Saturday, March 3: I should have knocked on wood last night after all. The wind gusts became a steady high wind that blasted the camper for hours. Thankfully I wasn’t on the road. Other than the wind, it was a very quiet night except for a couple of trains that I could hear – no whistles just the rumble of the train. The stars and full moon were out in all their glory.

The morning dawned cold and cloudy overhead. I could see blue sky towards the west where I would be heading, however, so I was hoping for a good drive.

The campground also has two yurts for rent. No vehicles were there last night when I shut the shades after dark, but each had one in front of it this morning. The yurts have a fenced in area behind them with hot spring soaking tubs. They run $109 per night which seems a little high since there is no bathroom or kitchen facilities. They are 16′ so not large either. But, maybe they are cheaper than a hotel.

I headed west along I84 through the Blue Mountains and then came down into Pendleton, Oregon and saw green – no snow. I even did a little happy song about no more snow but Misty didn’t find it amusing. Pretty soon I could see the Columbia River down the way a bit from the road, then eventually I was going along almost on river level. I had never been along that route before and enjoyed the scenery and the blue skies.

It was also quite amazing because there hadn’t been any wind anywhere along the route today for the first time in probably 3 weeks. The Columbia River Gorge is quite well known for it’s wind and is a very popular place for wind surfing. But today, the Columbia just meandered along nice and calm and all the huge wind turbines were still.

In spots on the river there were quite a few fishing boats which, of course, made me think of Darrel. I don’t know if he ever fished the Columbia but I just saw yesterday an article that the big King salmon of the Columbia are no more. I am sure he would have had fun catching a sturgeon, though.

I was heading for an RV park on the Washington side but decided to cross over the river a bit early and go to the Maryhill winery. Back in the day, there was a nice little wine shop in Des Moines called Corky’s Cellars. Ric and Diane ran the place and had wine tastings every Saturday that I would attend when in town. Many times they had the winery owners/wine makers give the tastings. Maryhill was one of those that came.

I was quite surprised at how many cars there were in the parking lot and people inside and out for this time of year. Turns out it was pick-up day for their wine club members. It was also a nice day so I am sure it brought people out just because of the weather, too.

Maryhill has a magnificent venue with concerts in the summer. The whole place is stunningly situated above the Columbia River Gorge. I went in and did their selection of wine tasting. I had to turn down some of the tastings as they kept coming and coming and I still had to drive. I bought a couple bottles of wine and headed to the RV park.

They don’t have their concert series set yet for this summer, but I may have to check it out and come back down for one. There is another RV park close to the winery and they have a shuttle that will take you to the concert. I didn’t want to stay there tonight, however, because I wanted to be further along so I didn’t have such a long journey tomorrow. With the winery stop today, I was still on the road for about 5 hours.

I can’t tell you how great it feels to be back in the green vistas of Washington and Oregon. I felt my skin start to soak up that moisture already, even though it was sunny. I absolutely loved the various desert panoramas and sights that I have seen on this trip but it is good to be back in the Great Northwest!

I pulled into the Bridge RV park and went into the office to find out he had no spaces at all. I have not had problems getting into any parks, except the one in Palm Springs and I think that is because I was only a truck camper and the place was too snooty. Both he and I were quite surprised by this as he said it was unusual for this early in March. The park was right above the river but as I was pulling in a train went by blowing it’s whistle about 50 yards away. So maybe it was good they were full. He gave me a list of other parks both east and west. The first one on the list was Timberlake and he said he wasn’t sure if they were open so I should probably give them a call first.

I got back in the truck and quickly googled them. They had a 4 star rating but I didn’t take time to read the review. Plus it was the closest one to where I was, about 19 miles away, so I called. They had opened on March 1 and had room so I headed down the road. I was expecting another park along the river but this one was up a winding road and in the woods above Stevenson, Washington.

There was a car right behind me as I pulled in and it turned out to be the woman I had talked with. She was a young woman, maybe in her 30s, and she had tried to beat me as she knew her husband was busy doing cement work. They were both very nice and friendly. It sounds like they have only owned the place for a year or two. They had converted a building that she said had been a kitchen into their office over the winter and he was smoothing cement for the front stoop. There are only about 3 other RVs here and they are a bit apart from each other.

I got set up and let Misty hang out on her leash. I think she really likes this place as it is all trees, dry ground, and quiet. I like it too. I think it is way better than being next to the railroad tracks in a cement parking lot even though I would have been within walking distance of the river.

View from my campsiteMisty surveying her domain

Cute little brown squirrel in a tree above the truckI only knew the squirrel was there because I saw Misty with her tail twitching and staring up there. She tried hopping on the hood of truck to get closer but her leash wasn’t long enough

It nice and warm and dry enough to sit outside. It did cool down but we enjoyed our interlude in the weak sun.

Homeward bound tomorrow. It will be good to be home.