Beacon Rock State Park (map here) is in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area about 35 miles east of Vancouver, Washington. It is a pleasant three-hour drive from Tacoma. We planned to camp over the weekend, hoping to secure a campsite for two full days and one night.
George put on his music - an absurd (but enjoyable) collection. I recall listening to 'I'm a little Teacup, Short and Stout', then tuning all of it out so I could read my cookbook. Within a short time we were at Beacon Rock on the north bank of the Columbia River.
Beacon Rock is a basalt plug that rises 840 feet above the river. Ice-age floods through the Columbia River Gorge eroded the softer material away, exposing the basalt columns. The campground along the waterfront, which has an attached picnic area, has only two campsites available. 
We secured one, nestled along the base of the forest. The other one, suitable for an RV, wasn't occupied. 
So, when all the people enjoying the afternoon in the picnic/boat ramp area left at dusk, 
George and I were the only ones there to enjoy the vista, the expanse of shoreline - and the showers and bathroom facilities!
We had the place to ourselves. Other campsites were above, up in the forest, away from the water. We checked them out - filled with campers, people, pets, and the noise of kids.
We felt our campsite was perfect- we wanted to beach our canoe and be close to the water. The only drawback was the frequency of freight trains, which operate all day and night on both sides of the river. One gets used to it - the brisk efficient hum - unlike the sounds I recall from 60 years ago, when freight trains used to rattle, squeak, ram into each other, and make the worst racket coming into the train station. I prodded George at bedtime, "Should we set the sound machine to the 'train' setting?
Three watercraft were moored at the boat ramp.
A couple using one fished off the dock. The other had guests returning from an outing about 11:30 p.m. They built a fire in a grill down on the dock, probably cooked fish for a late dinner, and then drove home after midnight. It being the ONLY noise in camp, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on, so I peeked out the screen window of our tent! If this had been up in the main campground with all the other campers, I wouldn't have been curious about a thing! 
