A LOVEly River Trip

After moving to the the Pacific Northwest in 1989, my wife and I, middle-aged but still newlyweds, decided we wanted to do something special that involved a river. I had been paddling for many years and she was somewhat new to it, but game. We chose the Willamette, a relatively-easy river that flows south to north and joins the Columbia in north Portland, Oregon. It’s one of the best things we’ve ever done. Our canoe carried everything we needed, and we enjoyed beautiful, intimate evenings by a campfire, watching the stars, talking and dreaming of our future life together in a new location. On the evening of July 4, we watched fireworks from our campsite for that night near Corvallis. It was magical, and neither of us will ever forget those five wonderful days. Our Wheaton Terrier dog loved it too, fascinated by new sights, sounds and smells. This trip is just one reason we’ve always had such deep feelings and respect for rivers.