Toll Bridge County Campground, Mount Hood River Valley 7/14

Ned here, filling in for Debi tonight. We felt really lucky to have found a campsite for last night, since the weekend rush seemed to make them hard to come by yesterday. It seemed really hot when we headed for bed last night though, so Debi thought we should try sleeping in the “upper bunk” in our van, thinking that it would be cooler. However, the slightly claustrophobic conditions up there (as Molly can testify to), combined with the constant traffic noise from the highway AND the frequent freight train whistles on the other side of the campground, made this situation nearly impossible for sleeping. At some wee hour of the morning, we retreated back to our normal lower bed, and slept soundly until sunrise. Our big event today was the Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler River Brunch Cruise. We noted while waiting to board that many of our fellow passengers tended toward the Senior Citizen end of the age scale, with a significant number also weighing in on the “portly” end of the body weight scale. This latter fact became almost frightfully apparent as we witnessed the huge piles of food that many people mounded on their plates at the brunch buffet. Debi was particularly distressed by one particular fellow whose enthusiasm for cramming the stuff in his mouth made it clear that he may have taken too literally the fact that we were on the Columbia Gorge cruise. However, once we had made it past the eating portion of the boat ride, we were very entertained by the magnificent scenery that we saw from the upper deck. Several areas along the tour were explained to us by our female captain. The place we boarded the boat was called Cascade Locks. This had been the beginning of 8 miles of rapids that ran downstream from that point, before the Bonnieville dam had been built in the 1930’s. The locks had been built to help boats navigate past the rapids. We saw a couple of tug boats moving large barges up the river. We learned that transportation by barge is the most efficient method of transporting freight, with 12 percent of all freight in the US being moved by barge. On the Columbia River, this generally consists of fuel being shipped upstream, and grain, downstream. We also saw several boat races, at least a dozen outrigger canoes and two-man windsurfer sailboats. (Upon our return to the gift shop back onshore, I was quite impressed to see that our captain was such a local celebrity, that we were able to buy a bobble head doll of her, complete with the two braids of hair down her back – I refrained.) Our next outing was the local “Fruit Loop” a 35 mile scenic drive, where we toured an area of beautiful orchard land above Hood River. We sampled local cherries, blueberries, cookies and ice cream. Debi was particularly enchanted by a lavender farm, with beautiful rows of different varieties of lavender, and a majestic view of snow-covered Mt. Hood in the background. On the map Debi used of the orchard tour, she saw a reference to a county park in Parkdale. We decided to check it out, keeping our expectations low, determined not to return to another noisy night at Viento. Much to our surprise, we found a campsite with electrical hookup and showers, very privately set in the trees, and with the sound of the East Fork of the Hood River running next to our campsite. We’ve now had dinner and Debi reports that our wine supply is running low. We’re thinking that some wine tasting in the Willamette valley is on the agenda for tomorrow…