Two guys with fishing gear were headed in the same direction and I heard them talking to Sam as they walked. I arrived at the river's edge at what looked like a good spot so I rode onto the beach and found quickly how hard it is to move the bike and trailer in beach sand. I got off the bike, got in front and pulled on the handlebars and moved it to where the sand was wetter and more stable

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This is where the fun started to happen. Sam had not reappeared and I was almost ready to shove off when he when he arrived telling me that I was on the wrong beach. I was on the bank of the Columbia River on the wrong side of the breakwater, which separates the two rivers at the confluence.

I shoved off anyway and paddled round to the other side of the breakwater to where Sam had walked to show me the right spot. I beached lightly alongside and took the flower blooms off the stems and cast them in the river as an offering to the river spirit. This was Val's idea and I needed all the help I could so I asked for safe passage up the Willamette. She had sewn the yellow flag, which I hoisted atop my small mast for the whole journey.