Travelogues
2014 Washington Trip

Monday, July 14

 

Today was a beautiful drive through Oregon. We started in Ashland, which is just above the California border and ended along the Columbia River at the extreme north end of the state. We got an early start and enjoyed an overcast, cool morning as we drove toward Portland.

The drive up central Oregon was farmland, grass seed farms, nurseries, and beautiful trees. It was green everywhere we looked. As we approached Portland, it became even greener, and the conifers became more prominent. The median of the Interstate that bypasses Portland looked like a park with trees 60 feet tall.

We pulled into the Sandy Riverfront RV Park about 3:30. Carol went into the office to register while I unhooked the Explorer. An older couple were sitting on the side of their motorhome next to the driveway watching all the new arrivals. We noticed on subsequent afternoons that part of their entertainment was critiquing people as they unhooked their toads when they arrived.

The morning overcast skies were gone, and the temperature had climbed to 93. We were back in the heat! We stayed at Sandy Riverfront last time we were in the area and enjoyed a shady campsite along the creek side of the campground. We were very happy to get a campsite just up the row from our spot in 2011. We'll need the protection from the afternoon sun while we're here.

Columbia River Gorge

After we set up and had lunch, we drove up the Columbia River Gorge to shoot the waterfalls. With sunset at 9:00, we had about 3 hours of shooting along the gorge. Most of the crowds were gone, so parking wasn't an issue, and we could shoot some of the more popular waterfalls. We shot Latourell FallsGoogle Earth Map, Multnomah FallsGoogle Earth View, and Horsetail FallsGoogle Earth Map this evening. It was wonderful not having huge crowds at Multnomah Falls.

Today was a bit like a "practice day" shooting the waterfalls, because we both made mistakes in how we had set our cameras. It seems like the first day of serious shooting finds us making simple mistakes because we're not shooting enough between trips. Today was no exception.

Latourelll Falls Multnomah Falls Horsetail Falls
Latourell Falls Multnomah Falls Horsetail Falls

Tomorrow, we're going to shoot a couple of waterfalls we haven't shot before, as well as some of our favorites that we missed tonight. Hopefully, we will do better than we did today.