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.

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!

Rodeo

Last Wednesday night, Dave and I went to the Deschutes County Fair in Redmond, Oregon.  The main event that we attended was the rodeo.  Since the price of the fair ticket ($10 for me, free for Dave since seniors were free on opening day) included the rodeo, we couldn't pass up the chance to go to our first rodeo.  We were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the rodeo.

The event started promptly at 6:30 pm with the entrance of a limousine containing the emcee, rodeo queens, and some of the better known rodeo participants.

The emcee was a great announcer.  He explained what was happening in each event so that we weren't totally in the dark about the competitions.  This announcer, making no apologies, opened with a prayer in Jesus' name.  Before he prayed, he said, "this is how we do things around here."

The rodeo was patriotic and family oriented.

The rodeo queens were impressive, especially when they rode their horses around the arena.  Look quick, because they go fast!

One of the queens opened the rodeo by singing the national anthem.

A drill team performed...

...and then it was time for the events.  We saw bucking bronco riding, both with saddles and without, calf roping, breakaway calf roping (done by women), and steer wrestling. 

All events happened very quickly and it was hard to snap a picture before the event was over!  We didn't stay for the whole rodeo because we wanted to have some time to see the rest of the fair, but we now have a new sport to follow--rodeo!

The midway rides were run by Funtastic, the carnival that our blogger friends, Ali and Ron, worked for last spring and summer.

This ride looked fun and different:

This fair was a lot of fun, especially since we were camped next door at the RV park and could walk back and forth. 

From Smith Rock to Juniper Golf

Yesterday was a full day--no time to write a blog.  After our early morning eight-mile bike ride around the fairgrounds, we made another trip to Cove Palisades State Park.  It was nice to see the lake again and even more boats were out enjoying the warm weather.  We drove through Deschutes Campground and even though it has full hookups, it didn't "float our boat"--sorry for the bad pun.

We drove on to Smith Rock State Park, located only three miles north of Redmond.  What a great park!  The rock formations reminded of the "rocks" we saw last year in Utah.  This is a climber's paradise, but we didn't bring binoculars, so we didn't witness any climbing.  And, of course, we didn't do any climbing ourselves, except for climbing in and out of the car to take pictures.  

After touring the state park, we came back to the RV for lunch and a break, and then Dave went next door to play golf at the championship Juniper Golf Course.  I did some errands and then joined Dave at the golf course to ride around with him on the cart for his last nine holes.  By then the usual afternoon breeze had come up and the temperature was pleasant at the golf course.  

About 7 pm we finished up at the golf course and decided to head to McMenamins Old Francis School restaurant in Bend.  We had a delightful meal while enjoying the ambience of one of their patio areas. 

Each of the McMenamins restaurants is different in style and theme. The Old St. Francis School has undergone a transformation from a 1936 Catholic schoolhouse to a hotel complete with classrooms-turned-lodging rooms, a pub, brewery and bakery, a movie theater, private meeting and event space and a soaking pool.

This morning we drove up to Sisters, Oregon, had breakfast, window-shopped, went to a couple of bookstores, and drove through the city park campground to make sure that we could fit our motorhome into one of their spots.  It's a go for a future RV trip to Sisters!

Tonight is the opening night of the Deschutes County Fair, and we'll walk over there from the RV park.  Tomorrow--we head for home!  Despite the hot temps it's been a great week here in Redmond, Oregon!

Lake Billy Chinook and the Crooked River

This has been another hot day, but right now, at 6 pm, we are getting rain, thunder, and lightning.  Maybe the weather will cool down a bit.

Due to the heat, we went for another early morning bike ride.  We rode at Dry Canyon again, but this time we only rode eight miles.  Once the ride is accomplished, we feel like we've gotten our exercise for the day.

Lake Billy Chinook

We packed a picnic lunch and headed north and west on Highway 97 to Lake Billy Chinook and Cove Palisades State Parks.  The lake was a busy place today, but we snagged a picnic table near the swimming area.  We didn't swim, but I waded in the water for a little while.  The water was cold, but not as cold as I expected.  Lots of people were swimming and floating on rafts.   

Lake Billy Chinook State Park rents boats, included patio boats and houseboats. 

Houseboats awaiting rentalA large houseboat tied up at the dock 

Views of Lake Billy Chinook from above the marina 

A fine view of Mt. Jefferson from the lake

Cove Palisades State Park contains two campgrounds.  We visited Crooked River Park and found it to be a very nice oasis of green near Lake Billy Chinook.  The park is open year-round and contains 91 sites with water and electric hookups.  Deschutes Campground, which we didn't visit, is open only in the summer and has 82 full hookup sites.

After leaving the lake, we drove back to Redmond on Highway 97 and stopped at the Peter Skene Ogden Rest Area, which besides being a rest area, has a good view of the vertical basalt cliffs that are on each side of Crooked River.  As you can see in the pictures below, there wasn't much water in the river.

Peter Skene Ogden, born in 1790, was a fur trapper and explorer of the western USA and Canada.  Many places have been named after him, including the city of Ogden, Utah.

Portrait of Peter Skene Ogden 

Crooked River is part of the Columbia River basin, being a tributary of the Deschutes River, which is tributary to the Columbia River.  It, along with some other tributaries, helped form Lake Billy Chinook (and Prineville Reservoir, which we visited last Friday).

The Crooked River High Bridge is a steel arch bridge that was completed in 1926. The bridge was eventually unable to keep up with the growing traffic demands of U.S. Highway 97 and a new bridge was built.   The old bridge is open to pedestrians.

In the other direction, a railroad bridge crosses the river.

We ended our adventure with a drive to Crooked River Ranch, checked out the two RV parks there, and admired the green (and the greens) at the golf course there.  The Ranch properties have a scenic view of the Crooked River Gorge.

'Twas another fine day in hot Central Oregon!