Full-time RVing after working on the road for 10 years. Now we're enjoying the great outdoors while retired!
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... And sorry I could not travel both. I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference." --Robert Frost
We were looking forward to the short one hour drive from Scappoose to Milo McIver State Park. We would've just stayed 4 days in Scappoose, but we had the Milo McIver reservation first and we could only get two days there. We drove past the bridges that would take you into Portland an then headed south a bit.
We arrived at Milo McIver and drove to our spot. For some reason I didn't care for the park as we drove in. Can't explain it. It was pretty, but I just didn't like it. We went to our spot and of course there were some very low limbs that would have to be cut for us to get in. We got out to check it out further and that's when I saw it. See, I have a special radar. I can spot a bee a mile away. And when there is a huge yellow jacket nest in an old dead stump three feet away, you kind of notice that. I was back in the truck before you could blink. That was it for me. I didn't care if they cut the tree down and removed the nest. I wasn't staying there! So we drove back to the office to see if they could give us a different site. Nope. They were booked. They offered to cut the branches and remove the nest at night. Nope. Not gonna work for me. I know yellow jackets are very protective of their nest and very aggressive. No way I was going to stay in that site all day! We had to wait for over an hour to find out if they could get our reservation cancelled. It was very hot and humid while we waited in the truck. They finally came back and said they had sprayed the nest and cut some branches and that we should be ok now. What? I don't think so. You can spray a nest but there are a lot of those little bast*rds flying around that weren't in the nest when you sprayed that are going to be pretty pissed off when they get back. I once again told them thank you for your efforts but I'm not comfortable staying there and we still wanted to cancel. Once they went through their chain of command they decided to cancel our reservation and refund most of our money. Since I had nothing else to do besides sweat in the truck, I had written something about this on facebook. Luckily for us Lee (who we'd be visiting next in Mt. Hood) saw it and responded that we should just come on up early. Our site at Lake Timothy was open and ready for us. Woo-hoo!! We'll be right up!
Once my pulse went back down, we came around a corner and this is what we saw. Mt. Hood.
Lee and Trace's backyard at their work campsite. Pretty nice!
We drove straight up to say Hi to Lee and Trace, Camper Chronicles, that are work camping here for the summer. We had been looking forward to visiting with them for almost a year. Last time our paths crossed we were in Iowa.
After Hellos and Hugs they drove us down to our campsite. They chose a special site for us. One of the largest that has the prettiest view, lake side (with Mt. Hood peeking over in the background) AND a bit of Verizon signal. Thanks guys!!
What a view, right?!
Trace told us about a fire that just started about 20 miles away. This brought us some added entertainment.
There were two sets of two planes that would swoop down and fill water back to back for hours. Incredible to watch. Lee had to arrange to get boats and people off the lake so there would be no collisions. Not hard to imagine why, yet some folks would paddle out anyways. This went on for a few days. Eventually they did get it under control.
Site #17 in Gone Creek Campground at Lake Timothy.
Steve had to work the first couple of days and I caught up on some cleaning. Also, Trace had taped some of the Bachelorette (hey, don't judge!) that I had missed so we watched a couple shows and chatted. So nice to see them again. The first night they had made an amazing meal for us. Ribeyes with mushrooms, baked potatoes and a few salads Trace had made. We all stuffed our faces, enjoyed a campfire and waddled away later that night.
The rest of the week Steve had taken off so we could do some things and spend time with Lee and Trace when they weren't working.
The view from our camp before going to bed.
Trace had filled us in with several things to do in the area. So the next morning we decided to do what they call theFruit Loop Trail. It is located in the Hood River Valley at the foot of Mt. Hood. The twenty-eight member stands offer wines, fruits, vegetables, flowers, ciders, and food.
We had a great time driving around the countryside, sampling and eating and buying a few things.
At one point we were following signs to a winery. We came to a 3 way stop but there were no more signs. We were going to go straight and at the last minute decided to turn right. Instead of a sign we saw flashing red lights in the rear view mirror. Uh oh. I knew it was that illegal right turn. See, we turned AFTER the little triangular painted lines. The officers were very nice and then one commented on Steve's Gollum figurine that rides on the dash. Apparently he's a Lord of the Rings fan so he made a joke and let us off with a warning. Nice. I keep threatening to chuck him out the window but I guess he can stay.
There was a nice food truck at one of the stops and we had a nice lunch.
We drove a little further to Hood River. It was getting late and the museum we wanted to visit had just closed. We walked around by the Columbia River and watched some kites surfers do their thing.
A pedestrian bridge that led us over the Hood River and down to the Columbia River.
It was a long drive and on our way back a BBQ sign grabbed our attention in the small town of Parkdale. The Apple Valley BBQ turned out to be a great choice! Great selection of bbq and sauces. As we were walking out Steve said, "I wish they had a brewery here". I can't believe he didn't notice that we parked right in front of one!
The Solera Brewery had very nice ambiance, but Steve didn't care for the beer.
Behind the brewery we listened to a guy playing old bluesy-rock with Mt. Hood in the background. What a great way to end a great day.
After leaving Fort Stevens we planned on staying a couple of nights at two more campgrounds on our way to Mt. Hood. While we passed through the town of Astoria we were bummed we didn't spend some time here.
The town was so cute and there were many museums we passed by. Great walking town.
The Columbia River Maritime Museum.
Ever stay at an RV park that you can drive or fly into? Well, Scappoose RV Park offers both. Cool or noisy? It is small aircraft only and they just took off and landed during the day on occasion. It was also on the other end of the park. It was actually pretty cool.
$30 for FHUs. It is a very small campground, maybe 10 sites. Shaded with very large trees and so-so spacing. It was only 1/2 full when we were there. We stayed 2 nights on our way to Mt. Hood.
Looking down to the end of the campground. Very nice, we'd recommend it.
We didn't spend much time at the campground though. We drove around to check out the town which was very cute. It was clean and had a lot of community areas. There was a nice ball park with a memorial dedicated to all the branches of the service across from it.
Another painted rock I picked up and will drop off at another Veterans Memorial.
Next to the County Library was this wonderful sculpture in a wading pond. When kids or dogs walk into it calliope music starts playing. I caught a great rainbow on one side.
You might need to turn up your speakers to hear the pretty music.
On the other side of the library is another Veterans Memorial. This one had a great dedication to submarines in WWII.
I thought it was very interesting to learn that submarines sank more than 55% of all ships sunk. More than surface ships, Navy air and the Air Corp combined.
The other day we took a bike ride down one of the old railrode paths. The Crown Zellerbach Trail, known locally as the CZ Trail, follows a former logging railroad through quiet and picturesque forests in northwest Oregon. Its east end begins at Multnomah Channel and, from there, the trail continues for 25 miles on a northwest course largely paralleling the Scappoose-Vernonia Road from Scappoose to Vernonia.
There was a series of geocaches hidden along the way so we cached as we rode. There were also tons of blackberries along the trail. We came back later that evening to pick some to freeze for later.
The trail starts out quite wide and trimmed. You pass farms and fields along the way.
It was a very hot day so we wandered close to the field to cool off in the sprinklers.
As you get closer to the river, the trail is not so well kept. You can see where the berry bushes are overgrown and if you look further down the trail, it's only a foot or two wide.
More farms and an osprey nest.
On our last evening we drove into Portland (about a 45 min drive) to seek out something I've been waiting for. We hit the road just right and the traffic wasn't really that bad.
We cross over the Columbia River and drive past China Town.
And there it was! VooDoo Donuts. I've been reading others posts on this place and I just had to go there. You see they make a special Maple Bacon Donut that is supposed to be to die for. I'm in!
At first we were afraid we wouldn't find a place to park the truck as some festival just ended, but lo and behold, there was a huge spot just around the corner. Lucky us!
There was a line, but it moved very quickly. It is Cash Only so keep that in mind before you get into line.
I think one of the requirements is to be heavily tattooed. Everybody that worked there was inked up.
On the way out of the building, this poster caught my attention. It said:
This is the last taquito remaining in a 40-case box.
It is sad. It is pathetic. It is freezer burnt. It is alone.
But, here it is, clinging with every last once of its being to a band
of frozen brown banana's on the very edge of its world. Amidst the chaos,
it fights to serve its purpose.
It WILL serve its purpose.
I am the taquito. Come find me.
I later looked up the website and it was pretty amusing. Someones website with doodles and writings and what he does for a living.
Back to the donuts.............
As soon as we got back to the truck we opened up the pretty pink box.
Oh yummy! We got a few to last us the week. Where's my Maple Bacon Donut?
Ahhh! It was HUGE! There is something definitely different about the dough. I really liked them. I ate mine before we crossed back over the bridge. Good thing we don't live in Portland. I might develop a pastry problem!
The way home was a piece of cake too. No traffic.
A view from the bridge looking east. You can see the large ships docked to the sides.
Back to the campground and we wait while two young fawns cross the road.
It was a busy time in Scappoose. As we drive away we pass the Scappoose Peace Candle. It is about 50-foot-tall and was built in 1971 outside what was then the Brock Candles factory, which burned down in 1990. The land was formerly a dairy farm. The candle was a silo covered with 45,000 pounds of red candle wax to advertise the factory. For a time it held the Guinness Book of World Records.
