Tag: Columbia River

River Beach on Sauvie Island

Dear Liza,

We drove up to Sauvie Island this week to see what sort of fruit and veggies we could find. All the farms are finishing up their harvest and getting ready for the very busy Pumpkin and Corn maze season.

We bought some enormous corn, an acorn squash, a cucumber, a big head of lettuce (since my late planting is growing very slowly) and lots of kettle corn for Grandpa Nelson. We will eat very well this week!

After visiting with the goats and chickens, we drove around to the River side of the island. Most of that side’s properties are people’s houses and farms, but we found these stairs, and went exploring.

And there it was, the Columbia River, flowing right at my feet! We live close to the Willamette, but here, just five miles down river, the Willamette has joined (and become) the Columbia.

Washington is on the other side, and I just stood and marveled at the size and power of the mighty Columbia. It is wide and deep but flows along with just a few light ripples.

I wonder how long ago this log was pushed up onto the beach, and how big the wave was that did it!

What a lovely accidental discovery. Now, when I want to get my feet wet, I know where to go.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Across the Columbia

Dear Liza,

Last week we visited Vancouver, Washington, for the first time since we have lived in Portland. I know that’s silly; it is only a twenty minute drive over the Columbia River, and we have gone PAST Vancouver on the way to other places…. But this time we crossed the river and spent the whole day!

On the way across the river, we had a hazy but lovely view of Mt. Adams.
We went to see Auntie Bridgett’s oldest friend, Julie, and her husband Carl, who are visiting cousins in Kalama. Bridgett and Julie have been friends since high school!

They suggested having lunch at a place called Twigs. It was a stunningly great idea!

Twigs is smack dab on the newly developed Waterfront along the Columbia River, and is bright, modern, interesting, and great for people. The views of the river are beautiful.

Before we settled down to lunch, we walked along the promenade, caught up on news, and enjoyed the scenery. The Columbia River Water Feature (Yes, I wish it had a more romantic name….) has lots of places for kids to splash and lay in the water, which was perfect on such a hot day!

The Water Feature is an artistic interpretation of the river itself, and has beautifully rendered maps of the Columbia Watershed and bits of poetic history.

Further along we found a Peace Pole, with hopes for Peace in Earth expressed in many languages, including Braille, Russian, and Sign language.

When our appetites for lunch overcame the beautiful views, we headed back to Twigs for delicious salads and a nice, air conditioned respite before the next part of our adventure.

A nice waitress named Tabitha took our picture…. Aren’t we cute?

I’ll tell you about the rest of our day tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Blueberry Adventure Part 1

Dear Liza,

Just north of Portland on the Columbia River is a 26,000 acre farming community called Sauvie Island. It is nothing like the rest of Portland, being mostly farms and woods. It is like being a million miles away from the theaters, traffic and pizza joints of the city.

On Saturday we went up for an adventure. First thing, once we crossed the bridge onto the island, was we drove down a road we’d never been down, and followed it until it ended. We saw houseboats along the narrow Multnomah Channel, lavender fields, and eagles’ nests perched on top of power poles.

When we got to where the road ended ( it sort of faded from paved road to gravel to dirt), we turned around and headed towards our favorite you-pick blueberry place, Columbia Farm. They were really crowded on this lovely holiday Saturday, and had opened their auxiliary parking lot. They let us use our boxes from last year, which made me happy. I hate throwing perfectly good boxes away.

We headed out to the fields and passed families with wagons heading back in…. With lots of berries! We had to look pretty closely to find enough to fill our eighteen small baskets, but we got them all full.

I love being in the fields and picking fruit. Maybe it is because my parents were farmers and I grew up valuing the folks who get our food to us, or maybe it’s just fun to be out in the sun and fresh air, hearing birds and other people’s conversations.

I even found a tiny, abandoned hummingbird’s nest, tucked safely in a bush. I left it so the birds could use it again next year.

We picked only blueberries because that’s what we like best, but many folks also picked raspberries and blackberries. A lady had a boxful that was so pretty, I asked to take its picture. She very sweetly said yes.

We filled our boxes and paid up (Fifty dollars for too many berries to carry) and put them in the car. We were hot and sweaty and…. Hungry!

And on to the next adventure!

Love,

Grandma Judy