Walks with Ella: Sauvie Island
Along the road to our site are fields of pumpkins . . .
corn guarded by smiling scarecrows . . .
and farms offering flowers, berries, sweet corn and so much more.
On one autumn afternoon ride we were awed by the distant sight of Mount St. Helens.
One day, driving across the only bridge to the island, we were greeted with a double rainbow, a rich gem that marked our RV site as if it were a pot of gold.
Having never driven or lived in an RV before, we thought it might be wise for us to get our feet wet and try living in our new rig in a nearby RV park. And yes, we got our feet very wet because it rained almost every day we stayed there.
We’ve always been in love with Sauvie Island, plopped in the Columbia River on the western edge of Portland, it is almost 30,000 acres and the largest freshwater island in America. The river is busy both night and day with ship and boat traffic.
Sauvie Island is rich farmland and wildlife refuges, and at this time of the year it is a favorite place for people seeking pumpkins, corn mazes, birders and the many migratory birds that fly over and land,
But for us, it’s a place with an old (started at the end of WWII) and wonderful RV park filled with the kind of people we hoped to meet: RV experts with open hearts and wide smiles.
Within hours of parking in our site two locals came to visit and offer their tutelage on how to do things right. We were entranced by the migratory birds flying overhead, and the domestic chickens, ducks and geese wandering the park. And Ella was always on the alert as the local squirrel gangs harvested from the walnut trees, and cats wandered freely.
