Rufus - Mosier - McMinnville - Harrisburg, OR

July 7 - 20, 2024

This one is a little long as there are lots of pictures.  But a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

We last left you in Adams, OR, visiting our friends Pam and Mark.  We had a great time with them.  We taught them some new games, and they taught us SkyJo.  It was so nice to relax and catch up.  The campground was right next to a river.

We left there on Friday, July 12 and went to LePage Park in Rufus, OR for two nights.  We had 50 amp electric and water, and since it was a CoE park it was only $15 per night.   It was HOT!  We ran both air conditioners all day during the day, but it cooled off a little at night.  We just stayed in as there wasn't really anything to see and it was too hot to do anything outside.  It was a little tight getting the 5th wheel into the site but John did a great job.

On Sunday we left and went to Memaloose State Park near Mosier, OR for two nights.  It was 30 amp full hookups for $46 per night.  We had a view of the Columbia River out the back.  There were some blackberry bushes but I didn't pick any because I didn't know if they had been sprayed with anything or not.  Better safe than sorry.

We combined errands with sightseeing.  On the way to The Dalles we stopped at the Dalles Dam.  It is one of the top ten largest hydropower dams in the U.S.  It's 2,640' long and can discharge 2,333,922 gallons per second.  That's a lot of water!  We went through the Visitor Center and watched a video, then looked at the exhibits.  But we had places to go so didn't spend a long time there.

I got a good picture of Mt. Hood from the parking lot.

We drove on the Historic Columbia River Highway between The Dalles and Mosier.  This used to be the only road along the Columbia River before I-84 was built.  It was quite windy in some spots.

And very windy at the top.

On Tuesday we drove to Olde Stone Village RV Park in McMinnville.  It was full hookups for $67.85 per night.  A little more expensive, but the park was immaculate.  However, there was a four-lane highway within a few hundred feet, and an airport on the other side of the highway that must have been giving helicopter flying lessons all day, so it was quite noisy.  

The building is the space part of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.

A beautiful sunset.

Wednesday we went to the museum.  The RV park actually has a path you can take to walk to the museum.  The thing we wanted to see the most was the Spruce Goose.  It was HUGE!  It's hard to get it all in one picture.

I didn't realize that Howard Hughes was a test pilot.

From the cargo deck looking forward.

From the cargo deck looking toward the tail.

Since it was built during the war all metals were directed towards the war effort.  That's why it was built out of laminated birch.

Of course there were other planes to see.

They had a Cobra AH-1F, but it was a 1965 model and John worked on a later  model in the Army.  They look similar.

There was a German Fw 190 A-7 Wurger replica.  I'm glad it wasn't an original because it wouldn't have lasted long.  Can you see what might not have been a good idea?  Leave a comment below.

Here are a couple of other planes.

We finished the aviation portion of the museum and went home to have lunch before coming back to the space building.

This museum is something we've been wanting to do for years.  Now we can cross it off our bucket list!  If you are in the area it's worth a detour and a definite must-see.

On Friday we did a couple of errands in Salem.  Of course we had to make a very important stop!

Those double doubles were soooo gooood!

Friday after we left McMinnville we stopped in Albany to see friends that John knew when he was in the Army in Hawaii, Roger and Dee.  Their then three year old son was the ring bearer in our wedding.  We had a great time visiting with them.  Dee is also a quilter so I got to see some of her quilts and talk quilting.  I miss quilting but if I was home quilting I would miss traveling more.

We're getting a little better a selfies!

Roger was a welder and a very good one!  He made this beautiful screen door.

After we left Albany we drove to Harrisburg to Life Northwest RV & Lodging.  It's full hookups for $47.25 per night.  It looks like there are a lot of long term campers but it's so nice and quiet.

That brings us up to date.  Tomorrow we head for a higher elevation, but I'm not sure how much cooler it's going to be.  I don't think there are any cool places in the west this year.  I tried to get a campground or RV park on the Oregon Coast but couldn't find anything available.  I guess this is one time when not planning ahead isn't so good.  No matter, the Lord is in control and we just keep...

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1

Riggins, ID - Boise, ID - Huntington, OR - Sumpter, OR - Adams, OR

June 29 - July 6, 2024

Back on the road again.  On Saturday, June 29 we drove to our next campground via Hwy. 95.  We decided to take that route as it looked more scenic.  On the way we saw these fields of yellow.  I looked it up and found out it was mustard.

Then I noticed that we would be driving right by Nez Pearce National Historical Park in Lawpai, ID. So we stopped in the parking lot and had lunch, then went into the visitor center.  This wasn't a battlefield but the visitor center had a nice display of the Native American history.  Then off to Canyon Pines RV Resort in Riggins, ID.  It was 50 amp and water with a dump station for $52.68 per night.  The campground was between Hwy. 95 and the Little Salmon River, but not a lot of road noise at all.  They have some pretty back-in sites on the river.  I didn't get a picture of our campsite but I did get the river.

Sunday morning we headed for Boise.  There was an accident near Banks and the road was closed for about 1-1/2 hours.  But it was a beautiful area so we were good.  I tried to find out about the accident but couldn't find anything later.  The traffic was pretty bad because of the backup and also it was a Sunday afternoon.

We stayed at a Boondockers Welcome location.  The hosts said they heard about the accident on TV.  The driveway was by a busy street but it quieted down at night.

Monday morning we were early for our 9am appointment at Alignment Specialists to get the alignment done on the 5th wheel.  It took them 2-3 hours and then we got on I-84 and headed for Oasis on the Snake RV Resort near Huntington, OR.  It was full hookups for $54.97 per night.  It wasn't a destination but good for an overnight.

Tuesday we drove to Union Creek Campground near Sumpter, OR.  It's a forest service campground and we really liked it.  I had made reservations for one site for Tuesday night because I couldn't get a reservation for longer.  We figured we'd take the reserved site and then look at the first come first serve sites when we got there and hopefully get something for Wednesday and Thursday nights.  But when we got there we decided just to look for a FF site for the three nights and found one with full hookups for $22 per night.  The campground host wasn't pleased, and we lost the money for the reserved site, but we had a definite place to stay for the three nights over July 4.  We've never done that before.  All the sites in the A loop are full hookups.  At over 4,000 elevation it was a little cooler up there too.  We would definitely return and spend more than three nights.  

On Wednesday, July 3 we drove 10 miles to Sumpter, OR and went through the Sumpter Valley Dredge.  

When we were in the Yukon five years ago we went through the dredge in Whitehorse.  After we got home I started watching Gold Rush on TV.  Ever since I've wanted to see another dredge because I understood better how they worked.  This one was missing a lot of parts and we couldn't go upstairs because of safety reasons, and it was a little different than I remembered the one in the Yukon.  But I'm really glad I got to see it.

Gold was discovered in Oregon's Blue Mountains and nearby Sumpter Valley in 1862.  Many of the prospectors who had gone to California moved to this area.  In the early 1900s the easily accessible gold had long been discovered.  However, gold hunters knew tiny flakes of gold remained buried deep in the valley riverbed.  So they starting using a dredge.  This dredge was the third one in the area.  The first was built in 1912, the second in 1915, and this one in 1935.  It is estimated that the dredge unearthed more than $4 million in gold during its lifetime.  The gold ran out and the dredge remained where it was after being abandoned in 1954.  Weather and neglect took their toll and it stayed there until the early 1990s, when local Sumpter residents took a renewed interest in preserving it.  After a few years of preparation the Sumpter Valley State Heritage Area opened in 1994.

Friday we drove to Pendleton to meet our long-time friends Pam and Mark.  We are camping with them near Adams, OR for a week or so.  We're expecting record high heat and are fortunate to have 50 amp electric and water.  There's a river than runs right by the campground and is really pretty.  I'll post a picture of them later.

That brings you up to date.  We're just going to relax for a few days after our mad race around trying to get tires, balancing, and alignments done.  Then we'll be...

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1