Last Leg of Europe

It was a short drive for us from Salamanca to Madrid.  About 3 hours because we took the no-toll roads.  It was a nice drive and took us right into the hustle of the city.  We unloaded our packs at our new place and returned the rental.  We were able to walk from the rental return (train station) back to our apartment.  Our apartment was in a great location and we were able to walk most places.
By this leg of our journey our exploring muscle was a little worn out, but we managed to hone in on the key things we wanted to see.

Bubble Gum, Anyone?

A little southeast of our previous stop, we headed to Paso Robles.  We were trying to make our way down the coast and based on campground preferences and a recommendation to check out San Luis Obispo, we ended up in this area.

The campground was a nice little place.  Nothing fancy, but had lots of sun since we had been covered by redwoods at the previous spot we were happy to have it.

The car and camper had a professional bath this week.  They are white again.

Columbia River Gorge

We had thought we would stay on the coast heading south through Oregon, but it turned out we needed an airport for Diego, so we decided to head a little inland and check out Portland.  We stayed at a state park about 40 minutes southeast of the city called Milo McIver.

There was an episode of Grimm being filmed just on the other side of our campground.  I don't know that show and wouldn't have even known it was being filmed except that we went on a hike and saw a couple of security guys and asked them what was going on.  The were hanging out near the dam located on the river there.

Hydrothermal Dam near Milo McIver state park.

The Trail Ends with the Goonies

Beautiful drive from Port Ludlow to Astoria.

Bridge from Washington to Oregon

Our campsite was at Fort Stevens State Park, just over the bridge from Astoria, in Warrenton, OR.

The park was very nice.  Well maintained and the biggest state park I have ever seen.  It has over 400 sites and a very nice biking/hiking system that goes for miles.

Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin

Headed north from Henry's Lake and had all country roads to reach Three Forks, MT.  This town is part of Lewis and Clarke's expedition to discover the west and I read somewhere in town that it was where Sacagawea recognized and was reunited with her brother during the negotiations with the natives in the area for food and horses.

Three Forks is named for the three rivers that converge just northeast of the town to form the Missouri River.  They are the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers, named by Lewis and Clark after two presidents and a treasury secretary.  From Three Forks the Missouri River flows north and after traveling 2,565 miles reaches the Mississippi River.  The Missouri River is the longest single river in North American and drains about 1/6 of the North American Continent.

Colonial Williamsburg

We spent the past five days in Williamsburg, VA and stayed at the Anvil Campground. Pretty small campground, but very nice and clean.  We are still learning so much about RVs.  The staff was so nice, giving us a bigger space to park and helping us out with the hook ups.