What do you want out of a vacation?

We just took one that was perfect for this particular time in our lives. After mentioning our river cruise on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in my last post, I decided to share photos of our trip “rollin’ down the river.”

Great to be away – and to be home again

It was awesome to be away from pressing needs, bills, phone calls, business issues. And it’s wonderful to be home again.

What do you do on cruises?

You eat, for one thing.

We had delicious meals and the option of choosing a half portion of two entrees to have a greater variety. My favorite was the “Surf and Turf” on our last night, with tender steak and delicious lobster. Amazing! Don enjoyed his favorite—salmon—almost every day.

Multnomah Falls

We visited Multnomah Falls, located about 30 miles east of Portland, Oregon. Very beautiful. Note the bridge partway up.

That’s a walk our friends, Joe and JoAnn took, but was too much for Don and me. We enjoyed watching the falls, spent very little time in the overcrowded gift shop, and watched the people around us.

We went through eight locks

This first was a drop of 104 feet! Quite amazing to see the difference in the water levels. While we went through a few locks while we were asleep, we enjoyed watching from the deck when we were awake.

I had no idea there were door opening locks (pictured above), and guillotine locks, pictured below (horrid name, but it goes up and down rather than opening to the sides).

Mount Saint Helens erupted 45 years ago!

Our next tour was to Mount St. Helens, Washington. Hard to believe it erupted in 1980, 45 years ago.

Along the drive, we saw lots of new growth, along with many remnants of the explosion, especially multiples of trees that had been burned and mowed down by the blast.

I didn’t realize that, despite its devastation, on a scale of eruptions from 1 to 10, Mount St. Helens was only a 2! Imagine what some larger ones would be like.

Seals and salmon

We saw a line of seals or sea lions. By the time I got my phone out, this photograph captured only half the line.

But we learned they are a real problem for Oregon. Both seals and salmon are protected species. The seals have come to Oregon for the salmon, but eat only the stomach, leaving a lot of waste.

Officials have tried to return the seals to the Bay Area, but by the time their boat returns to the Columbia River, the seals are back. What to do?

Games and entertainment

Joe, JoAnn and we played games almost every evening—SkipBo, Rummykub, Hand and Foot, and others. Lots of fun. We also attended a few of the evening entertainments. My favorite was a delightful, musical cowboy comedian.

And naps. Do you like naps like Don and I do? We could go to our cabin and nap. Sometimes Don took out his binoculars and watched birds, seals, flora and fauna along the river. Rollin’ down the river was very peaceful at a time when we needed a rest.

Majesty

We certainly saw God’s majesty on this trip.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!…

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the bests of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1a,3-9)