Windmill on the drive along the gorge
Arriving into Gifford Pinchot I felt instantly at home. As an adult I have been to some of the most beautiful mountains and forests, but these trees are mine. I felt instantly sappy and nostalgic despite the fact that it has been well over 15 years since my family went huckleberry picking and my memories are spotty at best.
Before our departure, we started the morning with Zucchini Scrambled Eggs and toast with Raspberry Butter. This fueled us up for the biggest chore of running around doing last minute packing. We did manage to get everything packed into the two cars without looking too much like we were overdoing it.
The day before our departure we found out there was no longer the delicious mountain fresh water being pumped into the campground. So we filled a couple of old water jugs. The next morning they were a leaky puddle. Fortunately, we had more and it was not that big of a deal.
Originally we planned a 9am departure. That quickly became apparent we would be leaving closer to 11am. But, we made it on the road with iced coffee in hands.
The gorge as always was *gorgeous* to drive along. We decided to follow google maps, not our traditional route, which meant crossing over to Oregon. When we got to the town of Rufus, a cop car with flares made it seem like an accident must have been up a head. After being re-directed for about an hour, much of it going just a few miles per hour we finally made it to Hood River. We pulled into a Starbucks and tailgated. We were all too exhausted to find a beautiful picnic spot, which was the original intention, but we happily made do gobbling on the Sonoma Chicken Salad Sandwiches with swiss cheese.
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Tailgating in Hood River
We arrived to a very rainy campsite, which made the dirt roads a little less dusty, but everything was a bit muddy as a result. The campsite we found was one we enjoyed several years ago. I don’t remember it, but it was cozy with plenty of space for three tents including my parent’s gigantic new one.
Since it was raining we periodically would dash into the tent with our camping chairs. Xerxes eventually took the initiative to put up a large tarp over the picnic table. This was perfect for allowing me to chop without being interrupted by the occasional dumps of rain.
As soon as allowed, I started chopping up the veggies from my parent’s garden including zucchini, eggplant, small green bell peppers and a big old onion. We set up the new Coleman grill with the griddle across the top and sautéed each veggie in batches. Then I pulled out the huge marinated tri-tip and started to sear it. A few minutes into the sear, we realized this steak would take forever to cook through. So, Xerxes butterflied the steak and everything worked out much better.
We set up our chairs under the tent, while munching on chips with guacamole. Once the steak was done we warmed tortillas on the fire and thinly sliced the steaks. Piles of sautéed veggies were added and then we wrapped them up for dinner under the tarp.