Just keep pedaling!

Sunday morning 7:00 am -what are we doing? We are going on the BridgePedal! Over 20,000 people turned out to ride across the vehicle bridges on the Willamette river. There are ten total but the cow and I decided to do the 8-bridge 25-mile ride. The starting point was on 1st Avenue on the Riverfront. The officials were allowing 100 riders at a time to leave every minute, yeah it was extremely tight at the beginning of the race. The route (click the 8 route and see where we went) was created to zigzag back and forth over the eight bridges. The first bridge, Hawthorne, was smooth sailing. We knew it was going to be crowded and we would need patience. I didn't realize how much patience however; the second bridge was the Ross Island bridge and as you know from traveling across bridges there is always an incline on either side of a bridge. Well, recall that there are old, young, good, and bad riders in front of us. So when the incline got too much for people they would just stop and get off of their bike, which created a huge bottleneck at the beginning of this bridge. At the top of all the bridges you got a beautiful view of the city and you kind of forget the bottleneck and realized the reason you were there. Now on the down side of the bridge was equally as interesting. You could pick up speed but you had to keep your hands on the brakes because kids were everywhere and they get a little jiggly when they go too fast. Not to mention the people who are in it to race and they have no where to go except over the top of you. It was kind of exciting at this time because we were able to descend onto the 405 freeway and just like a car could pick up speed again and merge into bike traffic (Whoa! that was fun). We knew to keep our speed up because the Marquam bridge was next; unfortunatley, the organizers decided to allow Whole foods to hand out bananas and PowerBar to hand out bite size snacks at the beginning of the bridge! You guessed it - amazing bottleneck. Did I say amazing - I meant AMAZING. I have to admit as I was watching all of the riders eating the bananas I thought what the HELL are they going to do with the peels. Low and behold there were boxes set up to throw the peels away and almost every cyclist I saw made there way to the box and threw away there garbage. Banana peels on a downward side of a bridge could be hilarious or dangerous (depends on your warped sense of humor)! After you made your way down the Marquam there was a separation from the men and the boys. It was pretty smooth sailing after this for the remainder of the ride. We also crossed the Burnside, Broadway, Fremont, a long pedal up to the St. John's (this is a beautiful bridge), and back down the east side of the river for great views of the city and the last crossing of the Steel Bridge to the finish line.
I must also say that out of the eight bridges that we rode only two of them (Marquam and Fremont) are not open to bicycle traffic normally. Which makes traversing Portland on a bike very, very easy.

Holy Cow - I am tired!

Wow! Where do I start? The cow came in on friday evening and we had three events to choose from: twilight criterium in the south park blocks, celloist playing at a coffee shop/wine bar, and the Violent Femmes were playing at the Taste of Oregon event for $5.00. Decisions ? Decisions? We started at Eleni's Greek Cuisine. It was awesome - VERY cute bartender, scruffy, tall, great voice - oh yeah, the food and company were excellent also. We had grilled calamari - YUM! Bottle of Greek white wine. After finishing up we took a walk down to the waterfront to see the Femmes. As we were walking up to the event people were lined up on the bridge - this meant that they did not have to pay to get in and they could see and hear everything. Once in we made our way to the beer garden which also sold Oregon wine. We had to show our I.D. to the Alcohol Monitor (hee, hee). This was great. Bought a couple of glasses of wine and headed off to find the stage and listen to the Femmes. I really don't know why we needed a monitor because once we had paid we could have handed our drink to any of the 80,000 people also there to have a good time (O.K. maybe not 80,000 but there was shitload of people). The concert was good and loud and there were people everywhere. I decided that the kids (yes, parents actually take their kids to a concert) had the best seats in the house because they were all sitting on top of the parents shoulders. Next to us there was an old guy rockin out and a woman and her husband singing at the top of there lungs they were standing next to teenagers with dreds and tattoos. It was quite inspiring. As we walked down the street there was a couple in front of us with their new puppy "Governess" in their backpack. Governess got tired at the Femmes and needed a ride home.
Saturday took us to the deep south of the Mississippi Street Fair. Everything you could want in a street fair and more. I especially liked the Posing Pig above one of the many BBQ Rib joints. There were many distractions in ole Mississippi as you can see. The Margarita Bar in the middle of the street, the black rose collective bookstore, the Moxie - Roadside Juice Bar, and Pistils Nursery for all of you herbal needs. There was a sign for an Open house around the corner so we strolled down to check it out. The smaller green house on the left is the one that was open (I know they are both green). It was quite awesome at 370,000.00 but the back yard was a major freeway. The yellow house with the corrugated metal is awesome - I don't know the story on it but when I do I will let all of my devoted readers aware. The Pink place is actually a restaurant that is spectacular - Lovely Hula Hands! All of this and more from Mississippi!

Tanner Springs Park

Tanner Springs Park opened this week with much fanfare, hoopla, and press. It is across from our building and it was not designed for recreation it was designed for contemplation. I am sounding so much like a Portlander. Two years ago when Portland Parks and Recreation (or Contemplation) started seeking designs for Tanner Springs Park, it gave designers two guidelines: Evoke the feel of a wetland, and make the park a destination for contemplation. The winning bid was German - landscape architect Herbert Dreiseitl. There is definately something missing from this park. Dogs are not allowed. There are signs posted asking dog owners to refrain from entering with an explanation discussing the fragile wetland filtration system. Dogs can walk around the exterior but no paw is to enter the park itself. I thought Portlanders, like many of my readers, would be up-in-arms about this matter but I have seen no defiance and no extreme articles denouncing this prohibition. Yes, there are three of the same picture because I like it so much.

Flexibility in Portland

As a follow-up from our day of bidding on a house - we are in limbo. We sent an offer over to the sellers and they accepted our price but we had stipulated that a soil sample be taken because MOST of the homes here were heated with oil and there are oil tanks still in use, so our relator told us we would write in soil sample and if any issues come back we can ask the seller to fix the problem. Sellers really didn't like this because they said they had the oil tank decommissioned when they bought the house. Only issue is there could still be soil issues. I will let you know what happens with that!

Flexcar! This is a great car-sharing program that is in Portland, D.C., and Seattle, etc. . An individual (like me) or a company (like Intel) can become members - therefore I do not need to pay for insurance and the car and the company does not have to manage a fleet. The flexcars are parked all over the city in designated parking spots. You make an appointment on-line for a car (you can request a certain car in certain location) and how long you will be using it. Your flexcar card gives you access into the car when you waive the barcode over the back window. The keys are in the glove box and there is a pin number and key pad you must enter before the car will start - once in with the key in hand you are ready to go. The monthly fee that you pay to flexcar to be a member includes insurance, gas, and maintenance. Yes- you read that right - there is a gas card inside (I was thinking that there is probably many of these cars broken into for that prize). Many companies use this option and it seems to work well unless you make a reservation for a car and you go to pick it up and the idiot before you did not get it back in time.

The yellow sign gives a warning for bikers while riding on the streetcar line! Yikes - looks painful!

We are CRAZY!

Our door is open and we welcome all of you to comment on the speed of our decision making skills. Not only have we quit our jobs in California, sold a house we really adored moved to a high rise in Portland, OR but now we are bidding on a house built in 1906 in a cool, hip, up-and-coming (PDXers love this term) neighborhood. Address 2934 Yamhill (mls 5057763) will give you a few more pictures and some details about the house. At about 6:00 pm we decided it was time to make a quick decision and bid on a house that has been on the market for 1 day. Just like us - we move fast - stealth!

The neighborhood is exactly what we were looking for! It is near Mt. Tabor and between SE Belmont and SE Hawthorne (Come on read all this stuff that will be close to the pad if we get this place!) We would be able to walk to food, theater, groceries and our beloved wine bar - also only 5 or so blocks is my all time favorite place so far - Bar Pastiche. Wish us luck. I will keep you informed.

Gorge is Gorgeous!

The Columbia River Gorge which borders Oregon and Washington is beautiful. It is less than an hours drive to the first picture which is a vista point that overlooks the Gorge called Portland Womens Forum. If you look closely at the first picture you see a structure which is called the Vista House - construction began in 1916. The structure itself is 3 storys with a balcony for 360 degree viewing. It has a copper ceiling and fabulous glasswork for windows. From the inside with the sun shining through the windows they look milky but on the outside they are dark and opaque. We drove historic columbia river highway which is a loop that follows highway 84. The historic highway has trails for hiking and many spectacular waterfalls. We walked a short distance to Latourell Falls where you could walk down a small path and see an excellent small fall with rocks and rubble below. There was a foot bridge that crossed the stream. Our second stop was Horsetail falls (pic above). There was also a .5 mile climb straight up to what they called upperfalls wich was spectacular with a cave cut out so you could literally stand under the falls. About 20 miles ahead is the town of Hood River, where the hood river meets up with the columbia. This is the windsurfing capital of the world and now kite-boarding. It is quite interesting to see surfers of anysort on a river instead of the ocean. After a beer/wine we headed home to have dinner at our favorite pasta house - justa pasta!

4:10 Friday Afternoon

What to do? Voile' meet the cow for happy hour. I decided that the pictures I took would be for specific purposes. I didn't know what that purpose was or how I would find it but there was intent in my story. The clock is just to prove I was thinking about this blog before setting out on my adventure (as always). You will notice missing from the collage is actual pictures of my betrothed (I know the definition doesn't fit but I like the word - I am reading a novel set in the 14th century - can you tell?) and I drinking but there is a reason for that. As I was walking along the North Park Blocks I saw the Federal Building and across from it is this cool home store called Hive-it has a bit of everything very european and spanish/scandanvian designs. Both the Fed building and the store reminded me of GoS. Only a couple of steps from Hive, parked in front of this tiny little bistro, Cafe Allora, was this lovely red bike. Yes, I am thought of El S- knowing a els a comment would be made about the bike, comments like make, model, male or female rider? The cow and I ended up on NW23 having a pizza at a place both els and GoS have been to, Pizzacato. As I was walking home I realized another red bike, all of these were signs to say hey to els and GoS-thinkin' about you!

These boots are made for walkin'

Well, I guess I got your attention with the title. Can't you here Nancy Sinatra singin and the music in the background. I love that song! Went out yesterday with my boots ready to find a house in a great neighborhood. I actually saw 5 homes that all had potential in some way. The house with the most outward potential was in the SE on 55 just below Mt. Tabor we will call it Cape Cod style. As you can see it sits up on a small hill and it faces west and it has large windows. The inside had a huge living room and dining room with awesome original builtins. Then my boots and I made it into the bathroom. It was PINK! Some of you know how much I despise Pink! I don't even know why I hate PINK! There must be some hidden dark secret of Pink bunny rabbits chasing me as a child (that is for Chris - if he is reading this). Back to the pink bathroom, not only the toilet was pink by the bathtub and the sink and the best part was the accent color was BLACK, of course, so the pink would stand out more. The kitchen had potential also. It was large but there was NO update. Still the old sink and no dishwasher (oh my) and the best was the floor (see picture). But this place had a beautiful front room and huge bedrooms upstairs. After looking at all the homes I realized how much I loved my former home. It really was quite charming! Enough of that!
Once home I changed from my boots to my flip-flops because it was HOT here yesterday - 98 degrees. It was also 1st Thursday in the Pearl - people come out of the woodwork to look at art, eat in the fufu restaurants and most importantly BE SEEN! I have wanted to take pictures of the way people are dressed but I am not stealth enough yet. I did get a shot of the two young ladies above shopping for art (or something else?) - they are so classy. About three blocks from my home in THE PINNACLE - there is a park named Jameson Square - The Pearl. It has this water feature that simulates the tides and has a nice little waterfall. It is estimated that about 25 children live in the area known as "the Pearl" but if you take a look at the picture there are way more than 25 children enjoying the park. It is literally like this EVERYDAY. You can't see the grass because there is so many people. And it is not like there is a park problem in Portland but MANY people drive from far and wide to have a day at this particular park.
Art and People are everywhere on 1st Thursday. They block off a street and you can buy paintings, photography, jewelry, designer/hand sewn clothing, etc. We opted to have a drink and discuss the houses that I had seen and stroll back home through the streets of art. A most enjoyable evening! Hope yours was too!