Getting There

The plan was to take two days to drive from our home in Idaho down to my parents place in Vancouver. We’d leave early on August 11th and arrive the afternoon if the 12th, camping overnight and stopping to see some sights that we always say “We should stop there sometime” whenever we make the long drive west.

Day one started out great. We left the house by 8, not early, but decent with two little kids in tow. We always seem to forget something and bout an hour in I realized I’d forgotten the hand-me-downs I wanted to give to a friend for her little boy. Oh well, I can always mail those later so no biggie.

We stopped briefly in Glenn’s Ferry to get ice and check out the Three River’s crossing. Then we moseyed along to Boise. In Boise we made our traditional stop at Cabela’s to change diapers (they have nice “facilities”), stretch legs, see the fish, and see if they had a reasonably priced Blue Enamel percolator (they didn’t). Then we swung by Play it Again Sports and managed to find a good deal on a Double Jogger.

I put off getting a double stroller for the longest time hoping Jack would be big enough to walk most places. However he still likes to ride on long walks, and Emilie is getting too heavy for all day in the front pack. So a Double Jogger is was.After prying Jack off the bicycles we headed on down the road. Stopped for a quick bite to eat and some more running at a rest stop on the border then headed on to Oregon.

Our next stop was the  Oregon Trail Interpretative Center in Baker City. I totally recommend it to anyone interested in history and the Oregon Trail. Jack had a blast playing in the wagons and he even made it through the self guide tour and displays without being too rambunctious. They had video clips of wagons fording the Snake and he really got a kick out of those. Plus they had mounts of different animals that he enjoyed looking at. I think his favorite item was a sluice box outside that had water running through. The minute he saw it, “Waterfall, waterfall!!”

After a wonderful time at the interpretative center things got a little stressful. We had thought about stopping to camp in the Blues before getting in to Pendleton, but it was barely 3:30 when we got there and both kids were snoozing so we decided to push on and camp further down the road. Little did we know there is virtually NO camp ground between Pendleton and the Columbia River Gorge scenic area. We finally found a campground just before John Day Dam where the John Day River joins the Columbia. It was a nice little campground and even had a playground.

By the time we arrived both kids were hungry and grouchy. Apparently they don’t open the Tent camping area during the week, but if we paid the RV rate ($4 more) we could set up the tent in an RV site. Fine, whatever, by this point we just wanted out of the truck. So as soon as we got to our site (conveniently located downwind from the outhouse) we decided to get dinner going and feed the kids. It was at that point we found out we’d forgotten to pack the propane for the camp stove…oops! This wouldn’t be a problem in most cases because hot dogs can be cooked over the campfire just as easy as on the stove. However, there was a full burn ban on (probably had something to do with the burned off hillside just across the river) and we couldn’t even had a fire in the fire ring. So PB&J’s it was.

After dinner and setting up the tent both Kevin and I were ready to just crawl in a pass out. Emilie was asleep already. Jack had other ideas. Why sleep when the sun is still hanging in the sky, albeit barely? I took him to the playground for a bit. Then Kevin took a turn. Finally we got Jack down. Then Emilie woke up. Kevin walked her around in the dark and they spotted a big porcupine sitting in the crotch of the tree about 6 feet from our tent. They watched him munch bark for awhile before coming back into the tent.

As soon as the sun was up the next morning we split, drove to the nearest truck stop, and got hot coffee, orange juice, and sausage/egg McMuffins. Hot food, and some rest during the night made everyone feel pretty good. We continued west and began detouring onto historic Highway 30. It was a beautiful morning the view were spectacular, and it wasn’t too warm. We got to Multnomah Falls shortly after the lodge opened. After looking at the falls from the bottom we decided to hike to the top….the sign said it was just 1 mile (found out later its actually 1.25miles)

We hoofed it to the top. Pushing a double stroller with two kids in it to the top of those falls is a pretty grueling workout. Coming down is even worse. The stroller has no brakes and wants to just careen willy-nilly back to the bottom. You have to hold it in check. No easy feat and all we got for our troubles were sore muscles and blistered toes…but the view was worth it!

 

After getting back to the truck we backtracked to the Cascade Locks for ice cream from the Eastwind Café and Drive-in. I recommend it to anyone who likes ice cream. Then we crossed the Bridge of the Gods and drove to Bonneville Dam for a look at the fish before heading to my parents place.