A coincidental journey comes to an end

September 30, 2010
Long Beach, WA/Astoria, OR

56 days and 2,769 coach miles ago, we left Père Marquette State Park near Grafton, Illinois. What we didn't realize until later and certainly didn't plan in advance was that our route was coincidentally similar to the Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery " expedition of 1804-1806 (well, at least the May, 1804 - November, 1805 part). Sure, we saw the "Lewis and Clark Trail" signs along the way, stayed at one of the many "Lewis and Clark State Parks" (Iowa) we passed, and even visited one of the various National Park Service exhibits (Great Falls, Montana) along the route. It wasn't until we got to our current location along the Columbia River that I started thinking, "Hey, we started near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, followed (roughly) the Missouri to Montana, then the Snake to the Columbia and now we're near the Pacific". So, it became a no-brainer to make a day trip out to Astoria and touch the end of the journey that took the Corps some 18 months.

We packed a lunch and the pups and headed out early on another fine weather day. Since we're on the Washington side of the Columbia, we drove North on I-5 to Longview, then West on WA-4. We made a small detour to Long Beach for lunch, remembering that we'd stopped there during a Seattle-to-San Francisco coastal drive vacation that we took in the Fall of 1993. I commented that it was the "car vacation" (it took us 6 days to drive that portion of the Pacific Coast, primarily on US-101) that convinced me to try RV rentals. And, look at us now...

Long Beach ("World's Longest Beach" - another disputed claim for sure since it's only 40km long) has several entry points where vehicular traffic is allowed, so we parked 25 yards from the surf and had our lunch. The pups had a chance to run the beach and check out the water and all the different smells. We walked a bit along the beach, drove south a few miles then back, and generally enjoyed the sea air and sunny skies.

Leaving Long Beach, we were once again on US-101, retracing our steps from both the 1993 vacation and 2009's journey south (not wanting to think about the dreaded "Hebo Incident"). After crossing the 4.2 mile long bridge into Astoria and Oregon, we made our first stop at Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark expedition built shelter and wintered in 1805-1806. The facility is nicely done, with relatively accurate (they say) recreations of the shelter and the canoes used in their journey down the Snake and Columbia Rivers to the sea. Since it was getting toward mid-afternoon, and Geri and the pups were getting "car fatigue", we pointed the Rover toward home. I'll save Fort Stevens and Cape Disappointment (the points in Oregon and Washington that define the mouth of the Columbia) for our next visit to the area.



Looping back to Astoria, an older city that will be celebrating its bicentennial in 2011, we noticed the "Astoria Column" monument high up on a hill. At first, I thought it was a totem pole of some sort and, in a way, it is, as it's covered with a Sgraffito (similar to Bas Relief) mural depicting the basic history of the region and city. Founded by and named for John Jacob Astor as a fur trading post (and only beating the explorer David Thompson to the area by two months), Astoria was the first US settlement on the Pacific Coast in 1811. The area was under joint US-British control until 1846 when the Oregon Treaty established the 49th parallel as an international boundary.

The Astoria Column was built in 1926, funded partly by the Astor family (one of my grandfather's first employers after he - illegally - emigrated from Sweden in 1905). It was the site of the first "Community Antenna Television" (now known as CATV or "Cable TV") system in the US. Since it was a beautiful day, I made the trek up the 164 steps (puff, puff) for some additional photos. What a view!

Click here for pictures from today's adventure (use the navigation arrows to change pictures...

Heading home, we stayed on the Oregon side of the river, following US-30 east until we crossed back into Washington at Longview, since there are no other crossings until Portland to our south. Dinner was simple and delicious: a pre-packaged half of a rotisserie chicken, a split baked potato, a nice corn sauté and Geri's Killer Chicken Gravy with Mushrooms. Paired with one of our recent Walla Walla Syrah acquisitions, it was a fine way to end a great day.

Trying a new thing with an embedded slide show:

Oooo - waterfalls!

September 29, 2010
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Today was a fantastic day. We had a leisurely morning and then headed out early in the afternoon, south on I-5 to I-205, then east on I-84. Not all the way to Hartford! Just a few miles to Historic US-30. Not all the way to New Jersey! This area, just about 30 miles east of downtown Portland, is home to several neat waterfalls along the southern bank of the Columbia River.

Historic US-30 follows the Sandy River and then climbs high above the Columbia River just east of the small town of Troutdale. Our first stops were at Gorge overlooks: "Portland Women's Forum" (originally called Chanticleer Point, they purchased the site and donated it to the State) and Vista House at Crown Point (built in 1916-1918 as a rest stop on the original Columbia Gorge Highway).

Next, we stopped at four different waterfalls: Latourell, Wahkeena, Horsetail, and Multnomah, capturing a few images at each one. Since there are 77 waterfalls on the Oregon side of the Gorge, we barely scratched the surface, I suppose. We enjoyed the afternoon, though, and it was fun to drag the cameras and tripod around without having to hurry.

We have a picture of Multnomah Falls, second highest year-round waterfall in the US (a disputed claim, of course) at 620 feet, in our living room in AZ that's one of the only pictures in the house that I didn't take myself. Maybe I captured a similar view; I'll know more when I actually sit down and work with the images in Photoshop to fine-tune color and contrast, and to erase all the people (it's a popular spot on a nice day).

Click here then use the navigation arrows for a few unprocessed pictures (between us, we made about 130 photos).

Back home after fighting some Portland rush hour traffic, we had a nice dinner (Geri's Awesome Butternut Squash Soup and Grilled Sandwiches) and called it an early night. Too much fresh air!

Can you be chillin' if it gets too warm?

September 28, 2010
Woodland, WA

It's been a relaxing few days here along the Columbia River. The weather has turned unseasonably warm.  We've seen a few interesting boats go by, more than just the routine river barge traffic. We had another family visit. And, we had a chance to visit someplace we've seen on TV.

Picking up where we left off last Friday, Geri's reasonably happy with her hair (not cut exactly the way she likes but "way better than it was"). Since we hadn't planned anything for dinner, we both thought of Chinese take-out (that's what all the years we've had together causes), and stopped by the local "China Garden" for a take-out menu. Later, Geri phoned the order in and I went to pick it up. Hmmm; 6:30 on a Friday evening and the dining room is empty. Should have been a clue; the food was passable but not great. No leftovers. I found out later that the place to go is about 5 miles north, in Kalama. Oh, well.

Saturday was a beautiful day, with clearing skies and warmer temperatures. We relaxed around the Park and enjoyed the day. I made Lamb Shanks with Toasted Orzo, doing the preparation work in the morning and searing the shanks and then braising them in the crock-pot for half a day. They came out fine but the sauce wasn't something we'll make again (it called for 2:1 Port to red wine ratio in the braising liquid, and the Port just wasn't a happy addition). The Orzo was prepared similar to a Risotto and was pretty good, except that the recipe called for a splash of the braising liquid to be mixed in, and it wasn't any better there than on the lamb. I'll stick to my traditional Lamb Shank recipe next time, I think.

Sunday was a more normal weather day, with clouds and seasonable temperatures. We caught up with Geri's great-nephew, Michael again for the third time this year. This time, we got to catch up with his wife and boys (Leslie, Brendan, and Cameron) as well; they drove down from their place in Puyallup, near Tacoma, for the day. After they checked out the beach and the over-sized chess set, we went to a pizza shop in Vancouver (WA) that's known for their over-the-top pies, and were we ever surprised! The waitress looked at us funny when we ordered a "large" for Geri and I; we just assumed we'd take some home for a lunch. Well, out came the biggest pie I've ever seen, vertically speaking. The crust was relatively thin, like we prefer, but there had to be three pounds of mushroom-green pepper-sausage-pepperoni-black olive toppings on there, plus two whole thick-sliced fresh tomatoes on top. I was defeated by two slices. We had leftovers, all right!

No way could we even make a dent in this monster pizza!

Yesterday was bright and sunny again, and downright warm. No, it wasn't "Arizona hot", and it certainly wasn't "LA hot", where new all-time high temperature records were set in southern California, but upper-80s is way above average for this area. The air conditioning got exercised, to boot.  We took advantage of the nice day to get out, once again driving into Portland to check out a different neighborhood (Woodstock). We made a visit to Otto's Sausage House, "as seen on TV" (we heard about the place on a recent Triple-D episode) and loaded up. Weiners, Frankfurters, Chorizo, Linguica, bulk Italian, etc. Fortunately, a) we have enough room in the freezer and b) we have some of Geri's Famous Sauerkraut ready for reheating. Chili, Kraut, diced onions - Mmmm. We'll make our own "dirty water dogs" later in the week. That didn't stop us from enjoying the last of Geri's Famous Meatloaf for dinner, though.

Today, we had a mix of sun and clouds, and basically stayed around the Park, making ourselves productive. Geri got dog food made and did laundry. I got a rack-and-a-half of ribs on the grill to cook low and slow and did a few small projects around the coach. I realized late in the day that we didn't have any barbeque sauce on board (we finished the Dreamland!), so a quick Internet search yielded a few recipes that I was able to use as a guide to whip up something pretty good. Now, if I could just remember what I did to recreate it!

This one sailed up-river early one morning.  It's a car carrier, bringing vehicles from Asia.

Container ship, probably from China, probably Wal-Mart Christmas items...

OK; I was a little late getting the camera on this one.  It's "Turmoil", the 17th largest private yacht in the US at 209', and is owned by the family of the guy who started Lands End.  Over 14,000 gallons of fuel capacity - ouch!

A Good Hair Day

September 24, 2010
Portland, OR

Yesterday, it was cloudy and rainy all day long, just like it's supposed to be here, I suppose (although the forecast is brighter). We checked out a dog groomer (no appointments available during our stay here - must be nice to be that popular) and headed for Vancouver (Washington, not British Columbia) for shopping. After picking up a few staples at the Super-Wally, we made a heartening stop at Whole Foods. It's been a while, and we picked up a few specialty items and some Lamb Shanks that I had a hankering for after seeing them done on TV. Back home, Geri made a great version of her Killer Meatloaf, paired with Mashed Potatoes and sautéed Haricots Verts. With a nice Montes Cabernet from Chile, we had a great meal - and packed another dinner's worth away for next week.  Mmmm...

Today, it was back to Portland for Geri to get her hair done. This was long overdue, since she hadn't had it done since we were in Connecticut. She got it cut a little shorter than usual, so this should last until we're back in AZ in five weeks (can it really be then?). Now, we just have to get her a mani-pedi and get the pups groomed and we'll be all set!

"Power's back"...

September 22, 2010
Portland, Oregon

Today, I was up early and heading south with the coach. Wait a minute! What about staying put for a couple of weeks? Yes, well, it's true that we'll be parked in the same place, but today was the day I had scheduled to have the new inverter/charger installed. I had the work done in Portland, at one of the authorized distributors for the manufacturer. I'm still miffed that the "old" one (it's only a little over two years "old") can't be repaired. Hopefully, the new one will be more reliable and in the marketplace longer. If this one goes, I'm switching brands for sure.

New Inverter/charger - ready for installation!

Anyway, I had no problem finding the place, in an industrial park near the Portland Airport, and was right on time for a 10:00 appointment. Geri packed the pups and all the laundry we had in the Rover and stayed back at the Park. I planned for a full day's excursion, knowing what happens with these things. And I had a backup plan if there were issues: with some additional tools (always have to have the right tools), I knew I could do the installation myself, since Al and I did the warranty swap on the old one in 2008 at his place in Connecticut. Upon inspection, the lead tech announced that it should be a straight swap and take a "couple of hours". I just smiled.

Well, by 12:30 they had the old one out and the new one bolted in place (had to drill new mounting holes; wait, first let's sharpen the drill; wait, we need a cardboard template for the holes; wait, I have to take a break after each hole because it's so hard to drill at an upward angle). This was the trickiest part of the job if I'd done it myself. Lifting a 75 pound box up to the ceiling of the bay and screwing it in place isn't easy, even if the holes do line up. I was able to watch all this unfold; had nowhere else to go. I offered a suggestion here and there and held the work light on occasion; "just trying to help". "Let's grab lunch and we'll have this wrapped up in a couple of hours". I just smiled.

The next challenge, of course, was the wiring. The 120 volt circuits (2 in and 2 out) all use 12-gauge wire that has to be connected to lug terminals inside a 3" x 4" opening in the side of the box. 12-gauge Romex is pretty stiff and it was difficult to make 90° bends and get the wires into the terminals while laying in the bay and trying to see in the side of the unit mounted on the ceiling. The existing wires were pretty well bent in several directions from the old installation, so I suggested we snip and start with fresh ends. Soon, all was in place on the 120 volt side, and the 12 volt wiring wasn't anywhere near as difficult as all the connections are on the outside of the unit. By now, three more hours had passed and it was 4:00 PM. I just smiled.

The remaining work was done quickly. The firmware for the generator start and control panel modules was upgraded. Zip ties were in place to get all the wiring back in neat bundles. I backed the coach out of the shop and fired up the generator. Charging? Yes! Generator off. Inverting? Yes! I paid up and hit the road right around 4:30, just what I expected.

Back at the Park, Geri was waiting with lots of clean clothes and a recommendation from the office staff for a good Mexican restaurant. Fantastic! Who doesn't like Margarita night? She had a burrito/enchilada combination plate (what else?) and I had Pork Carnitas which were very good. We each felt that we "won" and left happy. Maybe it was the Margaritas? Nah...

...And lakes and rivers

September 21, 2010
Woodland, WA

Today was our travel day, the last one that we'll have for a couple of weeks since we'll be staying in Woodland, Washington, until early-October. We left the Wenatchee River County Park mid-morning after a few last photos, and headed west then south on US-97.

The County Park we stayed at has a separate section of barracks-style housing available for short-term stays by migrant workers employed during harvest season.

We didn't get a chance to try out the "fabulous" burgers - next time!

After a quick jog onto I-90 then I-82 toward Yakima, we once again turned west, this time on US-12. Around Noon, we found a nice pullout along Rimrock Lake and had a lunch break. The pups enjoyed walking along the overlook and Geri made us some great sandwiches. It's certainly great to travel with your "house".

Back on the road, we were soon at I-5 where we turned south, heading for Woodland, about 20 miles north of the Washington-Oregon border. In this area, the Columbia River (the border between WA and OR) curves to the north before turning back west to the Pacific Ocean. The RV Park we're staying at is right along the riverfront so, weather permitting (this is the Pacific Northwest after all), we should have a nice view of river traffic from time to time.

Dinner tonight was a pre-planned meal: cut-up rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and another corn sauté with pancetta and onions (didn't have any mushrooms on board this time). I paired it with a bottle of the "Boom Boom" Syrah we'd picked up in Walla Walla. This was the same wine we had at the Corn Exchange in Rapid City in August, and we put a few "in stock" when we visited the tasting room last month. Excellent match...

Sun and rain...

September 20, 2010
Leavenworth, WA

Today, we had a mix of clouds and sun in the morning, so we decided to take a short ride up US-2 to the little town of Leavenworth. Leavenworth is a Bavarian-themed town, similar to the Danish-themed village of Solvang, CA, near Lompoc. Not that it was settled by German immigrants or anything; the town decided to reinvent itself specifically as a tourist stop to generate income. We figured it was worth a walkabout.

Unfortunately, the closer we got to Leavenworth, the worse the weather got. With low clouds and rain, we decided it wasn't worth schlepping around town with the pups and getting soaked. We did take a ride beyond town in the Wenatchee National Forest, and saw quite a few possible photo opps for a future visit.

Just as we came back through Leavenworth, there was a little break in the clouds and rain, and we were able to snap a few photos.  Lots of places had multi-colored flowers on display.  10 minutes later and it was raining again.

Interesting decorations in the center of town.

Some things are just over the top...

For dinner, Geri made a great little pizza in the convection oven, using fresh toppings and a store-bought dough. I dug into the "wine storage drawer" for a nice Chianti and we ate well, as always.