We waited a bit before leaving…the Vashon Center for Dance is performing the Cinderella Ballet. It is their first performance in the new Vashon Center for Arts Theatre. Susan has been accompanying the dance program for over 23 years with beautiful piano music and she decided it was time to ease out. A lot went into that decision, a difficult one for sure. She was escorted to the stage at the beginning of the show and the audience applauded her years of work and dedication to the dancers….quite moving. I know she will miss the kids but not the soreness or late hours. Having her retire, along with me, will also give us greater flexibility for travel. So, right after the show, we plan to travel south to visit family and see what the road offers…..
We packed up the Airstream and the dog and headed down I-5. Doing the I-5 dance is not our favorite drive…a lot of freeway, trucks, cars merging. But I set the auto pilot to 58 and south we headed. This will be a 2-week trip to visit family and do a little sightseeing and experience a couple of stops we heard about.
One of our favorite places is a great stop. Just 4 hours south, north of Salem and in the Oregon farm country, is Champoeg State Park (sounds like “shamPOOee”). The story goes…. In the mid 1800s, early settlers to the north Oregon and the Willamette area, were assisted by Native Americans in establishing farms and ranches. They taught the settlers about a unique root that thrives along the shores of the Willamette River that when pulverized into a paste, it was a great way to clean and condition hair…… not really.
The actual history of the site is uncertain as is the name. Is it Native American or French Canadian? From the Heritage web page….The native Kalapuya people called Champoeg home hundreds of years before Lewis and Clark explored the Columbia River. The Champoeg area was a traditional gathering place for the Kalapuya who fished in the Willamette River and conducted controlled burns on the prairie. Burning away weeds, shrubs and small trees helped to enrich the prairie soil and promote the growth of grasses that deer and elk eat. The Kalapuya hunted the grazing animals that fed on the prairie grasses. By the early 1800s, French-Canadian fur trappers roamed the region in search of the then-popular beaver fur. By the 1830s, fur trade declined and the French Canadian fur trappers turned to wheat farming at Champoeg as a second career and the surrounding area became known as the French Prairie.
We like to visit surrounding farms and get fresh produce and great Pinot wines. One of our favorite wineries is WillaKensie who make fantastic Pinots. Fresh Strawberries were available at a local stand and went great with our breakfast waffles!
Traveling to California takes several days unless you really push it….which we don’t. Especially when towing. So I have asked others where the stay along the way. A frequent response is ‘Casinos’ who offer RV parking, some with full hookups. One of these is Seven Feathers, just north of Grants Pass. This was only a 3-4 hour drive from Champoeg but we unfortunately got caught behind a 8-mile backup of traffic do to an overturned tanker truck. 3 mph for 8 mile takes…let’s see, carry the one, minus 2, times 8….well it took us way longer than we wanted and we were tired enough to check in for the night.
Seven Feathers RV Resort has a swimming pool (delightful!), cool trees and grass, a small creek, and a shuttle to take us to the casino for dinner!!! Score! They picked us up at our site and returned us there after dinner. No gambling, honest. We will remember this place next time we are heading down I-5.
