Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park, WA
August 4, 2011 – August 8, 2011
I left Camping World this morning, my new refrigerator is working well. I stopped at the grocery store and bought food to stock the fridge. I headed southeast towards Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. I saw that they had a campground and thought that might be a nice place to spend a night.
After driving for about an hour and a half, I noticed that the landscape was changing a lot. I drove through mountains, the Snoquamie Pass, and saw some more snow on the mountain tops. This is a ski area and I saw lots of ski lifts going up the various mountains. There were also a few really nice wide streams. After driving through the mountains, the landscape changed again. It began to look brown and dry and not as mountainous. Mixed into the dry landscape were fields of green. There were crops growing such as potatoes, corn, grapevines (this is wine country and there are miles of vineyards), cherry orchards, and also apple orchards. 
I could see the large watering irrigation rigs that move along the crops and water them. I saw trucks piled high with potatoes and workers and trucks in the field harvesting the various crops. It was interesting to see how the various crops were planted, some on the same tracts of land. It looks like it was well planned and all of the land seemed to be utilized. An interesting pattern was visible since some crops were trees, some vines climbing on poles of various heights and either straight up or sometimes in a tall V shape, and others low growing plants like the potatoes.
Photos of Ginkgo Petrified State Forest and surrounding area.
I arrived at Ginkgo Petrified State Forest and I found the trail up the mountain that had the fossilized tree remains. It was really hot, probably the high 80s, which after being in the 50s and 60s with some cold rain and intermittent sun seemed pretty hot. I knew when I was really cold, and wearing sweaters, hats, scarves, and several long sleeve shirts, that soon I would wish for some of that again. The path up the mountain was paved with asphalt and I could feel the heat really strong coming up from the path. After walking about ¼ mile, I thought this is not for me. I drove to the visitor center about 2 ½ miles down the road and went in. That was a better strategy. They had a great exhibit with not only all the various types of tree species that I would have seen along the path, but also other types of petrified woods from other places, and there were some that visitors were able to touch. The petrified tree chunks and slices in the glass display shelves were really interesting and beautiful. They looked like marble, granite, etc. only the designs and colors were very impressive, especially thinking about their age.
There were also display cases with fossils such as a large tortoise shell that was more than a foot wide and about a foot and a half long. They also had tusks, teeth, and other parts of prehistoric animals. I asked the staff person in the visitor center where I could see the petroglyphs and she said they are displayed on the outside of the visitor center down the path alongside the building. They were removed from their original site and placed at the visitor center. I went back to the camper and got my camera so I could take photos of them. Here are a couple of photos, the others are in the photo gallery, along with pictures I took from the visitor center viewing area of the lake, mountains, etc. 
I found out that the campground was several miles down a road in a different direction and that there were no trails, or anything other than the campsite. So, I decided to keep going and head towards McNary Dam and the Corps of Engineer Park where I had a reservation for Friday through Sunday nights. It was another couple of hours to the Corps park. The terrain was about the same as what I had been seeing. I tried to take pictures when driving when I felt it was safe to do so.
PLYMOUTH CAMPGROUND
I finally arrived at Plymouth Campground about 5:30 p.m. And the gate attendant said that they had a spot available for me. I got a spot under large trees that pretty much shade me all day, especially in the late afternoon when the sun is the hottest. There are 32 campsites in this campground, behind the trees in the back of the site is a river, then a small island and beach where people can swim, then the Columbia River, and the Oregon border. The Columbia Rivers borders Washington on the north and Oregon on the south. The campground has a shower which I took advantage of since I had not had a shower in a few days. It had been cool where I was and it was okay to go a few days without a shower, but now being hot and sweaty again, it felt good to be clean. They also have a washing machine and dryer so I was able to do my laundry.
I checked out spot 17 which is what was reserved for me and found it would be mostly sunny all day, I went back to the ranger station and he was able to change my reservation so that I could keep the same place that I am in now. A family with 5 kids of various ages, 3 adults, and 2 dogs just arrived and camped next to me. So much for a quiet weekend. The kids are being kids. I took my bicycle out of the camper and rode it for a while, it was nice to ride rather than walk. Other than the kids being loud on the playground it’s pretty peaceful here. I don’t know why kids have to scream, but it seems common everywhere I have been and there are children. 
Thursday afternoon, I drove about 15 miles to the nearest town called Hermiston and got gas, some supplies I needed, and drove around the area. It was a good days outing and I came back and made lunch, sat outside in the shade and read a book, and just enjoyed the fresh air. I was going to make a campfire, but somehow when it’s in the high 80s that might not be a good idea. When it got dark and the mosquitos came out wanting me to be their evening meal, I went into the camper to read and relax.
I got up this morning, Friday, and made myself breakfast outdoors, it really tasted good. I made an omelet with potato, sausage, eggs, and cheese with whole wheat bread. I think I may cook hamburgers on the grill for lunch.
The town of Plymouth where this campground is located is fairly small. There are lots of houses and of course the Corps of Engineer campground, but the only 2 businesses in town are a really small post office and a tavern. The camp host told me that on Friday night the tavern serves really good ribs and potato for dinner, and Saturday night they have prime rib. I stopped by the tavern to see their menu and it was basically hamburgers, sandwiches, etc. they had some pool tables, a bar like most taverns, and some high top tables to sit at to eat or drink.
I leave here on Monday, and I will be stopping in Pendleton, OR and hope to get a tour of the Pendleton factory. Pendleton makes wool blankets and various types of other products such as purses, clothes, dishes, etc. I have 3 wool Pendleton blankets and I love them. I have one in the camper that has really come in handy in the cold weather, it kept me warm when the temps got into the 50s and 60s. After Pendleton, I will go to several cities and an Wallula State Park, that is in the mountains and has a gondola ride to the top of the mountain that sounds really beautiful. I might stay there a few days, since it’s about 120 miles one way off the main highway. Then I will head back down to the highway and continue my explorations in Oregon. Baker City seems to be an interesting city to visit and it’s on my way along the highway. After that, I will head into Idaho and try to stop at places of interest along the way, then I will go down into Utah and head towards Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. After that, I will head towards Canyon de Chellys and then Albuquerque to the hot air balloon festival which begins in October. I plan to be there about a week early so I can maybe sign up as a volunteer. I sure would love to go up in a hot air balloon, so that could be a possibility while I am there.
That’s about it for now.
