Walked 3.12 Miles - West Hills of Brooklyn

 

 

It's my last day of vacation.  I've had the past 6 days off and it's been glorious.  It was a beautiful day and I headed to the West Hills of Brooklyn.  

 

 

 

 

This is the saddest horse I've seen.  I don't know why they choose to put the ring around his neck.  As I was taking this picture I heard 'braaaak'.

 

 

 

 

Chickens! Free roaming chickens were chillin' in this fenced yard.  So great!  They were pretty friendly and definitely wanted to check me out. Too cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These trellises are stunning!  You can spot it from so far away.  Just amazing.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I just cannot believe what my iphone can capture.  I came across about 4 bees in this poppy and I had to watch them for a few minutes.  I had happy friendly bee thoughts, because I had to get extremely close to them to get these pictures.  They didn't seem bothered by me at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Car2go!  These have sprung up everywhere in Brooklyn.  It's such a great car sharing idea.  I have friends who love using them.  I think this is such a great step for Portland.  These cars have me thinking that I won't need a next car.  When my car finally kicks, Car2go could be the perfect solution for when I'm not able to use mass transit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been watching for strawberries - my favorite fruit.  There are many patches in Brooklyn.  These are the first baby strawberries I've seen.  They will be getting ripe soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these beads on this old beat up truck.  There were also beads hanging from both rear view mirrors.

 

 

 

 

I love this flower!  Does anyone know the name of it?  The buds look like candy and the flowers are so delicate and complex.  

 

 

 

 

Zen mailbox

Hiked 3.11 Miles at Tryon Creek

 

 

Greg and I wanted to hike somewhere on Memorial Day.  We picked Tryon Creek which is about 15 minutes from our house.  Sadly, Greg had never been here before and I had only been a few times many, many years ago.  What an amazing park!  With miles and miles of trials, we can't wait to come back and spend more time here.

 

 

 

 

We took the Old Main Trail and plotted a route that would take us over 3 bridges.  There are some definite hills in this park, but the ones I was on were all very doable.  Plus with plenty of benches, it was easy to rest if need be.  We had a monsoon two days before complete with crazy lightening and thunder happening simultaneously (it was intense!).  I was worried that the trails would be insanely muddy.  We did have some spots of mud, but all in all it wasn't bad at all.

 

 

 

 

 

It really is a creek and not all that big, but it's just stunning in such a lush setting.

 

 

 

 

I think the paths were so dry because of this amazing tree canopy.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved these path markers.  This one doesn't allow horses.  We did see a horse which was great fun.  I kind of preferred the horse trails over the strictly pedestrian only ones, because they were wider with gravel which made for less mud.  Yes, that is a slug on the no horse symbol.  That was just a baby, close by there was another that was about 5 times the size of that one.

 

 

 

 

 

The Terry Riley (suspension) Bridge was a tad scary, but great fun.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I saw this guy on the path and had to turn around to get his picture.  I worried about him afterwards.  Hopefully he made it across alright.

 

 

 

 

So much moss.  It was truly everywhere and in so many different varieties.

 

 

 

 

I've always been fascinated with snake grass.  I'm  not sure if that's its true name, but that's all we've ever called it.  It grows in Central Oregon and I used to love pulling the segments apart and putting them back together again when I was a kid.  We found a whole sea of it here.  

 

 

 

 

Tryon Creek holds a Trillium festival every year.  Now they are just starting to bud.  

 

 

 

 

Raspberries were every where and starting to turn red.  I could not get my camera to focus on a berry, but I'm happy that I could at least get it's flower.

 

 

 

 

Walked 4.22 Miles Up Tibbets

 

 

I waited to walk until there was a break in the rain.  It had been a rainy couple of days and I was hoping to get a bit of luck and a dry walk.  It wasn't cold, so I didn't bring a coat.  I did make sure to have a hat and sunglasses - or rain shields, as I like to call them.  

 

 

 

 

I had seen my neighbors artichoke plant and I was dying to get a picture of it.  There were always folks outside when I passed by.  I finally got my chance today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction is gearing up for a big next phase.  They even set up fancy facilities.   We probably won't be driving down 17th much in the next year or two.  Things are really starting to happen.

 

 

 

 

He's the view from the Gideon foot bridge.  1.5 buildings have come down since last I was here.

 

 

 

 

 I always like walking around People's Co-op.  There is always something interesting to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think having a mirror by the driveway is a brilliant idea.  

 

 

 

 

I basically walked due West up Tibbets which is just a couple of blocks North of Powell.  I turned around at 39th and just then the rain started back up.  It pretty much poured on me for the entire return trip.  It was very refreshing after walking uphill to 39th.

 

 

 

 

Poppies are one of my favorite flowers.  I just love their spinney case as well as the beautiful bloom.  

 

 

 

 

This was a surprise.  There were another set of legs a few feet from here.  So interesting! 

 

 

 

 

I tend to walk very zig-zagily (you know what I mean), crossing the street whenever something strikes my eye.  I had just crossed the street when I stumbled across this Holga sitting in a tree.  How strange.  I was tempted to take it home with me, but just couldn't justify it.  Maybe it's owner is looking for it.  Still, it's not everyday you see something this cool just hanging out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was amazed at how much water these huge leafs could hold. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This orange fabric appeared at the site of the first building that was torn down.  I think it's so great that if we need to have something like this, they are adorned with interesting sayings.   You can read more about the Orange Lining project here. 

 

 

 

 

"Everyone is a little more famous on a train" 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock and Roll Half Marathon

 

 

The inaugural Rock and Roll Half Marathon was finally here!  We have been planning for this for ages.  There were 5 runners in our group: Greg, my sis, my mom-in-law, Greg's best friend, and my mom-in-law's best friend.  Since I wasn't going to use my bib, due to my bum ankle, I gave my bib to my mom-in-law's best friend.  I'm so glad it could go to use since it was already paid for.  

 

 

 

 

Here is the traditional walking over the Hawthorne bridge before the race picture.  We always park on the East side for any race.  Since this course took place mostly in SE, it was harder than usual to find parking since many roads were closed.  We had 6 in my car which made for quite the adventure.  We only drove less than 2 miles to park, but it was stressful trying to find roads that were open.

 

 

 

 

There were 24corals in total.  The first was titled E for Elite.  My group queued up in coral 20 and 22.  This was actually very lucky for me.  Since they were so far in the back, I was able to walk back to the Hawthorne bridge and get positioned to take their pictures.

 

 

 

 

The Portland Spirit sat next to the Hawthorne bridge and kept blowing its horn.  Passengers on the deck were all cheering the runners.

 

 

 

 

There were thousands and thousands of people in this race!  This is what I saw for a solid 30 minutes.  It was by sheer luck that I was able to spot all 5 of our team.  

 

 

 

 

From my first position on the bridge, I was able to turn around and walk about 10 feet to the next spot where I could see our team.  Again, I was able to take pictures of all 5 of our team.  It was great to cheer them on!

 

 

 

 

After seeing our last team member head over the bridge, I headed to 8th and Hawthorne.  This was the  only other spot that I was easy for me to walk to and see people.  The rest of the route went straight up Hawthorne and then looped around and came down Burnside.  There would be no way for me to get ahead of them without driving and that was a whole mess that I didn't want to have to deal with.  

 

I stopped for a few minutes to watch these baby geese.  So adorable!

 

 

 

 

Looking up the hill of Hawthorne made me really glad that I wasn't racing. Just the few miles I walked to talk pictures was a lot for my bum ankle.  I was a tad sad that I wasn't able to participate, but mostly I was just hugely relieved.   I was especially relieved when our best runner was amazed at  how hilly the course was.

 

 

 

 

I headed back downtown (stopping to use the bathroom at Burger King - so good!) to the finish line.  I met up with friends and family who had come down to support our team.  I had wanted to be stationed right at the finish line, but it was so insanely loud that there was no way I could stay there for hours.  We opted for a spot about a block before the finish line.  I cheered folks on for hours and hours.  It's so great to get caught up in the collective spirit.  

 

The day had started off with a few raindrops, but then it was pretty darn right miserable.  I was only in a t-shirt and shorts (it wasn't cold) and I was drenched by the end.  The only thing that was annoying about the rain was worrying about getting my camera wet.

 

 

 

 

I'm so proud of our whole group!  I'm especially proud of  my sis (on the left), because she only started running in February.  I'm glad I was able to be the coordinator for the team and make sure everything went smoothly.  If I had run, the whole day would have been much more convoluted.  The whole day was lots of fun and I'm so glad we took part in this race.

 

 

Walked 4.50 Miles - Across the Hawthorne Bridge

 

 

Today I decided to head down to the waterfront.  It was beautiful morning and the air was crisp.  I really couldn't ask for better weather.  

 

 

 

 

I love that you can see the blue sky and fluffy white clouds in the reflection of the doors. 

 

 

 

 

This is such a cool pickup.  It was completely painted and so very detailed.  I hope to see it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I checked on the bridge progress.  

 

 

 

 

Yesterday on the way home from work, Greg came upon a small crowd of people in the street.  When he got closer he saw two baby river otters. The mother had left and folks were trying to figure out how to return the babies to the water.  How incredible!  I had no idea that there are river otters in the Willamette.  That's so great.  Today I saw these signs posted along the stretch of path between the Opera House and OMSI, where the construction is taking place.  It was sad to see.  I really hope that Oscar and his family are able to be relocated to a new home.

 

 

 

 

 

I texted Greg when I was about 5 minutes from his office.  He was able to pop down and chat for a few minutes.  That was great fun.  

 

 

 

 

Walking under the Marquam bridge is always mind boggling.  The sheer noise of the freeway is both overwhelming and also kind of soothing.  It definitely makes me feel small.

 

 

 

 

I decided to cross the Hawthorne and then turn around and head for home. This is really a great bridge to cross and the views are stunning.

 

 

 

 

This crossing signal is in the middle of the bridge.  I've been stuck here, when the bridge has gone up, many times.

 

 

 

 

I think this barbed wire is fascinating.  The top wire was very different from the standard fare.  

 

 

 

 

The Aladdin Theater is my favorite venue in town.  It's 5 blocks from my house, there are seats (yes, I'm old), and they even have beer and pizza. Not to mention amazing artists perform here; I've seen some incredible shows.  I always take a picture of the marquee of each show I go to.  I walk by this building all the time, but never think to take a picture during the day.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a large row of Calla lilies in front of the dry cleaners on Milwaukie.  I've admired these flowers for years.  They are really quite amazing.  I took a few pictures and was starting to walk away when a man ran out of the dry cleaners and started talking loudly.   At first I thought he was going to yell at me for being in his flowers.  Instead he was trying to get me to stop, so he could cut some flowers to give me.   It was really just a great moment and made my whole day.  

 

 

 

 

 

Walk - Photo Friday

 

 

I love Photo Friday.  I used to participate often many years ago and for whatever reason I stopped.  I get the weekly challenge in my in-box every week.  Every week I think, I need to get back into doing this...and I never do.  Until now!  I just couldn't let this challenge pass me by.  Walk - how perfect is that?  It's a great way to dip my toe back into the pool.  I didn't have to think long as to what photo to choose.  I took this picture back on an extremely rainy day in March.  I like how it's a self portrait on two levels.  I also like how I can instantly remember just how rainy the day was and how soaked my feet were.  Now that the sun has been out for days and days, I'm missing the rain.

Walked 2.89 Miles - West Hills of Brooklyn

 

 

Today was hot!  Today was a horrible day at work.  Today I was cranky.  I came very close to talking myself out of walking.  I could just read my really good book instead.  That would be better, right?  No.  I needed to get outside and exercise, so I put down my book and got on with it.  

 

 

 

 

I wasn't in the mood for adventure, so I just stuck to the area of Brooklyn that is West of Millwaukie Ave.  Later I was telling Greg that I walked up there.  He corrected me saying that since it's closer to the water I had walked down there.  I countered; I actually walked uphill.  We couldn't decide who was right.  So Greg coined the name: the West Hills of Brooklyn.  It fits perfectly and now I have a term for that area that I walk so often.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, this I love.  If you look to the right, you will see a doghouse.  In the doghouse a pretty good sized dog is just chilling.  The chickens share this fenced area with the dog.  How cool is that?  They all seemed quite content.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the reasons I love walking around the West Hills of Brooklyn is that folks have the prettiest yards.  I know I'll always find something beautiful here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first big bumblebee I've seen this year.  It was hard to get a clear shot of him, because he so very busy doing his work.  

 

 

 

 

This was in the middle of the street a few blocks from my house.  Those are adult sized feet.  There seemed to be a few other drinking games chalked into the street next to this.  On the curb, the recycling bin was full of bottles.

 

 

Walked 4.66 Miles - Westmoreland Park

 

 

I didn't have a set walk in mind when I headed out today.  I ended up heading south and when I saw a pair of Canada Geese flying low overhead, I decided on my destination.  I hadn't been to Westmoreland park in months.  It was time to get my bird fix.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right after I took this picture, I noticed a man standing in a driveway.  I continued walking and he shouted something to me.  I was listening to Atlas Shrugged, so it took a few seconds to figure out that he said "watch out for the bees".  Bees!  There was a huge swarm of bees surrounding a flowering archway next to the driveway.  I just continued to walk and passed at the very edge of the bees.  It was a pretty powerful sight.  I really dig bees.  What a crazy job they do for us.  It was exhilarating to get to see so many at once.  

 

 

 

 

 

There was so much water at the park.  The last time I was here, the water was crazy low.  It was such a beautiful day and the park was filled.

 

 

 

 

So many geese!  They were scattered all through this very large stretch of grass.

 

 

 

 

This girl wouldn't stop staring at me.  She was probably about 5 feet away and pretty cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is truly a beautiful park.  

 

 

 

 

 The birds of this park are old pros.  They are not afraid of people or dogs.  I would call to them and pretend that I had bread to throw to them.  They would come running!  They knew the drill.  Once they figure out that I didn't have any food for them, they would walk away annoyed.  It's an easy way to get some close up pictures.  

 

 

 

 

All of a sudden, there was a ruckus behind me.  The lady in pink DID have food and word was getting out.  I was directly in the path of all the birds on the water.  They started flying quickly past me.  I just started taking pictures to see if I could get something cool.  Aiming and timing was pretty much out.  I had just a second or two as each bird flew by.

 

 

 

 

Once I got home and looked through my pictures, I was so happy to see that I did get a couple of interesting shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like how happy this figure is.  It captures how I was feeling during this walk.

 

 

Walked 6.39 Miles and Had Lunch on My Birthday

 

 

It's my Birthday!  I had the day off from work and I wanted to plan a special walk to celebrate my special day.  I decided that I wanted to walk, have lunch, and then walk home.  I settled on Zenbu a sushi food cart on SE 13th.  I knew I'd be sweaty and didn't want to eat in a brick and mortar place, because I would feel to self conscious.  A food cart was the perfect solution.  It was a beautiful day and a wonderful walk.  It was a great time to reflect on my past 38 years and look towards the future.

 

 

 

 

 

It's not often you come across FDR on a street pole.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought it would be fitting to take a self portrait on my birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last time I walked along the Bluff Trail, the water at Oaks Bottom was so low.  This is such a beautiful spot with stunning views of downtown.

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing feels like summer like a lemonade stand.

 

 

 

 

Beware of attack Flamingos!

 

 

 

 

I walked 3.19 miles to lunch.  The sushi at Zenbu is amazing!  I will definitely be coming back here.  It was nice to break up a long walk with lunch in the middle.  It was a great way to increase my mileage and also be nice to my ankle.  My ankle is doing so much better, but it still has a ways to go.  I'm being careful not to do to much at once, because I don't want to do anything to set back my recovery. I ate my lunch and read all the nice facebook birthday wishes from friends.  Even though I was alone, I felt very loved.

 

 

 

 

 

Another self portrait.

 

 

 

 

I love all of these bird houses on this garage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the prettiest May Day poster I've seen.

 

 

 

 

Work on the Holgate station is underway.  It's weird to see all the bushes that were here are now gone.  Traffic is also a mess at this corner.  It would be best to avoid this area if possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This street had these white marks for about 5 blocks.  I think it looks really cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This walk was the best birthday present to myself.  

Walked 3.58 Miles

 

 

For today's walk, I stayed close to my hood.  I wanted to stay close by because my sis and I were going to OVO later that afternoon.  I wanted to be able to head home quickly if she called, since we hadn't firmed up plans yet.  It was a beautiful day and it was nice to shed my coat and soak up some Vitamin D.

 

 

 

 

This building is almost all down now.  This is the only remaining wall.  It's so amazing to see how quickly the landscape is changing.  The building is so close to the street that they have had to close a lane of traffic down and had flaggers directing traffic.  It's a big productions.

 

 

 

 

Being a Sunday, I could get close to the site since there was no demolition happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These big spools of rope are across the street from the demolition.  

 

 

 

 

This is the third horse I've seen in this spot.  

 

 

 

 

I've always been curious as to how and why this horse ring was twisted. I've never seen another like this.

 

 

 

 

I'm not the biggest fan of pansies, but I couldn't resist this guy with the sun shining through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little guy sits in the window of Townsends Kombucha office.  I really wish they would make a small storefront here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spied this little guy out of the corner of my eye and turned around to get a closer look.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This car sits right on Milwaukie and I just love it.  It's so cool looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This house had 3 large buckets filled with lilacs that were free for the taking.  

 

 

 

 

I fell a little in love with this guy.  He was right at eye level and he was mesmerized by me.  I was only about 2 feet away from him and he just stared and stared at me - not scared at all.  He, then, started to come down the tree to get closer to me.  I walked away first, because he was getting a little too close.  I do hope to run into him again.  

 

 

Walked 3.79 Miles

 

 

I had another unexpected weekday off since I'll be working this weekend. It was great to get out and walk and enjoy the cloudy day.  I seem to be rocking the shorts and coat look now, but I think it's only a matter of time before my coat is put away for the season.  I wanted to increase my mileage a bit and I'm happy to be almost up to 4 miles.  

 

 

 

 

Irises are very hard to take pictures of.  I taken many pictures of them, but they don't seem to turn out.  I thought I had lost my chance when we had several heavy rainstorms that flattened all of the blooming Irises.  Luckily, a new batch is blooming.

 

 

 

 

A new building is coming down!  I've been watching this building for awhile, because I knew it was only a matter of time.

 

 

 

 

I love how dramatic this looks with the dark clouds.  It's fitting that I see so many trains on my walks while listening to Atlas Shrugged.  I just started the 4th part of the audio book.  It's broken up to 8 - eight hour chunks and I'm getting close to hitting the halfway mark.

 

 

 

 

With so much construction happening around my house, much of my walk is filled with things like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are still digging that hole.  The big beige-ish building in the upper left is the one that they are in the middle of tearing down; to give you a frame of reference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a whole rash of these stickers in the neighborhood.  While I'm all for street art, I don't like the fad of using USPS resources to tag neighborhoods.  It's not creative and it seems like the easy way out.  I also don't like the negative message.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's hard to tell, but there are paintings on all the walls inside this fort.  There were even paint supplies stored inside for easy accessibility.  What a great idea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are sitting at the base of one of the big stone dogs at the Buddhist Temple.  I don't know why they are filled with cement.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This might be my new favorite house.  They had three of these pebbled walkways from the curb to the sidewalk.  They also had the most incredible yard filled with very exotic looking plants.  Right was I was taking this picture, the very friendly Irish Setter who lives there came up and licked my face.  Very sweet, but also very surprising.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first time I've walked past this fire station and the gate was open and they were doing some sort of maneuvers.