Boating on the Columbia!

Nick and I needed to make a road trip to Portland to pick up some furniture (ordered in March!). We fetched our two chairs Friday morning (fortunately they both fit in the back of our car), lunched with boating friends Jeanie and Steve from Battle Ground, then headed to our daughter's home in Hockinson.

We spent Saturday visiting Mt. St. Helens...specifically, the Ape Cave. A cool thing to do on a hot day. This photo of Brian and Sierra captures the eerieness of the experience.

Glad we did it...might not need to do it again.

Boating friends Shannon and Steve, who also live in the greater Vancouver area, and who keep their boat on the Columbia River, invited us to spend the day aboard Ramble On. We were quite excited, as river boating is totally foreign to us.

So yesterday we packed our swimsuits and boarded Ramble On at the Portland Yacht Club. We cruised toward the Gorge for about 14 miles, dropped the anchor, and dinghied into shallow water. Beach chairs went right into the water!

Shannon made wonderful pineapple rum drinks and we enjoyed the beautiful views, sunshine (but not too hot), and warm water. I did not get a pic of Nick cannonballing off RO's roof...but I wish I had.

Later, we enjoyed dinner at The Deck, and then a delicious raspberry rhubarb pie made by Shannon.

Sunset from the restaurant:

Me on RO's bow:

More views of the river:

So much fun!