Days 3 and 4: Memorial Day weekend Deschutes River trip

We woke up early with a howling wind pushing on our tent poles and laying our tent down. Fine sand was blowing in through the vents and even though it was sunny, it did not seem like a great day on the river. It subsided somewhat later in the morning and we did our best to clean up and pack up the raft. There was a lot of paddling into the headwind and we ended up pulling off the river earlier than expected because our progress was so slow. We were able to get our car packed up and reaching The Dalles seemed like an oasis after all the wind and sun. We had a great dinner, a nice stay at a hotel with a pool, and got to have a special hotel breakfast when we woke up there on Charlotte's birthday!

 

We had to stop at the Washington Stonehenge replica on our way home. I had great memories of visiting this and being intrigued by us as a kid. It was fun to be able to show it to my kids.

Day 2: Memorial Day weekend Deschutes River trip

 Our second day started a little chilly, but we were ready and the sunshine was mostly out. Charlotte helped navigate using the map. Edison tackled a half-mile long rapid called White Horse. We were fortunate to connect with another couple rafts through that stretch, all took the same line on the right, and had a great ride! So proud of Edison!

We had a pretty long run on this day and ended up at this great spot at Lower Rainbow Bend. Rain was threatening again, so we set up under some nice big trees. Good thing, because the rain clouds came in waves throughout the early evening. This led to the most amazing rainbows we have ever seen - stretching ridge to ridge all the way over the river. Finally at 8:00, it stopped for good and the kids made their own fun by using rocks for improvised shot put. 

Day 1: Memorial Day weekend Deschutes River trip

The kids and I went rafting on the Deschutes for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was not ideal, but we are hearty folks and knew we would be up for it. The packing went fine and we used a U-Haul to get all our stuff to the river. We put in at Warm Spring, set up the raft, realized I had forgotten one of the tubes on the frame, but we figured out how to make it work. Edison took on the rowing duties for the trip and I coached him on reading the water. He did a really great job! Our plan was to camp pretty early on in the canyon section for the first night. We found just the right camp spot and got set up before an afternoon of rain. We made the best of it and played cards in the tent until the rain passed.

After the rain, it was time to explore. There is a nice road running along the side of the river which made a great way to stretch our legs. Charlotte and Reed decided they wanted to climb up the canyon edge to the base of the basalt columns. It was a long way and they did great getting up and down. The evening light in the canyon was absolutely lovely.