Utah-Nevada-California-Oregon (Day 11)

 Tuesday, May 18, 2021

We've made it to Portland... or rather Troutdale outside of Portland.  In arriving here, we drove close to downtown Portland.  What a mess.  There is graffiti on every concrete wall or bridge wherever an arm or hand can reach.  There were also many homeless camps.  One homeless tent we saw even had a makeshift back porch.  We wondered how much of this came from the riots a year before.

For the next couple of nights, the campground of choice is the Sandy Riverfront RV Resort.  Our main reason to stop here is to visit Aunt Delores and Cousin Richard.  Once we arrived, I called Richard to check in.  We hoped to meet up but he had just realized he was late for an appointment.  We'll have to meet up later.

So instead, Buffy and I take the Jeep to go see waterfalls outside of Portland, namely the Latourell Falls and Multnomah Falls.  On the way there, we first stopped at a place called Vista House.  It was basically an old resting stop for travelers long ago.  It sits at a scenic point that overlooks the Columbia River Gorge.  It wasn't open today as it looks like they were remodeling.

Multnomah Falls

After we returned from our trek to see the waterfalls, I waited some time for Richard to be finished with his appointment.  After so long, we decided to go ahead and fix dinner, which was going to be steaks on the small Weber grill.  No more than we are about to eat, Richard calls.  

Sorry, folks.  Park's closed.  The moose out
front should have told you.

"Come on over," he says.  We plan to do so, but after eating dinner first.  We eventually headed over to his house, which was less than 5 miles away.  This is why he recommended the campground we are at.  We spent a good couple hours with them and plan to visit again tomorrow afternoon.

Near Mishap of the Day: This could have been a bad mishap, but was averted very quickly.  When leaving for the day this morning, I had the Jeep all hooked up for flat towing.  I put the RV into drive, let off the brake and we go no where.  I apply a bit of pressure on the accelerator and still we go no where.  Shit!  I forgot to put the Jeep's transfer case into neutral and left the parking brake on.  Oops!  No harm was done and everyone made it out alive.

• Miles Travelled: 106
• Miles of Graffiti: A lot