Portland, seen from the Aerial Tram

Looking north from the Aerial Tram, the Ross Island Bridge running east and west across the bottom of the photo, the Marquam Bridge curving north and south.


The Marquam Bridge--the upper deck is I-5 northbound, the lower deck is I-5 southbound.


The Ross Island Bridge goes over the Willamette River between southeast and southwest Portland. At the right edge of the photo, about a third of the way up from the bottom, you can see the Aerial Tram. I'm not sure if it is coming up or going down.


Looking pretty much northeast, you can see lots of southeast, northeast and north Portland. The bridges are, from right to left, Marquam, Hawthorne, Morrison, and Burnside.

We hopped off and waited for the Portland Streetcar so that we could ride it to the Aerial Tram

The Aerial Tram, a close up I took while we were up at the top of Marquam Hill.

Scroll on down to see a photo of Mt. Hood.


A Portland Streetcar, like the one we would ride back to the corner where we would then hop back onto the Hop On Hop Off Big Pink Sightseeing Trolley.


While we waited for the streetcar to arrive, a Zipcar truck stopped at the corner. Pretty cool.


We rode the Aerial Tram to the top of Marquam Hill. Here's a photo of the next one arriving.


Mt. Hood from the observation deck at the Oregon Health Sciences University. I had to alter it some at Picnik, the haze was that bad. I like how it turned out.

Roses we saw when we rode the Hop On Hop Off Trolley on Friday, August 19

First stop, the Visitor Information Center at Pioneer Square where we got the two of them a 14-day TriMet pass so that we could ride all sorts of mass transit without having to worry with correct change and whether or not the transfer had expired. TriMet has several ticket windows right inside that doorway behind them. The waterfall feature sounds wonderful.


Milton stopped at the ticket booth for the Portland Hop On Hop Off Big Pink Sightseeing Trolley--it departs from Pioneer Square on the hour and stops at sights all over the city. We rode along until it came to the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. Here are some of the roses we saw.

Milton and Kay and I ate breakfast/brunch at the Bijou Cafe on Friday morning.

Waiting to be seated, Milton and Kay graciously posed for a photo. The Bijou Cafe was Mama's favorite breakfast eatery in Portland and had been since our first visit in June, 2004.


We were so hungry that it wasn't until we had finished that I realized I had completely forgotten to take photos of our food. Maybe you can get an idea of just how delicious every bite was from looking at these plates? We just might go back there one more time before they leave for home. I hope to take photos before the first bite!

This happens a whole lot in Portland ...

... you see something (or someone) and then, lo and behold, you see it (or them) again!

On Thursday afternoon when Milton, Kay and I were at Beulahland, a smallish car drove by on NE 28th, with the biggest plastic crate any of us had ever seen attached to its top. Attached like a bow on top of a baby's head, just sittin' there.

On Friday morning as we walked to the bus, I looked left before crossing the alley. I sort of yelped, "Look! Isn't that the car we saw yesterday?" grabbing my camera to click off a shot. Milton and Kay looked; we thought we had missed it when it backed up into view. Click. Not the best photo, but it does give you the gist of the situation. I'll let you know when I see it again!

Milton and Kay arrived on Thursday afternoon at Union Station, downtown Portland!

Let the visit begin! Milton and Kay had been on the train since Monday evening, beginning in Jackson, Mississippi, and ending right here. They were ready to walk for a while, so each one of us pulled a rolling black bag and wore a backpack. We caught the bus at SW 2nd and West Burnside, went to the apartment to leave their bags, and then walked to NE 28th between Glisan and Burnside to find somewhere to sit down and have a beverage. Oh, I should mention that I took my camera off and put it down on my desk and didn't notice until we were blocks away that I did not have it with me! So, a photo moratorium was declared for several hours. No big deal.

We enjoyed those beverages at Beulahland on NE 28th, then walked up to the corner of it and NE Sandy to catch a 12 bus to Killer Burger where we ate great burgers and fries and enjoyed ourselves immensely, talking, laughing, so happy to be together. We caught the 12 back home and ended up with the same driver that we had on the way to Killer Burger. That happens every once in a while.

Lamont came over a little while later after he'd been bouldering outside at Carver--he stayed and visited for quite a while before heading home.

Chess Games at Pioneer Square, No. 6 in a Series

July 19, 2009, chess players.

Chess Games at Pioneer Square, No. 5 in a Series

June 12, 2009, chess players.


June 12, 2009, chess players. I'll bet this taller man on the left wishes he were playing on the higher chess board, don't you?

Chess Games at Pioneer Square, No. 4 in a Series

September 17, 2009, chess players.


September 17, 2009, chess players. This photo gives you an idea of the space that is Pioneer Square. You're looking diagonally across the square which takes up an entire 200x200 foot city block.

Chess Games at Pioneer Square, No. 3 in a Series

May, 9, 2010, chess players.


May 9, 2010, chess players--thinking, thinking, thinking.

Chess Games at Pioneer Square, No. 2 in a Series

August 9, 2011, the scene that inspired the series.


Concentration reigns.

Chess Games at Pioneer Square, No. 1 in a Series

Found on the Internet: Bronze Chess Boards
Resting on the fallen column of the Morrison Street side of the Square, three bronze chess boards were installed to showcase the chess playing activities that occur on the Square. Designed by Soderstrom Architects P.C., these bronze chessboards were added to the Square in June 2003. On Morrison and Yamhill streets (the north and south boundaries of the square) are MAX Light Rail stops. (The column is the only fallen one; the majority of them stand on SW Yamhill, the southern edge of the square. The others stand on SW Morrison, the northern edge of the square. The fallen one is on SW Morrison, towards its western intersection with Broadway.)


July 24, 2010, chess players, close-up shot.


July 24, 2010, chess players, wide shot.


July 24, 2010, chess players to the right of the group in the two previous photos. Note the tired-foot shopper resting, there to their right. Also the person in the blue shirt behind bricks, center top, if standing where I stood last Tuesday to take the photo that inspired this series. Come see it tomorrow!

Cars in the Park, All Fords, The Woody and Its Brilliant Attachment, July 30, 2011

Grabbed your attention? Want more? OK. You've persuaded me!


Like flies to honey, folks just had to stop and look at these beauties. I talked with the owner who told me that he had owned this rig for a few months, that the truck is a 1931 delivery truck that had been taken from the ground up and turned into the woody, that the teardrop trailer had been built from scratch to go with the woody.




The permanent passenger.








Inside the opened back of the teardrop trailer.


Teardrop trailer interior.


One more of the interior.

Public Art

Downtown Portland, the corner of SW Morrison and SW 9th. I found this online: LITSWD by William Rihel. Motion activated installation consisting of 120 lengths of enamle painted paper. Inspired by the song and video of "Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles. The text appears beneath a nighttime photo of this incredible work of art. Believe me, if it still looks like that at night, I've got to get over there! Until then, here a several photos I took on the way to Powell's Books after work on Tuesday.








I decided to crop and alter in Picnik the text I found on the glass--which is a cover over an apparently defunct stairway which must have gone beneath the sidewalk to I know not where. I like how Picnik gave the old gold-colored text a sort of rainbow look, much like the paper inside the glass. This is what I read, in case you can't make it out: The Portland Storefronts program provides local artists with the opportunity to activate vacant storefronts with one-of-a-kind and temporary art installations. This Portland Storefront installation is a joint initiative of the Downtown Marketing Initiative, Portland Business Alliance, the Downtown Clean & Safe District, and the Bill Naito Company.