park for $6 a night if we have hookups, and camp for free if we don't have hookups.  It's a terrific deal, but alas, the pass is only available for Washington residents 62 and older.  This park costs $28/night without the senior pass.  We like to use the pass as much as possible in October, because many of the inland parks turn off their water beginning November 1, and don't turn the water on again until March or April. 

Maryhill, located along the Columbia River,  is only two hours east of where we live in Vancouver, and it's one of our favorite parks.  This time of year the park's campground is first come-first served.  We arrived at 4:15 pm on Monday and had no trouble finding a nice big pull-thru where we were able to get a satellite signal.  This park has a lot of large trees, so some sites are more satellite-friendly than others.  Cell service is 2 bars of 1x Verizon service, but that's enough signal to be able to (slowly) use the internet from the comfort of our motorhome. 

Dave woke up this morning with a cold, so we didn't do much today.  Mid-afternoon he felt a bit better, so we went for a short drive east on Highway 14 to John Day Dam.  There were signs pointing to a COE park called Celilo Lake, but when the paved road ended, we turned around and didn't find the park.

John Day Dam

We also saw some buildings that looked abandoned but with several nice signs that indicated that the buildings were aluminum plants.  We spotted some salvage aluminum and a few cars in the area, so maybe that's what was going on.  Don't you hate it when you can't quite figure out what's going on?  That was us today.

Aluminum Plant--abandoned or not?

A view of the Columbia River east of the dam

Two forms of transportation along the Columbia River

We made a quick stop at the Stonehenge War Memorial, which is located just above Maryhill State Park.  It's a fun stop, with a great view of the orchards and vineyards which, with the help of irrigation, grow in this somewhat desolate terrain. 

Stonehenge

A closer view of Stonehenge

A view of the fertile valley below Stonehenge 

Visiting Multnomah Falls and the Historic Columbia River Scenic Highway

Our sister-in-law, Pam, visited us a couple of weeks ago.  She lives in the Sacramento, CA area and is the wife of Dave's brother, Terry, who passed away from cancer in December, 2008, at the young age of 57.  One of the places we like to take visitors is for a ride along the Columbia River Gorge, culminating with a stop at Multnomah Falls. 

The Columbia River Gorge area runs between Interstate 84 on the Oregon side, and State Highway 14 on the Washington side.  The Historic Old Scenic Highway is located just to the south of I-84.  The old highway was built between 1913 and 1922 and is now a historic landmark.  In 1926 the road became part of the then-new United States highway system, US Hwy 30.

There are several waterfalls and scenic areas along this route, all of which are now part of the Oregon State Parks system.    First we stopped at Chanticleer Point, also known as Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint.

Pam poses at  Chanticleer Point.

Our next stop was Crown Point, where we visited Vista House, a memorable landmark along the Historic Highway.  It was built in 1918 as “an observatory from which the view both up and down the Columbia could be viewed in silent communion with the infinite.”

Vista House

The western view from Crown Point.  That steam/smoke in the very top of the photo is the paper mill in Camas, WA.

The eastern view.  That's Beacon Rock in Washington way the distance in the top middle of the picture.  You can also see I-84 down below.

After paying our respects to Vista House, we left Crown Point and traveled further east along the old highway.  This scenic area has lots of places to stop along the way.  Don't try taking a big motorhome on this highway, though--it's quite narrow in spots. 

The historic old highway is a scenic drive.  This route is popular with bicyclists.

We skipped some of the waterfalls that aren't visible without a hike, and stopped at Latourell Falls. 

Then it was on to our destination for the day, Multnomah Falls, the highest waterfall in Oregon, and the second highest in the nation.

We hiked up the paved path to the bridge above the bottom part of the falls. 

The hike continues to the very top of the falls, but we took our pictures from a  little ways past the bridge.

Looking from the bridge back down to the main visitor area.

Dave, Pam, and I enjoyed eating lunch at the historic lodge at Multnomah Falls.  The lodge was completed in 1925.  Besides the restaurant, the lodge contains a state park information center and a gift shop.

My photo of the lodge, taken 9/19/11

Below is an online photo that I found of the lodge, showing the fall colors, and the waterfall in the background.

We in the Portland area are lucky to have this scenic area located near enough to enjoy on a day or half-day trip!