Good Bye Oregon,,,,,Hello Idaho!

We are now about 15 miles west of Yellowstone National Park staying at Henry's Lake State Park.  We will be spending the next few days here exploring the area.  Yellowstone has been on our "must see" list for some time, right up there with Zion and Bryce Canyon.

We had a Great time with Rhonda and Ivan last week.  The week flew by.  We laughed a lot and talked a lot.  We hadn't seen Rhonda in over a year so we had a lot of catching up to do. 

One day we drove over to Champoeg State Park, (pronounced sham-poo-ee) and took our bikes.  The four of us rode about 8 miles along the Wilamette River.  Unfortunately, it was misty, so no pictures, but it was a great ride.

One also checked out the farmer's market in downtown Salem, which is the state capital of Oregon.  Took a stroll over to the capital building and took these pics.

The gold statue on the top of the capital building is made from bronze, it weighs 8.5 tons and is covered in 24 k gold leaf.

 

 

 

I'm sure you guessed we visited a few brew pubs while in town... :)

 

 

Check out this tap house called Sparky's..

 

This place had over 30 micro beers on tap, changing daily!

and, of course we had to taste a couple.

 

The majority of the land around in the area which they live is farm land.  Several tree farms, check this one out

 

The hills are just rolling with everything is so many shades of green.

Its just beautiful country.

 



 

We played some cards, board games and even a roaring game of ladder ball..

 

 

Took a drive over to Silver Falls State Park.  Rog and I had been there before but it was over 10 years ago.  Beautiful place, packed with people the day we went.

 







 See the people on the walkway, behind the falls

You really had to duck!

It was a wonderful week.  On our last day, Rhonda and Ivan through a party.  Ivan's brother, Scot and his wife Amy came along with her mom and dad from Plainfield, Indiana, who happened to be visiting the same time as us.  Also, Ivan's sister, Val and her boyfriend Ben came.  Another couple from Indiana were there too, Chris and Leslie.  There was lots of wonderful food and everybody had a great time.

We bid farewell on Monday.  We hope we get to seem them both again soon.  They have a beautiful new home with a wonderful view of the foothills and lots of space to do whatever it is they want to do.  We want to thank them for taking the time out to spend time with us old folks :)

We left bright and early Tuesday morning.  Headed to La Grande, Oregon for the night.  Along the way we took some more pics of some of our favorite places along the Columbia River Gorge.

Multonomah Falls

Columbia River

Notice how the landscape is changing?  Once you go far enough East Oregon gets pretty dry.

Spent the night in La Grande and headed to Twin Falls, Idaho the next day.  That brings us here to Henry's Lake State Park.

 

 Yes, I know you are all jealous. This is our campground and our back window looks out over the lake, our side windows look at the mountains!

Tomorrow we are off to explore Yellowstone!

Hope all are well.  Miss you all!
Keep on Grabnlife!

 

Oregon, part 2

We spent the last week staying at Ft Stevens State Park, just west of Astoria, Oregon.  Ft Stevens is as far west as you can go, bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Columbia River on the north.  Above is the wreck of the Peter Iredale a four masted steel British sailing vessel that ran ashore in October of 1906 and still rests today on the coast line of Ft Stevens.

We enjoyed our week there.  Spent many hours riding our bikes on the paved paths through the forest.

 

 

 

We even enjoyed a ride out to the beach...

 

 

 

 

The Iredale in daylight

Ft Stevens Park, was originally owned by the US Government as a military installation that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River.  It was built near the end of the Civil War ordered by Abraham Lincoln.  Now this sounded strange to us.  Because we couldn't understand how Oregon would have been affected by the Civil War.  It was a strategic move to protect the waterway.

Remnants of the original fort still remain. 

View through the command station out toward the north and the Columbia River

This gun was called the disappearing rifle because of the way it moved backwards and down due to the recoil when it was fired.

In June of 1942 the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced off Ft Stevens and fired 17 shells from her deck gun, making Ft Stevens the only military installation in the continental US to come under enemy fire in WWII.  The Japanese attack caused no damage to the fort itself.  Ft Stevens was decommissioned in 1947.

 



At the furthest most north west point we found this warning...

 

Now, we didn't see any cougars while staying here.  But, we did see a couple elk!

 Trust me, they are there, two of them right on the bike path.

 

 

We did spend one day in Seaside, Oregon which is about 10 miles to the south on the coast.  Seaside is famous for the end point of Lewis and Clark's journey.

 

 

We drove into Astoria two times, spent some time walking the Columbia river walk, riding the trolley, enjoying the views and of course trying out some brew pubs...in case you haven't noticed we enjoy doing that :)

 

 View towards the state of Washington, across the Columbia.





 

Trolley ride, goes about 8 miles and turns around, follows the river walk.  You get a great history lesson with the $1.00 ticket.  This harbor town has a rich history.  Astoria was the first permanent US settlement on the Pacific coast.  Originally settled by Norway, Finland, and Sweden.

 

 

 

This is Fort George Brewery, check out the taster tray!

This is marion berry cobbler from the Wet Dog Cafe!  Oh my goodness!  Goes real good with Porter style brew.

Wet Dog, right on the riverwalk.

This is the Astoria Column that sits high on the hill over looking the harbor.  The murals on the exterior tell the story of the original settlers.

Maritime museum,,no, your eyes aren't deceiving you, the display is really on that angle.

Paddle boat in the harbor.

Older US Coast Guard vessel on display.

Check out this yacht, next to the Coast guard vessel.

 

The campground we were staying in was quite large, probably over 300 sites, but the way they were set up made them seem quite secluded.

 

                                          Really, there is another camper about 30 ft from us.  There are trails                        that actually go under and through the vegetation, making this a great playground for kids.

This campsite was across from us and we thought the growth on the side of the tree looked like a buffalo head.



 Enjoying our campfire.

 

The weather wasn't the greatest while we were here, but we didn't let that keep us from getting out and enjoying the area.

 

Nothing like walking in the mist.

Especially when you find this at the end of the trail.

Beautiful lake within the campground.



 

Ocean waves breaking on the jetty.

 

 

We left Ft Stevens on Tuesday and headed south toward Salem where our daughter and son-in-law have just relocated.  We are now staying in Silverton at the Silver Spur RV park.  Haven't taken a lot of pictures here yet, but I'm sure we will  :)

 

However, we had a special treat last night and met an old friend for dinner...

 

Anybody recognize this guy?  A few of you will.  He says hello.  I worked with Mike (Ragz) at Planet for several years.  He has since moved on to the big time in Portland.  We were excited he could take the time away from his busy schedule to meet us for dinner.

 

Until next time everyone, take care and keep on enjoying life!