Woodland, Washington

June 29, 2009

We spent the week of July 4th at the beautiful Columbia Riverfront RV Park on the banks of the Columbia River, near the mouth of the Lewis River. Our back window faced the river and rolling hillside on the Oregon side. Groups gathered in the evenings for bonfires on the driftwood-strewn beach.

On the 4th, we avoided all traffic and crowds by cleaning house, cooking at home, and resting up for the evening fireworks display courtesy of the RV Park owners. Campers gathered in sweaters and blankets along the beach, the driveway and at sites for the show scheduled to begin around 10:00. Each group on the beach had their own fireworks display so we had a show that filled the sky, across the park grounds shore from various sources. Not planned or orchestrated by a single entity, but varied, colorful and great fun. The very nicest part of the night was smiling and feeling the celebration on the slow walk home, no traffic or stress.

The town of Woodland is fairly sleepy, good for bike rides on the quiet streets. We found tasty, inexpensive restaurants for our salad-based diet. The farmer’s market was small, but full of local bounty. The local Visitor’s Center host was very helpful in planning our week. It is also where a small commuter van stops each weekday to take people to Portland. We had expected to see some sign of damage from the Mt. St. Helen blast of 1980, but found that the eruption went north and west. The south and east had no effects to speak of. In terms of population centers and damage this was the best of a bad situation.

We took several side trips across southern Washington. On July 3 we took our bikes to Lake Sacajawea Park (Lewis and Clark once again) in Longview, WA. The park is a city block in width and at least 4 blocks long with a bike path along the entire loop. The path even cuts under the bridges at each intersection to avoid car traffic. We made the 3.5 mile loop, admiring lovely old homes in addition to the beautiful park grounds. The reason for not riding more was a very cool Fourth of July festival. We put the bikes away and walked through the crowds to window shop.

Another day we took a trip into Portland on the commuter van. We had no plan at all except to see the city. We began in the midst of department stores and tall buildings then hiked to the largest book store in the world. What a treat! We love used book stores and Powell’s was overwhelming! Four floors of a building that covers a city block is organized by color with maps and signs all over to keep the book traveler from getting lost. We walked through various quarters of town, which really was designed in quarters. The founding fathers laid out the town with a multi-block park symmetrically placed at each compass point. Parks are shaded by large old trees, colorful with flowering beds and punctuated with statuary. We most enjoyed the museum/university area.

One highlight of our Woodland stop was a trip to Mt. St. Helen’s and another to the Lava Tubes nearby. We drove up into the mountains through fog, winding around rocky peaks, tall pines and small villages along a river. As we broke out of the fog MSH was instantly visible! No clouds, just snow covered, jagged volcano crater. Nothing less than miraculous! We stopped for pictures at an overlook of the valley and Kalama River. The usually shrouded crater was clearly visible against a blue sky. We met 2 couples from England at this stop. They were spending 6 weeks traveling the Oregon Trail. I was amazed that this bit of Americana would attract Brits. They were winding down the trip and had loved it.

We drove on to the visitor center which sits directly opposite of the crater for an ideal view. The drive from our photo stop wound through pines with small billboard-type signs from Weyerhaeuser giving the year in which the pines had been planted. The visual effect of uniformly planted pines of a uniform type was eerie. It was like perfectly horizontal lines across the forest. The closer we got, the more obvious damage was still apparent. There was very little vegetation. Everything facing the open-sided crater was gone or, like the visitor center, less than 28 years old. We arrived at eye level and I blindly took one photo after another. We were 5.5 miles away, crater and lava dome, clearly visible. My wonderful new camera had a large LED screen, great except in sunshine, at which time it becomes mostly black. I had no idea what images were captured, clearly seen when we checked it out inside. Of course by the time we went to get more pictures, clouds. So another spectacular event is in memory only.

The Johnston Ridge Visitor Center has a wonderful movie of the volcano, interactive exhibits and stories of people from the blast. All work to create sense of awe. Several hiking paths are available, but we had a long drive back and did not go far.

We went to the Lava Tubes, two words we would never have put together prior to this trip. We learned that lave tubes are a passage of lava underground. The sides in contact with the earth cool more quickly, allowing the inner lava to continue to flow and drain. After learning of their existence, we found that they are very common in volcanic areas. We donned headlights and coats for the trip down a natural entrance about midway through the tube. It was even darker than the Taft Tunnel, but mercifully we didn’t have bikes. We had a wonderful adventure on the short trip, but decided against the longer more strenuous version which stretched out in the opposite direction.

We talked about a trip to the coast, but decided to leave it for the next time through. Our stop in Woodland had been far more fun and relaxing than we had anticipated. It also taught us to plan well ahead for holidays.

NEXT TIME: Astoria