Columbia River Cruise - September 23, 2007

Wow!!! That is the first time that I have inserted a picture. Pretty Nifty!!

On September 23rd we boarded the Queen of the West - a paddle wheel river cruise boat. Our stateroom was right in the front of the ship (the pointy end as they called it). Our room was very adequate (thanks to an upgrade by Mr. Tibbitts) and we had a nice deck too (no butler this time). We sailed into Portland's busy port. We sailed by floating homes that were so modern and beautiful. The captain of our boat said that he had rented one of the floating homes and really enjoyed it. He had is own sail boat which he kept docked right in front of the house. He said the only problem with living there was everything had to be hauled down a steep set of stairs or up as the case may be. That would get old for me.

We left the harbor area and headed east on the Columbia River. We stopped at various docks to take ground tours. The cruise company had their own buses which followed us up the river. We went to Indian Museums, Mt. St. Helens, The Dalles, and Pendleton. We had a lecturer on board who talked about Lewis and Clark's expedition on the Columbia and Snake River. We learned a lot and were amazed at the underground area below the town of Pendleton. The Chinese were brought in to work on the rail road and do other menial tasks. They were not allowed out at night after a certain hour. So they created their own town underground. It was amazing to see. Prostitution was also a going concern even up to 1965. Pendleton now is known for its Round Up (rodeo) each year.

Mt. St. Helens was beautiful. All the trees that have grown back in spite of the ash and lava. They have discovered that there is some nutrient in the soil now that enables the trees to grow healthy and fairly fast. We attended a lecture by one of the Park Rangers and saw pictures of before and after the eruption. People that were in the area doing lumber work and etc. were caught off guard and most of them could not escape fast enough. There was a movie that had interviewed a few of the survivors. Pretty scary stories.

As we sailed up river, we went through 5 lockes (dams). It was amazing to watch the process as the paddle wheel boat went into the locke, it would go to one side and tie up along the wall. After the boat was in and the doors had closed, the water level was brought up to the top (going up river and the water let out going down river). After the water was in, the doors would open and out we would sail.

We continued down the Columbia River until it connected to the Snake River. There were a lot more trees in this area. I even spotted an Eagle. We docked at Clarkston, WA. There we got on a jet boat and went 50 miles on the Snake River. Beautiful scenery and homes that you can only get to by boat. We turned around at the point where three states convene. Idaho, Washington and Oregon. It was amazing. On our way back to Clarkston, we made a stop at an old ranch that is now used for weddings and meetings. There were wild turkeys and white tailed deer. We had cookies and punch and returned to our boat.

We left Clarkston on the paddle wheel boat and started our return trip to Portland. We had to go through all the dams again. We had beautiful weather until about two days out of Portland. Then the wind blew about 60 miles an hour and the rain came down. The boat was very smooth and just kept on going through the winds. Once we reached Portland, we continued on to Astoria for one night and then our boat returned us to Portland.

It was a wonderful trip and very educational. The room walls were paper thin however, and our neighbors woke us up every morning around 6:30 a.m. talking out on their deck. Then the maid would run the vacuum at 6:45 a.m. in the hall way in front of our room. Also, breakfast was served from 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. Needless to say, there was no sleeping in on this trip. We met two couples who were our dinner mates every night. They we very nice and we hope to see them all again.

Well, after having 7 days of luxury and fun, we had to drive back to Yakima and deal with the RV situation. We hoped that they were done because we needed to be in Acoma, New Mexico for an RV rally on October 6th.

They Don't Mak'em The Way They Used To

Well, I certainly thought that I would post on my blog more often that what I have done. Sorry about that, I will try to do better.

We left Sisters, OR on September 11 and went to Coberg, OR. We had to get some more work done on the RV. It only took a day or two so we were able to meet some friends and play golf in Eugene, OR. It was a nice course - not too difficult and we didn't get rained on this time.

We then headed back to Chris and Tanya's thinking that we would stay there for a few days until we left on our river cruise out of Portland, OR. But, as luck would have it, on our way to their house, we discovered that our alternator was not charging properly. This is the second time that this has happened with this RV. We were scheduled to go to the factory in Yakima, WA on November 4th for other repairs. Larry was so upset that he called the VP of sales at WRV and told him that we were about to drive the RV off a cliff because of all the problems that we have been having with the RV. So, the VP scheduled us in the factory right away. We spent one night at with Chris and Tanya and then headed for Yakima.

It was a very stressful drive. We kept watching the voltage going lower and lower not knowing where we would end up. We got as far as Toppenish (45 minutes from Yakima) and red lights and buzzers started going off. We just had to stop because the RV just wouldn't move. Larry called AAA to set up a tow. While he was on hold, he decided to see if the RV would start again and it did. We were able to make it across the street to an Indian Reservation RV park. We were so relieved to park the thing. Whew!!! We made it. It started to rain after we got hooked up - we didn't care at that point because at least were were plugged into electricity and knew the batteries would charge enough to get us to the factory parking lot. We both needed a drink at that point.

The next day, we made it to the factory. We gave them our long list of problems and packed up the car with a few clothes, etc. and headed for Idaho. We took three days to tour some RV parks in Idaho and Washington for future RV lots to buy. After three days of touring, we went back to the factory.

Upon returning, we found out that they were not done with our repair work. We decided to leave the RV again. This time we drove towards Portland, OR because we had reservations on a Paddle Wheel River Cruise. Good By Factory!!!