VW ADVENTURES

April 8, 2009
by Julia
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Camping at the Deschutes

Camping at the Deschutes Camp Ground is an interesting experience– Hot, Cold, Wind, Cars, Trucks, Trains…

We make up the bed with the blanket on–we HAVE to use our new blanket, even though it is the warmest night we’ve had in a week! At first the camper is hot from the 105 degree heat during the day and we start the night out with all the windows and the hatch open to help cool it off for sleeping. We are on top of the sheets (and blanket). The wind is blowing and it keeps blowing and blowing…. We thought it would lay by when the sun went down however it seems to be getting stronger through the night. At least it helps to muffle the sounds from the interstate and the two rail road lines that are keeping us entertained all night! Finally, the temperature starts to cool off and we start closing the windows, eventually pulling the blanket over us, sleeping really snug in our cozy little VW camper under our new Pendleton souvenir—really glad we have it now!

As the sky gets light, the wind is STILL blowing and keeps us from wanting to get up and go out into it. Our camper is quite comfy. We finally face the day and, as usual, once up it’s not too bad. In fact, it is a beautiful morning, despite the wind –cool and refreshing; such a contrast from the heat of yesterday afternoon. We ease into the day, enjoying the large expanse of lawn, the tall trees and being next to the water. The Deschutes River is beautiful in the morning light.

Mid-morning, we gather our gear, pack up the camper and move out, bracing ourselves for the windy drive. VW Buses are such fun in the wind! And it is WINDY –there are whitecaps on the Columbia River! Our first view of Mt Hood this morning is gorgeous in the clear with blue skies. The wind must have blown some of the haze from yesterday away….at least it was good for something! The activity on the river is interesting and fun to see as we spot a barge headed downriver to the locks at the Dalles Dam.

March 30, 2009
by Julia
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Columbia River Gorge

We enter the Columbia River Gorge. Its traffic and recreational uses are interesting and an entertaining diversion to the buffeting wind and we enjoy the sights.

A grain elevator at the river’s edge has a little activity.

Mount Hood

Rounding a curve, we catch the first glimpse of Mount Hood and the John Day Dam.

Just below John Day Dam we see a large group of Kite Surfers out having a great time in the wind that must be blowing 50+ mph from the way it is pushing our VW Bus around on the road. A bit further on down the river is a group of wind surfers with a few kite surfers. At least someone can enjoy the strong wind.

A couple of barges are headed up river; one is underway and the other is tied off to a mooring line in the river, probably waiting for a tug to take it through the locks at the John Day Dam. Heading downriver is a huge boat that looks like it should be on the Mississippi River.

With the temperature still running around 103’, and the wind blasting through the gorge we are both ready to stop when the first campground comes along. We pull off at the Deschutes River where the tall trees and green grass look inviting! There are numerous campsites available and we are able to get one with electricity. We choose one on the river side with the expansive lawn and make camp for the night. The Interstate is nearby, though a little further off the interstate than last night. Still, the traffic noise is about the same – probably noisier with the wind blowing it toward us, and here at this campground, we are lucky to have a rail line on two sides! One is across the river and one is between the campground and the interstate! They sound like they are rumbling through the campground…oh well; at least they don’t last very long! We’ll let you know tomorrow how well we sleep.

March 23, 2009
by Julia
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We really like Pendleton

Everything is fully charged so we decide to head out – a bit reluctantly. We really like Pendleton. It has proven to be very friendly. The energy is comfortable. The difference between Pendleton and Idaho City is amazing. We didn’t care to hang around Idaho City at all and could linger in Pendleton even longer. There isn’t a burgeoning growth but a feeling of being very settled and content with minimal growth. It is an old town with beautiful old houses and buildings, simple plain houses, nice stores, and a bustling downtown all emitting an easy, friendly, and happy energy.

Climbing back into the bus, we are surprised at the temperature! The day has warmed up while we were enjoying our visit at Starbucks. Inside our camper is about 120’ after being closed up so long. Once on the road, though, with the wind blowing through the open windows, it cools off to about 105’—still pretty hot in a VW Camper Bus with only open windows for air conditioning! So much for needing a blanket–and here we are with our new Pendleton Woolen Mills specialty. Oh well, it is still a great souvenir!

Heading west, we drive through the dry land farming area around Pendleton. The heat of the day makes this all look hotter and dryer and more endless than it probably is.

Grain Fields

Dropping down another hill into the Umatilla area, we are out of the dry land farming and into the irrigated farms. Also along here is the Army Depot where munitions are stored underground in mounds covered with earth. It looks like earthen hay stacks.

Mounds

More Mounds

There are miles of them.

Two of our camping options for this evening seem to be not too far from Pendleton but are 40 miles apart. Both campsites appear to be right on the interstate again as last night’s camp was. This seems to be typical of the Oregon State campgrounds, so something besides location will have to help us choose which one and how soon we stop. Our first choice, and the closest, is the Deschutes River Recreation Area.

By now, it is almost 3 p.m. and not only is it a warm drive, it has become extremely windy which must be the ‘gorge’ affect. With no aerodynamics, a VW Bus, is like a big wall in the wind. Our drive time and gas mileage are seriously compromised. So it is just as well we aren’t planning to drive very far.

March 16, 2009
by Julia
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Cattle Drive in Pendleton

Cattle Drive

Next stop: gas and ice. We use the last of our Shell gas card money and supplement with the credit card. It has been a nice trip so far with free gas!! And the Westy is getting good gas mileage.

We are enjoying the friendly energy of this old western town and want to hang out a little longer. We decide a cup of tea would be nice about now, and, if we can find a Starbucks, we can charge our phones and computers while using their wireless system to catch up on emails. We haven’t seen one downtown and wonder if there is one here.

Asking the gas station attendant, we learn that there is indeed a Starbucks — at the very next exit! As we round down the off ramp, we discover a cattle drive. After a we look again, we realize it is a delightful scene made up of impressive life-sized and life-like statues providing a fascinating depiction of the history of Pendleton and the west. The cattle drives might be history, but Pendleton continues to have one of the largest ‘roundups’ in the west.

Cattle Drive

Finding the Starbucks is easy. It is a lovely store with a different design and floor plan than we have been in before. There are lots of neat tidy tables next to electrical outlets inviting us to ‘move in’ with all of our electrical equipment and move in we do! Never having used their free Wi-Fi before, we don’t know how to go about getting online and of course don’t remember our password or user ID from registering our card. The manager is very helpful and attempts to get us online with his T-mobile code so we can get to the Starbucks website for further instructions and to find out what our codes are. We still can’t seem to get online and give up trying, deciding, instead to follow the manager’s ‘if all else fails’ advice and call the 800 number on our card. We should have done this in the first place as it is quick and easy. We sit, enjoying our tea and sharing a ginger cookie (a yummy treat!) while cleaning up emails, sending emails, and catching up on bookkeeping entries. The phones are finally charged but one computer needs a little more time. We suddenly remember the camera battery and plug it in.

We have been here long enough for the coffee aroma to tempt us into ordering an Americano. This has now turned into a two hour visit and we need to have more to eat than a cookie. Having a VW Camper in the parking lot is convenient. Julia goes out to the camper and makes almond butter sandwiches which we eat while sipping the Americano and check on campsites for tonight. We continue to hang out, enjoying our meal while the energy flows to our equipment.

March 9, 2009
by Julia
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Pendleton Oregon

Pendleton Woolen Mills

As we drive into Pendleton, a billboard advertising the Pendleton Woolen Mills Factory Store catches our eye and we think we might look there for a blanket. It would be a delightful and very useful souvenir and a fun addition to our Hudson Bay Blanket (purchased on our honeymoon in Canada –And which we didn’t think to pack in the camper for this trip!) Taking the first exit into the city center, we notice a large factory type building with the name of Pendleton Woolen Mills on the side but it doesn’t look open and there are no directional signs at the intersection so we continue on into town. Pendleton is an old town that is very much alive and well. There are a lot of beautiful old western buildings and the downtown area seems to be thriving with lots of stores and cute little shops with clever intriguing names. It is also quite busy with a lot of people on the streets. It is good to see a town with a downtown that is “alive”. The fun energy invites us to stay; but we are looking for the outlet store, so drive back toward the old factory building we had noticed at the first exit on the edge of town. We still don’t see any directional signs and just keep winding our way around in our VW camper bus until strangely, there it is– the factory outlet store! Our internal GPS (instinct?) seems to be working! The actual store apparently isn’t visible from the interstate, as it was the older ‘unoccupied-looking’ building behind that we had seen.

Inside, we expect to see blankets and are surprised with a large room of western-style clothing instead and only a few blankets and woolen articles in one section. Adjoining this retail store, though, is a large warehouse type room with piles of blanket “seconds”. This must be the old ‘mill’ building. It is fun to see all of the patterns on the blankets especially on the full open blankets hanging on the walls showing off the colors and patterns. We decide we definitely need to buy one! We find a color and pattern we like but only in a King size—a bit large for our little Volkswagen camper’s twin bed! A very pleasant and helpful clerk searches in their storeroom and finds a twin-size for us. We are excited with our find. This is a great souvenir AND it matches our Westy camper colors perfectly!

Our Pendleton Blanket

February 27, 2009
by Julia
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IN THE WOODS

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!