Boat Trip up the Willamette River

On Friday, June 1st we headed up to Portland by way of my godparents boat. We drove to Newberg, OR and put the boat in the Willamette river there and boated up the Willamette to Portland, OR. The weather was extremely warm for this time of year which made it a perfect day to be on a boat. We had a lot of fun and it was so nice to be outside once again! In order to get to Portland, you have to go through a set of 5 locks, since the only other way would be to go down a fairly large waterfall. It was very interesting to see how the lock system work and we were all impressed at how quickly the water goes down once you are in the locks. Overall, it took us 30 min. to go through the five locks. Afterwards, we boated back down the river a little to take a look at the waterfall. There were a ton of fisherman at the bottom of the waterfall.

We boated into Portland and ate at Newport Cafe which is a seafood restaurant on the river. We docked the boat at the restuarant's dock and then walked right in to eat. After dinner, we watched fireworks from the boat. That was a lot of fun since the fireworks were being set off on a barge that was very close to us. The fireworks were for the Rose Festival that was taking place that week. Here are some pictures of our awesome day:

Brandon working a little to give Dennis a break from driving the boatWhile Brandon was working, I was relaxing!My mom, me and my brotherStopping to get through the locksThe first set of locks systemBrandon helping out while going through the locksYou can tell how far we went down by looking at the dry part of the wood - it is amazingThe waterfallsA gorgeous view of OHSU on the hillA view of downtown Portland from the boatWatching fireworks on the boatJoy and I

My brother, Dad and Brandon

Brandon and his dad

Here are some goodbye pictures. It was hard to leave Oregon especially since the weather was so nice, but it was exciting to think that we will be able to see both of our families again when we head to Seattle in September when Brandon presents his research project at a conference.

The Yuan'sOur farewell group at the airport - we had already gone through security when I remembered that I wanted a picture which is why there is a glass between us and our parents!