June, 2024
Almost always, on my first day in a new campground, I walk through the campground to see what there is to see. Years ago, when I first started RV trailer camping, I thought I wouldn’t usually find much to see inside the campground, but I was wrong. There’s always lots to see, people to chat with, things to wonder about and learn about, whether those things are campground things, or plants, animals, birds, or things to learn about other people or their camping rigs. There’s lots to see and enjoy.
The first day in a new campground is just about my favorite day of any camping trip. 🙂
So let me show you a bit of my walk this morning, my first day in the Deschutes River campground. First up, here is a map showing where the campground is. There’s a RED arrow pointing to a RED dot … the dot is where I’m camped. I can see portions of the Deschutes River through the trees from my campsite. Highway 206 is almost deserted at night, just a local road. Right next to 206 are railroad tracks. Trains run through here night and day, fewer during the night, but they still do. The first night I was here, I kept waking up when I heard the horns for road crossings, but they were WAY to the west or WAY to the east. During the second night and thereafter, I had become accustomed to the train sounds and slept like a baby. 🙂 The BIG highway, I-84, a split two-lane each way super highway, was far enough away that I never heard the traffic there at all, day or night.
The small town of Biggs Junction, Oregon, is about five miles to the east. The large town of The Dalles, Oregon, is about 12 miles to the west. There were plenty enough people in the campground at night that I felt safe, and yet it was so quiet and so dark and so removed from most civilization that it was wonderful.
And then there are the walking/hiking trails. There are LOTS of them here. The Deschutes River Trail (red hyphen line) is likely the most used by hikers/walkers, and by people who carry their kayaks up (down? south) the Deschutes River in order to run the rapids further up (south) that river (run the rapids down river, to the north, towards the Columbia River). Obviously, the Deschutes river flows from south to north, into the Columbia River, hence my confusion about up and down and north and south. 🙂 That Deschutes River Trail extends about 12 miles further south (up to the rapids and then past them) than is shown on the image above.
Local towns hereabouts have nice names … Rufus, Locust Grove, Gooseneck, Wasco, Klondike, etc. All small farming communities.
So … here’s my spot in the campground! 🙂
If you look real close, you can see a tiny bit of the Deschutes River through the trees on the left side of the photo above.
The campground looks deserted. Well, this part of it was fairly empty the first day or two that I was here. Rest assured, as the weekend approached, more campers arrived, nice folks all of them.
Electricity (30am/50amp/household 120v) and fresh drinking water were available at every campsite. I don’t usually hook up to the local water supply because my trailer has plenty of fresh potable water in her tank, and I carry extra gallon jugs of potable water.
In all of these photos, so far, there are lots of trees. But look at the hill beyond the campground in the photo below … there’s not one tree on that hill. Trees here live along the edges of rivers or streams or lakes. Otherwise, nope, not many trees over here in dry eastern Washington.
I love my big red rolling leveling system. It is SO easy to use.
But on another trailer here in the campground, they use the system in the photo below. I do have a second set of the red rollers, but my tires are too close together to get both sets under the two tires at the same time. I’ve heard that some people cut off a portion of the larger red piece, but I hate to ruin it. The system below would be a great alternative … much easier than piling up those yellow blocks that I used to use. On the other hand, each axle on my trailer is rated to carry even more than the full weight of the trailer, so I’m good to go with using just one of the red rollers.
Now let me show you Deschutes River!
Here’s one of my favorite campsites in this campground (A15). My trailer would be backed into that spot, backed up to the river, with a front row seat view of the river and the sunset.
I walked over to the edge of the Deschutes River, right behind A15, for the photo below. In the distance you can see the bridge for the local road 206. Behind that bridge is the bridge for the railroad. In front of the bridge is a green area … it’s an island in the middle of the river … Moody Island. You can see it on the map up above.
But also, did you notice those concrete blocks with steel rods sticking out of them? They were all along the shore of the river. What the heck are they for?
Well, I found out the next day when there were people fishing along the river. You cast your line out onto the water, then you stick the handle of your fishing rod into one of those holes. Then you can go sit and eat or drink or dream or chat, and just watch your line. You don’t have to stand there and hold the fishing rod. That was cool. 🙂
Here’s another photo (below) of the 206 bridge and of Moody Island in front of the bridge. Look at the hills behind … not a tree in sight.
The photo below is looking a bit to the left. You can see the southerly tip of Moody Island on the left side of the photo.
If you look near the middle of Moody Island in the photo above, right down on the edge of the water, you’ll see these folks (below) … Canada Geese.
And, way over to the right side of that photo above, you might be able to pick out this Great Blue Heron (below).
But what the heck is it doing?! Where is its head? Should we not be watching?? Is this private business?
Oh, whew, here’s the head in the photo below. Just preening and cleaning I guess.
On the other hand, once it noticed me, it stared right at me for awhile, then it settled in the position in the photo below, and it just stood there, absolutely stock still with a sour look on its face that said “You did NOT have my permission to take my photograph while I was doing personal business!“
So I apologized and walked on.
I walked the circle road through the entire campground (it’s not large). When I got back to Towhee the Trailer, I noticed another Escape trailer parked not very far behind me. It’s the trailer with the dark green stripe around it in the photo below. I waited until the owners were outside, then I went over for a chat. Really nice folks! They invited me inside the trailer for a brief tour. The trailer was absolutely brand spanking new! They’d just picked it up from Escape Trailer in Chilliwack, British Columbia, that morning. They were staying here just one night, then would be heading on up the road tomorrow towards home.
I liked that “belly band” decal, very attractive. Hey, two Escape trailers in one campground at the same time. Cool! 🙂
Then I finally walked back to my Escape trailer, but before climbing inside, I noticed yet a third Escape trailer across the road from me. It’s in the photo below, towed by the red car. When an opportune moment presented itself, I went over and met those folks, also really warm and friendly people. Their trailer is older. They’ve owned it since it was brand new and use it a great deal. They love it. They too would be here only one night, heading off in the morning to their next destination.
I then managed to find one tiny spot in the campground where I could stand and take a photo and get a tiny portion of all three Escape trailers in the photo. The brand new one with the dark green band is on the left … mine (a 2018 trailer with the spare tire on the back) is in the middle … and the older trailer can just barely be seen between the two trees on the right.
The next morning, as they each left, they each honked at me and each other and we all waved to each other. One rig was heading west, the other was heading east. None of us will likely ever see each other again, but we’re friends.
What a great morning walk through the campground!
This was fun! I don’t know how you keep finding new stuff, and fun and interesting stuff. That’s really cool.
Yep, dry where you are, like where I am. I miss the trees.
I sure liked camping here, Nevada, but I sure missed having trees ALL around me, too. It’s just not natural.
sigh, second again. Next time I’m not going to take the time to READ the blog post, I’m just going to dive in and send a nice short comment. 🙂
I thought this was fun too. And I really like how you connect with so many people. Seems most campers don’t even talk with their neighbors much less other people in the campground. Great photos.
🙂 fun comment Nebraska. You two do seem to log in within minutes of each other some times.
I’ve been camping with friends along too (in their campers) and I find I don’t talk with other people in the campground when I friends there too. So I guess solo camping has a benefit! 🙂
Reminds me of the old song “Gone fishin’ and not just a-wishin’.” Louis Armstrong? Is that right? With Bing Crosby? Just a great old song, ah me, sigh. 🙂
Here’s the link … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA3P0oVDB0Y … gone fishin’! Like you say, Paul, a great old song. 🙂
I still like the look of Escape trailers better than anything. And owners seem so happy with them. Guess I’d better get up to BC and have a look. I’m learning a LOT about trailers and towing here, Ann, thank you!!!
You are welcome, Emily. If you have other questions, feel free to ask. And yes, get on up to Chilliwack, BC, and check out ETI (Escape trailers). They are great folks who make a great product.
Ok, that fish rod holder doesn’t make sense to me. If you put the holder in from “outside”, from the river side, then it can’t go in very far because of the reel, and then the rod will simply fall out, but you can’t put it in from the land side because of the line in the water. I don’t get it. Help this old brain here.
Rob, I thought that too … that holder doesn’t make much sense to me unless there was a gap for the line, and there isn’t. Next time I’m out here, I’ll make sure to get a photo of people using those stanchions. Maybe they have a secret. Or maybe they just lean the pole/rod against it and not use the horseshoes, the loops, at all.
I had fisher men friends (yes they were men, sorry) 🙂 tell me that a local organization installed those same concrete blocks with a bar and a double hole thing at the top. But the men (and women) who fished there told the organization to take them out because they were worthless, couldn’t put the handle of the rod in far enough — or there was no gap for the line to go through. Maybe they sold them to the Deschutes River folks, ha! Hope you can show us how the folks at Deschutes use them. Maybe they are smarter than we are. 🙂 Love the campground photos, really nice to see where you’re camped.
Ah ha! More information! thanks David. I think that puts Rob’s and my worries to rest. Thanks for the comment. Keep those friends of yours handy. 🙂
Oh yes, another great campground with terrific trees, and a river! And THREE Escapes! wow! Last May, on a Monday, I was tent camping with a friend (it was early May and there weren’t a lot of people camping at all and we were the only ones in a tent) and noticed an Alto camper, which is another trailer I’m interested in. Later that day as we walked other loops of the campground we saw more. I told my friend this was very odd, to see one is odd, but to see 3 or 4 and then 5 or 6, something was up. So I stopped to talk to a woman who was packing hers up, getting ready to leave, and she said there had been an Alto meetup there that weekend! Well no wonder! I’d love to have an Escape OR an Alto! Right now it’s snowing gently outside, the 3rd or 4th day in a row of constant snow..and I’m dreaming of warm summer nights in my tent.
Oh, yes, Alto campers. They are nice looking rigs! I think they are built in Canada? Or are they originally from Germany? They are really good looking and seem really well made. On the other hand, they do have seams around the tops and sides that, so I’m told, let moisture in. In the eight years that I’ve been camping, I’ve taken my trailer to three different maintenance yards. Every one of them tells me that when they have had to open up a wall in trailers/RVs with seams around the top, even trailers only 2 or 3 years old, that they always find mold inside. That’s one of the biggest reasons I bought a fiberglass Escape 21 with round corners … along with the fact that the dinette is at the back of the rig, where you want to sit and look at the view. 🙂 But I hear really good things about Alto.
Wow, snow. We haven’t had any snow here this winter. I miss it. Could you send some our way, Dawn? I’ll dream of waking to a white winter wonderland. 🙂
It’s a good reminder to go out and have a chat. Your photos are brilliant. Campsites are different to ones here in England and yet very beautiful. I think you say campgrounds and we say campsites. And you say campsite and we say the pitch. Fascinating and fun.
Yes, I’ve read of the different names for things in England as opposed to the USA. Funny that we use different words for things. Yes, go have a chat. 🙂 Thanks Henry.
LOL! Loved the discussion you had with the Great Blue Heron.
And, wow, we here in southern California always thought the State of Washington was wet and full of trees. We had no idea that eastern Washington was so dry. But online research tells us it’s only western Washington that is wet and full of trees. That the Cascade Mountains block the clouds coming in off the Pacific Ocean, block the clouds from coming over to eastern Washington, so the clouds dump their water in western Washington. And so, we suppose, that’s why there is so much wheat grown in eastern Washington — yes? Lordy, so much to learn! 🙂
I suspect it’s about 1/3 of Washington that is wet and full of trees, the western 1/3. We do have a reputation for rain. 🙂 And we sure do get our fair share of rain! But eastern Washington is a farmer’s paradise with much drier weather. Hope you folks are ok, given the fires lately in California. Frightening. Wish we could send some rain down to you. Hope you are safe.
Gorgeous campground. Escape trailers are so good looking!
Wanda, I can’t agree with you more. 🙂 Thanks for following along here and commenting for almost the entire eight years that I’ve been posting here. You were one of the first readers. Thanks for riding along. 🙂