The biggest surprise to us about fulltime RVing has to be the social aspect of it. When we prepared to hit the road, we thought we might feel distanced from friends and family. Social media, this blog, work camping positions, and being members of the RV-Dreams family have helped alleviate that concern and have greatly expanded our circle of friends. And while the places we visit are the focus of our journey, it’s the people we meet in each locale that end up standing out in our minds!
On July 15, our RV-Dreaming buddy and fellow lighthouse host Rick and his dog Maxine came to visit us at Prineville Reservoir. He will be beginning his journey east soon and wanted to see us again before he left Oregon. Since we were working, we brought him along to the programs we were helping out with.
It was great to spend more time with these two!
Maxine felt totally at ease here. She looked right at home perched outside Mariah’s office. 🙂 It was sad to see them go Sunday morning, but we will definitely see them again down the road!
On Monday morning, we took the rig north to Parkdale to see our friends Bob and Kat. You may recall that we met at the Fall 2014 RV-Dreams rally, and we met up again in San Antonio and in Lake Leelanau. They are working at Toll Bridge County Park as hosts.
They suggested this beautiful site, just feet off the east fork of the Hood River. 😊 They made us a yummy dinner, which was appreciated after a day on the road!
On Tuesday, we took a tour of the Columbia River from the Bridge of the Gods up to Maryhill and back.
Our first stop was Stonehenge, a World War I memorial put in place by Samuel Hill. He was the person responsible for the beautiful Columbia River Scenic Highway on the Oregon side of the waterway. He first tried to get the State of Washington to build it and when they refused, he approached Oregon with the idea. Thankfully, they approved construction.
From there, we visited Hill’s Maryhill estate. This grand structure was built using forms and poured concrete, employing the same methods that would be used in building a highway overpass. It now houses an art gallery.
The museum houses more than 80 works by Auguste Rodin, including The Thinker.
After that, we ate lunch at Everybody’s Brewing in White Salmon, Washington.
An outstanding meal with a beautiful view of Mt. Hood in the background!
We then crossed back into Oregon and checked out Vista House.
Looks like a good place to explore some vistas! 😎
From its’ perch high on the cliff, the building offers a commanding view of the gorge!
Our last stop was Multnomah Falls.
We had seen this beautiful set of waterfalls back in 1996, and they were just as pretty as we remembered them. It was a great way to cap off a really fun day with friends!
So whether it is family, old friends or new, this life on the road has been anything but solitary for us. August 11 will be three years since we moved into our RV fulltime, and what a wonderful time it has been. Here’s hoping we have many more roadiversaries and opportunities to spend time with others along the way!
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