Traveling the Columbia Gorge

Making French fries, in the SAGE center

While staying at Plymouth Park we stopped at the visitors' center in Umatilla and picked up a brochure for a new museum in Boardman, which was on the way down the gorge on the Oregon side, so we planned a stop there. What a unique experience! The SAGE Center (Sustainable Agriculture and Energy) is an interactive experience, and would be an especially good experience for school age children. We enjoyed it too, and so it's not just for kids.

The displays in the center are educational as well as entertaining. Visitors can experience a simulated hot air balloon ride over the county, with a tour guide explaining the scenes below. One of the centerpiece displays demonstrates the handling of potatoes from field to french fry, and a large tractor simulator puts the visitor in the driver's seat. Hands-on exhibits demonstrate the importance of dams and ports to irrigation, food production and distribution. There's also regional history and photos woven throughout. The center is colorful and well organized, and definitely worth a stop.

Our stop for two nights - Memaloose State Park, Oregon
Entry into this park is a little unusual, as you pull off the freeway, travel through the day use/rest area, then make a right down into the campground.

Compared to our previous stop, this campground is looking a bit parched, which seems funny as it's right on the Colombia river. It's a much larger campground (well over 100 sites) and according to the park website they're having problems with the irrigation pump.

Some of the sites are a little on the crowded side, but as the water-only sites didn't all fill up we had a bit of breathing room. The sites with services are pretty much all reserved every night, so if hook-ups are desired, a reservation is definately recommended. There's no official hiking trail, but leading from the grassy slope down by the railroad tracks is a trail that leads east, parallel to the river and the tracks. The trains haven't bothered us at night, though we do hear them during the day. It's fascinating to watch the numbers of cars as they go by on both sides of the river and meditate on how many goods are moved by rail.

Though our site wasn't a "river view" site, we did have a pretty good view of it, and nestled under a couple of big old weeping willows we had plenty of shade. From our vantage point under the willows we had a nice view of two little islands out in the middle river.

Steve noticed what appeared to be some kind of monument on one of them. We finally found a signboard explaining the significance of the monument, and the island itself. The Chinook Indian tribes of the Columbia Gorge used to lay the bones of their dead on open pyres on Memaloose Island, the largest of the two. The granite monument marks the resting place where a local pioneer named Victor Trevitt wished to be buried. There are apparently several islands in the area known as Memaloose because of this tradition. More about them here.

Memaloose Island

There are large blackberry patches around the edges of the campsites but due to the dry spring weather most of the berries are small, hard, and not very sweet. We did find a nice patch over by the over-flow camping area, where I filled three small bags while Steve and Shiner played ball. On the way back to our campsite we discovered an overgrown orchard of plums - three kinds! I think this must have been a farm at one time, as these trees look like seedlings and very overgrown old trees all tangled together. A woman we talked to said she believed this area had been some kind of traveler's stop in the old days - an inn or something of the sort perhaps.

One disadvantage of this park location is that it sits in between two widely spaced freeway access ramps. In other words, you have to go clear down to Hood River to get turned around to go back up-river to The Dalles. So we did. And, in the meantime, did a bit of shopping in Hood River, which has all the grocery stores, etc. one could want. Then, heading back east to The Dalles, we fueled up, then turned around and headed back west to hit a museum we'd seen coming in.

Pioneer days, at the Discovery Center

The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Historical Museum sits above the Columbia, surrounded by pioneer wagons and buildings. The paths around the center offer beautiful views of the river and great opportunities for photos. Inside, it's a whole different experience.

Beginning with the Ice Age exhibits tell the of the hstory and ecology of this area as well as the people who have lived here.

Ice Age, in the Discovery Center

The Discovery Center and the Historical Museum are two separate collections, but presented in a rather seamless manner so it's not distracting. The Historical Museum collections focus more on the people of the area. A large area built to resemble a town presents collections of everyday items as they would have been used, and several mini-theater areas offer video experiences.

Visitors learn about frontier life, the role of the missionaries and Native Americans, the railway, and more. Along one side of the building is the "Kids Room" with hands-on activities. There are also kid-friendly opportunities throughout the exhibits, with items to handle or try on. The center is huge, and a family could easily spend most of the day here. It's a good thing there's a cafe too. They've thought of everything!

From Memaloose we'll be leaving the Gorge and heading toward Mt. Hood.