A Trip to Government Island

This is where I was exactly one week ago, to celebrate my birthday. It was decided that we should take a little trip over to Government Island, which is in the middle of the Columbia River, which separates the states of Washington and Oregon.Our son had taken our canoe across the river to camp on the island several times, but Larry and I thought he was crazy to do such a thing! The Columbia River is a very big river with very fast current, and people drown in it every year! Not exactly my idea of a fun time, let alone a great way to celebrate one's birthday. However, that little adventure is exactly what was decided on my birthday.
We loaded up our gear and piled most of it into the canoe, since a kayak doesn't have much cargo space. The trip across the river was actually a very enjoyable ride--not at all scary, like I thought it would be.

I loved it!
The benefit of carrying most of the stuff in our canoe was a nice surprise to us:
The extra weight causes the canoe to sit a little lower in the water, which results in a much more stable ride.

We decided to explore the island before eating the dinner we had brought with us. The first thing we discovered was the abundance of blackberries. Make that--an explosion of blackberries!
It was amazing!
They hung on the bushes like clusters of grapes on heavy vines! Some of the berry bushes were more like trees! We really got sidetracked there for awhile--yum! (Who needs dinner when you have all this luscious fruit?

Next came our big, scary adventure--a close encounter with a mad cow! She came on the run, rushing right up to us, with big eyes full of rage, looking just like a bull ready to attack! I was truly scared to death!

All I could think was, I survived a canoe trip across the mighty Columbia River, only to die on this serene little island--killed by a mad cow!!

More about this tomorrow -- I need to get to bed to be well rested for tomorrow: church in the morning, and then a trip over to the coast.