We made it to Oregon today. This is the view of our camping spot (more on this in a second):
Last weekend before leaving Idaho, we stopped at the Nez Perce National Historic Park and learned about yet another native American tribe screwed over by the burgeoning U.S. government. (Seriously, the history of how the west was won is sad.) Anyway, it has struck both Amy and me how relaxed and happy these state and national park people seem to be. Seeing this park ranger on her lunch break, it’s no wonder why:
Later that day, we made our way to the campground where we stayed all week; Hood Park in Burbank, WA. Great place, and the price was right: only $22/night on the weekend and $11/night during the week!
The sunsets were intense. Long shadows against golf-course-like lawns. (Sprinklers were going constantly during the day. I think it’s a fire-prevention thing, but it seemed pretty neurotic.)
No crazy side trips this week…just a nice non-eventful week.
Although, Amy felt my appearance was devolving from “avant-garde woodsman” to “degenerate castaway” so it was time for a shave and haircut for the first time in over a month. Speaking of firsts, I went to an actual professional for the first time in 20 years:
I didn’t like it. Not only did he not have the tender touch of Amy, he left a few stray hairs unshorn. For $10, I expected head-shaving perfection.
We left Burbank today and crossed into Oregon, following the Columbia river pretty much the whole day. We stopped at Ainsworth State Park in Corbett, Oregon but all of the spots were full.
This very helpful park ranger let us park in his parking spot for a couple hours to see if anything opened up.
While we waited, we visited a few cool waterfalls nearby.
No campsites opened up, but they let us stay in the parking spot, which we were very grateful for.
Tomorrow we plan on making it to the coast…I’m pretty excited about that. Also, we will be going through a town called “Idiotville.” Could the name of this town have anything to do with gas stations in Oregon not allowing customers to pump their own gas?