Yep - here are the three adventurers in the back seat. I think I see a slight smile on Shelby's face so they might not really be sleeping..
Here we are at the museum. Ate lunch in the camper and the kids acted goofy.
The museum is a really good one - everything you ever wanted to know about dinosaurs, the ice age, volcanoes.....blah blah. Great displays showing the construction of the Columbia River Scenic Highway - I think I saw some pictures of my parents in an old car parked by a big tree. And, don't forget the history of Wasco County - bet you don't even know where Wasco county is. In its heyday, Wasco County was the sheep capitol of the west. Oh - there are great displays of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The best part was the fact that the museum catered to children - noisy children. Each child was given a sheaf of papers with photographs of displays in the museum. Their goal was to find each display, check it off, return to the front desk, and claim their reward (which turned out to be little glass blown animal figures).
There was a place where the kids could load a boat with a pioneer family's possessions in such a manner that it wouldn't capsize in the Columbia.
You can see Tylers's masterful plan to keep the boat upright - a small block under the boat.
Well groomed pioneer children
... And modern Oregon children posing for their families
Dad and I wanted to go the the Columbia Hills State Park which is on the Washington side of the river and east of The Dalles. On the internet it seems like an interesting place. There are Indian pictographs that you can walk to - only if you have previously made an appointment for a ranger guided tour.
What we apparently failed to discover, on the Internet, is that the park is closed in the winter. We still tried to find the entrance, but the signs must have been removed because we found ourselves on the high hills that you can see from the interstate highway - the ones you always look at and wonder, "what is up there?" Well - it is hills and more hills.
We gave up trying to find the park - especially since we were pretty sure it is on the shores of the Columbia River. So we turned around - with difficulty - and headed out to find Koberg State Park where we were going to park for the night. I had a nice dinner planned that was mostly cooked and that I could just heat up on the stove. But I calculated the time to get to Koberg Park and added the cooking time - and Dad and I chose the easier path
Got to Koberg Park, (didn't have to eat dinner), baked cookies, played Rummicube and Memory, tucked kids in and lights out.
Koberg Park is on the banks of the Columbia. It is also an Indian tribal access area. The area used to be a fancy recreation site for the people of Hood River and The Dalles. There was a swimming beach, a dance hall, and other stuff that people in the early 1900's would have liked to do.
Now there is a quiet beach
Time to head for Beacon Rock
When we got to Beacon Rock, the kids asked, "how do we get to the top" - because you can't see the trail from the parking area. I told them we had to climb hand over hand to get to the top. There were a few worried eyes and trembling lips until we got to the trail
Up the trail they ran leaving Dad and me in the dust (ummm mist)
Great views on the way up. The kids got there first. I told them that when I was little I went to the top of Beacon R twice with my family. The first time my brother and I hid a dime under a rick. Couldn't find the dime when we went back at a later time - we hid a button then. We couldn't find the button either.
Great views going up and coming down.
Everyone down safely. Time to go home. What is the best way to end a day up the Gorge?
Yay for Beacon Rock! The kids sure looked cute, all snuggled up in the bunk beds.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Lucky grandkids. I remember taking Malcolm up the Beacon Rock trail when he was smaller than these.
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