Thursday, May 10th - to Columbia Gorge

We had a nice breakfast at the American Cafe in Lafayette, OR then packed up and drove to the Columbia River Gorge for a seven night stay.

All across the nation, gas prices have been skyrocketing. California and the Pacific Northwest leads the pack in hiking gas prices. This is what I paid this evening in The Dalles, Oregon.

I have been using the Internet to find the best (?) prices for diesel fuel. For several months, especially while killing time in Chino, California waiting for my Achilles tendon to get well, I have been trying to figure out where to get the best prices for fuel and to plan our fuel stops to coincide with the best prices, wherever possible. I have had my eye on Troutdale, Oregon which had been showing as having the VERY best prices in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, etc. Well, I almost OVERplanned. I last fueled up 600 miles back, in Corning, California and we were down to our last TWO gallons when we pulled into the Flying J truck stop in Troutdale, Oregon, right off Interstate 84. I put in $234 of diesel fuel AND was happy to do it! Judging by prices in other nearby locations, I saved nearly $40 by "astutely planning ahead".

After fueling, we stopped at Multnomah Falls, the second highest year-round waterfall in the USA. It really is spectacular! A bridge across the lower falls was built in 1916 and it makes for a great hike and an interesting photo.

We got set up in our new home for seven days, Memaloose State Park, right alongside the beautiful Columbia River. A ranger asked us if we would be interested in volunteering to work at a nearby state park in exchange for free campsite and hook-ups. Seems that the volunteers originally signed had canceled and they were looking to fill any or all of the time from now thru September. We actually considered modifying our plans for the remainder of May and volunteering but, after sleeping on it, we decided to keep our original plans intact.