last hurrah on the Kitsap Peninsula

Thursday evening was my first kayaking experience, and it was a blast! T and I went out the inlet, across to the other side of Keyport, across the main channel, and almost as far as Poulsbo — a couple of miles in all. The feeling of this area from the water is much different from that by land. Like many homes situated on water, the “front” is really the water side, not the side facing the road, and there are some beautiful ones around here. We saw several seals and plenty of birds as well. On the way back over the main channel, we could see Mt. Rainier lit up from the setting sun, floating just above the water. Those pictures are on the film camera, but A did get photographic evidence of my adventure with the digital as I was trying to figure out what I was doing.

Friday we left early for Portland, where A’s parents live. We stopped on the way at Mount St. Helens. I was telling my hosts that I really don’t remember much about when it happened. I know that it made the news everywhere, but I guess it just didn’t make an impression on me. Seeing it in person from relatively close up really brought home the magnitude and violence of the eruption. I’m used to the slow-erupting shield volcanoes of Hawaii, and this was nothing at all like that.

Portland was spectacular. I love that city. Saturday we left Little T with his grandparents and A, T, & I took off to tour the city. We drove through several hip and happening neighborhoods, strolled the grounds of the rose garden and Pittock Mansion, did a little shopping at Powell’s, had lunch at a great little cafe called Cup & Saucer, and visited the Chinese Garden. A’s parents were gracious hosts, putting up with a total stranger for two nights.

This morning we headed out to see the Columbia River Gorge on the way back to Keyport. The river has been tamed by dams, but you can still get the sense of how powerful it is and how forbidding it must have been to the pioneers on the Oregon Trail. Now of course there are highways old and new running alongside the river, making it a snap to see a number of dramatic waterfalls. We stopped at Latourelle Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and Multnomah Falls, the latter being the most dramatic and the most accessible, thus the most touristy.

Tomorrow morning I leave this place and start heading south for good. I’m aiming for Lincoln City, Oregon, with stops along the way at Astoria, Seaside, and Cannon Beach. Lincoln City itself is not supposed to be all that picturesque, but it does have a concentration of reasonably priced and recognizable hotels.