Road trip to Boardman and Heppner
by Leslie Shalduha
Welcome to an adventure of the 3GenChics, three generations of women at different stages of life, from Maiden to Mother to Elder, each with a different perspective on life. Over the years we have done a good bit of adventuring together and enjoy writing about our experiences. In this entry, we set off to adventure in the Columbia Gorge, Boardman and Heppner in Oregon.
Our most recent adventure was short but sweet! I had discovered a fabulous new place along the Columbia River in Boardman and wanted to bring Gramma & Emma back to enjoy it. It is quite a drive so combining it with a visit to family friends in Heppner made it even more appealing!
On a lovely Sunday morning we jumped in the truck and headed north - we often make a stop in our old neighborhood and this trip was no exception. We stopped in Gresham to grab lunch at one of our favorites,McMenamin's Highland Pub, to rendezvous with an herbal customer and another friend for a quick visit to give her some calendula seeds. After lunch we made a stop to deliver another herbal order before heading on over to I-84 to drive up the Columbia Gorge.
Always a gorgeous drive, this day it was gray and cloudy which, of course, makes no difference in the beauty. We listened to tunes, flapped our lips, worked with Keely on her new seating arrangements; she is in training to be a better behaved young lady and is now leashed in the truck so she cannot ping pong all over the place like the lunatic that she is. She is not sure if she approves of the new arrangement.
We arrived at the River Lodge and Grill in the late afternoon, checked into our cabin and headed over to the lodge to grab some dinner. The lodge has rooms, a restaurant and stand-alone cabins. The lodge itself is gorgeous; looks like a log cabin with a large, welcoming lobby and a big rock fireplace. The cabins are perfection – roomy, clean, well-designed, great views and very close to the water. I could stay there forever!
The restaurant has incredible views of the Columbia River but not much in terms of atmosphere. To be fair, they are doing big remodeling work so I have hope! The menu is pretty standard hotel restaurant fare—one chicken, one steak, one burger, one pasta and the obligatory vegetarian meal. The food leaves a lot to be desired. I would like to think that it is simply because of Covid that things are pared down. The servers were lovely, anxious to please and super friendly. Restaurants in Boardman (for that matter, anywhere near Boardman!) are not really a thing, especially for me! Plan to eat on the way up and back in Hood River and/or bring snacks or items easily prepared on a hot plate or microwave in the cabin if you plan to be there a couple of days and you will be set!
After dinner we went back to the cabin and settled in for the evening. It was too cold to go outside and enjoy the beach so we watched the sunset from inside, listened to tunes, had a couple of drinks and played Mah Jongg. I hit the hay pretty early (party pooper I know) and Gramma and Emma stayed up to watch the tube.
The next morning we strolled over to the restaurant for breakfast. I will say they do that pretty well! Then we packed everything up as we had to move to a lodge room for our second night and the staff had indicated we would have to wait until normal check-in time to make the move. Which was super irritating but what were we going to do about it?! So, we packed everything, loaded up the truck and drove around to the lobby just to check out of the cabin. I mentioned to the staff that it was too bad we could not get into our room earlier and told them what the staff had said the day before—the manager said that was crazy, of course we could get right into our room! So, we hauled everything to our new upstairs room and settled Gramma & Keely in for the day.
Emma and I had plans to drive over to Heppnerfor the day to visit family friends, Greg & Janet. They are long time friends of Dan’s, going back to the days Dan worked on the family ranch in his teenage years with his closest friend, Mark. Dan and I had gone to visit a few years back and I was confident I could find the house without a map or address. Heppner is a very small town and I was curious if I could pull it off! As I drove down the block where I suspected their address was, Emma said maybe there would be a sign hanging on their house with their name and there literally was! So fun!
We drove through miles and miles of wheat and alfalfa fields and of gently rolling hills. It is early spring so many of the fields were a shocking, beautiful shade of green. There are also lots of wind turbines out in this country. Those combined with the fields of green and brown with bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds made for a gorgeous drive. We also drove alongside a bombing range for quite some time which led to some interesting conversation between Emma & I.
Emma, “Now that the sign says Keep Out, I really want to go over there.” Me – “Um, if you do you might step on a land mine and blow yourself up.” Emma – “Yeah, but I really want to see.” Teenagers, am I right?
Heppner is a tiny town located at the base of huge, rolling hills. In the early 20th century it was a trade center for grain and livestock. It is also at the base of the Willow Creek Lake and Dam. Like LITERALLY at the base. We drove over to the base of the dam and I have got to admit, we were a little spooked.
When we arrived in town, we were a bit early so we cruised around, looking at all the older houses, made when houses were built with interesting architecture, and the historic buildings in the downtown area. Emma was very impressed with the huge old courthouse and wants to move in. We located the cemetery which is on top of one of those huge hills and has an incredible view of Willow Lake and the town, too. We sought out the grave of Dan’s best friend and paid our respects.
We stayed to visit Greg and Janet for a few hours, reminiscing and getting to know each other a little better. We stayed for dinner, sitting around the kitchen and dining room, admiring family photos and chatting while they prepared a delicious meal of Janet’s famous baked chicken, baked potatoes and salad. After dinner Emma and I hit the road in order to be back before too late. We made a stop for some photos; she had a specific assignment for school and apparently the fields were the perfect subject!
We arrived back at the lodge to rejoin Gramma and Keely. Those two had a lovely day admiring the fabulous view from the room and taking a few walks on the beach. Gramma did a couple hours of writing; hopefully soon she will share it with us!
This night we put on some tunes and played euchre, watching the slow, lovely sunset over the Columbia River once again.
The next day I wanted to take Gramma and Emma for a drive north to see a part of the Columbia River I had discovered on my last solo trip which I had never seen before. It involved us driving over an hour north and out of our way but I felt it was worth it. Plus, I love to drive! We drove up Highway 730, the backroad along the Columbia River up towards Kennewick, Washington. Here the Columbia opens up similar to how and where it meets the Pacific Ocean in Astoria. It is astounding and breathtaking. A good bit of the drive was through ugly industrial areas but once they are behind you, it is absolutely worth it.
We stopped to admire a large rock formation; once we did, we found a plaque describing the Twin Sisters, their history and legend. We stopped at a park on Lake Wallula, a stretch of river between dams, to visit the facilities. The beach here was really neat—fine, black sand and a gentleness to the water that tempts us to come back in summer for swimming.
After this it was time to put the pedal to the metal and head towards home. Which we did until we hit Hood River, where we stopped for lunch and a visit with my friend, Linda, who lives just on the other side of the Columbia River in Washington. We enjoyed a lovely visit and delicious food at our fave restaurant, Riverside, located in the Hood River Inn. This is one place you can count on hotel food to be tasty and local! The view is spectacular, as well.
After lunch we pretty much just made a beeline for home. Another adventure, another trip full of laughs, singing, incredible scenery and living life to the fullest. What more could a girl ask for?