Sunday July 27, 2008 White Salmon, WA
OK, I have to make a confession. Bruce and I crossed over to the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge today to 1) have a better road to drive on and 2) stop for lunch in the Dalles at Burgerville USA!
For those of you that do not know about this drive-in restaurant, it is a northwest icon, green friendly, rated as one of the best places to work, only serves fresh, in season food and makes the best Tillamook cheeseburger, Walla Walla sweet onion rings and fresh berry shakes... only in the summer months.
Much to our disappointment, someone miscalculated on the onion ring preparations, so they were out! Because we had our dog with us, we had to eat outside. It was so windy that our bag of food went flying off the table spilling the fries (didn’t need them anyway!). At that very moment a man seated at a nearby table yelled out, “Oh no! That bird just pooped on my lunch!”
With that we packed up and continued our drive west. Although the view of the wind surfers on the river was entertaining, I had to keep my eyes on the road. Severe head winds from the west made our gas mileage plummet and at one point the gauge read 6.6mpg. I told Bruce that he might as well roll down the window and throw dollar bills out!
We opted to cross back over onto the Washington side of the Gorge hoping that the hills above the river’s bank would act as a wind block. We crossed at the Hood River Bridge which had a 15 mph speed limit because it is so narrow!...That speed is OK if you are riding a bike but not OK when you’re pulling a trailer. With an open-grated metal road bed, the ride across the water was a bit scary!
Once on the other side, we found our campground and checked in. The grounds were tidy and the place was filled with a long list of rules. With the all too familiar sound of Burlington Northern trains rolling past our site and the testy personality of the manager, we spent one night and moved on into Vancouver to stay with my sister Carol and her husband Mike.
OK, I have to make a confession. Bruce and I crossed over to the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge today to 1) have a better road to drive on and 2) stop for lunch in the Dalles at Burgerville USA!
For those of you that do not know about this drive-in restaurant, it is a northwest icon, green friendly, rated as one of the best places to work, only serves fresh, in season food and makes the best Tillamook cheeseburger, Walla Walla sweet onion rings and fresh berry shakes... only in the summer months.
Much to our disappointment, someone miscalculated on the onion ring preparations, so they were out! Because we had our dog with us, we had to eat outside. It was so windy that our bag of food went flying off the table spilling the fries (didn’t need them anyway!). At that very moment a man seated at a nearby table yelled out, “Oh no! That bird just pooped on my lunch!”
With that we packed up and continued our drive west. Although the view of the wind surfers on the river was entertaining, I had to keep my eyes on the road. Severe head winds from the west made our gas mileage plummet and at one point the gauge read 6.6mpg. I told Bruce that he might as well roll down the window and throw dollar bills out!
We opted to cross back over onto the Washington side of the Gorge hoping that the hills above the river’s bank would act as a wind block. We crossed at the Hood River Bridge which had a 15 mph speed limit because it is so narrow!...That speed is OK if you are riding a bike but not OK when you’re pulling a trailer. With an open-grated metal road bed, the ride across the water was a bit scary!
Once on the other side, we found our campground and checked in. The grounds were tidy and the place was filled with a long list of rules. With the all too familiar sound of Burlington Northern trains rolling past our site and the testy personality of the manager, we spent one night and moved on into Vancouver to stay with my sister Carol and her husband Mike.
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