Barton Park and Champoeg State Park, Oregon

We have to work ourselves into the urban environment slowly, so as to not cause too much of a shock to the system, so when approaching the Portland area we took even smaller steps than usual.

First, a couple of nights at Barton Park, east of Oregon City, on hwy. 224. This is a Clackamas County park. The park has 102 sites in addition to day use facilities and lots of parking for river access. Everything is very nicely maintained, though they've left quite a bit of unmowed area around the little ponds. That works out well for the wildlife.

The ponds are a bit swampy  covered with algae and duckweed they look greener than the grassy areas, but they do attract the wildlife. Our first evening in the campground a big fat beaver waddled up out of the creek, across the grass and down into the pond. Shiner stared in amazement as she didn't quite know what to think of the critter.

This park was a unique experience, as we don't often stay in such an urban environment. Most of the campers live within an hour's drive from the park. They just wanted to "get away for the weekend", and often come in two and three family groups.

The evening had a happy sound, as children rode their bikes and skateboards, played volleyball and other games, and the adults visited and played horseshoes.

Beautiful weather added to the enjoyment, as did the colorful sunset. The second evening we had a bit of rain, and a full rainbow....at 8:15 in the evening! That doesn't happen often!

Moving west, to the middle of the Willamette Valley, we stayed at Champoeg State Park, convenient for our friend Grayce to drive down from Portland for a visit, and for us to drive up there for a great BBQ.

We've used Champoeg before as a base for the Portland area. We stayed here in 2010, right after I retired. Here's the album from that trip.

It's a great place for us, as there are plenty of places to walk Shiner, and the park has a fascinating history. We even found a Nez Perce connection here, with the trail-side grave marker of Kitty Newell, the Native American wife of one of the pioneers who settled here.

Trails wander among markers indicating the location of various buildings before they were all lost to flooding, and the volunteers do a marvelous job of maintaining the historic kitchen gardens around the visitor center, as well as sharing their knowledge of the history of the time. The gift shop is stocked with a variety of hand made and history related items, especially books. They had some great northwest related children's books, and the gardeners have made available packaged seed from heirloom varieties grown in the garden here.

We had a great time visiting with Grayce and the family, first, a back yard bbq at Grayce's house, and then an afternoon out at the campground.

Now we head back to eastern Oregon, to  Ochoco Forest Camp, for Tailgate Training Camp. We'll be out of touch, electronically speaking, for awhile as it's a fairly remote area.