Yakima Sportsman State Park

We deviated a little from the original plan and left the Bridge River RV Resort this morning.  We were supposed to stay there for four nights, but two nights and about a thousand freight trains was enough for us!  Thank goodness for Internet!  Kathe found a State Park in Yakima and booked the next two nights here at the Yakima Sportsman State Park. 

We drove out of the town of White Salmon  on Highway 14,  connected to Highway 97, and then picked up the Interstate into Yakima.  Along the way we stopped at a Lewis and Clark Historical marker, a place where they had to lower their canoes 400 feet down a cliff with the help of the Indians. 

Along the way we passed lots of fruit orchards and snow capped Mount Adams which is almost 13,000 feet high.  Once we got to the park we were amazed at how beautiful it was.  California could learn a thing or two about how to run a State Park System from Washington.  We have full hookups, 50 amp power, water, and sewer all for less than $35 a night.  Did I mention it's also really beautiful?  We are camped under some huge Sycamore trees.




Kathe and Jim went for a hike after lunch, I couldn't go with them because of all the poison oak, but they had an exciting adventure without me.  They were walking along the trail when all of a sudden three skunks walked right in front of them.  Luckily, Jim spotted them before Kathe walked right into them.  Now that's exciting!

I spent the evening sneaking up on robins and blue jays!

Windy River

Woke up this morning to find out that everything was getting washed today.   The windows, the clothes and me!  Well, I was getting a little scruffy looking, so I suppose I needed it.  This was me wet, but after a blow dry I'm beautiful again. 


After they finished all their chores, Kathe and Jim went out to the Columbia Gorge to watch the wind and kite surfers.  Those guys were fantastic, only the best come here, doing 360's and flips while flying through the air.  Jim tried to get some pictures but they were soaring past so quickly it wasn't possible to get a good picture.


They  went back across that scary bridge to the town of Hood River for lunch.  After ordering lunch, Jim reached into his pocket and found that his wallet was missing.  He remembered having it in his lap when paying the toll, but it must have fallen out when he got out of the car.  He went back to place were the car was parked and there was his wallet, lying open on the street!  Everything was still in it including all his money.  Lucky that didn't happen in Los Angeles.

We can see Mount Hood across the river, but haven't been able to get a good picture without the clouds in the way.

Into Washington, the hard way

We left Salem this morning and connected back up with the I-5 towards Portland.  Lot's of Father's Day traffic until we reached the I-84 where we drove along the Columbia River for many miles. The scenery was awesome, tall cliffs and huge pines everywhere we looked.  We drove past the spectacular Bridal Vail and Multnomah Falls, but we were going too fast to get a good picture.  Just another beautiful place we will have to come back and see on another trip.




The scary part of the ride came just before we reached our destination, the Bridge RV  Park campground in White Salmon, WA .  We had to cross the Columbia River on a narrow two lane bridge with barely enough room for our big fat motor home.  Kathe was hanging on to the sissy-bar for dear life all the way across.  We only had inches to spare on either side of our rear view mirrors.  Quite a ride.  Needless to say we won't be going back that way! EVER!

I am enjoying the RV park, but haven't see any wildlife yet except for the 3 Yorkies in site #30. 

We have a better site than they do with a peek-a-boo view of the river.  We planned to stay here for four days until we saw the train track which runs right past the park between our site and the river.  I've counted about 10 trains so far tonight. 

Oh well, "On the Road Again", as the song goes!

Silver Falls State Park

After a quick trip to the doggie park Kathe and Jim left me for the day to go to Silver Falls State Park, the "gem" of the Oregon State Park System.  The park is in Silverton, about 25 miles from where we are staying in West Salem.   To get to the park you have to drive past an area where Christmas trees are grown.  There were thousands of them in varying sizes, all very green and beautiful.

Silver Falls Park has over 9,000 acres of spectacular scenery.  The park's most famous feature is the Trail of Ten Falls, an eight mile hiking trail which passes by and under the waterfalls of the north and south forks of Silver Creek.  The old folks didn't hike the eight mile trail, but they did two shorter hikes to the most popular falls, North Falls and Souths Fall.
They bought the T-shirts to prove it.

After the hike they drove 10 miles in the other direction to the Left Coast winery for a little tasting of the famous Willamette Valley Pinot Nois and Pinot Gris.  Hiking apparently makes you thirsty.



I think Kathe felt sorry for leaving me home alone all day.  When she got back she took me for a hike on the trail in the wooded area around the perimeter of the park.  Lots of good rabbit and gopher sniffs back there.  Then she took me to the big grassy dog run where I ran around in circles till my tongue was hanging out.

Tomorrow we leave for Washington and the Hood River.

Down by the Old Mill Stream

I like to wake Kathe up at 5 AM every morning  just to keep her on her toes.  I get her up, make her get dressed, take her outside for 5 minutes and then after I'm sure she's wide awake and can't possibly go back to sleep, that's when I go back inside, curl up in her bed and go back to sleep!  It works every time.  This morning I felt sorry for her and I let her sleep till 6:30.

Today they left me behind ( I wonder why) and went into Salem to the Willamette Heritage Center at the Mill.  They have buildings dating back to the early mission settlement of Salem in 1834.  Methodist ministers were sent here to bring Christianity to the Native American people of Oregon.   A docent  in period costume took them on a historical tour of 4 buildings including a church built  in 1858.  Here she is showing us a picture of her late husband Jason Lee, one of the missionaries.





These buildings were all placed in a park-like setting on the grounds of the Thomas Kay Woolen  Mill.  This mill produced woolen fabric and blankets from l889 until it closed in 1962.  Exhibits inside the mill include all of the original machinery used to card, dye and spin wool into the finished goods.  Jim  was really interested in all the machinery and Kathe enjoyed learning about the process of making wool into fabric.

A little rain must fall

Well, it can't all be sunshine and roses can it?  It rained most of today.  It was a traveling day and we went through some pretty intense showers for most of the trip.  Passed a lot of small farms and ranches along the way.  Even the cows were huddled under the trees to stay dry.  As we got closer to Salem we began to see some sunshine and the famous Willamette Valley vineyards.  There are over 126 wineries in this area.  Wonder how many Jim and Kathe can visit in three days!

Not much exciting happening today.  I watched Jim clean the mud off the motor home as soon as we arrived and it stopped raining.  Kathe did the laundry and grocery shopping.  Guess, just because it's called a vacation you still have some work to do.


We are camped in a really pretty resort right along the Willamette River.  Lots of beautiful trees all around us.  Think I'm going to like it here!  

A relaxing day

It was nice this morning just to sleep in and not have to pack up and move again.  I know we are on our way to Washington and can't stay here forever, but it sure is a beautiful place.  I'm glad that we stayed two nights.  I heard them talking about extending our stay, but I think we are moving to Salem tomorrow as planned.

It was really cool this morning, I curled up in front of the fireplace and took a nap while they went out exploring in the little town of Canyonville. 

They found a very large antique store in town. Kathe picked up a treasure and Jim found a Louis L'Amour paperback that he hadn't read.  After that  they drove to the Pyrenees winery in the town of Myrtle Creek and stopped for a tasting and purchased some local Umpqua Valley wine.  That's where they found the covered bridge and took this picture.