I have this desire to see if I can share with you what a day on the road with us is like.  Our plan for the day, Sunday, April 10, was to see as much of the Columbia River Gorge as we could traveling from our campsite in Beaverton, OR to someplace near Yakima Washington.  We chose Yakima because it appeared to be under 200 miles and it is on US 97 which we had decided to take north because of advice from the Hoggs who make this run every year.  Actual total miles came in at 176.4 and total hours on the move were metered at precisely 4 hours by our GPS, all in all an ideal day.

Having determined the beginning and the end we had to fill in the sandwich.  I had noted during my mapping time that the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway branches away from I 84 which parallels the river several times to interesting sights.  Carol and I agreed that if things were going well we would take as many of these side trips as seemed reasonable/comfortable.  The next key questions was where to cross the Columbia River.  This is a non trivial question as there are four bridges, each offering advantages and disadvantages.  We settled on The Dalles Bridge as it is toll free and had no width warnings nor is it subject to high winds as at least one other bridge is.  The Maryhill bridge had been recommended, but it would have meant not driving any of the Washington side of the river.  The final decision of where to spend the night was left open.

With Carol at the wheel for the first two hour shift, we pulled out of the Beaverton Elks Lodge at 9:15 AM and negotiated our way through Sunday traffic in Portland to I 84.  Once clear of the city we decided that the first Historic drive seemed to add too many miles and the prospect of significant mountain driving, we decided to pass and stay on the freeway as the views were quite beautiful from that road.  Further along at Bridal Veil Falls we exited onto the Historic Road and made our way to Wahkeenah Falls for a brief stop along the road and then 1/4 mile further to Multnomah Falls where Carol was able to pull into a turnout that was large enough for the coach and car to be off the road.  I am not posting pictures because there are many on the web taken by people with better equipment and time to wait for the rain to stop and people to get out of their way.  If you come this way, don’t miss these stops.  Ignore the rain and the cold, that is the way most people will see these sights.

We returned to the freeway eventually, some of those bridges were so narrow that Carol had to take the middle of the road, the lanes are not as wide as our coach – a legal 103”.  At Cascade Locks we decided to leave the freeway and get a view of the locks and stop for lunch on board.  The view was not to be.  The only apparent access road has a 12’ height limit sign and we were not about to see if maybe they meant 12’3” which is our “official” height.  We parked in front of the library and had lunch before changing drivers.  My turn!

We decided to take another nine mile side trip on the Historic Road from Mosier to Rowena.  The names are not important unless you want to track us on Google Maps or Google Earth.  Although there was a general warning about vehicles over 50 feet long not being appropriate, we pressed on.  In those nine miles the road climbed high above the river, maybe 2,000 feet and then descended a series of switchbacks and corkscrews that were really breathtaking.  This was all done at speeds less than 20 mph.  There was a bicycle group on the road, fortunately going the other way or I might have had to pull over to let them pass.   After our return to I 84 we were content to continue on to The Dalles (yes that is an intentional T in “The” It is not Dalles it is The Dalles) where we left I 84 for good and Oregon as well as we crossed over to Washington.  We also left the rain and chill behind as we drove on to the Yakima Valley where they claim 300 sunny days a year. 

Our last decision of the day was where to stay the night.  We are low on propane so we wanted a place that could fill our tank, we are cheapskates with many discount arrangements so it had to belong to one of those and after the friendly Elks parking lot we really wanted someplace with a view.  The Yakama Reservation (in the Yakima Valley – go figure) has a large RV park that met all of our requirements.  We pulled in and were greeted by a groundskeeper who said the office was closed, but we could take a space and settled up in the morning.  So here we sit with no idea what we plan on doing in the morning, but we know it will either be interesting and fun or it will be chores and such on the coach that have been ignored for the past month.

I hope you enjoyed riding along.  The four hours of driving encompassed a day of seven hours from departure to arrival.  Not really tiring and our favorite way to cover ground.