VW ADVENTURES

There are a few more stops on the map, before the ‘loop’ takes us back into town. Some aren’t open for the season yet, or at least not on the weekday.  We opt for the Berry Patch which advertises raspberries as well as blueberries. This is like driving into someone’s farm for sure.

We turn off the road and head the camper up a long driveway past a home and around some HUGE garden areas, one of which has people working in it. The lane ends at a group of buildings.  Climbing out of the bus, we hesitantly walk up to one of the buildings that looks like a barn and the only one that looks like it might be their ‘fruit stand’. It is definitely a barn that has been set up with makeshift tables to hold boxes displaying fresh fruit; empty boxes are piled in the corners, and a few shelves by the door display a small assortment of home-canned jams.   No one is around and there isn’t much produce set out. Finally, a very nice lady comes in. She is quiet but friendly. We learn that she came in from one of the blueberry patches where they are currently picking blueberries. These are FRESH PICKED! We buy a pint each of their raspberries and blueberries. She talks with us a little about the farm and the different types of berries they grow, including Tayberries. Not knowing anything about Tayberries, we decide to try a jar of her homemade Tayberry jam, since the fresh Tayberries aren’t ripe enough for picking yet.  Back into the camper, we drive back out to the main road, this time more aware of the pickers in the blueberry ‘patches’ that earlier appeared to us as large gardens by the main house.

According to the map, we are only a mile or so from Hood River, which completes the ‘loop’.  Making our way back toward town and the interstate, we find a small gas station/ convenience store where we can easily stop to refuel the bus and restock the ice in the camper icebox without going into town and before getting back on the interstate. While here, two ladies are drooling over our VW Camper and ask if it is for sale. This is a first purchase offer on this trip! We thank them for their interest but decline the offer. They actually act a little miffed that we aren’t interested in negotiating!

Our next choice on the map is the Lavender Farm and thanks to the map, we finally find our way to this fun place — a visual delight with a heavenly fragrance! There are Lavender fields that seem to go on forever and Mt Rainer is even more majestic as a backdrop for the lavender.

And here, following us into the parking lot, is the camper we encountered earlier. The driver is still very friendly and we learn she is from Bend, Oregon. She claims to have driven (in her VW Camper) all the way to the Lavender Farm just for their lavender honey!  She takes two of the three jars on the shelf and we follow her suggestion to try this delicacy, taking the last jar. We also purchase a small jar of hand lotion and a couple of postcards. The clerk is also very friendly and offers to take our picture in the lavender field, using our camera.  This is a fun quaint little place – everything lavender including the guest port-a-potties!  We enjoy this experience – worth the challenge of searching and finding!

Another suggestion we were given by Helen at the Dalles Dam for our tour of the Columbia River and Hood River area, was the ‘Fruit Loop’ tour just outside the town of Hood River. We make our way back through town to the highway. Not really sure where it will take us, we decide to see what the Fruit Loop offers; our mouths watering at the thought of fresh fruit.

Just as we are turning onto the highway outside of town, we encounter another VW camper, newer with a full pop-top, and a friendly driver waving and grinning.  We pass a couple of fruit stands and some small signs suggesting others off the main road, but continue on, wondering what else there is.  Around one turn, we are thrilled as we get a brief peek at the peak of Mt Hood looking majestic on this beautiful clear day.

One of the signs we see points to a Lavender Farm. Intrigued, we turn off, but can’t figure out which way to go from here. Feeling very confused by this crossroads and the apparent maze of roads and signs, we decide to take the easy way and just go back the way we came to shop at one of the stands specifically advertising cherries

Nothing fancy, this one has a few choices of cherries as well as some other products. It also has cute picture boards of the history and generational owners of this particular orchard. The lady who checks us out is one of the owners and is quite informative, explaining that since the weather has been cool, the cherries and other fruits are late ripening making the selection small. She also shares with us about the different varieties of cherries. We didn’t know there are so many different kinds.  She claims that most of the cherries in the grocery stores are sold as ‘Bing’ Cherries but could be any of the others varieties. Perhaps this is why the store-bought cherries are never quite the same throughout the season. We buy a small bag of cherries from her – Vans or something, but specifically not Bings, just to make sure we try something different!

Here also, we pick up a ‘Fruit Loop’ map, remembering Helen specifically said to get one.  It is a tremendous help in guiding us through the maze of roads connecting all the orchards in the ‘loop’.  The map also offers descriptions of the orchard, their hours operation and their specialty. This helps us decide which ones we want to visit.

At this point, rather than travel the full 35 mile loop, we opt to cut through to the Apple Orchard which advertises fresh fruit pies….hmmm – yummy!  Stepping inside, we recognize some of the different varieties of cherries for sale and see a few crafty items, but NO PIES. There is also NO SERVICE. The one man behind the counter when we first walk in disappears into the back and never returns, so we leave the shop, get back into our VW and head on to the next spot on the map.

As we make our way back up the hill toward the camper, Tea Time strikes and we stop at Dog River Coffee, one of several local ‘coffee’ houses to have a ‘cup of tea’ –seems like a contradiction, doesn’t it — tea at a coffee house! But we are thankful to have good tea available so we can justify the lingering moments to enjoy the atmosphere and energy of the town a little longer. And this is a funky little place – not exactly little, it is actually quite spacious—and a contradiction within itself. It seems to be a clash (or is it a merge?) of antique-secondhand store-‘50’s diner- retro-cyber café-Starbucks! Chrome dinette tables and chairs are blended with heavy ornate oak tables and chairs, a coffee bar and casual sitting areas of upholstered sofas and chairs.  1950’s & ‘60’s posters and record album covers decorate the walls and half a dozen people are work on computers.

We order our tea at the counter and are told to have a seat. We choose a table in the window where we can observe the activity on the street. Our tea arrives, served in a teapots with mugs on small tin trays (40’s style now?!) It is fun. We chuckle at this contrast in styles. The tea is delicious.

Back up the hill to the camper, we notice something tucked under the wiper blade and wonder if we lingered a little too long, letting the meter expire. The meter is on ‘0’ when we arrive at the bus and the red flag isn’t up yet, so we curiously take the paper out from under the wiper blades.

 It is a note saying “WOW – Great Van”.  Such fun bringing joy to folks….

Following the suggestions of our ‘guide’ Helen at The Dalles Dam, we enjoy driving the camper on a fun winding road that provides us with some great views of the river and  takes us up and over the hills into the quaint old town of Hood River.  At first, we drive around to get a sense of the town and discover it is bustling with activity.  It isn’t really a ‘Hippy’ town but the easy going Oregon Athletic types definitely gather here, and not just Oregonians, but from all over the country, they gather for the great windsurfing. There are a lot of windsurfers and cyclists, and shops to support them. We are feeling very much at home in our VW Bus.

We decide to park the camper and explore the town more intimately on foot. Finding a parking space on a side street, we feed the meter and head out for a leisure walk downtown, checking out shops and restaurants. And since it is noon, we decide to find a place to have lunch.

The menu at the South Bank Delicatessen has several delicious sounding foods that support our eating preferences. We are just ahead of the crowds and are glad we stop when we do as this little eatery is a popular place. It  quickly becomes busy with a line out the door forming in no time for counter orders and a stream of other patrons are in and out, purchasing the easy- to-pick up prepared foods.

We finish up our tasty lunch of wraps (brown rice, lentils, carrots, and peas with bean spread; and lumpia (a rice wrap of crispy veggies with peanut sauce) and a black rice and edamame salad with wasabi dressing–all very unique and quite delicious. We continue our ‘walk-about’ downtown appreciating the warm sunny weather (though BREEZY!) and enjoying the atmosphere of this interesting town on the river.

Just a few miles from the campground, we stop at the Visitor Center at The Dalles Dam.  The parking lot is empty and we wonder if the Visitor Center is even open. We park and  our VW Camper is looking lonely but brave all by itself in this vast parking lot.  The Visitor Center IS open. We are the only visitors and have the place to ourselves except for the volunteer staff that is either very friendly or just really excited to have visitors. Regardless, they give us directions to view all the different displays around the facility and encourage us to watch the movie. This is a fascinating visit and we enjoy the displays and movie about the development of the gorge and the dams and its effects on the Salmon.

We learn that The Dalles Dam is one of the last dams built on the Columbia, having been completed in 1957.  It forms a lake that we would have thought it was simply the river running wide if we had not been told it was a lake!  Before the Dam was built, the area above it was a 10 mile stretch of rapids. Early on, the rapids were circumvented by using a canal originally built in the 1800s, and then expanded in the 1920’s.  Now the ships and barges move up and downstream via a lock.

The rapids had been a natural ‘ladder’ for Salmon (and other fish) moving up river.  Now they use man-made “Fish Ladders” which were constructed as part of an agreement between the US Government and the River Indian Tribes to protect the Salmon spawning run and their return to the sea.