A Lot Going On ....

...in this photo. The day started out with all that blue sky you see in the distance. Son and I had to go over to my aunties to do some more car stuff. Question on her battery working properly. Got that settled and standing outside,the sun was so warm on our backs! Then, the clouds that were off to the west rapidly cut off the sun and as we were going back across the Glenn Jackson bridge (or the I-205 bridge), the blue sky is disappearing quickly. Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on the downwind side. If the temperature at the crest of the wave drops to the dew point, moisture in the air may condense to form lenticular clouds. You can see three of them, layered on top of one another in the distance. And no, they are not flying saucers, as some are reported as such.

The land on the right is called Government Island although it was called Diamond Island by Lewis and Clark who camped overnight on the island November 5, 1803. They reported seeing many river otters. Government Island is only accessible by boat and many people go there in the summer to camp on the beach. It is just a narrow swath of land on the beaches that are open to the public, as nearly all of the island is off limits as it contains protected natural areas. Most of the island is owned by the Port of Portland. And because it's an island, of course, it splits the river into two large channels and the island made a good place to help support this large bridge connecting two states.

On the left is the state of Washington and the city of Vancouver. Vancouver was a sleepy little community before the I-205 bridge was built and opened for business in December 1982. That opened the flood gates for Clark County, Washington to become one of the fastest growing counties in Washington state.

And of course, the mighty Columbia River. The Columbia River Basin covers a major portion of the landscape of North America, including parts of seven states and British Columbia. It provides drainage for hundreds of tributaries over an area of more than 260,000 square miles, and is an important backdrop for urban settlement and development, agriculture, transportation, recreation, fisheries and hydropower. It also serves as a unique and special ecosystem, home to many important plants and animals.

Famed and legendary folk singer, Wood Guthrie wrote a song in 1941, Roll On, Columbia, Roll On. It glamorized the harnessing of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. The song became famous as an anthem about American public works projects arising out of the New Deal in the Great Depression. Woody Guthrie, who knew little about the Pacific Northwest, was driven all around Washington and Oregon to gain inspiration from the sites of the Columbia and its tributaries. Of the Columbia River Ballads, this song was by far the most popular and it was established as the official folk song of Washington in 1987.

And thank you various websites and Wikipedia. The things one can learn.