On to Umatilla

Well, our anchorage was pretty bumpy last evening, so no group dinner.   And OUR chicken was still partially frozen, so we broke out the Hamburger Helper.  I had bought a pound of hamburger yesterday at the Arlington grocery store, where it was ground on site.  It was fabulous and only $2.99 a pound--cheaper than Winco!

The wind died down and the waters were completely flat by 10 PM.  We enjoyed watching the localfrom Tri Cities, CBS news with Katie  Couric, and one of my favorite shows, NCIS.

There was a train track at shore, but we were far enough away that it was only a rumble, with NO whistle-blowing going on.  You'd think that we would have slept in with conditions like that, but I was up before the sun.  While enjoying breakfast and a Facebook hit, I could have sworn I saw a sea monster!  We often see and hear fish jump, but whatever this was rose silently and vertically, nearly a foot out of the water, and sank back down, like a whale doing a spy hop.  It was quite bull-nosed, not pointy like a sturgeon.  I saw no fins.  Al wondered if it was a fresh-water eel.  It's a mystery.  

I also observed a couple of cute diving birds around the boat this morning.

Al had a short work call and then we were underway by 11 AM.  And the water is quite glassy!  Al thought I should take a picture, but I said it would be boring.....what do you think?

We stuck our nose into the Boardman marina.  Some charts and guide books warn of the shallow water, but we contacted the harbormaster who told us it had been dredged to 12 feet.  We found the entrance narrow, which could be difficult to transit in rough weather, but 10 feet depth at the entrance and 14 within.  Perhaps we will stop here on the way back down.

Narrow entrance!  Swim beach straight ahead

Turn left, and there is the marina

Special hello to Dave and Patti Rose, who inform me they are checking our blog every day!

On the news we heard it got to 88 degrees in Tri Cities yesterday, with humidity at 52%.  Forecast is a 'bit cooler' today (still mid 80's) and calm winds.  We can SEE the humidity this morning with haze on the horizon all the way around.  Though unless clouds come up, it will be our fourth cloudless day!

On the way we saw a flock of pelicans resting on a sand bar.  Thanks for the marker, guys!

The Umatilla marina is large and has numerous slips available.  It is $20/night to stay at the transient dock, with power and water, or $40/ week.  It is next to a very busy freeway bridge over the river, so it reminds me a bit of Riverplace, noisewise anyway.  I don't believe there is a cute coffee shop anywhere nearby, hmph.

Just upriver is the McNary Dam, the last we will be transitting on the Columbia River.