Clackamette Park – Oregon City

May 4, 2011

It’s good that I’m okay with “Jell-O” plans cuz that’s what happened today.  We got a little later start than what we had anticipated and so decided to skip the casino part of the trip and just go relax by the river for an extra day. 

We arrived at the park about 1:30 and got set up in record time.   The sites are not completely level but they have a nice gravel base and it wasn’t too hard to level up.  Don’t know if I’ve mentioned that we do NOT have levelers on Therapy so we do it the old fashioned way with ramps and blocks.

There are water and electric hook-ups but no sewer or Wi-Fi.  There is a dump station on site with a $5 dump fee.  The cost for camping is $20 or $25 for the river front spaces.  They were doing some kind of work on the water front spaces so they were not open.  We took the largest spot and it has an unobstructed view of the river.  It’s a little crowded but not bad for $20.  There are tons of fishermen who come during the day but the gates are locked at 10pm so they all have to be out of the park by then.

 

These are a small portion of the boats upriver on the Willamette.  There are just as many down river where the Clackamas River flows into the Willamette.  I don’t know how they stay out of each other’s way.  In addition, there are people almost shoulder to shoulder on the bank with lines in the water.

 

This is where we are camped.  It’s close on one side but it’s a wide space on the other side.

 

The day use area is much prettier than the camp ground.  There is a nice walking path around the perimeter of the park and along the river.

 

Along the path we found where they have thinned some trees.

 

 

Russ shows how big some of these trees were.

 

 

This is the bridge over the Clackamas River.

 

 

We were enjoying our walk along the steep bank, watching the ducks, geese, and pigeons.  There were people who had scrambled down the bank to try and find the best fishing spot.  But something was wrong with the view along the river bank.

 

All along the bank we saw this type of litter.  WHY WHY WHY do people have to be so lazy and nasty and leave their trash all along the river.  I honestly do not understand how anyone can think this way.  I am not a tree hugging environmentalist but this type of behavior just makes me furious.  If you can pack it down to the river full, you can certainly pack it back out empty.   Unfortunately the bank was steep and slippery and no place for senior citizens or we would have been down there cleaning up after these slobs.

 

We did find the perfect boat to tow behind Therapy…that is if we wanted a boat.

Wouldn’t that be just perfect??

 

Here’s looking towards the camping area, from across the day use area.

 

At the park there is an area of many, many horseshoe pits and grandstands.  I think they have tournaments there.

There is also a really nice skate park here.  We watched these young people do their tricks for quite a while.  It was really fun and free entertainment.  There were fellas there with bikes, skateboards, and scooters with long handles.  They all performed amazingly.  I don’t know how they stayed out of each others’ way but there were no run-ins. 

 

Here’s a young man catching some air on his scooter.  He would jump up and turn the scooter around and then land it on the ground and keep going.

 

Only this time he didn’t seem to make the landing.

 

 

He was fine and got right back into the game.  His buddy tried the same trick and nailed it.

 

There were a couple of guys on bikes that were really good and we watched them for quite a while.

 

 

This fella rode up the steep incline and when his bike hit the top, he went up in the air, turned a 180 on the bike and kept going backwards.

 

 

 

We got back to camp just in time to see this stubby little tuggy going up river.

 

 

Nest door to us, these two little guys were keeping a close watch on us while their parents were away from home on a walk.

 

 

The little white one made sure I was aware that I was not to come any closer or he would eat me alive.  Even when I went inside, he continues to give me the evil eye.

 

These are the homes across the river.  Can you smell the money???

 

 

 

I probably won’t get this posted tonight.  There is no internet here, but there is a McDonald’s just at the top of the drive and a Best Western nearby.  I tried logging on from here but the signal is not strong enough.  Since they close the gates at 10 pm, I don’t think I will take a chance on going out tonight.  Take care all.