From The Frying Pan.....

Most, if not all, of the West and Southwest is ratcheting up for a heat wave. Temps in record territory are going to be common. In an effort to escape the heat in Walla Walla, Washington, which is in the southeast corner of the state, inland, and surrounded by wheat fields, we drifted west into the Columbia River Gorge. When we left WW at about 10 am, it was 85+ and rising rapidly. 200 miles west, when we arrived at the Cascade Locks/Portland East KOA, the temp in the shade was 107. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, and still getting hotter.

US Highway 12 west out of Walla Walla sent us to US730 south along the Columbia River.

The river is so overwhelmingly huge that it looks like a small ocean.

As we left the Palouse hills of Walla Walla, it became obvious that the Columbia had been doing it's erosion job for thousands of years. The formations were awesome.

Interstate 84 was picked up south of Umatilla, and became our latest favorite road after the nightmare the other day driving into Walla Walla! Near Arlington, Oregon, we started down a long grade toward the Columbia. 

The views in the Columbia River Gorge Recreation Area are beautiful.

The rv park is located in the hamlet of Cascade Locks, Oregon, on the south side of the river. Named for a series of locks built in 1896 to aid in navigation. The locks were submerged in 1938 by the construction of Bonneville Lock and Dam, and the creation of Lake Bonneville. Highlights of recent activity in Cascade Locks include: an attempt by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to build a casino in town (on hold), an arrangement whereby the city would sell water for Nestle for bottling (rejected by voters), and a proposal to add pedestrian lanes to the Bridge of the Gods nearby for hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. This is a.....nice.....community. The remains of the locks and surrounding area has been converted to the Cascade Locks Marine Park, with fishing piers and picnic areas.

Near the marina, a bronze commemorates Sacagawea and Lewis and Clark's Newfoundland dog, Seaman.

Lewis and Clark passed through the Gorge in 1805, with the much needed help of Sacagawea and her French Canadian husband Charbonneau, with whom she had a child, Jean-Baptiste, who is riding on the back of the young woman.

Driving west we arrived at the Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls Road, which is historic US 30, the original road through the Gorge. The first waterfall we came to was Horsetail Falls.

Many people were enjoying the cool water at the base of the falls.

Wahkeena Falls is a delicate brook burbling down the mountain. Quiet and peaceful.

We wanted to stop at the most spectacular of the Columbia River Falls, Multnomah Falls, but the parking lot was jammed, the number of visitors was immense, and it was 108 degrees. Nope, not this time. The ribbon falls is spectacular, however, falling 620 feet in two tiers. It's said that over 2 million people a year visit the falls, and I believe most of them were here this afternoon!

Back at camp, Site 86 held our attention for about 45 minutes, long enough to down a couple of glasses of iced tea, then we retreated indoors. Even though the park is shaded by mature Douglas Fir trees, it was still hot! This park was a last minute decision when we heard about the heat wave. The original plan was to dry camp along the bank of the Columbia at BLM's John Day Dam. Very little in the way of shade trees and no electricity quickly put an end to that plan! A couple of frantic phone calls found this site at the last minute. The sign at the entrance said "Full", but there are a handful of sites still available at sunset, so I suspect some people changed plans.

Because of the trees and the narrow roads in the KOA, we had to do some fancy footwork getting into the site. Three left turns around rv's placed too close to the road, pickups and campers poking out into the street, and small children riding training wheel bicycles in unexpected directions caused Donna to describe the event as "the closest we've ever been to hitting something". Now to worry about how to get outta here!