November 18th 2023
Travel day, a shorter distance of 134 miles but on slow windy roads for a good part of it. Check in was not officially until 4pm so we did not want to get there too soon. 4pm is such a late time, especially with the dark nights, the sun sets around 4.30pm so it means you are negotiating an unfamiliar campsite and setting up in the dark. We got there about 2.30pm and luckily our site was available.
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| The end of the Astoria-Megler bridge |
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| Mount St Helens |
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| Lewis and Clark Bridge |
Champoeg State Heritage Area was a very big park with some great rv sites.
https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=79
No views this stop, we were nestled in a corner spot that felt very private but we did not get a lot of sunlight. If this spot was in Texas and it was 100F it would be great to be so sheltered but on cold wet Oregon days any sunshine is nice to see.
This is the site where Oregon's first provisional government was formed by a historical vote in 1843. A thriving town of 200 was established, only to be washed away during a great flood in 1861. This rich history earns the park’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
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| The fir tree in the center of the picture is mentioned in the history on the next pic |
In 1861 a 30 foot flood washed the town of Champoeg away. The tree in the photographs below has markers where the water from two floods came too.
Toward the end of November, 1861, a huge weather system that
stretched from California to Washington brought 18 straight days of
rain to the Willamette Valley. When the water crested on December
6, it was as much as 30 feet deep on the Champoeg bottomland. And
when the water was gone, the dismayed residents found that the town
was gone too, having simply floated away.2
No one in Champoeg was killed, but other people in the valley—
particularly those who lived on islands in the river—were not so
lucky. Also, perhaps a third of Oregon’s cattle were destroyed, and
the resulting economic hardship lasted for years. After the flood, an
entire acre in the Champoeg town area was selling for less than $50,
where just one lot had previously cost $500. (There were eight lots in a
city block.)
Here are links with some very interesting details about the floods and the lives of the settlers.
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| Around this area of the park there are stone street markers of the town that was once here |
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| We drag Morgan along the road but as soon as we turn for home she charges ahead. |
The day use area of the park had a disc golf course that was very popular and it was fun to watch. I am not sure if this is a world wide sport so I have put a link telling you about it plus a Google picture to show you what it is.
https://discgolf.com/disc-golf-education-development/how-to-play-disc-golf/
We enjoyed a quiet relaxed Thanksgiving break going on lots of big walks around the park.
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| Let's zoom in on the house at the top of the hill.... |
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| Might be Thanksgiving but you need a poinsettia! |
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| Chilly walks require a fancy hot chocolate reward. |
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| 27F sunrise with freezing mist |
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| Visitors |
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| John found a new button on his phone! Pics are old. Cool effect! |
John was never a fan of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the time of year when Ros would hit the bank hard! Being on the road with limited ways to get packages does hamper shopping. We did manage to get a couple of things from Amazon as they had pickup lockers at a gas station in the nearby town of Newberg but you could only get small items.
We enjoyed the walks at this park and Newberg had some good supermarkets but the site we were in was claustrophobic after two weeks and I will be glad to get back to the coast.
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