Portland Waterfront Bike Loop

Melissa and Erica and I decided to go for a bike ride Friday afternoon.

We felt like doing something really different from the Vernonia Linear Trail so we decided to take the MAX (train) downtown to do the Waterfront Bike Loop.

We started near #3 at Waterfront Park and went clockwise around the loop.

Melissa took this picture of Erica and I in Willamette Park. You can see the Sellwood bridge in the background.

After we crossed the Sellwood Bridge we ended up on an extremely nice section of the Springwater Corridor We stopped to get a look at the bird above, but I haven't identified him yet.

* Melissa's mom has identified the bird as an Osprey -Pandion haliaetus. Thanks!

This isn't the best viewpoint for the Ross Island Bridge but there were some cool rocks and pretty yellow flowers on the beach.

* Kathy in the library has identified the flower as an Evening Primrose - Oenothera spp.

We stopped in the Eastbank Esplanade to take a break in the shade and admire the flowers. Erica has a book on edible and medicinal plants. She decided to taste the willow leaves... Melissa and I did nothing to stop her. Anyway, I think it's actually the willow bark that's good for headaches.

The floating walkway, apparently the longest one in the US, was a cool surprise. Although we were riding downhill at a pretty good pace, I managed to get an OK photo.

The walkway ended up at the Steel Bridge. The lower portion of the bridge can raise independently of the upper portion, that's why there is a crosswalk sign.

Afterwards we ate dinner and drank LOTS of water at McFadden's. With their incredible happy hour menu the three of us ate for under 10$. I guess being an Irish bar, they usually make most of their money on beer.

After that we stopped by Voodoo Doughnuts where Erica got this jam filled voodoo doll.

Finally, we stopped at the famous Powell's bookstore and headed home.

Street of Dreams

My friend Melissa had extra tickets to the Street of Dreams Show. Sunday was the last day of the show, so we decided to go and check out the houses while Becca, Kevin and their friend Carlos returned the vans they'd used for Hood to Coast.

The Dream Dog Houses on display and auctioned off for charity were rather extreme, but pretty neat. One of them even had a solar panel and a greenroof!

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures inside the houses because there were so many people and it was hard to get a good one. I did like this wooden bead chandelier. I don't think I've seen one like it before.

We also really liked this glass topped bar with all the rocks on display. Melissa and Erica have a rock tumbler and we're always finding cool rocks. We figured out that the construction of the bar is actually fairly simple. Unfortunately we don't really have a good place for one. Maybe we could make a coffee table?

Four County Point Trail

On my drive down to Seaside I decided to stop at the Four County Point Trail. Sami and I had been there before looking for geocaches, so I knew it would be a quick but interesting hike.

Race Results

I didn't find out till the end of the race, but apparently Becca and Kevin's team was called the "Roosters" they placed 8th out of lots and lots.

Hood to Coast Relay Race

My sister Becca and her boyfriend Kevin came to town for the Hood to Coast race.

We went to the Edgefield McMenamins in Troutdale for lunch before the team headed up the mountain.

They start off around 7 PM and run through the night ending up in Seaside, OR sometime around 1 PM tomorrow. Becca is scheduled to run legs 4, 16, & 28.

Forest Park - All Trails Challenge

Monday morning, Aaron and I went for a short hike on wildwood trail... We started wondering how long it actually was and how many miles of trails are there within Forest Park. The library is pretty slow on Mondays, so I decided to investigate.

I discovered the All Trails Challenge. I decided we should do it. Not to get the certificate or whatever, but because it would be fun and interesting. Plus, there's a nice check list of the trails. It turns out that we hiked section W5, in addition to some of the other trails near the Portland Audubon Society.

Sara 1 : Rose 0

BEFORE:

There's a door behind this mess. Can you see it?

Our "side yard" is rather narrow, but Sami's rhubarb patch is there and it leads to the the back yard, so I wanted to be able to access it.

The gate is nice and the hinges are in good shape. The latch is broken, but shouldn't be difficult to replace.

AFTER:

After a nasty game of tug of war with the rosebush I managed to pull the smaller old trellis out.

The arch had been in a corner of our backyard, but there was no bench or doorway or statue underneath it. I figured it could be more useful in this spot. Unfortunately it was quite rusty and sort of falling apart, so I wired it together as best I could.

Luckily our friend Aaron stopped by just then and helped me put it in place. When we got the arch where we wanted it, I cut off about half of the rosebush and tried to train part of it to go around the arch. I hope to train other branches of the rosebush to go across the house later.

Surprise! A Birdhouse.

After I cut back a lot of the greenery in the doorway, I found this birdhouse. So cute. I wonder if any birds are using it now?

Pears Pears Everywhere

It's literally raining pears in our backyard.
I've canned a batch every day since tuesday.

Sami's Off to Finland!

Well, Sami left for Finland yesterday morning. He was actually able to catch his flight this time, (unlike previous occasions where the flight left early or was canceled and they didn't notify him), so he called me twice from PDX to confirm that he was actually leaving.

I just got an email and a phone call from him a couple of hours ago saying that he's arrived, slept and is supposed to meet up with his brother Tomi and his family today.

Unfortunately Sami forgot to pack his camera, so I hope someone takes some pictures of his trip for him :)

Anyway, for those who don't know, Sami flew to Helsinki, then took the bus to Forssa where his family lives. Later he will go to Tampere (where we went to school) to see friends.