As the week preceding labor day dragged on, I could see the weather was promising to be nice. Problem is, now that we have a 5th wheel, it becomes harder to drive in and camp. A check on the internet showed all campgrounds within about a 4 hour drive were full. Looked like we were destined to stay home. It was a last minute decision to camp as the cabin was going to be used by our son and family. I decided to call and see if perhaps there was a cancellation somewhere. I happened to call the Cascade Locks KOA and they had plenty of sights. The clerk did warn me that we would be on the back side and closer to the railroad tracks. She hoped we would be ok with that. I thought, no problem and reserved the sight.
I dont like being on the roads on the major holidays but felt it would be OK as traffic was not too bad. We hooked up and were on the road in no time. We made it to the campground at dusk and were set up and enjoying the trailer in no time. I could smell the camp fires and even marshmallows in the air. It is a nice campground and the sites are wide and roomy.
One thing that disturbed me was at check in, the clerk noticed our site and issued us ear plugs! I inquired in a nervous tone and was told the ear plugs were from the trains in case we have trouble sleeping. I thought this was a little over kill and we thanked her and went to our site.
About twenty minutes later, we heard the rumble of a train approaching. I watched out the window with anticipation at it neared. How many locomotives, would they be sd 40's...oh my god they are coming right through the trailer. We started to shake and rattle and as I looked out, I was eye to eye with the engineer only about 40 feet away. I didn't see the track due to the brush, but when she said we would be near the tracks... I thought, this was not too bad, no close horns blowing which would be...HONK, HONK... holy &)$@& that was loud. I pick up the brochure we got when we checked in and found some interesting reading. It told us that the rail line at the rear of the campground was the main east west line of the Union Pacific. As I read the article to Lori, I had to stop for the next train. I continued and explained how up to forty trains traverse these very tracks every day. I started to look for the ear plugs! It seemed the tv got scratchy every time a train came through. After a few trains though, we actually got used to it and learned to live with the occasional noise. We had some gaps almost twenty minutes long!
After a somewhat restful night, Lori and I baked cinnamon rolls and had breakfast. Walt the dog was still tired as the trains kept him on alert all night. It was going to be a nice day according to the weather. Everything was going good. Later in the morning, Roy and Opal arrived to spend a couple days with us. We later toured the area and found a latte shop for coffee. Arriving back at dinner time, we enjoyed a great dinner and settled in for a movie later that night. It was an uneventful night and I awoke to coffee brewing in the morning. Nothing like a cup of coffee brewed while camping. I really believe it tastes different.
We booked a trip on the River Boat (brunch) and toured the Columbia River as we sampled excellent food. It was cold that day and the clouds threatened, but what a nice trip. As we settled down to make dinner that evening, the clouds rolled in and soon it was cold and rainy. We sat in a nice, comfy trailer and watched tv...oh it's so rough...
Monday (Labor Day), we cleaned up and hooked up the trailer. As we entered the freeway, it was solid vehicles as far as the eye could see. It was slow going till we got on I-5 in Washington. Traffic cleared and we made our now traditional lunch stop at the rest area north of Longview. Soon we were home and issapointed another adventure had come to an end.
