Friends, Work, Hiking

Sunday - June 8   Mass at 8:00, breakfast and then work in the office.  After lunch, our friends, Erin and Michael arrived.  They are camp hosting this summer at the Bonneville Dam, which is north of us on the Columbia River.  We showed them around the park, hiked the trails and visited with our boss and other camp hosts.  We enjoyed having them here.  That night we had a campfire and Anne & Dick, Leslie & Chris joined us.

Monday - Wednesday - Working days.  We did our cleaning jobs, helped with key inventory, Gary painted the office bathroom floor, ran office errands in to Sandy, mowed again and worked on raking/trimming around the park.  Wednesday night we went to the Barlow Trail Roadhouse for supper - they have home made specials - Gary had their chicken and dumplings.  Back home we enjoyed another campfire.

Thursday - a nice day, so we went and hiked the Still Creek Trail.  3.2 miles, it was a nice hike, with a boardwalk through a wet Cedar grove.  Afterward, we drove back and found the Summit Graves and Summit Meadows on the Barlow Road.  In this cemetery, several pioneers were buried.  The headstone is for Perry Vickers, a toll keeper at Summit House on the Road in the 1870's.  The Barclay baby was  buried there and nearby is the Baby Morgan memorial.  Another pioneer woman was buried there too, in 1852.  Across from the cemetery are the Summit Meadows.  The pioneers were eager to arrive there, the meadows replenished the livestock and inspired the travelers to push on to face the final trials of the Barlow Pass, Laurel Hill and the Zigzag Canyon before they reached their Willamette Valley destination.  Back home, I made an apple pie and peach crunch dessert for the going away party we had that night for the seasonal park worker, John.  It rained that afternoon and evening, so the men set up a canopy to grill under and we had the party at the office.

Still Creek along the trail

Huge leaves (sorry, don't know the plant)

Looking up from under the big leaves

My trail guide on the Still Creek trail

The bridge at the start of the trail

Summit Graves - Perry Vicker's stone

Summit Meadows and Graves signage

The plush Summit meadows

Friday - Rain today.  We stayed home and caught up on our book work and mending.  There always seems to be projects to do at home - including working on keeping the blog up to date.  (You can see I get behind on that!)  After supper, we watched a movie - we are enjoying movies now and then that we digitized, since we do not have TV reception in the motorhome here in the forest.

Saturday - We went for a hike in the park in the morning - it was misting but not raining then.  We visited with the group that was having a wedding and reception that day in the Salmon River Shelter and amphitheater in our park.  They had it decorated in a tropical theme.  We did take firewood down to them - we thought it was chilly out, but they had shorts on.  True Oregonians!  Then we drove to Government Camp and visited the Mt. Hood Museum there.  A lot of exhibits with history about the mountain, the ski clubs, the climbers and the Forest Service.  Afterward, we walked down the street to the Ratskeller restaurant for lunch.  It was windy and cold, reminded us of November in South Dakota.  Then back home - stayed in for the night.

Bear display at the museum - the only bear we have seen

Sunday - Father's Day  Rain again, we went to Mass and then did laundry while we were cleaning at the office.  Mid-day, my cousin Sherrie and her husband Cedric, came to see us.  They had attended a wedding the day before in The Dalles, OR.  They came to see us and then were continuing on to the Oregon Coast and south for sightseeing before heading home to Nebraska.  We had a great time, showed them around our park and then drove them up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.  They enjoyed seeing the lodge and reading the history of how it was built by the CCC and the history of the mountain.  We sat in the Ram's Pub there for a bite to eat and watched as the rain turned to snow flakes on the mountain.  June 15 - snow in Oregon.  We headed back our way and had supper at the Zigzag Inn, before coming back to the park.  We were able to have them stay in the park bunkhouse for the night, so we watched TV and visited with them there until bedtime.

Cedric, Sherrie and me

June Begins in the Mountains

Monday, June 2  - back to work.  We had driver's training - (because our driver's certification certificate had not arrived in the mail), we drove with our boss into Sandy for work errands - then he could approve us for certification to drive the BLM trucks.  In Sandy, we dropped off tools for repair and then had a cup of coffee at the "Ant Farm", a local non-profit coffeehouse.  Their mission is to help train youth in life skills.  There we met a fellow motor homer from Sandy, we told him about RVillage and got him signed up.  Brian introduced us to two business owners from the Mt. Hood area, it was interesting to talk to them about the history of the area.  On the way back we stopped and cleaned the restrooms at Sandy Ridge, the nearby mountain bike trail park serviced by the BLM. Gary did some mowing when we were back at the park.

Tuesday - This morning as we were having breakfast, we heard a woodpecker outside.  Gary went out and found a Pileated Woodpecker working on a birdhouse, so the pecking sound was amplified.  The woodpecker then flew to a log on the edge of the ball field and soon wood was flying from all over from his pecking.  Gary was able to get great pictures - hard to do usually, the Pileateds' are very elusive.  This woodpecker is one of the two largest in the country, very distinctive by their loud call, huge head with a red cap and this one was about 14 inches long.  Back in to the office, Brian had me help him start the key inventory process.  We worked all day on the keys, I was buggy eyed from comparing one key to another for all those hours.  Gary went out and mowed, it was one of the few sunny, dry days.  Late afternoon, we went home and packed a bag for going to Salem - we were going there after work on Wednesday.   http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/id

Pileated Woodpecker

Look how big he is!

 Wednesday -  all the camp hosts had fee booth training this morning.  We went to the entrance fee booth and worked through the procedures for collecting fees, using the cash register and balancing our receipts at the end of our shift. Not necessarily a safe job, while we were there we had a lady drive in and up on the curb in front of the booth.  The day before, a lady had gone off the entrance road, down in the ditch and hit the welcome sign that shows the parking fees.  She said she was trying to get her coffee cup and got distracted.  Luckily she was not hurt.  After training, we checked out, cleaned up and headed to Salem for the weekend.  Gary had to be at the Elks Club late afternoon for a membership interview. When Marilyn was off work at 7:30, we went out for supper and then over to Nick's house to see them.

Distracted driver hits park sign

Thursday - Right away we went out for and exercise walk and then had breakfast.  Marilyn was exploring with us today, we drove up to Portland to see some sights.  We went to the river walk there, hoping to see the Navy ships that were coming in for the Rose Festival weekend.  Unfortunately, we were too early - they were arriving in the afternoon.  We were able to see a big Coast Guard ship,(The Alert) a Canadian sailing ship, the USMC Oriole (we talked to their crew - they had sailed down the night before) and there were some river patrol gun boats used in Vietnam that Gary toured.  We saw the lift bridge gates go up, no boats, but we think they were practicing for the Navy boats to come. By then it was lunch time, so we walked up to the Thirsty Lion Pub & Grill and had coffee and sandwiches.  Then we drove up to the famous Portland Rose Garden, located on one of the hills in Portland.  Somewhat like the tulips, there were rows and rows of every kind of roses.  It was beautiful.  The Rose Festival and Parade was taking place the next three days, but we did not want to fight the crowds to see all that.  There was a great view of Mt. Hood from the gardens, but hard to get pictures of.  We really enjoyed walking around seeing all the colors and variations.
Leaving there we headed southwest out of town and drove back to the Salem area.  We saw fruit stands and a cheese farm, we decided we will have to go back for them.  Close to Salem, we took Marilyn to the Red Hawk winery we had visited before.  With the clear day, we could see the three mountains from their yard, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens.  We tasted the wines, Marilyn joined the wine club and then sat and had a glass in the picnic area.  Awhh, retirement!
Back to the house, we relaxed with G&M and grilled burgers for supper.

Coast Guard ALERT

Drawbridge Up

PBR Boat and Royal Canadian Sailing Boat

Vietnam PBR Boat

Thirsty Lion lunch stop

The Rose Garden view from the top of the park

Brilliant pink

Variegated colors

Red plus more

A beauty

Portland Rose Garden

Mt Hood from the Rose Garden

Red Hawk Winery enjoyment

View from winery

Friday - Gary and I walked again, Marilyn had a hair appointment early.  We worked on our computers for advertisers at the house, then drove to the BLM headquarters in Salem to pick up supplies for the park.  Afterward, we met Marilyn and did a Costco run.  Back home, G&M went with us to the Willamette Cheese Farm.  You drive in past the working girls (the dairy cows) and go into the little cheese shop on the farm.  We tasted about twelve different cheeses, they make different variations of Fontina, Cheddar, Havarti, Gouda and Jack cheese.  Very good, some had herbs, some had fruit, and there was a white cheddar with cinnamon that we liked.  That evening, we joined their friends for supper at Cafe 22.  It was a nice evening to sit outside and the fresh strawberry shortcake special was delicious!  After supper, we went to Nolan's ball game and afterward helped G&M take the kids home to their house to babysit, so Tyler & Jen could go out for supper.

Saturday - The two Garys headed out to run errands for the masonry business, Marilyn and I went for a walk and then ran some girl errands.  We shopped for birthday presents for Piper, she was two today.  Back at the house, we packed up our things and went and got our groceries bought to take back home.  Then we went to the big birthday party for awhile before heading back to the forest.  It was fun to see all of Jen's family there.

Piper - Age 2  (We gave her the shades)

May Ends - June Begins

Monday, Memorial Day
We are off today.  It rained in the morning, so we took advantage and slept in.  Mid-day we went over to visit G&M and say goodbye before they headed back to Salem.  We will not see them again until late June, they will be traveling back to South Dakota for a family reunion and the Humboldt celebration.  Back home, we had supper and then went up to the park bunkhouse for a farewell celebration for Linda.  Her husband was to be released from the hospital on Thursday AM and then they will fly to Kansas.  We had a camp fire and everyone brought munchies to share.

Tuesday - Today, we were up and packing up the motorhome - Gary took it in to the Chevy dealer in Sandy to have the engine checked by the computer, before we go to Washington State this week.  I worked in the office, helping Brian with reservations and scheduling.  When Gary was back, he did the mowing again for the week.  We had supper outside and a campfire.

Wednesday - Rain - of course as we had to pack up everything to leave.  We took our golf cart up to the office compound, since we were going to be gone for 4 days.  Left the park about 11:30, the Captain/driver was glad to be out of the rain and on the road. We traveled today to go to Prosser, WA for the weekend, for Gary's RV Inspector Certification Training.
We drove back west on Hwy 26 to Gresham and then went up to I-84 to go east along the Gorge. There is beautiful scenery and waterfalls along there, from Troutdale to The Dalles. We crossed the Columbia River at The Dalles, Oregon.  It was interesting to us that on the Washington side, we immediately were driving through dry, bluff type of hills - more incline than we expected on that side. We then went on Hwy 14 and drove east.  We stopped along the roadside mid-afternoon for lunch - we were parked just above a vineyard/orchard farm and could also see the Columbia River and the Oregon Coast.  Another advantage of driving your home - you can stop anytime and have lunch in beautiful places.  We continued on, luckily avoiding a thunderstorm and arrived in Prosser, WA late afternoon. We pulled into our campsite and met the couple who would lead the RV inspector training for the weekend.  They left for supper, we set up and then sat through a brief thunderstorm.  When they returned, we all went to the RV Park office/store for a wine tasting.  The RV park has local winieries come to the park to host these events.  Afterward, Gary and I went to a local pizzeria for supper.

Our lunch stop - along Hwy 14, Washington side, east of The Dalles

Thursday - Gary was off to class at the meeting room in the RV park at 7:30 AM.  I slept in, then went for a long walk in the neighborhood.  We really enjoyed the openness of the RV park area and the Sunshine!!!  We were out of the dark forest for awhile. The Prosser area is very interesting, in the Yakima River valley, an oasis due to irrigation, surrounded by high, dry, brown bluffs. Another type of beauty.  There are over 30 winieries in the valley, they thrive there because with the irrigation they can control the moisture.  14 Hands, Columbia Crest, MaryHill, Airfield and Chateau St. Michelle are some of the better known winieries there.  We were busy enough with the class schedule that we did not get to any of them.
I worked on RVillage contacts and caught up on office work during the day.  Gary was home for lunch, then back to class.  I went out later in the day and got the car washed and picked up some groceries.  We went downtown for supper, ate at the Horse Heaven Saloon. Then we went over to look at some of the winieries by our campground.  There were seven in this area, all new, built around a courtyard type of setting.  More beautiful roses, the soil in this valley was perfect for them, so all many people had them in their yards and along their fence lines.

14 Hands Logo on the building

14 Hands Winery, Prosser, WA

From the vineyards courtyard

The walkway to one of the buildings

Gamache Winery building - one of seven in the courtyard

Beautiful

Roses palooza in Prosser

Friday - Gary said they wanted the spouses to attend today's meeting. Turned out, it really wasn't necessary for me to be there, other than meeting the other spouse, (there were only two inspectors and two instructors at this class). I had a nice time visiting with the husband of the other inspector and the wife of the instructor.  That night we all went back to the Horse Heaven Saloon for supper - kind of the graduation supper for the group.

Saturday - last day of class - hands on training - inspecting each other's motorhomes and looking at other motorhomes and fifth-wheels in the park.  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day - we all enjoyed being outside.  After the graduation presentation, we had Happy Hour with the instructor and his wife and then went for a little supper to the pizzaria.  Back home, we packed up some things to prepare for our departure on Sunday.

Our camping site and view at the Vineyard Campground, Prosser

 Sunday - We went to Mass at Sacred Heart Parish in Prosser.  Then packed up and headed for Oregon. It was sunny, but windy on the way back along the river.  The Captain skillfully guided our ship homeward.  We went back on Hwy 97 in Washington and crossed the river south of Goldendale, to Biggs, OR and then west on I-84 again.  We stopped in Hood River for supplies from Walmart and then went back to Gresham, Hwy 26 to Sandy and back to our park.  Once back, we pulled out the hoses and washed the motorhome - it was quite dirty from driving in all the rain and wind.  We set up and went to bed.

Week 3 - May

Monday - we were off today from the park job, so spent the morning catching up on RVillage contacts.  In the afternoon, we walked more of the trails in the park.  We walked out on the rocks by the Salmon River and on all the Wetland trails.  Still trying to see the beaver, no luck.  We cooked supper outside on the hotplate (thanks Ginger!) and enjoyed a camp fire and the nice evening.

The Salmon River at Wildwood

Exploring the shore

 
















Tuesday - this was the day we were covering for Anne & Dick and the weather was sunny and warm.  Gary decided to paint the fuel tank that he had scrubbed earlier, so he donned a coverall and got that done.  Brian, our boss, took a picture.  I took the golf cart and went out and raked some of the parking/walkway areas.  It did not take long doing that to wear out my upper arms, so I went back to the office and helped Brian with a word processing project and assembled packets for future volunteers.  Gary took the mower out, everything had grown again with the rain and warm weather.  After work, we decided to get out of the forest for a while and went to Wraptitude for an early supper.  Back home, another campfire - we are loving it!

The Captain - another uniform in the forest

Wednesday - Our day off again.  We got some things done at home, then went hiking with Leslie and Chris.  We started at Laurel Hill, where a short trail leads to Laurel Chute - where emigrants on the Barlow Road used ropes and sheer strength to lower their wagons down the near vertical slope. They had come across the mountains along the top of the ridge to this point to continue on their journey to the Willamette Valley. (The grade of Laurel Hill was 60% in some places, more vertical than horizontal.  Wagons had to be unhitched and winched down backwards.  Some pioneers would tie a huge tree to the back of their wagon, hoping it would help provide some braking as they rumbled downhill.) We did not find the "chute", but found original posts marked by Barlow and his guides for the trail.  Next we drove to the Little Zigzag Falls Trail - a beautiful trail with waterfalls outside Government Camp.  As you park at the trail head, Little Zigzag River flows beneath the historic 1920s bridge (no longer in use) that was part of the original Mount Hood Highway.  After reaching the falls, we stopped and ate our lunches sitting on tree roots and rocks, feeling the spray from the water as we sat in the sun.
Leaving there, we stopped at the Barlow Tollgate, the last gate spot where Samuel Barlow collected fees from the travelers to continue on his toll road.  A replica of the gate was rebuilt there, the maple trees on each side were said to have been planted by the gatekeeper. Afterward the four of us went into Sandy and stopped at Diva's Chocolates and Wine Shop and the Beer Den next door.  For supper, we returned to Welches and ate at El Burro.  We had a great time getting to know each other through the afternoon and evening together.  Leslie and Chris have been fulltiming a few months longer than we have and have had different jobs, we learned a lot comparing notes.  There will be more fun times together through our stay here.

Laurel Hill Trailhead

Barlow Road post with markings

 
















 

Early road bridge

Little Zigzag Falls trailhead

Little Zigzag Falls trail

 

Little Zigzag Falls

Lunch spot on tree roots

Barlow Tollgate

Thursday - back to work.  Another nice day, Gary finished mowing the park areas and road edges.  I raked more in the parking lot walkways and then did some work in the office.  It also has been nice to throw a load of laundry in using the park washer/dryer when we are out working.  A busy day - when done, we had our leftover Wraptitude wraps for supper and relaxed.

Friday - woke up to a rainy day, earlier than the weatherman had predicted.  We went in to the office and Mark asked if we would go and clean up the entrance booth.  We were scheduled to man the booth for some hours over the weekend.  The booth had not been open all winter, it was pretty dirty, and had mold starting to grow on the walls and ceiling.  We washed it all down, brushed it out, took inventory of everything inside and returned to the office with the booth instruction manuals for Mark to review.  Our day was done then, so we drove in to Sandy to get groceries for the weekend - we planned to have the Fredinburg families to our place on Sunday night for supper.  We were amazed to see the steady two lanes of traffic headed toward the mountains, many with campers in tow, as we headed in to town.  When we drove back to Wildwood there was not quite as much traffic, we caught the slower time before the after city work travelers were moving.  G&M called and said they were set up at their camper next door, so we went over there for supper and a fire.  Tyler, Jen and family arrived at the same time, so the two Garys helped them set up and I helped entertain little Piper while supper was getting ready.  Barbeques for supper and fresh strawberries for dessert.  We had a great visit around the fire, watching all the other campers arrive and set up.  The campground was full for the holiday weekend.

Saturday - this morning we reported to the office early - we, Leslie and Chris and Richard were to learn how to clean the fish viewing window.  John and Katherine, the assistant park rangers, took us down and showed us where the supplies were and how to lower the metal "planks" we have to stand on to brush and scrape the water side of the window.  Not an easy job with the deep water of the viewing area.  Stiff long handle brooms, a long handle with a scrubber pad on the end and a stick with a razor holder were our tools.  They all work well when you are up closer to the top of the water, but you lose leverage as you brush deeper.  Very hard on the arms!  When training was done, we went back home and Gary put on his park ranger uniform shirt and went to man the entrance booth for the start of our shift.  I got my shower done, while baking my dessert for our Sunday nights' dinner, then went to take over in the booth.  The day was sunny and warm by then, we had a lot of people coming in to the park.  The regulars were surprised to see booth attendants and everyone was even more surprised to find that we were not taking money, just meeting and greeting.  We were in the booth for a total of three hours and had 45 cars come in.  About half were returning visitors, half had never been to the park.  While I was in the booth, Gary took the cart around the park and said hello, checked garbage and envelope pay stations.    Late afternoon, we went to Mt. Hood Village and had supper with the Fredinburg families - Tyler and Jen fixed grilled chicken kabobs, yuum. Another great fire gathering, this time with smores.  Their son, Nolan, took a survey on how much each of us toasted our marshmallows - his was the least - barely warm, mine and Freddie's, the most toasted.

Volunteer park host at welcome booth - Great smile!

Sunday - Mass, breakfast and preparing food for our dinner guests.  At 11:00, we opened the booth and covered until 12:30, then Leslie and Chris took over.  G&M and Nolan came over and we went to the Zigzag Inn for a lunch pizza.  Then we took G&M and Nolan to the Little Zigzag Falls trail.  Nolan has not hiked much before, so this was an adventure for him.  Gary kept quizzing him about things we saw along the trail and Nolan kept reminding Great Uncle Gary that he wouldn''t know those things yet - because he is only in 1st grade.  But, he really enjoyed the trail, especially when we reached the falls.  When we returned to Wildwood, we, Nolan and Marilyn went over and hiked the trail behind the Oregon Trail marker by the front gate of our park.  We were told we would be able to see wagon ruts, but we did not - everything was overgrown and it was a rough trail.  We climbed over numerous fallen trees and eventually reached a fence for private property.  We turned around and headed back, this time finding a number of snails as we walked back.  Gary and Nolan played basketball for a while in the park.  Back at the motorhome, Gary started chopping peppers and onions for supper.  I took Marilyn and Nolan in our golf cart to see the fish viewing window and the big bridge by the wetlands.  Unfortunately, the lamprey had moved on, leaving only a pile of rocks where it had moved them. We will hike the park trails there another time with Nolan.  When we got back, Nolan's folks, Tyler and Jen and little sister, Piper had arrived. I helped Gary with all the supper details, putting the garlic bread packs on the fire grill racks to warm.  It started to mist, but we were okay eating outside with our nice canopy.  Peppers and Shells, prepared by Chef Gary, garlic bread and then pumpkin pie dessert.  After supper, Tyler and Nolan played basketball and our other guests went for a stroll in the park while we did dishes.  We continued with the campfire through the evening and Jen had brought smores supplies for those who still had room for more.  It did not really rain much until later during the night. 


 

Peppers and Shells Chef

Dinner guests