by Lois Weathers

Just a short note from Deschutes River State Park near The Dalles.  Been here since the 14th, will be leaving on the 23rd.
Lots of stuff to do—we’ve been cherry picking; watched beautiful sunsets; visited Ft Dalles, the Tempani Pesh-wa trail with thousand-year-old Indian graphics painted on rocks, farmers’ market, Hood River Railroad’s train ride, Sam Hill’s replica of Stonehenge, and watched a beaver swim up the river beside our park.  Great camping spot but the weather is a bit hot.  Our trailer’s a/c has a hard time keeping up.  Our daughter was with us for the first couple of days and we had a great time together, especially since we haven’t seen her since last September.

Oh, and one interesting note:  the train track is less than a quarter-mile from our campsite and trains come by about every couple of hours, 24 hours a day.  They blow their horns for a grade crossing across the road.  It’s interesting to hear how the different engineers blow their horns—each one is unique.  We’re getting used to the 3:00 a.m. special.  Good thing we both like trains.