For the last few days, we were at what’s called Portland East KOA Holiday, which is an older campground in Cascade Locks. It was our first KOA (Kampgrounds of America, natch), and our first time really putting the RV through it’s paces. I’d call it an unmitigated success, even though we still have bugs to work out over the trip, especially around how much stuff we have compared to the space we have. We did do some good learnin’ around the plumbing system (both in and out) of the RV, so that’s out of the way.
It’s fascinating how much camping has changed over the years. It’s clear to me — by the size of the roads around the campground — that this was made when tent camping or much smaller pop up type campers were the norm. Now you have these huge “I can live in this year round without issue” campers, and it shows its age. 90% of the campers there were in RV’s of some sort. The wide range of levels of fancy was impressive, as was the assortment of states represented, from Florida to Alaska. We challenged the girls to try to collect images of all 50 states on our trip.
Even though I grew up only 20 miles east of Cascade Locks, and have lived in the general area almost all my life, I can’t say I’ve ever really explored it or knew anyone from there. The last day we spent a bit of time walking around Thunder Island at sunset after dinner, right across from the locks the town takes its name after. Beautiful.
Looking south, you can really see the burn from a couple years ago. This must have been quite a sight for those living here, and not a little bit concerning.
Columbia Gorge Dispatch 