Portland Summer 2019

For a long while I've wanted to spend a little time in Portland to explore and get to know the city.  You hear so much about it, how progressive it is; good transit and bicycle infrastructure and a lot of outdoor recreation opportunities.  Aside from the draw of the city itself, I have ample incentives to visit now:  my granddaughter, Lily, is going to university there; a beloved cousin, Cynthia, and her partner, Ed, live there; and my daughter lives just 60mi east up the Columbia River Gorge. So last summer I flew to Portland and spent a delightful week exploring with Lily and Cynthia and Ed.  

Lily lives in the Nob Hill area, a gentrified neighbourhood with lots of restaurants, cafes and bars.  Here we are having lunch at the legendary Ken's Bakery.  

 

The historic homes in this upscale old neighbourhood

 

 

 A gathering of corgis

On Lily's campus at Portland State University

A hike in one of the nice urban forests.  Historically, Portland has had the vision to preserve big swaths of nature for public use.  This is one such piece of property, Washington Park, a short walk from Lily's place, 420acres with zoo, rose gardens, Japanese gardens, arboretum, children's museum, playgrounds, outdoor art and more.  

 

Cynthia and Ed are very active, outdoorsy folks and so we did a hike in Forest Park, one of the biggest urban parks in the US covering 5200 acres with 80 miles of trails.

 And we did some biking

Cynthia at the train station

Crossing the Willamette River to rendezvous with Charlotte, Ryan, Lucien and Cynthia at a taco place.

More Portland to come