THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

April 25, 2012

Today we woke up to some steady rain – but of course!  The prediction was for a 100% chance of rain!  We “undid” everything with the camper, hooked it to the Tahoe and drove out of the campground in Cannon Beach, Oregon by 9:15.  Our goal today was to drive all of 141 miles to a KOA Campground in the Columbia River Gorge.  We drove through beautiful, old growth forest – of course it rained, but the rain just made everything that much more beautiful.  And it was so pleasant to view it all from the comfort and warmth of our vehicle!  When we arrived in Portland, the rain had stopped – it was gorgeous, cloudy sky and all.  We did some necessary stuff in Portland, like get gas and go to the grocery store.  (I found Tillamook “Udderly Chocolate” ice cream at the grocery store – yum!  There is now ½ gallon of the stuff in my freezer!)  I thought that Portland was a lovely city, and even though I haven’t yet left Oregon, I can’t wait to come back!  In spite of all the rain!  By the time we had reached the gorge, we were in the rain again – but only the misty kind of stuff – so not too bad. 

We are all snug and comfy in our little KOA Campsite and will be leaving here shortly.  We plan to stop by the visitor center, get some info, tour the area, and plan the next 3 days we have to explore this gorgeous area!

We’re back after an afternoon of great fun in the gorge.  We are staying in Cascade Locks in Oregon.  From here, we took a very narrow, very high, and very scary bridge across the Columbia River to Washington.  Oh, and it was also a toll bridge – cost $1.00.  So we drove on the Washington side of the river, going east, back across the river to Hood River, Oregon.  The bridge on that end also cost $1.00 and was very narrow & very scary, but not so high. 

We didn’t realize that this river valley is home to some incredible fruit farms.  In fact, they grow tons of fruit here – unfortunately, the fruit isn’t ripe yet – hasn’t even formed a fruit yet.  BUT… all the trees are covered in millions and millions of beautiful blossoms!  The rolling hills were white with blossoms – it was certainly a sight to behold!  The picture at the top of the blog was taken on our “tour of the blossoms”.  Oh, they have a name for this tour – it’s called “The Fruit Loop Tour”.  No kidding!

At one point when I had jumped out of the car to snap a couple of pictures (Tom did stop the car first), a very friendly black lab came up to the fence of his house.  I probably had my most fun time today playing with and taking pictures of the dog!

It’s time to have some of my Tillamook Udderly Chocolate Ice Cream – so will sign off for today.

April 26, 2012

Today we awakened to the pitter patter of rain on the roof!  I had planned to go out early for some sunrise photography – hah!  When I heard that all familiar sound, I just rolled over and told myself I’d get to it another time. 

            *Just a side note here.  It actually didn’t rain all day all the time.  Just off and on most of the time.

So, we started off by tracking down the Information Center where we talked with a bunch of really nice volunteers.  We came away armed with all kinds of activity options. 

There are some beautiful waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge – it’s kind of noted for its waterfalls, I think.  I managed to capture pictures of a few of the ones close to the road between the raindrops.  Probably the most well know waterfall is Multnomah Falls.  The photo below is of this falls.

After the waterfall activity, we decided to do part of the scenic drive that goes up into the mountains around Mt. Hood.  (Hiking was high on our list of things to do, but we were slightly intimidated by the off again, on again rain.  Hence the driving choice.)  You never know what he next adventure might really be – we were in for a total surprise!

As we drove up into the mountains, it started to snow lightly.  Than we started to see a few snow piles along the road.  After that we started to see REAL snow, not just piles.  In other words, the snow everywhere accept on the actual road was starting to get quite deep.  When we reached the turnoff for Timberline Lodge, Tom announced that he’d like to see the lodge.  For some reason we thought it might be something historic, so we started uphill for the 6 mile drive to the lodge.  The further we drove the windier and the snowier it got.  By the time we got to the top, it was 28 degrees and winter had returned!  (When we left the valley, it was 47 degrees.)  It turned out to be a ski area!  The photo below was taken from inside the ski center building.



Not to be disappointed, there was also a historic lodge!  Tom loves old park lodges, so this was the highlight of his day.  It was built in the 30’s as part of FDR’S public works program.  We spent a fair amount of time inside the lodge getting acquainted with all of its nooks and crannies.  The picture below is from the central common area in the lodge.  The fireplace was huge and had 3 separate fireplaces in it.





By the time we re-entered the wintery world outside, it was practically a white out!  The snow was really coming down!  We stopped for a quick picture because I knew you’d want to be able to view exactly what I had been writing about.

Of course, by the time we got closer to the valley, the snow turned to rain.  And than the rain even stopped – for awhile.  To finish off the day, we took a short hike on a very pretty hillside.  The photo below is the view from this hillside overlooking the Columbia River.

We’re settled in for the evening – listening to that wonderful pitter patter sound, and I think it might be time for some more “Udderly Chocolate” Ice Cream!

April 27, 2012

There were no early morning photo opportunities today – cloudy with rain again. That, of course, didn’t stop us from finding enough activities to fill the day, however!

We started the day with a 5 mile hike which went up one side of the mountain and down the other side.  It actually made a loop which was nice because than there was no need to retrace our steps.  It was quite steep (to say the least), so there were several switchbacks.  I’ve never seen this on a hiking trail before, but evidently the trail builders wanted us to know exactly what was up ahead!

Every step of the hike was incredibly beautiful, with waterfalls, little streams and rivers, rocks, ferns, and moss everywhere and on everything.  The photo below is “Fairy Falls”, one of the many waterfalls to be experienced on the hike.











After hiking, we took a drive into the hills to visit “Cascade Alpacas”.  It’s an alpaca farm where they breed & raise alpacas, and also sell alpaca products.  They have all kinds of lovely yarns & stuff made from alpaca fiber.  I talked myself into a pair of alpaca socks.  I think the only mistake I made was buying just one pair!  Naturally, I have a couple photos of these very cute animals.



We were both excited to see that they had a Great Pyrenees to stand guard over the Alpacas.  That’s what these dogs are bred for, and the owner assured us that “Charlie” loves his job and does it extremely well.  (Keeping the Coyotes away from the critters.)  Now, judging from Charlie’s picture, you’d never know that he is a top guard dog.  But he was on his afternoon break when we happened to be there.  (Just a note to let you know that his break time didn’t stop him from getting a rub down from both of us!)



That does it for today – time for some more of that “Udderly Chocolate” ice cream!

April 28, 2012

Today was the day we needed to start our long drive east.  I told myself that if it wasn’t raining this morning, I would get out for one last day of sunrise photography.  I didn’t hear any rain drops on the roof at 5AM, so out I went.  The first thing to hit me in the face was some very nice fine mist (that I couldn’t hear on the roof).  I went anyway, thinking that “you never know what the day might bring”.  It brought more mist for awhile, and along with mist, the day brought some wonderful fog!  I pulled up my hood and wiped my camera a lot, but had fun, fun, fun creating foggy images. (There never was a “sunrise”, but the fog was just as interesting as the sun would have been.) Remember the very high, skinny, and scary bridge?  This is what it looked like this morning.

After returning to home base, we packed up and started east a little before 11AM.  Of course, it didn’t rain anymore, and just got sunnier the further east we drove!  We followed the Columbia River until it turned north, at which time we left Oregon and entered Washington.  Most of our drive through Washington was through this very interesting and beautiful farm country.  It was all rolling hills that were different colors depending upon what had been planted and whether or not anything had been planted at all.  I so wanted to get a really good picture of that area, but there never was a spot large enough or at the right place to get what I wanted.  I had to settle for the image below – it shows how pretty the sky was, but I just wasn’t close enough to get a good representation of the hills.  Trust me – it was stunning! 

Tomorrow, we will be making a short stop in Orofino, Idaho to visit some relatives.  Than it will be all driving until we arrive in the Twin cities either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Melissa



CENTRAL AND NORTH OREGON COAST

After a rainy stay in Bandon, Oregon, Tuesday & Wednesday the 17^th and 18^th, took us to the Florence area.  Of course, there was off and on rain – but not constant.  We are starting to “get the hang” of this rain thing!  We actually stayed north of Florence in a Beautiful little state park called Carl G.Washburne.  The park was more or less out in the middle of nowhere – between Florence and this cute little seaside town of Yachats.  The campground was set in a lovely mossy forest with a couple of great hiking trails that went from the campground to the ocean – through the mossy forest.  One of the trails was called the “Hobbit Trail” – really, I’m not making this up!  The other trail didn’t have a name – it was just a short ¼ miler that went from the road to the beach.  But I like to think of it as the “Enchanted Forest Trail”.

I’ve given up on trying to caption the pictures in my blog editor, so I will try and remember to tell you what they are as I go!  The very first picture was taken on the “Hobbit Trail”.  The second one was taken on the beach near our campground, and the picture directly below is from the “Enchanted Forest” Trail.

We explored both Old Town Florence and Yachats as well as the nearby forest.  One of the things we enjoyed most about Yachats was the “Drift Inn” – a really, really yummy restaurant in Yachats.  In fact, it was so good that we ate there both nights of our stay in this area!

The photo below was taken on one of our forest excursions.

The next 3 days took us to Newport, Oregon.  We had only planned to stay 2 nights in Newport, but it was pouring rain that morning when we left Washburne State Park, was still pouring rain when we arrived in Newport, and was still raining the next morning (Friday) when we woke up.  There was a lot to do and see there which is why we decided (after missing an entire day because of the rain) to stay an extra day.  Anyway, it stopped raining on Friday about 10am & we had mostly sunshine until today – Tuesday!  That was 4 full days without rain – probably a record for the Oregon Coast and we were there to experience it!!

We stayed at a fabulous RV Park right on the harbor in Newport – run by the Port Authority.  I was able to take pictures, practically, right outside our door!  The photo below is of the harbor and bridge just steps from the camper.

One of our favorite attractions in Newport was the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  The aquarium has both indoor and outdoor exhibits.  Indoors, there are many – both small and large - aquarium tanks filled with underwater sea life.  They are both beautiful and colorful.  The jellyfish were particularly beautiful, interesting, and mesmerizing.  There is also a huge walk through tank with sharks and other fish critters swimming above and below.  The picture below is from one of the inside exhibits. 

Outside, there are Sea lions, Harbor Seals, and Sea Birds.  I took so many pictures of all these guys, I’m afraid to count how many there actually are.  Most of them will need to be deleted, but there are a few keepers in there.  The image below is of a Tufted Puffin – probably my favorite bird at the aquarium.  They were so cute!

There are 2 lighthouses in Newport – the most famous one being The Yaquina Head Light.  There are round black rocks on the beach below the lighthouse, and when the tide washes in and out, it makes the rocks rattle and they sound like marbles rolling around.  This next photo is of The Yaquina Head Light.

OK, so the “great adventure” that I have to report from Newport was our drive to and hike in the “Drift Creek Wilderness”.  The drive took us out of town and east away from the coast to an old growth forest.  The directions took us on 6 different roads – all but 2 were one lane forest service roads.  Shortly after we turned onto the first one lane road, we came upon a Great Pyrenees standing in the middle of the road.  We both shouted out, at the same time, “Sugar”!  Well, we knew she wasn’t Sugar, but she certainly looked like Sugar.  She didn’t move, so we stopped the car, got out, and loved her up for awhile.  (We didn’t steel her because she looked very well cared for AND her house was right by the road.)  Anyway, it wasn’t until after we had driven away that I thought to take a picture of her – for the blog.  I told myself that I would just do it on our way back.  Unfortunately, on our way back, “Sugar” was nowhere to be seen!  So, sorry, no Sugar Bear picture.

The driving adventure continued on ever more narrow roads up the mountainside.  The entire drive on these narrow roads was supposed to be about 14 miles long.  After about 5 or 6 miles, we started running into trees and branches that had fallen onto the road.  They weren’t all the way across the road, but enough onto the road to cause us to need to move around them.  The further we went, the more trees and branches, and the more they covered the road.  Now, Tom is getting out of the vehicle to move things and/or assess whether or not we can actually drive any further.  We were about 3 miles from the hiking trailhead when we came to the “impassable point”.  So we parked the car, grabbed our lunch and continued the adventure on foot.  We didn’t hike all the way to the trailhead, but probably hiked a couple of miles before we found a log in the woods on which to place our situpons, upon which to plop our butts where we enjoyed our lunch.  After finishing lunch, we hiked back to the car and drove back through the branches to civilization. 

*A side note about the downed trees.  It appeared that because of all the rain, the trees just came out of the ground – roots and all!

The photo below was taken DURING the drive – it wasn’t the stopping point.  We were actually able to get through this spot.  (Tom held the tree back, while I drove the car through and under.)

I have one more photo for you from the Newport area.  This was taken after sunset at an area called Seal Rock.

Sunday & Monday, April 22^nd and 23^rd, we stayed in Netarts.  It’s a small Oceanside town.  Tillamook is a bit larger town about 6 miles inland from Netarts.  Cape Mears and the Cape Mears Lighthouse are very close to Netarts.  See the photos below of Cape Mears and also the lighthouse.

We also visited Pacific City, which is just a little south of Netarts.  We happened to be there at low tide – there were some interesting rocks and tide pools on the beach in Pacific City.  See the image below. 

My quilting friends will appreciate this little tidbit.  In Tillamook, they have not one, but TWO quilt trails!  One of them is a walking trail through town, and the other a driving trail throughout the county.  The community has designed various blocks, made them out of wood, and than placed them on various historical buildings and businesses.  Below is a picture of one of the blocks.  The block is on the top part of the wall - below the block is a painting.

Today, Tuesday April, 24^th, it is windy and rainy again.  We drove the short distance from Netarts to Canon Beach. We explored the area by car, than came back to the camper and took a nap!  (And hey, this rain has given me some time to get out another blog entry.) We were going to stay in Canon Beach for 2 nights, but there is 100% chance of rain tomorrow, so we’ve decided to leave tomorrow and go to the Columbia River Gorge where we will stay for 3 nights.  Maybe it will be drier inland???  Who knows?  All we know is that there is certain to be more adventure somewhere along the way!

Melissa

CHICO, CALIFORNIA TO THE SOUTHERN OREGON COAST

Setting Sun

Monday, April 9^th took us from Lee Vining, California to Chico, California.  In April of last year, I met to great women while on a photo trip to Arches NP in Moab, Utah.  (Tom actually joined me on that trip, and while I took pictures, he played some golf.)  So we both had the opportunity to meet and get to know Polly and Kathleen (from Chico), of course!  We were excited to have a couple of days to reconnect with them while in Chico.

Up until this point, I don’t think we had seen even a drop of rain.  Well all that changed once we arrived in Chico!  Tom’s attempt to play golf – not so good.  The ladies attempt to take some pictures – not so good.  That meant that we just had to spend our time hanging out and talking photography.  Oh, and Kathleen cooked us a fabulous dinner on Tuesday night.  And on Wednesday night, we all went out to dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery.  We had a lovely dinner and Tom had fun ordering a “flight” of sampler beers.  Not that this means anything to me, but he had Draught-Style Pale Ale, Ovila Dubbel, Brown Ale, Off-Kilter Strong Scotch Ale, and Side Car Amber Ale.  His favorite was the Draught-Style Pale Ale, and I just bet you’re really glad to know that!!

Polly, Kathleen, and I are all signed up for a photo trip to the Canadian Rockies this fall – really looking forward to spending time with them again!

The California Connection: Polly, Kathleen, Melissa, & Tom

On Thursday, the 12^th we drove from Chico to Trinidad, California.  It was a beautiful, winding drive up, over, and around the mountains.  And, of course, it poured rain pretty much the entire time.  In fact, we set up our camper at our Trinidad campground in the pouring down rain.  How much fun can you have anyway??  The rain stopped – well it didn’t really stop, but let up some – (that would be after we finished setting up).  So we headed for the forest for a short hike in the Redwoods.  The nice thing about the forest is that you don’t generally get as wet in the rain as you do when you’re out in the open.

Redwood Tunnel

Path Through The Redwoods

We awakened to NO RAIN on Friday – overcast, but no rain – what a treat!  We took a 5 mile hike through the Redwoods and followed that with a scenic drive.  (Actually, we were also going to hike to this place called “Fern Canyon” until we discovered that we had to hike through a river to get there!

On Saturday, the 14^th we left Trinidad for our next destination which was Brookings, Oregon.  We stayed at Harris Beach State Park.  Oregon has the most incredible state parks – the best we’ve ever encountered.  Most of them offer full hookups and they are located in the best scenic locations.  This park was right on the ocean.  The beach and the sea stacks were just a short hike down the hill from the campground.  We only stayed here one night – but one could easily spend 3 or 4 days at this park!  Most of the state parks also offer yurts for those who want to do their camping a bit differently. They’re really cute & seemed to be quite popular. Our day at this park was rainless, but when we tried to walk the beaches, we almost blew over!  There was actually a sunset on Saturday night – which kept me happy for awhile!

Harris Beach Sunset

Campground Yurts

Harris Beach State Park Campground

Sunday morning I took some pictures in this little garden called Azalea Park before we headed north to our next destination which was Bandon, Oregon.  Bandon is both a photographers paradise and offers lots of golf courses for the golf enthusiast.  I was able to get a few pictures between rain drops, but there was no golf for Tom.  Old Town Bandon is really cute and has several old buildings & shops.  We mostly saw it through the rainy car windows!

There is an area just north of Bandon that has 3 state parks right along the coast – a beautiful area with a rocky shoreline & crashing waves.  One of the parks – “Shore Acres” – is actually a formal garden.  That was a beautiful and unique state park experience.

It has been a challenge getting this entry posted as our internet has been very limited for the last several days.  But here it is – finally!  Hope you’re all well and enjoying spring.  April is spring, right???

Melissa



LOWER ANTELOPE CANYON TO LEE VINING, CALIFORNIA

At the Antelope Entrance Ladder

It was so windy on Sunday that I actually considered skipping Antelope Canyon – which is something I was really looking forward to.  In the end, we decided to go (Tom even came with me!).

So here we are – this is what happened in Antelope Canyon:  We climbed down the ladder into the canyon, and the red sand just RAINED down on us!  I took a couple of pictures & put my camera away so it wouldn’t get buried in sand.  We decided we would just walk through the canyon (as Tom hadn’t been there before), and that way I would save my camera gear from the sand storm!

We hadn’t walked too far when we reached an area where the winds must have changed because there was much less sand to deal with.  Out came the camera and I was able to photograph the rest of our time in the canyon. 

Antelope shapes and Colors

At The Zion Park Sign

There was so much sand in my hair after Antelope that I needed to shampoo 3 times!!  It was positively gross.  But, that’s the great thing about soap and water – it cures a lot of ills.  Dinner at a local Mexican restaurant put the finishing touches on our day.

Monday took us to Zion National Park – somewhere we didn’t even have on our schedule-but we’re retired so we decided we could do whatever we wanted to do!  We stayed on the East side of the park in a funky little 10 space RV park.  At the time, we thought it was about as bad as an RV park could get… (Note the picture of Mount Carmel RV Park & Campground.)

Mt. Carmel RV Park & Campground

Zion was wonderful – but what National Park isn’t?  We saw the sights, took some pictures and managed to complete a 5 mile hike to the Double Arch Grotto.

Double Arch Grotto

And FYI:  Tom decided that our new trailer was just too heavy to be pulling up and down the mountains, so we traded it in on this smaller model below…

Our New Camper

At The Death Valley NP Sign

On Wednesday we made our way to Death Valley National Park.  It was only 93 degrees when we arrived in the valley – quite the shock to our systems!  We were only here for a few hours when the winds came up – that is they came up even more than they were during our drive from Zion to Death Valley!  There was so much dust in the air; one could barely see the shapes of the mountains surrounding the valley.  Talk about nasty – I much prefer snow to dust!  Remember the RV Park in Mount Carmel that we thought was so bad – hah!  That one can’t hold a candle to the national park campground in Death Valley!  It is a big gravel parking lot – note the picture.  It has bathrooms – that’s it!  Because of the wind, we had to have the camper totally closed up – remember its 93 degrees.  It probably cooled down to about 70 around midnight! 

Stovepipe Wells Campground

Desert Dunes

On Thursday, the dust storm stopped and we could see the mountains again - which is a good thing.  Early in the morning I took pictures on the sand dunes – Tom came with me and while I pushed the shutter button, he followed an industrious bug around the dunes!  After the dunes, we returned to the camper for some breakfast, and than headed up into the mountains for a hike.  The fact that we started out at see level and drove to about 5 or 6,000 feet in approximately 30 miles was really amazing.  Everything totally changed in that short distance.  It was 45 degrees at our mountain destination.  And while it wasn’t 93 degrees in the valley on Thursday – 0nly 77 degrees – that’s quite a difference! 

Death Valley Moonrise

Thursday evening we drove this cute little scenic drive called “Artists Drive”.  It was a tight little road through these beautiful & colorful hills.  By a stroke of good luck, we came upon the moon rise at just the right time!  (See the photo above.)

Sea Level

Tom's Handiwork

On Friday morning after catching the sunrise over Zabriski Point, we packed up and headed for Bishop, California.  It was a day to clean out the dust and sand and do some laundry.  Darn, I hate doing that house keeping stuff while I’m traveling!  (Even more than when I’m at home!)

Mono Lake Curve

Saturday and Sunday were spent in Lee Vining, California.  When the pass is open (which is wasn’t), one can access Yosemite NP from here.  We spent our time at Mono Lake and Bodie Ghost Town.  Mono Lake is this incredible “salt” lake with these forms rising up from the lake called Tufa.  Bodie has been designated a state historic park and is now maintained in a state of arrested decay.  Apparently, in its heyday, Bodie boasted a population of about 10,000 people!  Following is a quote taken from the guide to the park.

“Killings occurred with monotonous regularity, sometimes becoming almost daily events.  The fire bell, which tolled the ages of the deceased when they were buried, rang often and long.  Robberies, stage holdups and street fights provided variety, and the town’s 65 saloons offered many opportunities for relaxation after hard days of work in the mines.  The Reverend F. M. Warrington saw it in 1881 as “a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion.”

Bodie Methodist Chursh

Bodie Bank Vault

It is now Tuesday morning, and we are settled in at a nice little RV park in Chico, California.  We came here to visit some friends I met at a photo workshop in April, 2011.  More on Chico and what’s coming up later…

Melissa