How towns say hello

Anyone who has spent much time on the back roads or minor highways of America has most likely enjoyed the "welcome to town" messages on billboards at the city limits of small communities. In the 1990s, I spent several months each year traveling the back roads of the American West in a motorhome, writing and publishing my quarterly newspaper Out West as I went. Over that decade I snapped photos of many such signs. Here is a short video essay I put together back then. The quality is not too great as I had to transfer the essay from VHS to a digital format before posting it online.

Deschutes River State Recreation Area, North Central Oregon

Across the country, state parks offer some of the nicest and most affordable RV camping available – especially in the off-season. Crowds have thinned out, and campers have a little more elbow room after Labor Day.

One such well-maintained State Recreation Area is located in north central Oregon about 11 miles East of The Dalles at the confluence of the Columbia and Deschutes Rivers. It’s a fisherman’s paradise with the Deschutes being known as a blue-ribbon fly fishing destination. And the Columbia is home to salmon, steelhead, and the pre-historic sturgeon, among other species of fish.

Casting for trout, you can stand on the bank, wade in, or float down the Deschutes. The mighty Columbia is better suited to motor boat fishing, including jetboats.

Surrounded by high bluffs, the Deschutes River State Recreation Area campground features 59 level, grassy sites with room for rigs up to 50 feet. Electric and water hookups are available in 34 of those sites, but there are no sewer hookups. (And water is shut off in winter.) There is a group tent camping area, and restrooms are available, but there are no showers in the campground.

The climate borders on the dry side, but temperatures can run cool between October and March. There’s a 17-mile-long mountain bike trail with 11 miles open to horseback riders. Horses are allowed in the park from March through June. Another hiking trail skirts the riverbank for a couple of miles upstream.

The Deschutes River is a state and national scenic waterway. Couple that with the moderate climate, and this campground is an attractive destination any time of the year.