The Events of July 5, 2010 

Today we awoke early, which was difficult given the firework fun the night before, and headed out on the road. It was hard to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and all the amenities of a home that doesn’t move. However we left with full bellies, clean clothes, a few twisted arms (from Ben’s unsuccessful attempts to “flub up” his Grandpa) and grateful hearts for a good time spent with family and friends. We were headed to the Columbia River Gorge.

 

After enjoying breakfast on the road and some quiet down time during the drive, we arrived at Women’s Forum Overlook at the western end of the Columbia River Gorge. We had planned to meet up with our friends, the Van Bergeyks, former across-the-street neighbors and we were all eager to see each other again and catch up. Once they arrived, we all piled in Harvey (our RV) and set off to explore the 11 waterfalls and other various scenic viewpoints of the gorge. Abby and Emily, 11 and 10, soon renewed their friendship and after a few minutes of shyness, Miriam and James could not get enough of Ben, Lindsey and Caitlin. The adults also had a great time talking, sharing and catching up.

 

 Our first stop was Crown Point Vista House, a magnificent pavilion built on a cliff in the early 1910s. It was full of history and exquisite pictures of the area documenting how the scenic drive had developed over the years. Then it was on to Latourell Falls. What we thought to be a short hike to  view the falls turned out to be a 1.5 mile hike, first to the base of the falls and then up to the top of the falls. It was overcast and cool, but the hike through the temperate rainforest was amazing. Next came Shepperds Falls and a .4 mile hike to view the falls. As we drove on we found that many others had similar plans for their July 5th holiday, and parking a 30 foot RV was growing increasingly difficult. We found a spot to tuck Harvey, .5 miles from Multnomah Falls, at the base of Wankeena Falls. A short hike, .5 miles lead us to the base of those falls, and Ben had to be deterred from hiking to the top as everyone else was growing weary. Then it was a hike to Multnomah Falls, the second tallest waterfall in the US. (Trivia question: Which California waterfall beats it out for first?) The gorgeous falls plummeted 620 feet to an upper pool then fell another 69 feet to a lower pool. We hiked to the bridge by the upper pool and Jim got a picture of all of us in our Stanford sweatshirts on the bridge at the base of the upper falls. I had had us all pack our Stanford sweatshirts for easy recognition in a crowd, but didn’t realize how much it made our crew stand out – in more ways than one. Upon our return, we were all treated to ice cream by the Van Bergeyks and then trooped back to the RV.

 

Then it was on to Puyallup, Washington, the Van Bergeyks home. After a dinner stop at Hometown Buffet, a great place to take 11 people with varying tastes and appetites, we arrived, tired but satisfied with our busy day. Abby enjoyed a sleepover in Emily’s room and Jim and I enjoyed the comforts of a home again while the older 3 kids slept in Harvey. Not that they really minded as it meant someone got the “master bed” in the RV and no one was required to share a bed. Our time in Oregon was over and our time in Washington State has just begun.