Christmas Bluebell

We knew she was coming SOME time this week, so we weren't totally surprised, but we were very excited to see the Bluebell join is for Christmas Ships on the Willamette River last night.  Our crew cheered and waved as we passed, and theirs cheered and waved back.  This picture doesn't do justice.

We had the honor of sharing a dock with the Bluebell on our downriver trip on the Snake.  Check our previous post to see daytime and sunset pictures :

http://mvvikingstar.blogspot.com/2010/10/few-days.html
(Bluebell is the USCG ship that tends the buoys and markers on the Columbia, Willamette and Snake River. In this way, she has left her mark all up and down the rivers.)

The Christmas Magic is still at work.  There was a tornado in Aumsville OR yesterday as a cold front passed through.  Portland had black clouds and heavy rain.  But there were only perhaps occasional sprinkles as we paraded.  Here we are on a march downriver, where due to the Bluebell and Portland Spirit accompanying us, all bridges from the Hawthorne to the Steel were opened.  We stopped traffic all over town!  Here we are as we pass through the Burnside Bridge with the Convention Center towers in the background.

Timing was almost perfect----the rain began again as we docked for the evening.

Christmas Magic!

What a deluge!  In the hours before the first night of the regular season of Christmas Ships, on several occasions thinking 'Could it rain ANY harder?'  and the answer was proven 'YES!!!'  The weatherman on the 5 o'clock news told me that we had over 1.4 inches already for the day, and parts east were over 1.7 and he was waiting to see who would be the first to go over 2 inches.

It has been said that in an Oregon rain, it can rain all day and you don't get wet.  Which on many days can be true!  The fine mist that often falls here can run all day, and then the weatherman says something like 'Precipitation in Portland was 4 one-hundredths today'.

We must have warped to another universe lately.

But anyway, the Christmas Magic worked once more last night.  Just before parade time, the rain ceased, or at the least became very light.  We only had to run the wipers for a few swipes!

And for once, I got some tolerable shots of a few Christmas Ships.

Starting Point

Rock Steady

Silver Knot

Southern Belle

Tide Change

Tom and Jerry

Christmas Ships 2010 Begins

Last Saturday we began the 2010 season of Christmas Ships.  Camas/Washougal is notorious for foul weather, and Viking Star can handle it pretty well, so we always make a point of being there for the kickoff.  The Dolphin Yacht Club feeds us well, and local businesses spoil us a bit with small gifts, but that is not why we do this. We love boating, and we love Christmas, and we love to share both with as many people as we can!

Here are a few pictures from the dock.  It was a beautiful clear day!  But WINDY (sustained 20+ mph, gusts to 39 mph), which added to the COLD!  Mt. Hood was beautiful above all the white caps.

We thought the dock was filling up well, but more and more and more boats came.  We had 18 begin the parade, which I think is a recent record for Camas!  Two had difficulties with displays and pulled out early, but otherwise, the weather did not seem as bad as feared out on the water.

The boat in front of us, Last Call, has a new display this year.  They have Christmas musicians playing on the sides, and a sign on back that says 'Christmas Rocks!'  but I took this photo for the cute 'window' display on their upper deck!

This is just a warm-up. The regular season begins this Thursday.  We are looking forward to another good run with the Christmas Ships.

The Wise Guys are Back!

We three kings of Orient are

Bearing gifts we traverse afar

Field and fountain, moor and mountain

Following yonder star

O Star of wonder, star of night

Star with royal beauty bright

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy Perfect Light

Today we finished hanging the rest of the decorations for our 8th year of Christmas Ships Parade participation.  We still need to do some fine tuning--raise the star a foot or so, and replace some twinkle light bulbs on half the star, but we are good to go otherwise.

(Mike Shappert of Tide Change gave us the nickname 'The Wise Guys' in past years.  He has a nativity display, and we always try to run together in the parades.)

Feeling Christmas-y

Last weekend, we bought a new battery for daughter Christine's pick-up, then Al borrowed the truck to borrow back the Christmas Ship display we gave away after last season's end.  Remember, we had planned to be 'up North' by now...

Ready for assembly

The star is taking shape

Hoist it up, and lash it to the mast!

We got cooled off, good and plenty, since the stove went out just after Al said 'We have to pump more fuel for the stove.'  The star was enough work for today, so we layered up and rode MAX downtown for the tree lighting ceremony.  The line at Starbucks was unbelievable, so we found the best viewing spot we could.  All the 'seats' were taken even 45 minutes before it was due to begin.  

Our view, early on

Pioneer Courthouse, a little later

The sponsors for the evening

Pink Martini, Pacific Youth Chorus, Oregon Symphony,  KGW, KINK, Mayor Sam Adams, and SANTA made appearances.

Ta Da!  We were all told to go to www.bemerrydowntown.org to find more events at Pioneer Square and downtown this holiday season.  I just checked!  Christmas Ships are mentioned on Page 5!