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.