Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area

Columbia River Gorge

Lower Latourell Falls

We've had a great stay here in the Portland, Oregon area.  We got in a nice dinner with Donna's cousin Steven and his wife Karen.  Broke the bank on a new set of rear tires for the truck.  Got some shopping in.  And on our only truly sunny day, we (and everyone else in Oregon and Washington state) drove US 30 through the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area until it just got too crowded.  I got to see three falls.  Donna saw four.  I think there's at least five along the road on the south side of the river that we drove along.

We stopped for lunch. Then drove down and around Mt Hood.  By then the weather was coming back in, and we drove back to the trailer.  Great scenery, though.  Will have to do it again.

But this ends our stops in Oregon.  Tomorrow - if everything works - we move a little further north to Castle Rock, WA to set out the July 4th holiday.  We hope to get some time in at Mt. St. Helen.  I remember it blowing up and have watched many of the documentaries on it.  Hopefully, we get to see it.

At least that's the plan.  Until it changes.  Later, David

Upper Latourell Falls

The gorge

Mt Hood

Fort Stevens State Park

Coffenbury Lake

Example of a bicycle trail

Lewis & Clark and their Corps of Discovery may have been here, but this is known as a coastal defense site from the Civil War through World War II.  Known as having one of the largest campgrounds of all the Oregon's state parks, Fort Stevens boast over 14 miles of biking, hiking, and horse trails.  It's located at the mouth of the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean.  And as such, this point concludes our trip up the California and Oregon coastlines.  We plan to go further north, but it's basically all east from here.

But back to the fort.  The area is basically in a rain forest setting as is most of the Oregon coastline. Consequently, it's a lush environment and in some places, looks tropical & swampy.  Moss grows everywhere and hangs from the trees.  I keep looking for gators, but the only ones I see are from John Deere.  

 I'm told the driest time to visit the Oregon coastline is July & August (and are also the busiest months to visit.)  So we're here a little early for their season.  The campground was pretty much full for Father's Day.  We continue to see rigs come and go.  Kids are here, now, and the place can get a smokey haze in the evenings from all the campfires. They deliver firewood to your site.  The amphitheater looks nice, though no programs are going on right now.  And in case you didn't know, the sun goes down about 9:00 PM this time of year.

We managed to snag a full-hook up site (with 50A electric), but most sites are water and electric, only.   Sites and interior roads are paved.  We had to change our site after we got here as we just couldn't make the turn necessary to back in due to limited swing room for the truck.  Plus we were backing along a 120-130 degree turn around a tree and then between two trees into the site.  I know people can do it, but I'm not there, yet.  We traded for an overflow site, and it worked out much better for us.   Flush toilets, but no showers in the loops with full hookups.

The historic area is nice and tours are given by volunteers dressed in period uniforms.  Few buildings are still standing, so you're driving or walking around the foundations of all the sites and batteries.  You can also drive on the beach if you choose to do so.  Hours are posted, but basically you're restricted from driving during periods of heavy beach visitation.

Historic area

It's been a great visit.  If all works OK, tomorrow, we move over to a spot just east of Portland (Fairview) for the week to visit some of Donna's cousins and get tires for the truck.  Looks to be a wet week, but we may be close enough to visit the Columbia River Gorge area.  Maybe we can walk between the rains drops?  Keep your fingers crossed!  Later, David

West Batteries (left) and Battery Pratt 

Cape Disappointment from the south jetty

Looking south toward Seaside, OR from the south jetty. 

On the trail of Lewis & Clark...

Reconstructed Fort Clatsop

...and their Corps of Discovery.  As we reached our most northern point in Oregon, it put us dead center in the area where the Corps of Discovery wintered over 1805-06.  I've been wanting to see this place for quit some time.  I don't recall when I became interested in Lewis & Clark, but I recall remembering that I wanted to check it all out after traveling to Boeing in St Louis, MO during the mid 1990s for work and remembering that's where they departed on their trip.

Of course "where it starts" depends on who you talk to.  I've read a couple of books on the Corps of Discovery, and the tendency is to start with Meriwether Lewis being an aide to President Thomas Jefferson.  So, maybe, Monticello, VA?  No matter, they got as far as here.  And if I'm reading stuff correctly, they pretty much found a metropolis when they got here.  And, at least for me, it was fun to finally see things I've only read about.

Lewis & Clark (Netul) River

If you visit, you'll find several interpretive centers to enjoy.  We visited reconstructed Fort Clatsop and Cape Disappointment.  Drove past Station Camp (Where Clark's "Ocian in view! O, the joy." was probably written) as it's now just a nice parking lot with raised viewing stands. Nice place to camp, though.  We skipped Dismal Hitch figuring if Lewis & Clark didn't care for it, we probably wouldn't, either.

Cape Disappointment (& Lighthouse)

Today it's a shipping, fishing area with a history of coastal defense (see our Fort Lewis State Park post.)  North and south jetties were added during the later 1800s and early 1900s to try to control the sand bars at the mouth of the Columbia River to allow easier navigation for river traffic. These jetties changed the land in this area somewhat as they believe the point of land at Fort Stevens now extends

about a mile further west than when Lewis & Clark were here. We also saw an area near Cape Disappointment where a historic beach with a large rock just off in the ocean (think traditional northwest pacific beach photos with huge rocks out in the water) was now filled in as a spruce & fir woodland marshland.  Still pretty, but my photo just didn't do it justice and it would be hard to imagine what it looked like from my photo.

What's also enjoyable is that it puts other things into a little better perspective. It seems whenever we're headed back east running I-90, I'm always in the middle of people traveling to/from Bike Week at Sturgis, SD.  And this year is no different.  This time we'll stop & set a spell and make our break east during Bike Week.  

So where did we find a place to sit?  Yellowstone National Park!  Who's one of the most prominent people that explored the Yellowstone area? John Colter.  And where did John Colter get his start?  He was a member of Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery.  Small world isn't it!

So, glad we came.  Pretty location.   Highly recommend Fort Stevens as a campground should you come visit this area with an RV.  There's a KOA across the street if you can't get into the campground at Fort Stevens. Later, David

What they knew vs. what was out there map

Lincoln City, OR

The Cape Perpetula State Park complex

Cape Perpetula State Park

We've had a great week in Lincoln City.  Premier RV Resort was real nice.  Donna found a nice yarn shop in Newport, we survived a flat on an inner-tire on the rear of the truck, got great hikes in at Cape Perpetula and Cape Lookout State Parks, found Dory Cove restaurant (seafood) in Lincoln City, and managed to hit the dining mother-load at the local casino (two 16 oz sirloins, baked potatoes, veggies, a soft french bread, your drink and desert for a total of $29.95).  Yep, we beat the house! And got two meals out of it, too.  (Hint:  when staying in a RV park, it pays to talk to & ask questions of the work-campers there.)

We traveled through Cape Perpetula State Park on the way up from Winchester Bay, and I knew we needed to go back for a visit. To me, this section of US 101 is the prettiest part of the drive along the Oregon Coast Road.  It has a national park feel to it so, of course, I like it.  The first three pictures posted here are of Cape Perpetula.

Cape Perpetua State Park

Second up is Cape Lookout State Park (last four pictures posted here).  We were looking for a good hike and stumbled upon this 4.5 mile round-trip hike out to the end of Cape Lookout.  This trail was a down on the way out & a climb on the way back.  Very similar to the style of  trails in Shenandoah Natl Park.  My calves are still reminding me that I don't do this as often as we use to (nor as often as I should).  Worth the time, though.  I mean, how often do you get to walk through woods where you see the Pacific Ocean through the trees?

So yep, we enjoyed our stay.  Today was move day, though.  So through the spitting rain, we drove up to Fort Stevens State Park up on the northwest corner of Oregon where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.  We'll tell ya more later.  But for those of you familiar with Gulf State Park in Alabama, this park's campground is very similar to Gulf State Park.

Cape Lookout State Park

 Anyway, that's if for us this week.  Later, David

Cape Lookout State Park 

Cape Lookout State Park

Cape Lookout State Park

Winchester Bay, OR

View of the mouth of the Umpqua River from our site

Salmon harbor at Winchester Bay, OR

We're having a great stay at Winchester Bay.  The RV park is beautiful and gives you views of the Umpqua River or Salmon Harbor depending on where your site is located.  We're fortunate to have the mouth of the Umpqua River out the back window.

 We've found great crab cakes and shrimp within easy walking distance

Ocean waves roll up the river 

of our site.  Reedsport (about 5 miles north) is good for supplies and has that old seaport village feel. North Bend/Coos Bay is about 25 minutes south and is a bigger metropolis with more services. Donna found a nice Curves & yarn shop there. If you're familiar with the northeast coastal villages, these towns will seem the same.  Just the ocean is on the wrong side as my Dad would say.

Different perspective of the waves moving up the river

While every turn is a surprise for us, we didn't expect the large sand dunes.  This area is a off-highway vehicle mecca.  And it does look like fun.  If I didn't have to deal with the sand when we got back, we'd probably rented ATVs and had some fun.  Instead we tried experimenting with some videos and emailing them to some folks to see how it'd work.  Biggest issue is taking a video with an Apple product and have someone on a Windows machine view the video correct-side up.

Umpqua River Lighthouse

Outings were to the Umpqua River Lighthouse, a half day trip out to Elkton, OR along the Umpqua River scenic drive, and walks around Reedsport. But the views here at the RV park are so nice, it's easy just to walk the 1.5 mile loop around the park several times a day.

The sand dunes and mouth of the Umpqua River 

Anyway, today is our last full day here.  If all goes well, tomorrow we'll move further north to Lincoln City, OR and set there for a week.  At least that's the plan.  Until it changes.  Later, David

Elk along the Umpqua River

Sunset at "the bay"