Cruising on the Columbia Part I

  Ever since I read Huckleberry Finn I’ve wanted to go on a river cruise. To watch the shore go by while eating fresh fish—how idyllic. But prices have gone up since Huck and Jim went south. 

  Penny pincher is not a nice name. I like to call myself thrifty. I’ve tried to loosen up, but when Teresa told me the cost of an eight day cruise on the Columbia River, I balked. Talk about sticker shock. But she wanted to do this so I caved and started to focus on the fun aspects: to see new and beautiful countryside and immerse myself in the fantastic yarn of Lewis and Clark. 

   We drove to Spokane Washington and left our car at a motel next to the airport. We hopped on a train to Portland, Oregon. The train ran along the Columbia River which we would soon be cruising up. 

  We spent three days checking out the fine city of Portland and on Sunday, April 16, took a short train ride back across the Columbia to Vancouver, Washington, not to be confused with Vancouver, British Columbia 300 miles to the north. 

  The cruise company, American Queen, put us up for the night at the downtown Hilton. We registered there for the cruise and got our cabin door card, which would also function as an on board credit card. The cruise was supposedly all inclusive so I stopped my ears against additional purchases. I will credit the company with being well organized and efficient. 

  Monday was our day to explore Vancouver before boarding the ship at three p.m. Our suitcases were taken from the hotel to the boat in the morning. After breakfast we walked down to the river to look at the boat, the American Empress, in all her good old days glory. There was a strong cold wind off the river so we directed our steps inland. The day was sunny with a promise of rain, a typical forecast in the Pacific Northwest. 

American Empress

  Portland had been vibrant and alive. Vancouver (pop. 192,000) seemed sterile and empty. Even its handful of homeless people seemed purposeful, unlike the laid-back denizens of Portland. We followed a paved trail to old Fort Vancouver on the edge of town. 

  The great thing about the West is that its history is much more recent. The East and Midwest had plenty of forts, but unless they were built of stone, they’ve either rotted away or have been dismantled for other purposes. The wooden barracks and individual officers homes at this fort have been preserved and given new life in this century. 

Old Fort Vancouver

   Since this day was officially part of the cruise, we were given free access to the museums of the city. This was a valuable feature and I love museums, but I have to be in the right mood to focus on other times, so we went back to the hotel for lunch. 

  There was a three hour wait before we could get on the boat. The company issued sudoku books and cookies. We were gathered in the hotel restaurant and we had a chance to look over our fellow travelers, elderly folks like ourselves, but up for having a good time.  I recalled the Lincoln quote, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

   There was a bus to shuttle us to the boat—there would always be the same big comfy bus in every port, but we decided to hike down and beat the crowd. As we boarded the ship through a side door, we got a taste of the friendliness of the crew. It was a bit overwhelming and would abate a bit in the coming days, but the company had obviously selected employees with cheerful demeanors. It was nice. 

  Our suitcases were waiting for us on our cabin bed. A canvas cloth had been placed on the bed to protect the bedspread. The company not only thinks of everything, they also do it. 

  The boat had four decks. There were cabins along each corridor and the dining rooms and lounges were fore and aft on the boat. Our cabin was compact, but well designed. We even had a veranda which we hardly used due to the cool weather.  

  We were invited to the showroom for a welcome aboard toast by the cruise director, a burly fellow with three stripes on his epaulets. As we made our way to the dining room, the boat got under way downstream towards Astoria, Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia. After a day in Astoria we would turn around and spend the week steaming upriver towards Idaho. 

(To be continued)

We’re off