Subtitle: We arrived in Portland Tuesday, Aguust 16, 2016. Wandered around
the town a bit. Then caught up with Mowgli and my friend David Ralley
and got a tour of the downtown area. On Wednesday, I caught up with my
friend Diane Decker and we hiked the Lost Lake Butte Trail to catch
a nice view of Mt. Hood and then joined Nate her husband, and Mowgli
and David for dinner. Thursday was the trip to the Pacific Coast and
the Tillamook Air Musuem (shown on
this page). And Friday I wandered around downtown, exploring it and
then caught up with Nate and Diane for dinner and then went to the
airport to head home. Photos in this section cover Portland and the hike.
August 16-17, 2016
Other pages from the Pacific Northwest trip:
000-DSC_9423-header: Northeast Portland
000-DSC_9423-headertext: We arrived in Portland and went to our hotel
which was just across the Willamette river in the Northeast section
of town, near the convention center.
000-DSC_9423: A Buddhist-ish bell. It did not ring while I was there.
But perhaps it couldn't ring since we had been warned.
001-DSC_9424: The bell with a rise in the foreground.
002-DSC_9426: "Oregon's Finest Cannabis". Yup, it's
legal in Oregon too.
003-DSC_9427-header: Water and Bridges
003-DSC_9427-headertext: We crossed the Willamette River to head into
downtown Portland.
003-DSC_9427: The East Burnside Bridge on the Willamette River.
004-DSC_9428: The view from one of the bridges in Portland.
005-DSC_9429: The pedestrian (and bicycle) walkway from the North Steel Bridge.
006-DSC_9430: The East Burnside Bridge.
007-DSC_9431: The business end of the North Steel Bridge.
008-DSC_9432: The convention center on the east side of the Willamette River.
009-DSC_9433: A coast guard boat on the Willamette River.
010-DSC_9434: A portable box, so homeless people can store their stuff for
the day, if they need to go to a job interview, the doctors, etc. Interesting
idea.
011-DSC_9435: The NW Broadway Bridge.
012-DSC_9436: A funky-looking train by Union Station.
013-DSC_9437: Proof that this was the Broadway Bridge.
014-DSC_9438-header: Downtown Portland
014-DSC_9438-headertext: Next up, Mowgli, David Ralley, and I wandered
around downtown.
014-DSC_9438: Cook art-deco-ish art decorating the top of a building downtown.
015-DSC_9439: A bike tree?
016-DSC_9440: Public use bicycles, rent by the hour or whatever.
017-DSC_9441: The Pioneer Courthouse.
018-DSC_9442: A signpost at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Right above
Vancouver, BC, coming off of Mutare, is one that says "A Long Way"
as its distance. I had to dig around a bit for other pictures of this
signpost to figure out that the place was "Tipperary". Really.
019-DSC_9443: People hanging out and doing sutff on the steps. A
skateboarder in the middle of the picture is in the air, having flown
off the steps, trying to stay on his board for about the 30th time.
020-DSC_9444: A picture of a ... holy cats, it's Dave!
021-DSC_9445: Like I was saying, a picture of a cool building, against an
intense blue sky. Note the tables and canopies on the roof. Likely a place
where the elite meet to greet and eat.
022-DSC_9446: A dude feeding pigeons. A questionable choice.
023-DSC_9447: David sitting by a small fountain with some bronze otters.
024-DSC_9448: The otters didn't seem to be bothered by David's puns.
025-DSC_9449: Hey, it' sanother bridge. I'm not sure which one. OK,
I checked, it's the Hawthorne Bridge.
026-DSC_9450: A view of the Willamette River.
027-DSC_9451: The Battleship Oregon Memorial at Governor Tom McCall Waterfront
Park. The mast is the only part remaining of the 1898 battleship.
028-DSC_9452: For those who think drinking and driving is too mundane,
a bar boat that combines drinking and group-powered pedal boat.
029-DSC_9453: Public water fountains, called
Benson
Bubblers. It's a thing here.
030-DSC_9454: Cool art, paper butterflies on a streetlight pole.
031-DSC_9455-header: Union Station, The Portland Train Station
031-DSC_9455-headertext: Those who follow my life with a somewhat
disturbing level of interest may recall that I took a train from
this very train station to Seattle, back in
2010,
in which the train back to Portland hit two people, killing one of them
and injuring the other. Mowgli and David have had more pleasant train trips.
So we stopped in the station for a bit and sat for a spell.
031-DSC_9455: The Big Board. I think seeing the Cascades might
have jarred some memories...
032-DSC_9456: The gates to the trains.
033-DSC_9457: Mowgli and Daivd sitting on the bench discussing life,
the universe, and everything.
034-DSC_9458: Neon signs! Restrooms, Newsstand, and Taxi & Buses.
035-DSC_9459: Mowgli makes a point (by pointing).
036-DSC_9460: Dave parries with an "on the other hand". Mowgli
considers the point.
037-DSC_9461: The N Steel Bridge at night.
038-DSC_9465: Full moon over the Willamette River.
039-DSC_9466-header: Lost Lake Butte Trail
039-DSC_9466-headertext: The next day, Diane and I drove out to the east,
along the Columbia River, to hike up the Lost Lake Butte Trail, which has
a nice view of Mt. Hood. It took us a little bit of time to find the
start of the trail. First we had to find the Lost Lake. Turns out
quite a few people seem to find it. The hike up the trail was steep
but not too bad. But there wasn't much to see until we got to the top.
There were no hints of views to come.
039-DSC_9466: Diane at the start of the trail.
040-DSC_9467: Hey, a cool looking bug, perhaps some sort of funky beetle.
041-DSC_9468: Mount Hood. Forbidding, aloof, terrifying. The mountain with
the biggest tits in the world. <gong!> Start again!
(c.f. Monty Python)
042-DSC_9469: A view of Mt. Hood.
043-DSC_9470: Looking down the valley.
044-DSC_9471:
045-DSC_9472: Frank and Di with Mt. Hood in the background.
046-DSC_9473: More pictures of the out there.
047-DSC_9474: Other than at the peak, it was mostly foresty on the trail.
048-DSC_9476:
049-DSC_9478: The path was pretty.
050-DSC_9479: Looking back down the Lost Lake Butte trail.
051-DSC_9480: The remains of a wasp (hornet?) nest.
052-DSC_9481: The other part of the wasp (hornet?) nest.
053-DSC_9482: Looking up at a big tree.
054-DSC_9483: Moss, lichen, and stuff like that.
054a-tree_Panorama: A panoramic picture looking up at a big
tree in the parking lot.
055-DSC_9484-header: Lost Lake (Found!)
055-DSC_9484-headertext: After the trail hike, we stopped at the
General Store and got some ice cream, and then took a quick look
at the Lost Lake.
055-DSC_9484: Lost Lake!
056-DSC_9485: Diane ponders her new Sasquatch/Wookie friend which
enjoying a post-hiking ice-cream bar.
057-DSC_9486: Frank tries to relate to the plastic simulated carved
Sasquatch/Wookie.
058-DSC_9487: Frank and his new Sasquatch/Wookie pal.
059-DSC_9488: Kayaks on Lost Lake.
060-DSC_9489: Colorful life preservers.
061-DSC_9493-header: The Columbia River
061-DSC_9493-headertext: I took a few shots of the Columbia River
on the drive back home (Di was driving).
061-DSC_9493:
062-DSC_9494: The Columbia River.
063-DSC_9495:
064-DSC_9496:
065-DSC_9498: The sunlight on the water and the hills in the background
look really cool.
066-DSC_9500: The Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
067-DSC_9501: The Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.
068-DSC_9502: A barge on the Columbia River.
069-DSC_9503-header: Dinner by the Willamette River
069-DSC_9503-headertext: Diane, me, Nate, Mowgli, and David had dinner
at a place near the Riverplace Marina in the southwest part of Portland.
We sat outside. It overlooked the Marquam Bridge, where I-5 crosses
the Willamette River. While there, we watched the full moon rise over
the bridge.
069-DSC_9503: The Marquam Bridge where I-5 crosses the Willamette River.
070-DSC_9504: Look at the right bridge support: the full moon is
rising between its two pillars.
071-DSC_9505: Some different exposures to bring out the full moon.
072-DSC_9506:
073-DSC_9507: Nate and Di!
074-DSC_9508: Now the moon is the half-circle on the top of the bridge
by a light pole. The Tilikum Crossing bridge is visible below the
Marquam on the right.
075-DSC_9509: Another view with a lower exposure.
076-DSC_9510:
077-DSC_9511: Full darkness and a bright moon. The Tilikum Crossing,
visible behind the Marquam, is the newest bridge across the Willamette
and serves light rail, buses, streetcars, bicycles, pedestrians, and
emergency vehicles (basically, everything except cars and trucks).
078-DSC_9512: A different view of the Marquam Bridge.
079-DSC_9513: A meeting of the minds, David, Mowgli, Diane, and Nate.
It appears that Nate is presenting his plans for world peace, or
perhaps conquest, while the others have their doubts.