June 2012 - Camping Trip - #1

Karen and I just recently returned from our third outing this year, and this time we stayed at a new location for us... Memaloose State Park in Oregon.  This park is one of three close State Parks located within the Columbia River Gorge area.  Memaloose SP is the largest of the Three (Viento & Ainsworth being the other two parks).  While being in a great location for some beautiful sightseeing... the exit into this park is a little interesting.  If you're heading East on I-84, you'll need to take the Rowena Exit at MP 76, do a turnaround, and head West on I-84 for 3 mile, exiting at the Rest Stop located at MP 73.  You have to drive through the Rest Stop to get to the Park Entrance!  Whenever you leave the park wanting to go in an easterly direction (say The Dalles), you'll have to go West on I-84 (One Way Exit), for 3 miles, until you get to the Mosier Exit (MP 70), turn around again there, and head East on I-84 to your destination.

Be advised that this park is located between the Interstate (I-84) and the Trains that follow the tracks along the Columbia River on both the Washington and Oregon sides.  If you're located at a camping site close to I-84, you will hear traffic noise.  If you're located in a campsite close to the Columbia River, you'll hear the train traffic from both sides that pass by frequently both day and night.  While this noise is most noticeable when sitting outside, it was much quieter inside our trailer, and I only heard the nighttime trains during the first night of our stay.  Plan accordingly.  We did have lots of tree shade, good Electric/Water/and Sewer connections, and the park hosts are very friendly and helpful.

 

Site B3

 While our arrival day edged up into the low 90's for temperatures, the next few days were met with high winds and rain showers.  We made the best of this situation by heading for the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Wasco County Historical Museum located in The Dalles, OR.  What a wonderful facility... with lots of things to see, touch, and explore.  They even have a live "Birds of Prey" exhibit, as well as walk through dioramas from the past to the present.

 Hey look... blue sky!

 Stuffed Mountain Lion display

 Great Horned Owl

 Red Tail Hawk

 Stuffed Snake and Coyote

 Karen giving a "Mammoth" hug to this display!  :-)

Wind Surfers

Not only is the Columbia Gorge filled with beautiful sights to visit, it also put on a show for us when the Sun set in the evenings.  

Sunset on the Columbia River

I also highly recommend driving the Old Historic Columbia River Highway (Hwy 30).  Be advised that this Highway is very narrow in spots, and I'd recommend NOT driving this highway with an attached trailer!!!  Both Karen and I had more than a few white-knuckle experiences, and were gasping every time we met up with another car while driving in our Dodge 1-Ton Truck!  Here are some of the sites along this awesome highway:

 Bridal Veil Falls

 Woman's Forum Overlook

 Horse Tail Falls

 Wahkeena Falls

Multnomah Falls

As always, we took a lot of hiking side trips, and I managed to capture a few flowers for you to enjoy as well. 

Hopefully... Summer and the warmer weather are finally here to stay, and we can all begin to have our own fun journeys no matter where they take us.  From Karen and I (and Abby Too), we wish you all Happy Trails!  Thanks for following along with us on our adventures.

Karen, Gary, and Abby Too!

May 2012 - Camping Trip - #1

Karen and I just finished camping (OK... RVing) at one of our favorite campgrounds... "Fisherman's Bend".  This is a "Full Hookup" Bureau of Land Management Campground, and is located 2 miles West of Mill City, OR along the North Santiam River.  We love the size of the campsites, the beauty of the many forest trails, and the sound of the nearby river.

At this time of the year, the wildflowers are blooming, and the forest becomes a pattern of every shade of green that you can imagine.  As you'll see once again in my images below, a picture really is worth a thousand words.  :-)

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Our Home - Site 13A

 Site 13A

 Light playing on the green maple leaves

On this camp-out, we were joined with our friends Jim & Linda, Tim & Glinda, and Dave & Sandy.  We were all camped close to each other, so this made it easy for visiting, playing a quick game of Ladder Golf, or sharing a few laughs with desert around an evening campfire.  Here are some pictures of the Dutch-Oven Chocolate Cherry Surprise Cake I baked for desert with our friends.

 

 All the ingredients ready to go

The Cake Mix, Cherries, and dabs of Cream Cheese

 

 Checking the cooking process

The Finished Product!

OK... here are a "few" wildflower pictures as well.  There are just too many plants to choose my favorite images!  :-)

One of Abby's favorite activities when we go camping, is to find the closest water for swimming.  When we first got Abby as a puppy, we were camping here at Fisherman's Bend, and she got to know this campground at a very young age.  She still knows this area like the back of her paw, and she makes sure to turn at all the trails that lead to the river when we're out for walks.  It's the simple pleasures in life that makes her a happy Yellow Lab.  A stick & water are all that is needed... no mater how cold the river.  :-)

Thanks for coming along with us on our latest outing... and with Summer around the corner, there are more adventures ahead.  Happy Trails...

Gary, Karen, and Abby Too!

April 2012 - Camping Trip - #1

The new year is here... and we finally made it out on our first camping trip of 2012 with our friends Jim & Linda, and Glinda & Tim.  We all camped at River Bend, which is a wonderful Linn County Park within an hours drive from home.  With the cost of fuel and diesel being what it is right now, it's a blessing to have such wonderful campgrounds so close to us.  On this trip, we ended up camping in the "newer" section of River Bend which opened up last summer.  The sites are larger and wider, making it much nicer for camping.  Of course our first two days were met with rain showers on and off, but that's just typical weather this time of the year.  The weather eventually cleared up, and we finally got to see some Sun.  

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Our Campsite - F9

 

Our HitchHiker 5th Wheel Trailer... "Home away from Home"

  

An Osprey Nest behind our camping site

While walking Abby our first day in camp, we discovered an Osprey nest very close to our camping site.  It was raining the day we discovered it, and the Mom & Dad Osprey were teaching a youngster how to fly from the next.  I was hoping to catch a picture of the "loud" family, but a just few days later... the nest sat empty, and all the occupants had all flown away.

Karen and I finally got to hike the many trails around River Bend (once the Sun came out), and saw many of the early Spring flowers and Trillium's starting to appear.  

The South Santiam River... and a small waterfall

A beautiful Trillium in bloom

  

A fern just getting ready to open up

  

Pinks & Greens

  

Little white flowers blooming among the shamrocks

  

Abby cooling off and getting a drink in the river

On our last night in camp, Abby had to go outside to run to the bathroom at around 3:30am.  When I walked outside with her, the sky was filled with "Billions & Billions" of stars (my bad impression of Carl Segan).  I decided to try some Nighttime Star Photography, which I'd never done before.   But with the Milky Way band of stars so visible in the dark sky, I had to give it a try.  Below are some of my results... and the image with a red light, is just me playing around with a laser pointer that was built into the flashlight I was using.

 The BIG Dipper behind our trailer

 Playing with a red laser

 The Milky Way Stars

More Milky Way Stars

It looks as though the new camping year has started out well... with more fun adventures around the corner yet to come.  Thanks for taking the time to travel along with us on our trips, and we look forward to seeing you all down the road in the future.  

Happy Trails...

Gary & Karen... and Abby Too!

December 2011 - Camping Trip - #1

2011 is almost at an end, and so is our last camping trip of the year. Our grandson "Jackson" was born this past July, so Karen and I have been making several trips up to McMinnville for our "Jackson" fixes. :-) He's 5 months old now, is beginning to eat solid foods, and can now roll over on his own (only if you're not watching him). :-)

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Jackson eating his peaches

He's rolling over on his own (when you don't watch him) :-)

Karen and I decided to spend our last camping trip at the Olde Stone Village RV Park over the Christmas Holiday, where we're only 10 minutes away from Kevin & McKenzie's house, and Abby loves the long extended walks around the Evergreen Aviation Museum property (which is located next-door to the RV Park). This time, we were able to use a little Christmas tree that we'd purchased a few years ago inside of the trailer, to help brighten up the Christmas spirit.

Site 241

Full-Hookups complete with Cable TV

Our little Christmas Tree

The 747 Jet at the Indoor Water Park, was fitted with a Red Nose for the Holidays

Karen and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and that the coming New Year of 2012 will be filled with great health, fun times, and new adventures around every corner. Happy Trails...

Gary, Karen, and Abby Too!