Where the Columbia meets the Sea
Our world is full of connections. Springs connect with creeks, and creeks with rivers. Rivers flow to the ocean. Trails connect to roads, and roads to highways that lead us to distant places. Electricity travels from hydroelectric dams to transformers, to power lines, to distant cities by connections. E-mail and the human voice travel by telephone connections. The Internet is just one big connection.
For the past several days the Sea Bird has been traveling on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Wake of Lewis and Clark. We have drawn a lot of these connections together. History, geology, bird, animal, plant, and fish study connect us to the land and river where we travel. We relate to the Corps of Discovery across nearly two hundred years of time using books and journals.
We are connected by means of organizations, buildings, museums, and interpretive centers which we have visited: The Nez Perce Center, The Discovery Center and Museum, the Columbia Maritime Museum, and Fort Clatsop Interpretive Center.
The best connection of all has been accomplished by bringing together a cruise ship full of people from all over the country. The friendships we have built while traveling together help us realize on this last full day of our journey that we have had our own Voyage of Discovery.
