Morning dawns and it is surprisingly quiet as campers pack and leave. We spent an uncomfortably cold night again in our little VW camper and resist getting up. Now we really do regret leaving the sleeping bag at home, thinking our quilt would be adequate! Despite the cold– and the frequent noisy semi truck on the interstate–we actually slept quite well. At least the bed in our ’61 Westfalia is comfortable even if the interior of the camper gets a bit cold by morning. We decide to brave the outside and head to the showers only to discover it isn’t as chilly outside as it feels inside the camper!
We enjoy the showers, feeling clean and refreshed. The sun is filtering through the trees and the morning is pleasant, actually gorgeous, in our camp of tall pine trees.
Emigrant Pass Oregon
Wild Life
What a beautiful way to start the day– cool, sunny and sylvan. There is something to be said about being in the tall woods. These trees are majestic, rising into the sky, reaching for heaven!
Tall Trees
It is definitely a contrast to the first campground we considered and a stark contrast to our Arizona desert, which has majesty of its own. In this Oregon State Campground, despite the noisy interstate, there is peace and contentment in the early morning. Also, here in these trees and surrounding hills, are memories of the historical events of the past that shaped the west, the influence and evidence of the Oregon Trail and the courageous movement of folks crossing the country. And we (and others) think we are brave to be out trekking around the country in our ’61 Volkswagen Camper Bus!
Again we linger, taking our time gathering up and packing up the Westy, enjoying these gorgeous surroundings, before getting on the road. We phone home, checking in with the kids, and finally head out mid morning. Instead of getting on the interstate, we take a side road from the highway entrance to a Scenic Overlook that is 2 miles or so off the highway. The view over the rolling hills is interesting; bare hills with deep crevices of dense trees. We look out at the rugged country and wonder how the wagon trains ever made it over and through these “hills”. Here we are in our old Volkswagen bus, slower than most of the traffic but covering the ground with relative ease and comfort!
- Oregon Trail
Not knowing where this road might lead, we back track to the interstate only to discover that we should have stayed on the side road as it comes out at a rest area just 2 miles further on – Dead Man’s Pass– where, according to one of our friendly fellow campers, there are obvious Oregon Trail wagon ruts. We try to remember his directions and go in search of the wagon ruts. We do get into some interesting back country and see more magnificent views but don’t find anything obvious to us, and decide to head on to Pendleton. Back on the Interstate, we drop down from 3600’ elevation, to 1650’. Most of the decline comes in a six mile decent of 6% grade. All we have to do is put the bus in neutral and coast and we can break the speed limit!
Facebook
Twitter