Visiting

There are dog walkers, and bikers on this stretch of riverfront this particular morning.  Portland is surrounded by two major rivers, one dividing it, this one in the picture, the Willammette, flowing south to north, joining the mighty Columbia at the north side of the city.  Both rivers are navigable by ships, boats, and other water craft.  The Columbia, as most of you know, is the more famous, longer and bigger, starting its journey in Canada, traversing territories and picking up tributaries for hundreds of miles until it reaches the Pacific.  The Lewis and Clark expedition, the first major government-sponsored exploration of the Northwest back in the 1800's was up in these areas, moving west from Missouri to Astoria and Long Beach Peninsula in Washington State. They arrived at the mouth of the Columbia in winter.  The soldiers and explorers were in much distress because of the constant rain and blustering winds. This kind of weather is not for the weak-bodied or weak-minded.

Portland is a hip city, full of college students, Intel and Nike employees, musicians, artists  and foodies.  It has great restaurants, a wonderful music scene, and plenty of things to do, see and buy.

We'll be spending time with our children in Eugene in the next few days. Eugene, in the middle of the state, is a mini Portland.

In the next few posts, I will attempt to prepare vegan meals. Wish me luck.

Snow in April

There we were, dressed in light shirts and tennis shoes, for a spring weekend get-away, up the coast, stopping in Lincoln city for the first night, on our way to Portland. Easrly Saturday mornig we were tempted to change plans, but decided to drive on, marvelling at the effect of snow quietly powdering the countryside, hushing all noise and tricking the senses.

Snow in Oregon is a Christmas postcard through and through. But this was not Christmas. Blooming apple trees cringed,tomato and pepper starters suffered heart palpitations, and baseball practices were postponed.

But in Portland, canoers still paddled down the Willamette in beautiful formation. Shops put out their colorful complimentary umbrellas out to encourage people to shop. They succeeded. No snow, no rain, no chill. kept Oregonians from enjoying their city. Young and old were out all day, at restaurants, in shops, at Powell's, at REI's, at outdoor events celebrating Earth Day.

We took our cue from the natives, donning extra layers and doing what we came to do, shop and recreate in a beautiful city.