RV Journeys
To the Gorge and beyond
The Flatlanders head for the Oregon Coast
We were absolutely chomping at the bit to get going again, and ended up leaving a couple of days before we had planned to—realizing that we didn't have to wait for our travel medical insurance to kick in because we were still going to be in Canada for a couple of days.
The Columbia River Gorge is a sight to behold. —photo by Lynne Benjamin
Our first night we spent in Cranbrook, B.C., visiting RV friends. Was it ever cold! We were not plugged in so we cuddled, but that can only keep you warm for so long so we headed south.
We got to Coeur d’Alene the next night and went on a telephone hunting expedition. We thought we had the activation situation solved after the problems last year, but guess what? We still ended up talking to Bogota, Columbia, Belize City and Guyana (South America) before we finally got that straightened out. We are now officially connected with Idaho and Calgary phone numbers.
As is our routine, we go fast and furiously for the first few hundred miles and then take a few days to get adjusted and figure out where we want to go next and what we forgot to pack. This time we ended up at an Oregon state park (Deschute) in the Columbia River Gorge where the Deschute and the Columbia rivers converge.
Oregon has the most fantastic state parks! They’re well laid out and well kept. Most of the sites have at least electric and water, and they are reasonably priced (this one was $12 per night). We couldn’t ask for much better.
The Dalles was the nearest community of any size and Mount Hood shadows a multitude of markets, orchards, vineyards and wineries that are scattered throughout the whole area.
We toured what they called the “Fruit Loop” and ended up at a community fair at Parkdale that highlighted local crafts as well as a working steam train that still runs daily from Hood River to Parkdale.
When you take the time to visit with fellow RVers, you usually learn something and always get advice on where to go next and how to get there—and so it was! By the time we left the Columbia Gorge area, we were heading for the coast and South Beach State Park just south of Newport, Oregon—and we even knew how we were going to get there.
There really is nothing like the coast of Oregon. We’ve been here before but it was a long time ago and I had forgotten. The smell and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks is indescribable.
