God Bless America (A Collection of Incredibly Blurry Pictures)

The 4th of July took us to the crowded banks of the Willamette River on the border of downtown Portland. We hoisted our beloved canoe off our car and through the thickness of chairs and people on the shore to the waters edge.

We eagerly glided into the calm water and joined the happy throng of river goers, mostly power boats of different shapes and sizes. We were there to watch the fireworks, a show that would be happening right beside us on the water. They shoot an assortment of fireworks off of a sizable barge in the middle of the river each year. We wanted front row seats to the event, and that's just what we got!

We paddled around for an hour or so before the show started. We made a visit to the far side of the river where the Blues Festival was going. I smiled and we heard a musician jamming on the piano as we paddled by.

We had so much fun poking around in our canoe, exploring all the different boats out on the water and getting all sorts of funny comments from those on the big crafts. "Aren't you scared to be out here?" They all seemed a bit surprised at the brave tenacity of our relatively tiny boat amongst their own. We were loving it and at no time did we feel in danger or the slightest bit threatened by our towering neighbors. We were all out there for the same reason, to enjoy the beauty of the water, celebrate our independence, and enjoy the fine company of those we were with. And that's exactly what we did!

Proof That The Sun Does Shine

It has been estimated that Portland gets around 37.5 inches of rain fall per year. California is at an estimate of 15 inches a year. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that we are getting a lot more rain these days then we use to when we lived in California.

To make things more fun for us, Portland is said to only see around 70 sunny days EACH YEAR. So why in the world would we move to a place that is overcast, cold, and drizzly 295 days a year? Because those 70 days are unspeakably glorious!

Captured in the following photos is how we took advantage of one of our alloted sunny days on a day trip to Lewis and Clark State Park. We met up with our friend, Rachel, to paddle the Sandy River for a while. When she had to go, Michael and I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the base of Broughton Bluff (one of the places we go climbing).

Mt Tabor - May

I realize it's been a really REALLY long time since I've posted anything. I will try to make it up to you in pictures. :D

This is a little Saturday afternoon walk we did up Mt. Tabor. It's really just a big hill, but we'll let them
call it what they will.

We had fun enjoying the pretty view of downtown and playing around in the trees.