We spend most of the off-season right here at our home on Read Island. Besides the fact that it’s our favourite place to be, there seems to be a never ending list of projects
and maintenance to keep us busy. Every now and then though, we head out to explore new places – as we did a couple weeks ago when we were invited to present a slideshow to the Oregon Ocean Paddlers Society (OOPS). We loaded up the van with supplies and Cedar the dog, looked both ways, and crossed the border.
We’re the first to admit that we would be totally lost on our own in Portland, so it was a good thing that we had excellent local guides. We had a great visit with Shea, Steve, Dan, and Catherine who have been on more combined CME trips than you can count on both hands. Maybe some of you have joined them on a trip. They are not easy to forget! We also had a blast with Connie Lively, who invited us down on behalf of her paddling club and graciously welcomed us into her home. We can’t thank her enough for taking a day of her time to show us the sights, including a trip to the Columbia River Gorge (see the picture).
We’re used to small groups of people, so we were shocked and delighted when a mob of paddlers showed up for the standing-room-only show. We met lots of great new people and hope to see some familiar faces paddling in the Discovery Islands next summer.
We’d like to thank once again all those who made our stay in Portland such a great time. We were treated to American hospitality at its best!