Continuing Our Adventure . . .

We came upon this delightful little meadow of yellow daisies.
What a pleasant sight to behold! Especially, so soon after our frightful experience with the mad mama who had challenged our proximity to her baby hidden in the woods. We just had to stop and soak up the cheerfulness here.
Just beyond the meadow of yellow daisies, we arrived at the other side of the island, coming into full view of water again.

Looking across the river from here, you can see Vancouver, Washington.
It was somewhere between the daisy meadow and this spot that we spotted an eagle flying directly overhead, low enough for us to realize what huge birds eagles are! We stood there in awe of such an amazing sight! During most of our walk we saw no other people. The island is uninhabited (except for wildlife), and is accessible only by boat. (Who knows how the cows got there!) Boaters are allowed to camp on the island. (Our son enjoys doing that).
The bridge you see in the background is actually a freeway that spans the Columbia River, connecting the states of Oregon and Washington.
Government Island is in the middle of the river--a place that has always intrigued me.
On our way back across the island I found a machete! One side was completely covered with rust. Jim offered his neck to see if it would still be able to cut.

Right next to the machete was someone's driver's license.
The next day Larry was able to locate a phone number for him (on the internet), called him, and then mailed his license back to him.

It was also on our way back that we spotted the eagle. While I was busy looking up, I didn't realize that a small snake was crawing right next to my foot! It was about the size of a garter snake, but was black with a red stripe down it's back. Yikes! Fortunately, the scare was mutual!
By the time we got back, we decided it was getting too late to cook supper, so we just did some snacking while we enjoyed the beginning of twilight. Jim went to get us another bunch of fresh berries from the blackberry "bush".
Larry and Patti got a few more goodies from our cooler in the canoe, while I just sat "like a bump on a log", assigned to birthday girl status.
What a treat for me to just sit and look around at my favorite time of day, watching the sun set over the water!
We enjoyed the time of twilight and sunset, but finally decided we better get back across the river before darkness set in.
Time to "hit the dusty trail"! (Perhaps "the wet and wild river road" would be more accurate.)

What a delightful way to celebrate my birthday!