We had a wonderful excursion yesterday, traveling about a half an hour through a lovely forest, over a bridge and there you are - Sauvie Island! We stopped at the Cracker Barrel Market (not a member of the well known chain lol) - and bought a day parking permit for $10.00. Be sure you have gas because there is none available on the island and.....we never found a bathroom option except very old, smelly outhouses - but plenty of em.
The island is 15 miles long and about 4 miles wide - covering approximately 24,000 acres. There are lakes, river beaches (including a nude beach), farms, fields and 12,000 acres owned by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and managed as the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area. The island was put on the map by Lewis and Clark in 1805. A French Dairyman, Laurent Sauve was sent by the Hudson Bay Company to produce butter for settlements in Alaska in 1845 and for the most part it seems untouched by progress and it's close proximity to Portland.
We enjoyed climbing up and over the dikes, built to protect houses and farms from summer floods. Along the drive to the beach we saw tall platforms built for nesting bald eagles. We stopped and took pictures of cattle, hunting dog kennels and harvested pumpkins, gourds and squash - sitting in perfect rows across the fields. At one point thousands of geese flying in V shapes and honking for all the world flew overhead as they hurried toward warmer climes.
We really enjoyed stopping at a local farm and buying fresh vegetables and fruits, taking pictures of the sunflowers but mostly eating sausages and pumpkin pie - OMG!!! Kids and dogs were running around, some folks were in costumes , there were hay rides pulled by a tractor and chickens walking around loose- so much to see and enjoy and so many photo opportunities.
We ate too much and thoroughly enjoyed our crisp autumn day in the country! On the way home it started to rain and we LOVE THE RAIN - THANK YOU!!!
Gabi
