Rafting the Santiam River

Sorry, no pictures.

We rafted the Santiam River yesterday with our church friends who do this as a hobby. The focus was to entertain a couple from Scotland whom we will meet up with in five weeks when we visit there. (Our church has been hosting George and Donna for the past two weeks, mostly during the time we were in Michigan. Donna, is part of project at Richmond Craigmillar church that deals with grieving children. She was in Portland during the first week for an international conference.)

Aleene and I went down the Santiam with the same folks a year ago. It was a calm and uneventful trip then, but yesterday was a bit more upbeat. They were letting some water out of Detroit Lake up stream and the river rose about three feet just before we got in. It made for a fast, exciting, but not dangerous ride.

There were nine of us...three in a raft. Our hosts are experienced rafters...I have gone down the Rogue River with them twice and they really play it safe.

We saw Osprey, dux, geese, and all manner of other birds. We saw two Osprey nests at the top of trees. We really got a chance to watch a pair looking for food (primarily fish) while watching out for their young.

After the raft trip we spent the evening and had a delicious supper with the Salem couple who hosted the event.

We look forward to spending more time with our new Scottish friends when we visit Edinburgh in late September.