COLUMBIA RIVER book on cruise ships

Small cruise ships ply the Columbia River each year, leaving from Portland, Oregon. The cruises are usually six days seven nights. While passengers sleep the first night, the captain takes the ship to the mouth of the Columbia. After seeing Lewis & Clark's camp (replica) and going near but not into the maelstrom usually present at the meeting of river and Pacific Ocean, the ship goes upstream. It veers off the Columbia River at the Snake River and continues to Lewiston, Idaho. The small ships (50 people or so) stop at small docks or even at an occasional river beach to enable passengers to get off and see special or historical sites such as Marymoor Castle or the remains of the Cascade Locks that once helped boats to navigate the often turbulent Columbia Gorge area.  Food and entertainment on the ships are first class. By day the river shores create a moving panorama. I have served as guest historian on several ships. The guests come from all over the world. Usually the ships operate in the autumn months, after they are used on Seattle or Vancouver to Alaska routes. It is a great way to experience the nuances of the Columbia River, and the book explains its history in armchair fashion.

Christmas in Washington State

Christmas here usually finds me in a raincoat if I am out, as it is the beginning of our chief rainy season and goes until about late February but a typical year accumulates only about 33 inches where I live. Green grass still is everywhere, but trees lose their leaves. We rejoice when snow falls but it seldom lasts longer than a month and so far has been less than 24 hours two weeks ago. The temperatures run about 50 degrees in daytime. Lots of Christmas lights on homes, and along the Columbia River they reflect in the water. Many riverside cities have decorated boat parades, too, which is magical. This year I gave my adult children fresh frozen salmon gifts or smoked salmon. In about January one of the salmon types becomes active again -- silvers. I will be with some members of my large family for Christmas Eve and Day. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Holidays of every type that occur about this time. Think Peace on Earth and hope it could happen.

Decorated boats on the Columbia & San Juans, too

Like a lot of you, I have been shopping and addressing Christmas cards to people far distant or sending special e-mails. I love Christmas lights and programs and having people for dinner during this season. My family is so large and scattered all over the West (mostly) that we don't try for all-family celebrations but "some of us" are with "some of us" at dinners or events frequently during the holidays. Around Portland and some of the other river cities, decorated boats are wonderful to watch from restaurants or just parking places on the Columbia River. Not on the Columbia but on Puget Sound a decorated Christmas ship sponsored by the Bellingham Central Lions Club (WA) and crewed by volunteers calls on the more remote San Juan Islands to bring  Santa Claus, presents, and good cheer to adults on a December weekend.

A review in The Seattle Times

I am honored that The Seattle times wrote a review for my book The Columbia River: An historical Guide. Here's the link:  http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2022381871_localbooks1203xml.html

WINTER IN WASHINGTON AND BC

Winter in the Pacific Northwest depends on whether one is east or west of the huge mountain ranges that go north-south through Oregon, Washington and BC. Actually BC has several such N/S ranges: Since the Pacific Ocean's prevailing winds are from the SW almost all the time, the western slopes are protected largely from severe cold. Temperatures in winter usually run about 40-55 daytimes and it seldom freezes (but does sometimes) at night .In winter from about November-March it rains off and on. By about June and until maybe October, it barely ever rains at all. On the eastern slopes, though, winter weather is much like that near the international borders across the whole country--cold, drier, some or lots of snow that stays.

The Columbia River begins in eastern BC, so winter is a glorious, bright, snowy time. Snow sports are great most places until the river reaches south to about the Oregon-Washington border, when it eases into the warmer side. We are lucky, because we can drive east and enjoy skiing or stay west and take off our jackets on sine winter days, or beachcomb or hike. When the weather man broadcasts it, I love to drop everything and drive asap to the Pacific beaches to marvel at the huge winter waves  that sometimes develop. .

It is so unnaturally cold in Washington State this December that I can believe that, in long past years, the Columbia River actually froze over in places. A barge operator told me about having to park his barge at a private shore near The Dalles in Eastern Washington until the river thawed out. Hard to believe but temperatures in northwest Washington have been hovering in the 20s instead of 45 or so. The book, The Columbia River, traces the development of the barge traffic on the river. During Depression (1930s) days the barges delivered fuel to eastern Washington ports more cheaply than  sending it by roads. Barges also hauled grain from the verdant grain fields of eastern Washington downriver to ocean ships.

The farmers found a curious way of delivering grain to the barges. They and shipping companies built slides down the steep cliffs along the river and sent the grain to the barges or sternwheelers (before them). However, the first uses sent the grain screaming down the slopes so fast that it literally arrived scorched at the bottom. Designers had to build baffles to slow down the descent.