I really loved pretty much everything about Oregon. (John didn’t like the full-service gas stations, though.) Just look at this beautiful place:

On Friday Hannah took us on a real Oregonian experience: berry picking on Sauvie Island.

The place was really too beautiful to capture with a camera.

We mainly picked blueberries, but also a few blackberries and peaches.

After we paid for our haul and used the awful port-a-potties Hannah took us to probably the best-kept secret in the Portland area: a beach on Sauvie Island. Maybe it’s the best-kept secret because to get there you drive down a dirt road past miles and miles of adult-only nude beaches. And then, at the very end of the road, is this lovely and not-busy place on the bank of the Columbia River.

Hannah and I both really like the beach. (John does not, but the nice thing about this place was it had some shade. He didn’t want to go to the beach at all but I insisted and so he complied.) We had fun! Carissa and Elizabeth had never been to a beach before. Hannah packed us a lunch and some beach toys, even an inflatable boat that she pulled the kids around in and took Wes for a row in. Wes loved throwing the rocks, and Carissa and Elizabeth had fun in the sand. Every kid needs to go to the beach. We also saw some interesting boats pass by.

At the end of the day, Hannah made us a pie with the fresh blueberries picked that day. Pretty much heaven on earth to me (although no one else in my family really likes blueberries. More for me.)