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Portland began as a small clearing near the confluence of two rivers, the Columbia and the Willamette. The location was prime—not only were waterways the highways of yesteryear, but the Willamette and nearby Tualatin River Valleys were conducive to agriculture. Also, the Pacific Ocean (and therefore the rest of the world) was only a boat ride away via the Columbia River. The eighty mile trip was a relatively short but rather dangerous one since the river often raged into the ocean. At the mouth of the river was a shifting and treacherous sand bar which has capsized many a boat.

Portland’s two founders were originally from the East Coast and they were having a hard time deciding on a the name for their new settlement. In 1843 they felt their town needed a better name than “The Clearing.” Both men wanted to name it in honor of their respective hometowns, one was from Boston while the other hailed from Portland, Maine. The town’s name was decided by the fairest method the men could think of: a coin toss. Today the Portland Penny is on display at the Oregon Historical Society downtown.

We hail from a dry, arid place in the Southwest—perhaps that is why we like Portland so much, all that water! Our activities during this visit to The City of Roses centered on water. We made two trips out to the rugged coast, camped alongside both the Tualatin and Columbia Rivers, hiked along the Salmon River, and attended the Waterfront Blues Festival along the Willamette. Even with the powerful draw of all this water, the best part about Portland is being able to visit with our friends, Lisa and Gino.

We can count on sharing good music, good times, and good food. Gino is a special breed of Italian since he is from Sicily. Thankfully for us Gino loves to cook so we were treated to several delicious Sicilian-style meals. The biggest difference I noticed from northern Italian cooking was the simplicity of the recipes which let the individual components really shine.

For the first part of our stay we camped along the Tualatin River not far from Lisa and Gino’s house. The river flows very slowly in that area, only a small amount of water remains in the river since most of it is drained for irrigation of farmland. Just a few miles west of our RV park, land on both sides of the river has been purchased by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A small fraction of the acreage at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is open to the public while the rest is undergoing restoration. The Refuge plans to re-create seasonal wetland habitats out of the old farmland. This Refuge is one of only a few urban ones in the nation—it is so urban that there is a city bus stop right in front of the Visitor Center.

Our last two weeks in the Portland area were spent on the south bank of the Columbia River east of downtown. It is a busy river, more so because it was summertime and amazingly warm for Portland. The weather report in the paper proudly predicted, and I quote, “Abundant sunshine” and “Brilliant sunshine.” The report was only half right, every morning began cool, gray, cloudy, and sometimes drizzly—but the afternoons lived up to weatherman’s promise.

The heat and sunshine drove everyone out to the Columbia to recreate. People were boating, riding waverunners, camping on the islands, fishing, swimming, sailing, and generally enjoying the river. In the midst of all the play, huge barges, escorted by tugboats, would slowly transverse the river enroute to port or a foreign shore. The Columbia is a heavily-used river and suffers from it in the form of high pollution. The river is also home to fourteen hydroelectric dams. These ingredients are a recipe for disaster for the spawning salmon and steelhead populations.

The salmon run has been a part of the local economy since the days of early native settlements. For many reasons, some of them still unknown, the population of chinook salmon plummeted this year which resulted in the closure of the commercial salmon fishing season along the coasts of California and Oregon. The closure dramatically affected hundreds of commercial fishermen in the two states, and the recreational fishing industry also suffered. The impact was so major that Federal Disaster Assistance for the fishermen was included in the recent Farm Bill passed through Congress.

The other Columbia River and salmon news is that of a gang of rogue California Sea Lions. These massive, lumbering yet highly efficient fish catchers are at the center of huge controversy. For several springs now, the sea lions have been congregating 145 miles upriver just below the Bonneville Dam, and feasting on spawning salmon.

The matter is complicated because the federally protected marine mammals are gorging on federally protected—and endangered—steelhead and chinook salmon. Which left officials in a quandary. Under previous policy some sea lions had been caught and removed to zoos or other agencies, but after six died in unattended traps public outcry halted the effort. Currently the battle is raging in court as the salmonid fishing industry is advocating for the removal of the sea lions by lethal methods. Although I can understand the industry’s concerns, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. So far this year, researchers have implicated the sea lions in just over 4,000 salmon deaths, a small fraction of the 152,000 salmon that were reported to have passed over the dam’s fish ladders.

Speaking of salmon, we spent a lovely day with Lisa and Gino hiking along yet another waterway, the Salmon River. It was a warm and sunny afternoon, but deep in the forest under the towering trees we actually needed to wear light windbreakers to keep from getting chilled. Our trail followed the meandering river through national forest just south of Mt. Hood. It was quite a popular area so our only wildlife sighting was a snail sporting a rather battered shell. Wonder what kind of adventures he’d had?

Which is a perfect segue for my favorite snail joke, “What did the snail say when he climbed on the turtle’s back? ‘Wheeeeeeeeee!’” It’s better if you say it out loud. Note: small children like this joke better than most adults do. Sigh.

Our next river outing was to the Waterfront Blues Festival, billed as the second largest blues festival in the country. It takes over the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland for four days every July. The location was amazing, Mt. Hood towered in the distance, three stages were spread along the west bank of the Willamette River, festival-goers lounged on the lawn and some even enjoyed the tunes while relaxing on their boats. Saturday night was closed by the blues harmonica master, Charlie Musselwhite.

Musselwhite, who has been playing since the 60s, had a banner year last year. Not only did he win four trophies at 2007’s Blues Music Awards but he also earned a “Blue Note” on Beale Street’s Walk of Fame. He certainly lived up to the hype, putting on a great show with passionate songs and lively banter. I came across this quote of his, “I only know one tune, and I play it faster or slower, or I change the key, but it’s just the one tune I’ve ever played in my life. It’s all I know.” It didn’t seem like just the same tune that night, and even if it was, he certainly left us clamoring for more.

The last night of the festival ended with a local boy, Curtis Salgado. I had never heard of him before—I guess that just shows how little I know about blues music. Salgado was born in Washington but spends most his time split between Eugene and Portland. Salgado was living and performing in Eugene during the 70s while John Belushi was there filming the movie Animal House. Belushi caught the blues bug from Salgado, later modeling a character in the Blues Brothers movie after him. At one time Salgado sang lead with the Robert Cray band and also Santana. The attendees at the Festival cheered Salgado like a hometown hero and he repaid us with a great set.

For our last day in the Portland area, we drove out to the wine country of the Willamette Valley. The area’s cool climate is not only perfect for Pinot noir, but a variety of sweet wine grapes such as Pinot gris, Pinot blanc, Riesling, and Gewurztraminer. I am not a huge fan of Pinot noir—the really scrumptious ones are usually out of my price range—and I am not particularly fond of sweet wines, yet the area still draws me. Of the two-hundred-plus vineyards in the valley we have a favorite, Sokol Blosser. We would like them even if they weren’t organic and solar-powered because they make a delightful mixture called Evolution.

I was first introduced to this citrusy, peachy, lightly-sweet wine that finishes crisp in 1999 at a restaurant I worked at in Tucson. It was, and still is, the perfect complement to spicy foods and hot days. Later that night, after our last dinner with Lisa and Gino, we shared a bottle of Evolution: a perfect end to a warm day with just a hint of sweetness to soften our bittersweet goodbyes.

Photos: View our photographs from River Outings in Portland.

Dates: We stayed in the Portland area from 06/08/08 to 06/27/08 and from 07/03/08 to 07/13/08.