Labor Day Weekend

Today we're headed for Lapage park to camp and to run around Maryhill. Robert is still sleeping, but he must have been up early because coffee has been made.

Mmmmmm. Coffee.

Robert doesn't know where we're going yet.  I'll tell him on the drive. I plan to go south from I->4 to John Day, on Sunday. Hopefully, he will like the trip I have planned.

Once I wake up Robert, we start getting our things packed for camping: food, utensils, clothes. I pack boots and water shoes. Robert packs spices and pans.

We load up Gijjie and head for coffee, then drive to the storage unit to get tents and sleeping bags. Next, we stop at Freddie's for supplies. Robert thinks M&M cookies are supplies. I convince him we need tiny Yukon gold potatoes, fruit, a pallet of water, and snacks. We already have chicken and hamburger.

We start the drive up I-5, which isn't bad at all really. We turn on 205 and head for the Dalles. The drive is pretty and pleasant. We opt for NOT stopping at Multnomah Falls, since it's utterly packed, but when we hit the Bridge of the Gods, Robert tells me what it was like to cross that bridge when he walked the PCT.

Robert spent a year planning that trip. He did it the same year I went to Eastern Europe. 2012. He was so prepped, he cut off all his clothing tags for *weight*. He started in southern California and walked 2200 miles, roughly. We talk about the friends he made on the walk, and I make him retell lots of stories about the trip. I find it hysterical that was his first camping experience in his whole life.

We get to the part of the Columbia River Gorge where it turns dry and dusty and we feel the temperature rise. It's about 90 outside, so I'm thankful for my air conditioning.

We spot Maryhill at the Goldendale/Biggs exit, and I make Robert locate Stonehenge on the cliffs on the Washington side of the river. I explain to him it's a lifesize replica of the original Stonehenge before it collapsed.

We get to LePage campground and check in at the kiosk hut and the attendant gives us a site pass and a car pass to hang on our rearview mirror. They give us a site map so we can find our site.

We get to what should be our tent site, spot #12, and someone is camped there. They e plain that if we're willing to trade, their site is back one, up against the hillside. It's all gorgeous green grass anyway and their spot is actually further away from everyone, so we cheerfully agree to swap.

The campground is a grassy affair with restrooms and showers. There's only about a dozen tent sites, with a bit of space between each spot. There's also trees among the sites. We see there's a swimming lagoon, roped off from the actual river, and a few small structures for chillin and grillin. The RV section is farther back, past the lagoon. It looks packed tight. No thanks.

We hike all our gear into camp and set up the tent and the grill. Families are happily playing in the swimming area on the John Day river, that meets the Columbia about a quarter mile north of where we sit. It's hot but all the campers are drinking already and being a tad noisy, but we don't mind. It's 3pm.

We play scrabble and I lose. Badly. Robert and I have saying that German beats dolphin, meaning his full rack of consonants beat my awful and consistent rack of 7 vowels. It's rare either of us beats the other by more than ten points, so I curse at him and then I eat a quart of blueberries to make up for losing.

We ask the neighbors if they need anything and tell them we're going to Biggs for Ice. They ask us to get 4 bags for them. I can tell they are already 3 sheets to the wind, so I'm glad we are going and they're not. I feel like a goofball, though, when we realize on the way back that there's ice at the campground kiosk hut. Whoops.

We cook our potatoes and chicken for dinner and nothing ever tasted so good. We decide we're too full to make s'mores so we quench the grill charcoal. We check out the water at the lagoon but it's already getting dark, so we don't  swim.

We sit and talk for an hour and watch the stars appear in the night sky. We plan our route to the fossil beds and decide to hit Maryhill and Stonehenge in the morning. I'm excited to try our new super slim sleeping pads.