White Salmon, Washington

 July 5 - 24, 2020

 

 

As we made our way to our next location, we got to travel on the “King of Roads”!  This highway was built as the nation’s first Scenic Byway over 100 years ago.  The western section of the Gorge starts in Troutdale, Oregon and takes you to gorgeous views of lush green forest and majestic waterfalls.  There are many treasures to be found on this beautiful, historic highway. 

 

Our drive to the small town of White Salmon, Washington was luckily uneventful one except for the beautiful views.  We knew at some point we would have to cross this wide river from Oregon into Washington but were not expecting it to be on such a narrow bridge.   

 

 

This historic bridge is a vital way of crossing the Columbia River from Hood River, Oregon to White Salmon, Washington.  It was built in 1924 and is nearly one mile long. The steel metal bridge is supported by concrete pillars.

It's all well and good till you met a fellow RVer or Trucker!

When we approached the toll booth we were told to fold in our mirrors due to the width of the truck.  The lanes on the green giant are only 9 feet, 4.75 inches wide.  Our truck and fifth wheel are both 8 feet wide so that gave us a narrow margin of fewer than 9 inches on each side.  Needless to say, it was a long, loud roaring mile drive.

The Bridge’s narrow lanes were characteristic of what was built in that era when horse-drawn carriages and Model-Ts crossed the Columbia on what was then a state-of-the-art structure. 

The town of White Salmon is located east of Portland, Oregon and sits on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and Mount Hood.  This small laid-back mountain town is filled with folks who love the outdoors, craft beer, tasty wine, good food and is at the center of the Pacific Northwest kiteboarding and windsurfing and whitewater scene. 

 

White Salmon will leave you wondering how on earth you haven’t discovered the Columbia River Gorge until now.

 

 

Mount Hood

 

Little did we know before our arrival that no matter what direction we looked, we would see the majestic Mt. Hood.  This area is where the Hood River and the Columbia River join together and is the heart of the Columbia River Gorge.  Mt Hood, the tallest peak in the state and is worth the trip to see.  The area is also known for its production of apples, pears, and cherries. 

 

 

 

Columbia River Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge is home to some of the prettiest waterfalls and jaw-dropping vistas.  Unfortunately, Oregon and Washington both had closed the state parks due to Covid-19.  All of the closings had gotten old real quick!

But at least we were able to see Multnomah Falls.  This is one of the world's tallest waterfalls, and if you're driving east from Portland on I-84, make sure you stop.  At 620 feet high, Multnomah Falls is Oregon’s top tourist attraction and the nation’s second tallest year-round waterfall!

 

Bridge Of The Gods 

Once Dave and Yvonne arrived at the campground, Dennis and Dave set out on another fishing lesson while Yvonne and I decided to drive into Troutsdale and do a little shopping.  Since I was too chicken to drive the dually across the big green skinny bridge, we decided to drive up and cross at the Bridge of the Gods.  Luckily, the lanes on this bridge were 11 feet wide each.  Whew! So off we went and even got a new purse to boot!  Gotta love Coach!

The Legend

The legend begins with the Klickitats.  In their tale, the chief of all the gods, Tyhee Saghalie, and his two sons, Pahto and Wy'east, traveled down the Columbia River from the Far North in search of a place to settle.

They came upon an area that is now called The Dalles and thought they had never seen a land so beautiful.  The sons quarreled over the land and to solve the dispute, their father shot two arrows from his mighty bow; one to the north and the other to the south. Pahto followed the arrow to the north and settled there while Wy'east did the same for the arrow to the south. Saghalie then built Tanmahawis, the Bridge of the Gods, so his family could meet periodically.

When the two sons of Saghalie both fell in love with a beautiful maiden named Loowit, she could not choose between them. The two young chiefs fought over her, burying villages and forests in the process. The area was devastated and the earth shook so violently that the huge bridge fell into the river, creating the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River Gorge.

Bridge of the Gods Mural

For punishment, Saghalie struck down each of the lovers and transformed them into great mountains where they fell.  Wy'east, with his head lifted in pride, became the volcano known today as Mount Hood, and Pahto, with his head bent toward his fallen love, was turned into Mount Adams.  The fair Loowit became Mount St. Helens, known to the Klickitats as Louwala-Clough which means "smoking or fire mountain" in their language.

 

More time with the family! 

 

During our wonderful time with Dave, Yvonne, and their two dogs, Boris and Snickers, we decided to visit Dave's Bread Factory.  It would not due for me to live near this bakery!  The second you pull into the parking lot you can smell the fresh-baked bread.  I think, between the both of us, we bought 20 loaves! 

We also took the time to go visit Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Store.  These two stores are located right across from each other in Milwaukie, Oregon. And what kind of southern girl would I be if I didn't buy some yellow corn grits. Yum!

Dave's Killer Bread

Bob's Red Mill Outlet

 

Worst GM Dealership in North America - so far!

 D's Notes:  As one might guess, we drive a lot of miles and the maintenance cycles happen very quickly out here on the road.  The only solace in that is that we can depend on GM/Chevrolet Service to be consistent even up in Canada.  usually!

While we were in White Salmon, it was time for the 45K maintenance cycle.  This would involve a few things: Oil & Oil Filter, tire rotation, air filters, fuel filter, coolant system flush, and replace all six tires!

I made an appointment for this work with Tonkin Chevrolet Buick GMC, in The Dalles, OR.  This turned out to be a very large mistake.

I know that even the best of us have bad days.  This same adage applies to companies as well.  Well, for this dealership, it turned into a WEEK of bad days.

Monday, I took my work equipment and the truck in time for my appointment.  I set up my laptop and started working.  They had a LOT of work to do on the truck so I settled in for the day.

Around 2 or 3 pm, they declared that they were finished doing all of the work.  I paid up and when I got into the truck, the Oil change light still showed that it was time for an oil change.  I made them reset that before I left.

While driving back to the RV Park, the Low Coolant light came on.  I pulled over at the next available spot and I had plenty of coolant in the reservoir, but it was not up to the max line.  I continued on to the "house" and called the dealership from there.  They claimed that after performing the flush of the coolant system, a bubble sometimes forms and after driving a few miles, it would be forced out of the system and make the reservoir appear to be a little low.  The dealership and our RV were too far apart for me to just hop back over there so that they could take care of it.  We set up a time for the next morning for them to remedy their mistake.

Tuesday, I showed up with the truck and my computer again.  They remedied the low coolant level and inspected everything again.  Around lunchtime, I moved back to the RV to finish work for the day.  Later that afternoon, I was looking at the paperwork and realized that they did not do the Fuel Filter portion!  jeeesh!  So, I called again and got an appt for the next morning for them to finish the work.

Wednesday, I showed up with the truck and my computer again.  The service manager started apologizing and they jumped right on the missed work.  I also asked if they filled the new tires with nitrogen and that dealership doesn't even HAVE nitrogen!  (What the heck!?  Filling tires with nitrogen instead of just air is a known standard, especially for bigger trucks that haul heavy things.)  Eventually, they finished with the fuel filter change and delivered my keys.  I paid up and the manager started walking out with me to the truck.  I made the statement that I would be highly disappointed if we got to the truck and the computer's entry for the fuel filter was not reset... he stopped, halfway to the truck, and asked for the key to the truck... then ran ahead and made sure that it was reset before I got there.  *rolling eyes*  I left and started the drive back to the RV.  Within 10 miles or so, the low coolant light came back on.  (Cheese & Rice!)

Thursday, I looked at the coolant reservoir and it has fluid all the way up to the max line but still throws a warning about Low Coolant at the initial startup.  Once again, I called the dealership.  They said that we probably needed to replace the reservoir because the sensor goes bad.  I told them that they would never touch my truck again... and that was that.

Change is inevitable 

And those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything and boy were we in for a big change!  So, here we go again, buying another house!