Oregon state parks

Hello, everyone!
I finally have connectivity again! More about that later. Just wanted to continue where I left off about our travels in Oregon. We continued our journey by staying in the Columbia River Gorge. As we followed this mighty river, we couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to be some of the first explorers (Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery) to see it and follow it to the sea. Spectacular views and lush scenery!
We stayed for 2 nights in Ainsworth state park in a very green leafy forested area. And amazing to find out, we had full hookups! That's RV-speak for electricity, water line, and a sewer line, so we don't need to rely on our own propane, use our generator, or water from our tank. How nice! We were pleasantly surprised, because CA state parks don't provide any of those luxury items. OK, Oregon gets points for that one!
Anyway, we did some sightseeing--toured the visitor center at Bonneville Dam. (Ken was anxious to see the fish ladder and the underwater fish viewing windows).I vaguely remember going there as a kid, right Dad?
The high point of the day was taking the waterfall hikes. Along the scenic river highway, we could park the truck (our trailer was back at our campsite waiting for us) and take a short hike up a beautiful trail to a view area, take pictures of a gorgeous waterfall, get doused with lots of misty spray, hike down the trail, and drive to the next one. We stopped at about 6 of these trails. The highlight was going to Multnomah Falls. This was a two tiered fall that spilled over a high basalt (volcanic rock) rim, and freefell onto more basalt rocks, then continued flowing over a second rim into another pool. On top of that, there was a bridge you could hike to that spanned the waterfall area, a historic rock building that housed the visitor center, a restaurant, gift shop, etc. I keep buying post cards, but so far haven't sent any. I promise I will write real mail as well!
The next day we drove up to Mt. Hood, which began our tours of the volcanoes in the Cascade Range. Stay tuned for my next blog, I have a good book I'm dying to get my nose into before turning in.
Happy trails,
Linda and Ken