We left the Gros Ventre campground and began driving southeast with the intention of eventually working our way to the parks in Southern Utah – Zion, Bryce, etc. We drove for 1.5 hours before questioning our route, wondering if we should continue west instead.
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\]]0We pulled over in Podunk, Utah, and again began looking at maps on our phones. After too much deliberation, the West won and we turned the campervan around. Unfortunately, all of the driving that we did that morning was a waste, as we had to backtrack almost all the way to Jackson before heading toward Idaho. It was a scenic drive through the Hoback Canyon, so it wasn’t all bad. We followed the Snake River all day before ending up at our campground for the night, Massacre Rock State Park, Idaho. We arrived in time to take the kids on a walk down by the river, watching the sun go down over the cliffs on the opposing bank in the process. There was finally good enough cell reception to FaceTime our parents since sometime before Yellowstone. The 27th was also the night of the supermoon lunar eclipse, of which we had a decent view from our dark campground. During the eclipse, it was easy to see the milkyway and lots of shooting stars. We lay on the picnic table in our campsite for a while counting them. Eventually though, yawns came more frequently than stars, so we headed for the campervan and went to sleep.
Orange moon. And a UFO.The 28th was another day of following the Snake River west. We’d cross a bridge and the river would disappear to the North or South for a few miles, only to wind back and meet us a little while later. We finally called it quits for the night at Farewell Bend SP in Oregon. The park’s name – and the river bend it sits on – came from Oregon Trail pioneers. This area was the last time the travellers would see the Snake River as they continued west. After following the Snake River since leaving Yellowstone, this park would mark our departure from it as well. It was here that we busted out the bike trailer for first time on this trip; the kids were super happy to be reunited with it. We had a good time riding around the nearly empty campground before heading back to make dinner and start a fire.
Once we left the Snake River at Farewell Bend, we drove through a whole lot of nothing in Eastern Oregon. Dust devils on the horizon, a little bit of agriculture, an Indian casino or two, and not much else. At some point we picked up the Columbia River on our right, which we followed for the rest of the day. We debated between staying at one of the many campgrounds near Mount Hood or staying in the Columbia River gorge to see its famous waterfalls. We opted for the waterfalls, as it is easy to see Mount Hood from just about anywhere in the area. That evening we hiked up into the hills above our campsite where we scored some half-burnt firewood that the rangers discarded. We burned the other half later that night. In the morning, we packed up fairly early and set out to see the waterfalls that were just down the road. Multnomah falls was the most impressive; at 620 feet tall, it is the 2nd highest continually flowing waterfall in the US. Once we finished up with the various falls, we again followed the Columbia River towards the sea.
