October, 2025
This last afternoon here at Beacon Rock State Park, I took that same drive along the Columbia River that I took when I discovered Catherine Creek. But THIS drive was early in the afternoon instead of in the morning, so the sun was not in my eyes nor in the eyes of my camera. 🙂
This drive was about an hour, maybe a little more, each way, an hour or so out and an hour or so back. Let me share the video below of just 10 minutes of the drive … through lovely forests along the river at first, and then right up along the edge of the Columbia River itself. You’ll see how little traffic there is on this side of the river, the Washington State side. On the other side, the Oregon State side, there is a major four-lane speedy highway where almost all of the large truck traffic is and where most of the car traffic is too. So this two-lane slower road on the northern side, the Washington side, is quieter and calmer. Nevertheless, you’ll see an occasional large semi rig in this video.
You can also watch the environment change, the trees and the understory change, as I drive out of wet “western” Washington and into arid “eastern” Washington.
You’ll also see that there is usually no shoulder to pull off onto if you need to stop. Every so often there is a wide spot, but they usually aren’t very long … most of those wide spots are not long enough for a semi truck or a pickup truck pulling an RV, etc. So, most drivers choose to travel on the big highway on the southern, Oregon side, of the river. And, to my mind, that makes this northern side of the river so much nicer!
I thought about adding music to the video below but I might like different music than you like, so please turn on some music that you like so you can listen to it, and then start this 10-minute video and enjoy the drive.
Feel free to play the video in YouTube if that’s better for you and your device. And please do be sure to enlarge the video so it plays full-screen for you. Ok, start your music. I like this music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_lKsNyAks. RIGHT click on that link and then choose “Open Link in New Window”, then let the ads play or stop them, but then let the music start. THEN come back to this webpage and start the video below, enlarge it to full screen … and then let’s go for a drive! If an ad pops up on that music website, just go back there and click on “SKIP”.
Notice the railway is on your right hand side in this video. But pay attention. At the end of the video, the railway is on your left. How’d that happen?
I stopped a few places along that drive, but didn’t spend much time in any one place. This was my last day here, my last afternoon, so I wanted to get back to the trailer and tidy up so I would be ready to hitch up in the morning and head home.
There was a nice sunset this evening. I took one photo … looking through the trees at the pink/orange sky. Maybe not the best of photos, but it’s a nice memory. 🙂
And then in the morning I took this one last photo below, before hitching up. It was so pretty here! A little road noise during the day from the highway, but absolutely no noise at night. This is now one of my favorite campgrounds and campsites. Ha! I always say that don’t I?
I love camping in the Pacific Northwest. Nothin’ finer. 🙂
Also want to include a note here from your blog Administrator (that would be me) … during the past month we’ve had ten new subscribers to the blog. Ten! That’s super duper. 🙂 I love it. Welcome everyone!! And thank you!! Please read along as you wish, and please do comment as you wish. A blog is “social” media, so please share your thoughts and ideas. Click on photos to enlarge them if you’re on a system/device that allows that. Turn your sound on for videos. And please do play your favorite music while you read and look at the photos, and sit back and enjoy this journey that I’m on. We are all in this world together … where are you in this world? Where have you been? What have YOU seen? I’d love to hear all about it including if you have a blog/vlog to share. Thank you, all of you, for being here and supporting this blog. Little Towhee, that bird, thanks you too. 🙂