Washington – Page 3 – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

August 24 LePage to Spokane

Wonderful to have such a great night’s sleep and to wake up to fresh breezes and a view of the water. LePage Campground is a delightful little treasure tucked away on I-84 and a good overnight stop.

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The trip along the Columbia River is the best part of the route, and once across the river into Washington the landscape becomes barren and boring unless you look deeper into the rest of the story.

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We settled into Riverside State Park close to Spokane early in the afternoon, just in time for the arrival of Mo’s brother Don, who lives in Spokane. The Centennial Trail winds along the river through the park and we unloaded the bikes for a nice little afternoon ride. It’s great to see the Bowl and Pitcher area again with it’s wild waters, basalt columns, and to walk across the swinging bridge over the Spokane River

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Photos from the rest of our day are linked here

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Be forewarned, the following is my own personal journaling, much too wordy for a blog, but the more important reason for this blog, keeping track of my feelings and memories while we travel. I write here mostly for me and for Mo, and for my kids, and of course, anyone else who wants to know more.

Sue’s JOURNAL:

What a difference a day makes, AND! a good night’s sleep. AND a computer that works properly. AND! the allergy medications worn off. Whew! The sun is gorgeous this morning, coming over the brown hills to the east, framed in green locust trees and accented by the blue waters of the John Day River, fat and lazy due to the John Day Dam just west of us here at the mouth of the river. This little campground is a treasure, and we enjoyed this mornings cool breezes, and a good night’s sleep. We didn’t even have to unhook last night, and our site is right on the water. The campground is unassuming, but we look out over the water from our awning side and are on level pavement pull through. In the distance we can see the freeway, the railroad, and the hills around us are punctuated by the brilliant white and graceful windmills. Power and transportation, all right here, and yet so rural and very peaceful.

The drive from this park to Spokane is pleasantly uneventful, without much to see except the river itself, huge and wide. I have traveling it far too many times, however, to pay much attention any more to the charms of Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington, especially the area around the Tri-Cities. The most entertaining part of the trip was watching what the NUVI was telling us, and seeing her calculate the same routes I have used since I first started traveling these roads in 1972. We knew company would be coming for dinner so stopped at the huge and fabulous Kennewick Fred Meyer for supplies before continuing on into Spokane.

I looked at the very brown, very dry fields all around us and tried without much success to see them with new eyes. I know the story of wheat in Eastern Washington, the levels of precipitation and the depth of the soils increasing exponentially with the bushels per acre harvested as you approach Pullman/Moscow on the Washington-Idaho border. I know the amazing story of the Great Missoula Floods that 13,000 years ago emptied a lake that covered a large part of Montana in what some say may have been as little as two days. These brown scabby hills to the west of Highway 395 between Richland and Spokane are actually part of what is called the Channeled Scabland. However, as a tourist passing through on the highway, none of this story is visible unless you know the tiny details and what to look for. Today, it just looked incredibly brown and boring. The only good thing to be said is that the 100 miles or so from Tri-Cities to the Interstate 90 is now all four lanes, a good highway. I traveled it for years as a 2 lane pain in the neck road full off slow truckers and furious people who couldn’t pass them.

We arrived in Spokane by 2 in the afternoon, and this time used the NUVI to negotiate the river and the bridges that make getting around sometimes a bit difficult in this town. Of course, we found out again why everyone thinks that Spokane has the worst roads of any large city in the west. Huge potholes and construction was going on everywhere, and we negotiated red flags and orange barriers all across town. Another issue is the fact that Riverside State Park is sometimes hard to find, with the headquarters actually several miles north of the campground. The Garmin Girl kept trying to make us go very far north. If I hadn’t known the city, we could still be wandering around out there. Once in the campground, however, all quieted down. No one was in the kiosk, and we had no clue what our site number was supposed to be, but thankfully the telephone worked and after a call to headquarters, we settled into space 12 right next to the river.

We unhooked the Geo, only to discover that the battery was completely dead. Somehow we had managed to park in a way that worked well, and we backed the MoHo into the site, and pushed the Geo off the road facing the front of the MoHo, thinking a jump would do the trick. We were not so lucky, however, since it only clicked a bit before we gave up and called AAA. Funny part about all this is that Triple A in Oregon had to route us to Triple A in Washington, and no matter how hard I tried to explain to the operator that we were NOT in Nine Mile Falls, she still sent the assistance to Nine Mile Falls, insisting that was the address of Riverside State Park. We were especially lucky that the cell phone still worked down in the river canyon, because when the mechanic called me, he knew exactly where I was and drove back from Nine Mile to find us. His charger had enough power to start the little car up, and after letting it run a bit, we were just fine.

:By this time, Mo’s brother Don had found our campsite to join us for the rest of the afternoon. I also called an old friend in Coeur D’Alene who agreed to make the long drive to the west side of Spokane to visit. While we waited for Laura to arrive, Don and Mo and I went off for a bike ride on a small portion of the Centennial Trail that is in Riverside State Park. This trail extends from Nine Mile Falls through Spokane east into Idaho ending on the east side of Coeur D’ Alene Lake. I remember when the trail was just a gleam and a plan, and before I left the area almost ten years ago it was fairly well developed. It is a great place to ride. In fact, there are several trails in this part of Washington and Idaho that have been developed for biking, many from old railroad right-of-ways.

When we arrived back to camp from the bike ride, Laura arrived with a huge bowl of fabulous veggies from her garden to add to our supper. We cooked the pork chops and corn on the cob outside, while I did some rice and a salad in the MoHo. It was wonderful having some time to visit and catch up on our children, families, and doings over the last couple of years. Laura and I haven’t seen each other since she visited me in Klamath a few years ago, so this was an extra special treat. It was nice having Don there as well, and he and Sharon took Abby down to the river for a swim.

The moon was full and clearly visible through the trees and the park was dark and quiet except for the faint sound of the river below us. It’s really dry this time of year, so even if we could have found some firewood, there were no fires allowed. By the time everyone left it was close to ten after a hot shower when we got to bed. I love how well I sleep in the MoHo, with fresh air, all close and cozy, and wonderful dream time.

Floating the Little Spokane

Here’s the photo link for today:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/LittleSpokaneRiverAndBBQ l e.com/kyotesue/LittleSpokaneRiverAndBBQ

We hauled our kayaks along on this trip just for this day. The kayaks ride on top the baby car, and usually Mo and I get them loaded and unloaded fairly easily, but with Mo’s owies its good that brother Dan is around to help get them unloaded. Brother Don lives here in Spokane, and kayaking is his major hobby so he is familiar with most all the good recreational runs around here. In addition, nephew Lanson is a whitewater kayaker and does that amazing thing in what looks exactly like a shoe to me. I still can’t figure out how those things stay on top of the water the way they do, and even more I can’t imagine stuffing my body into one.
Here’s a link to information about the river.

http://www.wildernesstrip.com/Trips/default.asp?id=410&category=4&offset=3

So the family flotilla consisted of Mo and I in our lake kayaks, Lanson and Mandi in their “shoes” with an additional little whitewater kayak for Don, a sweet canvas kayak that Don has rebuilt that Mo used in the Sierra’s 3 decades ago, and a flotsam and jetsam of floatable rafts for the rest of the family. It was a feat of cooperation getting everyone loaded with something that floats, with the required lifejackets, and food and drink onto the river, all at the same time. That was about the last time we were there all at the same time, because the kayaks floated much faster than the rafts and with Mo’s injuries, we just had to let the water take us at the speed of the current, which was a nice 5 mph or so.

I actually mapped this area as well, back in the early 2000’s, but had never actually had a boat on the Little Spokane. What a lovely little river, on the way to the big river, it winds and curves through overhanging trees and between tree covered hills and pastures, with just a few of the huge houses along the bluffs visible above the trees. It took us about 3 hours to do the complete run, but it would have been quite a bit faster if we hadn’t been trying to slow down and wait in the sandbars for the rest of the group. Check out the website and don’t miss this lovely little river if you are anywhere near Spokane with a boat. I lived in the area for 3 decades and never discovered it before this day.

After the float trip we all gathered at Don’s place for another family bbq, with great food provided by Wynn and others, and all was wonderful except for the yellow jackets. To add insult to injury, Mo was standing innocently on the deck when an angry bee hit her hand and it swelled up twice its normal size. Not fair at all! We enjoyed the evening, but also enjoyed leaving and going home to cozy camp and settled Mo into her sofa pillow again while we slept through a lovely cool evening and night.

Quiet Friday

Photo link for today:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/RiversideStatePark

Mo and I are sitting in the shade of our awning under the pines at Riverside State Park. We are camped with other family in 3 spaces right along the river. The sun is warm and it’s hot and a bit humid for the west, maybe mid-90’s, but I remember summers like this in Spokane. Lake days. The Spokane River is just below us a few hundred yards, flowing silently but with a steady current. The river is deep here, with slippery rocks dropping quickly to a clear green abyss. It looks incredibly inviting, but I am still squirrelly about swimming in strange water with things I can’t see down there. I’m a sandy beach swimmer rather than a river swimmer.

Mo is sitting here quietly in the shade at the edge of the warm sun. We went for a walk down to the Bowl and Pitcher earlier, but the walk was a bit difficult for her and we came back to rest, make sure she had some Advil and let her sit quietly.

http://www.riversidestatepark.org/ Riverside State Park is a jewel right in the city in Spokane. It’s in ponderosa pines with some light shrubs and grasslands. On one side of the river it’s dry and piney, on the opposite side is Douglas-fir with snowberry and huge outcrops of basalt from the cliffs above. The Bowl and Pitcher is actually a narrow part of the river with rapids formed by all the basalt that has caved from the flows that form the cliffs above the park on the west side. There are really great old CCC buildings all around, including a group shelter and some other buildings crafted from the basalt by men trying to escape the depression of the Depression. Bless you, FDR. There is a similar building at the top of Mt Spokane that is equally as perfect in its stone craftsmanship. It’s a bit of a mess trying to get to the park if you don’t know the area, and it was even hard for me knowing the area, because of the construction and bridge repairs that are ongoing in this city. The Spokane River dominates this town, and no matter where you are going you have to get across the river one way or another. Many things to love about Spokane, and sometimes I really miss it, especially the South Hill and all the old craftsman homes that were built in the early 1900’s when Spokane was a rich exciting city built on mining and railroad fortunes.

Traveling to Spokane

Picasa photo link for today:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/TravelingToSpokane

Wednesday morning
Finally, finally, a MoHo trip. Reading about all those folks who are full-timing out there is so much fun, but for us for the time being, we have to take what we can when we can. I left Jamestown at 3am in order to get to Mo’s early enough in the day for us to have a nice evening on the Columbia River on our way to Spokane. Our route from Klamath took us north on HWY 97, through Bend and Redmond to Madras and on north to the Biggs Junction on Interstate 84. Even though we were in Madras just a little more than a year ago, it was incredible seeing the growth and development that is occurring along that corridor. Redmond is now boasting big houses and brand new huge shopping centers that may eventually rival all the growth in Bend. The traffic was bad as well, with everyone in a hurry and aggressive. I kept wondering if really was a Tuesday afternoon and not a busy weekend. I also wonder what kind of recession we are really in, because even at more than 4 bucks a gallon there are a lot of big rigs, big trucks, rv’s, boats and toys being hauled around on the highways. Someone still has the money to play, as we do I guess. I know some people are really feeling all this, and I wonder how long it will take to hit the rest of us out here traveling the highways. So far we have managed to keep on doing whatever it is that we would be doing if gas were cheaper. We still drive 60mph to try to keep our mileage better, still buy discount gas at safeway and Costco whenever we can, but we still go where we want to go.

We are back on I-84 following Dan to Spokane after a really nice stop at theriver for a relaxing overnight. We originally planned to stay at the Maryhill State Park on the Washington side of the river at Biggs Junction, but the price was a bit steep at 38. We found the much less expensive LePage Park at the John Day Lock and Dam. Our national pass saved us half the hook up price which is a deal at $17. anyway, with electric 30 amp and water. The park itself is small and pleasant, with decent 2 bar telephone service. I let our air card go since I really didn’t want to keep paying 60 a month for that service when we aren’t traveling full time. I hope I don’t miss it too much. I suppose I can hang out at rest areas if I really need to get on the internet now and then. It all balances out eventually.

We are caravanning to Spokane from the park with Mo’s brother Dan. Being a bit independent, this is the first time that we have done this with someone and it’s a bit different, but should be fun. Dan and Chere, Mo’s brother and sister in law are in a nice Class A rig pulling a jeep. Her other brother Roger, who also has a Class A couldn’t make the trip this time, so we are the only two in the caravan. Does that qualify as a caravan?

We had a truly lovely relaxing morning today, after finally falling asleep during a very hot night. It was sunny and 104 degrees yesterday when we arrived at the park at 6pm. Hot, with a dry wind that made it feel like a real desert. We set up, and appreciated how easy this is getting for us now that we understand all the little details, but of course we still don’t have to do the satellite dish thing, and at this park we didn’t even have sewer, so it was all pretty quick. Steps worked, levelers worked, slide worked. I love it when things work. Funny side story however, this morning we ran out of water pressure as our fresh water tank emptied. Couldn’t figure out why, since we were supposed to be hooked up to shore water, and Mo finally found a little plug in the faucet that she had put there to keep bugs out while we were traveling. Oops, I didn’t take it out when I hooked up the water, and of course, we were just running off our water tank instead of shore water. Little things.

Dinner was about as good as you get, and fast as well. The little gas bbq that I got from Wal-Mart is still a hit, heats up fast and we had magnificent bbq’d pork chops in about 10 minutes, while I put some cole slaw together and microwaved a sweet potato. A glass of good red wine and things couldn’t be better. After dinner we took Abby swimming and discovered that the John Day River in this area is dammed up by the John Day dam enough that even though it’s deep, there isn’t enough current to worry about the dog getting carried away, so she had a great time swimming in the deep water, and then later when we took her over to the swimming beach where she kept trying to find water deep enough to swim in. The park itself is a really nice place, and we added it to the list of places where we might return and spend a few days hiking and definitely kayaking up the John Day River. Even though the park is in close proximity to the interstate, we couldn’t hear it at all down in the park, and even though the spaces are close together, they are all pointed toward the river in such a way that when you are sitting at your table, it’s still private enough that it isn’t too bad. We had a young couple with kids right next to us in a tent, and the only bad part was waking up at 530 am in a funny mood and worrying that our silly laughter might wake the neighbors.

We were waiting for Dan and Chere to arrive after 10 or so, so we had plenty of time to go for a nice hike up along a service road that paralleled the river along the middle slope of the basalt. High enough to see the rivers and trains and such, but not so high and steep that it was a difficult hike. We were entertained by flocks of chukkars running straight up the cliffs, lots of deer tracks and coyote tracks, and then Abby found a rattlesnake who obligingly gave us a great warning as we approached. Mo tried to get a photo, but I won’t know if it came out till I upload the photos.

Basalt on the Columbia Plateau and in this canyon is part of what is one of the largest continuous basalt plateaus in the world. I think the only large one is in India somewhere. The basalt has several different members with different characteristics, and different flows within individual members that have differential rates of cooling that makes them look like pillars and pillows, and little square chunks called entablature. http://www.cwnp.org/naturalist/basalt.html Then there are in between layers of pillow basalts that cooled under water, and conglomerates that were picked up from old river beds by the hot lava and all sorts of other interesting things. Of course, this area was also flooded 13,000 years ago by the catastrophic Missoula Floods, another fascinating story, so some of the very old rounded alluvial gravels that we found may have come from ancient Lake Missoula which covered a very large part of the state of Montana before the ice dam broke and created the floods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missoula_Floods

Regardless of the origins, the basalts are fascinating and lovely to look at while hiking along the canyons along the rivers.