FALL VACATION 2011 - Thursday, 9/29/11 – Portland, Oregon, Day 1

After an outdoor breakfast of bacon and french toast, we are on the road heading for Portland.

We arrive at Roamer’s RV Park around 3:30.  It’s one of those RV parks that suffers from lack of imagination.  There are few trees, and no picnic tables or fire rings. They have provided strips of lawn between the sites, but other than that it pretty much looks like a parking lot.  That’s ok, we don’t plan on spending much time in the RV.  Because….TODAY IS DAY NO. 1 OF THE GREAT PORTLAND FOOD CART EXPERIENCE!

Portland at night with the van bouncing over the bridge.

 We have a short list of food trucks/carts we compiled after watching Eat Street on the Food Network.  However, according to www.foodcartsportland.com , “Portland is famous for its now 670 food carts.”  Yes, that’s a lot of food carts to cover in four days, but we promise you we will give it our very best effort.

Foster Food Cart Pod

 We have learned that food cards hang out in “pods”.  That means if you are stalking a food cart and find it, you most likely will find others huddled around it.  We have also learned that there are 25 different lots throughout the city where you can find these pods.  But more importantly we have learned that the latest thing is the alcohol cart.  Yes, starting THIS VERY WEEKEND you can get a cocktail from a food cart…and it’s LEGAL!

But today we are in search of a cart we discovered from the foodcartsportland website.  It is called “WOOSTERS” and they specialize in a BLT made with fried green tomatoes.  They also have side dishes like fried okra (Fred is clapping his hands gleefully and jumping up and down) and black eyed peas.  It comes as no surprise that the fellas who operate this cart come from the South…Texas in fact.

We punch the address into our GPS:  intersection of SE Foster and SE 52^nd Street.  It’s about 20 to 30 minutes from where we are staying (if there is no accident on the I-5, which there was).  

We find the “Foster Pod” circled together on a corner lot.  Each cart has its own distinct look and character.  There’s the bright orange painted Mexican food cart, a pink & brown VW cart called “Sneaky Kitty” (healthy food stuff), and the “Holy Cannoli” cart (guess what they serve).  But we are here for one thing and one thing only:  fried green tomatoes at Woosters.

We are not disappointed.  In fact, we are ecstatic.  The food is wonderful and in spite of the fact he is out of green tomatoes and uses an orange tomato for the BLT, it is delicious.  Fred orders the chicken fried steak with sausage gravy.  He LOVES it.  Says it is, and I quote, "The best I've ever eaten in my whole, whole entire life." Or something like that.  He makes yummy smacking sounds. 

We choose side dishes of black eyed peas and also sautéed veggies.  Everything is truly good.  Fred asks about the fried okra and the fella regretfully tells him he doesn’t have any tonight.  But, to put a smile on Fred’s sad face, he gives him a free dessert:  fresh banana pudding.  Fred claims it is just like his mother always made in West Texas.  So that means it’s good.

We leave happy as stuffed oinky pigs in a mud pen.  Full and sassy.  We are already talking about tomorrow’s food cart adventure.  We might see a museum or a historical sight, or even an art gallery or two, but who cares….we are in food cart territory and we are hot on their trail.

We will sleep well tonight, knowing that tomorrow promises the thrill of the hunt.

Lights out at 9:30.

FALL VACATION 2011 - Wednesday, 9/28/11 - Hike to Fairy Falls

We wake up about  9:00.  Stayed up too late working on photographs and reading my new Kindle book “An Unreasonable Woman:  A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, And The Fight for Seadrift, Texas”.  One reviewer called it, “an uncomfortable read”, and I have to agree with him.  For me, it’s uncomfortable because we are confronted with the fact that as much as we might like to say there’s nothing we can do, we can’t fight City Hall, it’s in someone else’s hands, Diane Wilson shows us that we are just making excuses.  There is a lot we can do.  Maybe that’s the uncomfortable part. 

But, back to our trip.  We leave the RV around 12:30 and head to Stevenson for lunch.  We have had our eyes on a little bar and grill on the river called “CXXX”.  They have a great deck right on the river and although it’s windy today, the deck fortunately is enclosed.   We order a cheeseburger and fries to share.  Only problem is we forget to tell her we want it on the jalapeno cheese bun and it arrives on a plain old ordinary sesame seed bun. 

We sit on the patio and enjoy watching the sailboarders.  This is the sailboarding capital of the world, right here on the Columbia River.  The wind is whipping up the river today, lots of white caps.  The sailboarders are zooming hither and tither. 

After lunch we head back to Highway 30 and all the waterfalls.  We stop at Wahkeena Falls to hike the trail to the lookout and maybe farther to the upper waterfalls.  The wind is still blowing, but as we walk the trail it lessens.  Our first stop is a waterfall about a quarter of a mile up the trail:

We follow the switchbacks until we reach an overlook.  From here we can see the beautiful river below.  A tugboat is pushing a barge downriver. 

We look at our trail map.  We decide to hike further to a spot called “Fairy Falls”.  That sounds interesting.  The map indicates it is only 0.3 miles further.  That’s not so far.  No problem.  But, of course, it’s all uphill.  The trail follows the Wahkeena Creek.  Fred and I are amazed at how clear and fresh the water looks.  It’s crystal clear and the whitest white we have ever seen in a creek.

The sun is getting low and we are concerned about the time.  We still have not reached Fairy Falls.  Fred suggests we trek one more switchback and if we don’t see it, then we will head back down the trail.  I agree.  We walk further.  We walk around a bend and I see the falls.  “Fred, I see it.  It’s fantastic,” I exclaim.  We both get choked up.  My eyes moisten.  This waterfall is magical. 

We take several photos of it.  Then we stand, hand in hand, breathing in the fresh scent of the forest and the crystal water.  This is one gorgeous waterfall.

Time is getting late and we head back down the mountain.  Our legs are getting tired and we realize how little exercise we have gotten lately.  But before you know it we are at the base of the mountain and there is our VW in the parking lot.
 

We are pooped.  We drive back to our campground.  We decide tonight is definitely a soup night.  No campfire.  Fred downloads photos and I blog.

Lights out 10:00.

FALL VACATION 2011 - Tuesday, 9/27/11 - Columbia Gorge Waterfalls

All night we are snug in our van listening to the soothing sounds of the falling rain on the VW’s tent top.  It continues to rain in the morning.   We eat a bowl of Sugar Frosted Mini Wheats and drink a hot cup of our favorite Caffé D’Vita Mocha Cappuccino.

Today we will explore Oregon’s Scenic and Historic Highway 30 along the Columbia River Gorge and the many fantastic waterfalls.

Autumn is late this year and the leaves are only just beginning to turn.  Usually our September vacation is filled with lots of bright splashes of red, gold and orange Fall colors.

We leave Oxbow Regional Park and make a short stop in the charming little town of Troutdale – lots of art galleries and cafes.  We consider having lunch here but decide instead to stop somewhere and make sandwiches with our leftover salmon.

We continue down Highway 30.  Our first stop is Latourell Falls.  A light rain continues to fall.

Next stop is a short hike out to the view point at Bridal Veil Falls.  Fall colors are starting to show here.

We make a quick stop at Wahkeena Falls and walk the short path to the viewpoint.

Next is the famous Multnomah Falls.  People are using umbrellas but the rain is gentle.  I’m sure you’ve seen photographs of this amazing waterfall.  If not, here’s one for you:

Multnomah Falls

The last waterfall of the day is Horsetail Falls.  We will hike some other trails tomorrow if the weather is better, but today the trails are muddy and slippery.  We are hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Horsetail Falls

We drive back to Timberlake Campground and our welcoming home away from home.  We unpack the Volkswagen.  Fred starts a campfire and we enjoy soup and bread as we warm our feet by the fire.  After dinner Fred downloads our day’s photographs.  Guess what I do….I blog!

Lights out at 10:00.

FALL VACATION 2011 - Monday, 9/26/11 - Mount Hood to Oxbow

This morning we pack up the Volkswagen in anticipation of spending the night in a campground on the Oregon side of the river.   We will leave the RV here at Timberlake Campground.

We cross the Bridge of the Gods and head east on Highway 84.  At the City of Hood River we grab a couple tacos at El Rinconcito, a tiny little café/trailer on the side of the road.  The tacos are good and we are thrilled they have whole beans instead of refried.

We take Highway 35 toward Mount Hood.  The day is overcast and drizzly.  We pass rows and rows of pear trees and discover we are on the Fruit Loop, a community of fruit orchards and family fruit stands.  We stop and buy a few apples and a beautiful red pear.  This area is known for its apples, pears, cherries, raspberries, blueberries and Alpacas.  Yes, Alpacas.  Several farms offer Alpaca yarn and other products.   

The highway begins to climb and we find ourselves surrounded by dense forest.  We are approaching Mount Hood.  Snow markers dot the side of the road.  We are disappointed to find Mount Hood is covered in a veil of dense grey clouds. 

So we travel on.  Lots of highway work. It looks like the Hood River has wreaked havoc on the road system this past winter.

We begin to think about camping and remember a special evening ten years ago at Oxbow Regional Campground in the Sandy River Gorge.  We have fond memories of sitting on the bank of the river watching the salmon roll and jump to catch unsuspecting flying bugs.

Campsite at Oxbow Regional Park

Sandy River Gorge

But first we stop at a local grocery and buy some fresh Coho salmon “caught by the Indians on the Issaquah River.”  They even have “local” grown potatoes.  Now I ask you, why can’t Ventura have “local celery” or “local lettuce” featured in Vons?

We head to the Oxbow campground and get a campsite close to the Sandy River.  We take our folding chairs and a couple cocktails down to the river’s edge and watch and listen to the salmon splashing.  A single fisherman is hip deep in the river.  This is just as we remember it ten years ago.  Nothing has changed – except the park rangers are much younger now.

We head back to camp and prepare dinner.  Fred builds the campfire to grill the salmon and I prepare the “rustic” mashed potatoes (our favorite) – just chop up the taters,  no need to peel, add a little salt, boil till very tender, and mash with a fork.  Throw in some butter and salt and pepper.   If too dry, just add a little milk.  Easy as that. 

Fred considers this the second best salmon he has ever cooked on a campfire and I have to agree.  The absolute best was at Haystack campground several years ago as we listened to the coyotes howling.   We still remember that salmon.

We end the evening with hot cocoa and cookies under the awning as the rain continues to fall all around us.  We are dry and content.  Life is good.

Lights out around 10:30.

FALL VACATION 2011 - Sunday, 9/25/11 - Maryhill Museum, Columbia Gorge

It’s raining.  I spend the morning catching up on the blog and Fred sleeps in.  By the way, if you decide to check on the blog, be sure to go to “Older Posts” because sometimes I enter two or three days of our trip at one time.

It is a gentle, soothing rain and we are in no hurry to leave the RV.

Mural at The Dalles

 We eat a leisure brunch of leftover salmon.  We are trying to clean out the refrigerator.

Fred plugs in the iPod and we listen to Diana Krall.  What a voice.

The sky is still gray but the rain stops.  Water drips from the trees and makes loud plopping sounds on the RV roof.  We pack up and head out to explore the Columbia Gorge and take some photographs.

We drive several miles up the gorge to the Maryhill Museum.  It is a mansion that was “originally planned as a private resident for Pacific Northwest entrepreneur Sam Hill, who in 1907 purchased over 5,000 acres of land along the Columbia River.”

Maryhill Museum

 Sam Hill is also known for the Stonehenge Memorial built four miles east of the mansion dedicated as a World War I memorial.  As the tale goes, people began asking, “What is Sam Hill doing now?”  And that is supposedly the origination of the expression, “What in the Sam Hill is going on?”

 

Sam Hill was also instrumental in developing the highway system in the Pacific Northwest.  Fortune is with us and we are able to drive the “Historic Maryhill Loops Road” because a car club had it open for the day.   Constructed in 1913 by Sam Hill, this “remarkable road was the first macadam-asphalt paved road in the Pacific Northwest.”

Maryhill Loop Road

The sun is settling low in the sky and we decide to wait a while for the clouds to clear and perhaps get a few good shots of the wind machines at dusk. 

We return to the RV, tired and hungry.  I fix a quick meal of soup and toasted jalapeno cheese bread.  We watch a little TV:  20 minutes of the new “Charlie’s Angels” (two thumbs down), “Whitney” (two half-thumbs up), and 20 minutes of the new “Pan Am” (two thumbs down – although it has one of our favorite actors in it who plays the co-pilot, but even he can’t save this first episode). 

Lights out around 10:00.

FALL VACATION 2011 - Sunday - 9/24/11: Yakama to Columbia River Gorge

Before leaving Yakima Sportsman State Park we take a quick walk around the campground.  The sky is bright blue, dotted with buttermilk clouds.

Yakama Sportsman State Park

 We take Highway 97 south out of Yakama.   According to our campground neighbor Yakama is the fruit capital of the world.  Here they grow “every kind of fruit except citrus.”  At the local fruit stand we are told everything except the peanut are grown locally – pears, peaches, apples, cherries, plums, corn, not peppers.  We load up on the apples and peaches.

We leave the vicinity of Yakama and enter a land of dry brown hills.   There are no fruit trees here.  In fact, there is nothing green here. 

We stop for lunch at McDonalds in Goldendale.  We drive further down the highway and suddenly we are surrounded by giant wind machines. 

 

 We turn right onto Highway 14 and enter the magnificent land of the Columbia River Gorge.  We are anxious to get to our campsite so that we can get out and do some photography before it gets too dark.

 We arrive at Timberlake Campground in Stevenson, WA on the north side of the Columbia River.  It is hot and we find a nice shady campsite.

 We drive out to the Bridge of the Gods and cross the river.  Clouds are in the sky and rain is on its way.  We hike along the river, taking photos of the evening skyline as raindrops begin to fall.

 

 

No, he is not really having to push the van.

We return to camp and fix a dinner of eggs and chorizo with corn-on-the-cob.  Yum.   We finish the last of the fabulous La Tortilla Factory tortillas we picked up in Seattle.  We sit by the campfire and sip coffee.

Light out 10:00.