We seemed to leave behind the damp, grey drizzle of western Washington as soon as we headed east. The entire look of the countryside is so different, as green gives way abruptly to gold. Temperatures are mild right now, so we’re pretty happy, having hit our intended summer weather sweet spot.
We’re passing back through previously traveled routes and I officially like this particular park. We stayed here one night on our way between the Columbia Gorge and northern Washington a couple summers ago. I chose it again because of the lovely river, but forgot about the train. It’s really loud. However, neither one of us woke up last night, which either means they don’t blare their horn as loudly at night, or I am more hearing impaired than I think and Richard’s ear plugs work better than he thinks. In any case, with hearing aides out and ear plugs in, we were not woken up by the train last night. I can hear the road from the campground, but it doesn’t really detract.
We got in around 3 and I had plenty of time to get my boat in the water while Richard got some work done. I could paddle up river until I got to the bottom of some mild rapids. So I hung around the river banks and I’m pretty sure I saw a beaver again, just like I did last time. It was a critter for sure, and I’m guessing from the size of the head that it was a beaver rather than an otter. We saw a couple swimming river bodies at sunset too, from a distance, so it was hard to make out exactly what brand of river creature they were.
I also got to sort of test out how much of a river current I can paddle against. I spent a couple hours paddling up and drifting down, and that was very fun. In the late afternoon there was a sharp increase in the winds, so I found a non rocky place along the bank and pulled out. One thing I’m thinking seriously about is getting a set of folding wheels for the boat. Richard is being nice about meeting me and helping me carry the kayak back to the campsite, but I’m thinking I could do it on my own if it had wheels.
We had electric hookups and cell service, so that’s always nice. The sites are newly paved and all have tree shade. There is a lot of grassy area for kids to play and it seems an awesome spot for family camping. We’ve gotten several knocks on the door for scavenger hunts, which is cute. I’m wondering if it’s all fun and games, or whether parents are needing half and half or packets of sugar and ketchup. So, rather than go shopping, they just create a scavenger hunt for their kids and see what comes back.
Nice place, I’d stay here again. Just be aware there’s no dump on site.
Total miles from Lake Easton: 165.8, 17.3 mpg, 3 hours 31 min. Site A 14. Electric and water hookups. NO dump, so need to dump elsewhere. Good LTE for both. Train goes through, loudly, every hour but quiets down at night. Good launch place for boating.
