We packed up our picnic stuff and headed over to join Chris and Shawn and Annie. We rode in Shawn's SUV to Kelley Point Park, at the confluence of the Willamette and the Columbia. Jeremy planned the Father's Day picnic and reserved a group picnic area for it. (Jeremy is my erstwhile nephew Dave Briggs's son, which makes him Chris's first cousin once removed, but he calls Chris "Uncle Chris.")
When we got to the park we discovered that the picnic area was at a distance from the parking lot along a paved path. Actually, it turned out to be .4 miles from the car, a long way to slog with heavy picnic supplies--coolers and chairs and baskets and boxes and a grill and a large bag of charcoal. When Jeremy arrived, he had brought a dolly, which made the second trip from the car to the picnic area much easier.
Chris and Annie and I had gotten together with Jeremy and Tanea and Austin and their roommate, Russell, for pizza last year when I flew out to Portland. It was nice to see them again and to meet baby Rainyn.
We had two grills, Chris's vegetarian and Jeremy's for "carnivores." The veggie grill included portabella mushrooms, veggie burgers, and veggie sausages. The other grill held hot dogs. Of course there was plenty of other food: lots of chips, dips, cheese, nuts, potato salad, baked beans, cherries, grapes, and lots more.
The kids had fun, playing frisbee, kicked soccer balls, flying kites, climbing trees, and playing with the dogs. Ken, Shawn, and I walked along the beach on the Willamette River side. We saw a small yellow bird, probably a finch, and some evidence that beavers are active in the area.
As the afternoon drew on, more friends showed up. It got progressively colder too--at least it was quite cold for us southerners. The Portlanders claimed that the weather was great!
When we got back to the house, we put a load of laundry in the washer. Everyone kicked back for a while, and then we went for a stroll around the neighborhood.
Later we played Pandemic, a cooperative board game in which the human players try to save the world. Most of the time they do not succeed. We followed the trend, so the world died from multiple outbreaks of disease.
Jeff called to wish Ken a happy Father's Day. Terri sent an email message with "better late than never" good wishes.
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