It had rained overnight, so the ground outside was squishy and a bit muddy in places. Michael had to turn the RV around 180 degrees and a little closer to the road, because the Internet connection was spotty for Lisette's call. Fortunately, the call progressed without a hitch, but it did mean that without a restroom nearby, Michael used our portable toilet for the first time, heading into the forest to christen it! Finally, since Lisette has used it at least 5 times already!
After that milestone, we drove further north towards Mount Hood, one of Oregon’s most iconic landmarks. It's a dormant volcano, and the highest point in Oregon, with its snow-capped peak reaching 3,426 meters (11,245 feet). Because of its elevation, it offers the longest ski season in the country, and also offers camping, paddling on nearby lakes, and hiking as the snow melts and the temperature rises.
The weather was considerably cooler than the hot, sunny day we had at Smith Rock yesterday, and as we drove up towards Mount Hood it become even colder, with fog appearing and becoming so dense that we couldn't see the trees along the side of the road anymore! Once we arrived at Timberline Lodge, we understood why it was used as the Overlook Hotel in the Stanley Kubrick movie "The Shining" -- the weather was undisputedly perfect for skiing and snowboarding, with everyone around us getting ready to hit the slopes. While we've had major changes in temperature--from summer t-shirts to winter gloves, beanies and jackets--it still surprises us to go from one extreme to another!
We had planned to do a hike at Mount Hood, but by the time we rugged up and gotten ready to venture out, the fog had rolled further up, making visibility worse. Realizing that we probably wouldn't see much on our hike (and feeling more like a hot tea than a cold trek), we took a few snaps and rolled back downhill to try our luck hiking somewhere else. A brief stop further down proved fruitless; it was paid entry to get into Paradise Park, but we were a bit early in the season for us to be able to do as much. While we didn't get to hike today, we still got to appreciate the landscape!
Draper Girls Country Farm
Once we drove down the mountain, the weather changed dramatically, with the fog clearing and sunny skies appearing once again. Dense forests gave way to orchards, with an abundance of fruits growing in the cool and fertile soil! We passed what looked like a really cute little market, Draper Girls Country Farm, so we did a quick U-Turn to check it out.
Draper Girls has a farm out the back where visitors can pick their own fruit and flowers, as well as met their friendly goats! While we didn't go behind the store, we loved the little market, which sold just-picked apples, just-bottled apple, pear and cherry ciders, other gourmet foods and souvenirs, and also offered a tasting sample of their various alcoholic ciders. We don't drink much, but were intrigued to try a flight of 6 different alcoholic ciders, which were all delicious. While they had flavors that we'd expect from Oregon, like huckleberry, there were also really unique flavors like chai/lavender/peach (surprisingly yummy), and lavender pear! We left with a few apples, pears and a nonalcoholic pear cider.
Windsurfing on the Columbia River
About 20 minutes away, we arrived at the Columbia River, which turned out to be a popular spot for windsurfing and kiteboarding, with well over a dozen people out on the water. Michael saw someone practicing their kiting skills in an open field just before the River, so while he practiced some ground handling with his paragliding wing, Lisette and Sheila walked along the water to watch everyone windsurfing and kiteboarding. There's even a super helpful life jacket loaner station, where there are free life jackets to use if you need one to get onto the water, and return once you're done. Lisette hadn't seen this before, and thought it was a wonderful idea!
As Lisette and Sheila walked back to where Michael was kiting, he was packing up as a strong gust of wind had picked him and his wing up just minutes before, and he'd ended up skidding on the gravelly ground, ripping his pants at the knee and scraping it underneath to reveal a bloody cut. Perhaps the site wasn't as good to be practicing kiting as hoped!
Crossing the Bridge of the Gods into Washington
Across the Columbia River, we crossed the Bridge of the Gods, a toll bridge, where a sign on the other end welcomed us to Stevenson, Washington. We had officially arrived at state #11 for this trip! With so many Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Ponderosa Pine and other tall trees clustered together, the air was cool but also smelled fresh. We checked out the area around Cascade Locks, where we could see the rapids where pioneers traveling the Oregon Trail’s water route trekked across, and briefly stopped at Beacon Rock, before figuring we'd explore in more detail the next day.
As we drove around the area trying to find a place to park for the night, we turned into a road where just around the corner, there was an eagle swooping alongside another bird of prey (maybe an osprey?). We immediately gasped with excitement to see it. Minutes later as we continued to drive along the quiet side roads, there was a mama bear in front of us and her two cubs! Their reaction time was far quicker than ours to get our camera to take a photo of them in front of us, as they scurried back into the thick forest. We knew being in the Oregon and Washington forests that there were plenty of animals living in our midst, but to see them both in such close succession was an incredibly lucky sight.
Eventually, we found a generous-sized pullout along the busy main road to pull into, where a truck had already parked for the evening. Unfortunately we were also alongside the railway line, so we slept with loud blasts of train whistles throughout the entire night. While we didn't get the best sleep, Sheila was definitely spent, nodding off on Lisette's foot, wrapping herself around her leg and snoring! We are so happy that Sheila has realized that this is her home and "routine" (well, if you call a routine being fed at about the same time each day, but each day being a completely new experience). While it took her a week or so to get used to her new RV home, she's been loving the opportunity to explore new sights, sounds and smells, and often crashes out in the evenings, snoring and having loud dog dreams. It's all part of the RV adventure!