Walked 7.30 Miles - Around the Waterfront

Greg and my mom-in-law were in Eugene completing the half and full marathons respectively. I figured I should go a healthy distance in solidarity. It's been a really long time since I've walked 7 miles. It felt really good. I did have a bit of pain early on, but it faded away after awhile. At the end of the walk, I was definitely tired. But it's a wonderful thing to end a walk only being tired. That's a big achievement for me.

Lawn art never ceases to amaze me.








The construction is really ramping up around OMSI. Several more buidlings have come down including the weird Royal Food place. This building is coming down next.





Since it was Sunday and no construction was happening, I got to get up close to see how things are progressing.





Be your best, beautiful self! 





The new bridge is huge! I walked on the dock that houses the OMSI submarine (the opposite side of the dock is public access) to get a better view of the bridge. So many kayakers on the water.





The OMSI parking lot was fenced at it looked like some sort of event was being taken down. On the side of the path, this poor PBR was thrown out with the ice. It was gone when I returned home this same way. 





So many people on the water. The esplanade was also packed full of people doing all sorts of activities. It's really such a wonderful place to feel a part of the city. 











The Steel Bridge








I'm on the Steel Bridge looking at the Broadway Bride with the Fremont Bridge in the background.





I had to walk over to the Portland Oregon sign after making the pinata. This sign is so iconic and I'm so glad it's still here. 





I haven't spent much time at the Japanese American Heritage Plaza since it's not directly on the main walkway of Tom McCall Waterfront Park. I need to come back and really spend some time looking at this beautiful memorial.





This rock made me stop for a few moments. I visited Minidoka again a couple of years ago with family. Minidoka had always been part of my family's history. They farmed in the area after WWII and after Minidoka was dismantled. The government offered free (rocky, barren) land to folks who wanted to farm in the area. The barracks were relocated to these farms and families still live in them. Most have been remodeled in some shape or form, but there are some that remain much like they were in the 40's. It's a very interesting part of American history and if you get the chance to visit the area, you really should. 





Saturday Market setting up for the day.








Set-up for Cinco de Mayo had begun.





Tiny baby geese! I was surprised that the parents were so far away from their babies. Lots of people were passing by and they just kept on doing their thing.





I used the regular camera on my phone, because I wanted to make sure to capture the baby geese on the Willamette. This was a totally different family from the picture above this.





Welcome to the cat bridge.

Walked 4.53 Miles - To the Waterfront

This morning was cold and foggy. I headed to the waterfront to check on the bridge construction and to hopefully get some pictures of the fog around the water and downtown. Quick minimalist shoe update: I'm still in love!  I had almost no pain today. I am noticing that the new muscles being used, because I'm walking a bit differently, get tired pretty easily. It's the feeling of muscles working and I like how that feels. It's a very normal feeling and not painful. I'm so glad I finally took the plunge with these new shoes. I'm feeling so optimistic!

I had so many pictures in my Hipstamaic app that I ended up deleting the app and re-installing it as an easy way to delete all of the pictures. This was the test picture I took to make sure my settings were set up correctly. My pictures today have more of a reddish tint to them and I prefer the more blue/green feel of my pictures. So I need to figure out what's going on so I can get back to the aesthetic I prefer.





The new bridge is starting to look like...a bridge! So exciting. As I was taking this picture, an elderly gentlemen stopped and we talked about the construction for awhile. Everyone I talk to is so excited about this new addition to Portland. I can't wait until it's complete. The Portland Spirit is in the foreground of this picture.





The public access dock next to OMSI's submarine was open. The last time I was here, it was closed. I love being this close to the water.





I always like walking by OMSI. We are so lucky to have OMSI in downtown Portland. It used to be up by the Zoo which is an area I don't get too all that often.





I always look at the falcon display on the waterfront. Falcons are probably my favorite bird. I'm so glad that they are thriving by living under our bridges. When I was in my old office at my school, I had the most perfect view of a huge tree which often had falcons perched at the top. I had binoculars to watch them. It was one of the best perks of my job.














Vera was fancy today with balloons on her feet. Seconds after taking this picture, a three year old spotted the pink balloons. She quickly had them off Vera's feet and on her own hands.








The fog had lifted by the time I got to the Esplanade. What a perfect November morning.

"The entire world was like a palace with countless rooms whose doors opened into one another" - Orhan Pamuk, 2006 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for Snow (this quote is from Snow)

Photo Friday - Constructed

For the theme constructed, I figured I would head to Portland's waterfront and check on how the new brige is progressing. I'm so excited for this new bridge which is for mass transit and pedestrians. No cars will be allowed on. The bridge won't be finished for a few more years. I can hardly wait. I walked down here just as the fog was lifting and the sun was poking through.  I love the eerie look to this picture.

Walked 4.50 Miles - To Vera

Today I decided to head to the waterfront. Greg told me that he had seen a trebuchet at OMSI for this weekend's Mini Maker Faire. I wanted to see it for myself. It was nice to walk early this morning. With not a single cloud in the sky, it started getting hot fast. I always love walking on the Esplanade. I texted Greg right before I got to his work (he works extremely close to OMSI) and he popped down to chat for a couple of minutes. All in all, a very great walk.

This stove top is only a couple of blocks from my house. I find it so curious. The structure is a tree house. Does the stove heat that? I have no idea.

Sunflowers overhead are always fun. I had to reach up as high as I could on my tiptoes to take this.

This house used to be the Brooklyn Library in 1908. I love this bit of history.

It's weird to think that there is a dairy just a couple of blocks north of Powell on 6th. Dairigold has been farmer owned since 1918. Pretty darn cool. 

The bulldozers were working hard on this building. Parallel to the railroad tracks, this land will be part of the new MAX line. So exciting!

The new pedestrian bridge is progressing nicely. This reflector took me back to the days when I worked for the Oregon Department of Transportation. I had just finished high school and did a summer internship on a survey crew. I used to know how to work these types of things.

OMSI has a great new salmon art exhibit outside new the submarine. I had just visited Bonneville Dam, so it was interesting to read all of the plaques in the ground her.

I find this small boat very curious complete with a large pirate flag in the window and a bike on the deck. I wonder how long she will be anchored here.

I said hi to Vera and then turned around for home.

The water is so low now. I didn't know there used to be an old dock here before. The Willamette is low enough to expose the remains.

At long last, the trebuchet. Trebuchet is definitely in my top five favorite words; it's just so fun to say. I had spied it in the fenced off parking lot when walking to Vera. I figured I would walk along the street at OMSI to get a picture on the way home. When I returned, they had moved it to the esplanade. Folks were actively setting it up, so this was the closest I could get to it. Still very cool and not something you see everyday.

Jolked 6.07 Miles - Along the Waterfront

 

For today's 5:1 adventure, we headed down to the waterfront.  It was a really wild weather day with some sun breaks, but mostly it was cold, windy, and rainy.  This is the furthest I've gone in a really long time.  I'm trying to start building stamina to increase my miles since I'll need to do walk double this amount for the half in May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walked 3.60 Miles

 

I decided to walk through industrial SE on this day.  I've gone along the waterfront and I've walked through Ladd's Addition often, but I haven't really walked between these two areas.  It was a crisp sunny day and I set off to explore all the businesses that are tucked away in this little traveled pocket.

 

 

I love that someone made this command much more pleasant.

 

 

This is the first time I've walked past this mural, although I drive by it all the time.  There is a Mexican restaurant in an old storage container.  They were blasting music when I walked by.

 

 

U R an unegucated idiot!  This just cracks me up!  The graffiti this person was correcting was actually written better than this.  

 

 

 

 

This new concert hall just opened up in my hood.  I would have gone in to check it out if I wasn't so sweaty from my walk.  I hope it will be a great place to see live music.

 

 

I've walked past this building many times and I never realized that it used to be a church.  The only way to really tell is by these stained glass windows that are hidden among big tall trees.

 

Walked 3.34 Miles - OMSI

 

I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't seen many cats on my walks lately.  Then I happen upon this guy.  This picture cracks me up!  He was very sweet, but this photo caught him while he was licking his chops, so it gave him a cranky appearance.  You can barely see his tongue to the left of his mouth.

 

 

 

 

It's always good to be reminded of Orwell.  This made me think of the time I worked a movie theater and drunk college kids started being loud.  When security escorted them out, they just started yelling 'this is just like 1984'.  

 

 

It seems like I walked over train tracks at least 10 times on this walk. 

 

 

I decided that it was time to climb to the top of these new towers on the recently remodeled 99E viaduct.  There is a wide ramp that was easy to walk and has to be nice for bikers headed to the Spring Water Corridor.  

 

 

I was surprised to find 6 of these plaques talking about the history of the area.  I love public art, especially when it's educational.

 

 

 

This makes me so happy!  They are starting to lay the tracks for the max line that will cross over the new bridge which will be completed in 2015. This is literally how far they have gotten.  It currently dead ends at that black poll.  I love seeing progress!

 

 

 

 

I'm giddy about the new bridge which will have mass transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians.  No cars!  I work at the west end of the Ross Island bridge and I love hearing the pounding as they put these massive pylons into the ground.  The pounding sounds exactly like in Billy Joel's Allentown. Because of this, I find myself singing that song a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to include this picture, because there is so much going on here. Besides the bridge construction, you have the Portland Spirit on the right, a large canoe full of paddlers, and the OMSI submarine.  It's hard to see, but there are also very large logs in front of the canoers headed down stream. 

 

 

This seemed like a good spot to turn around and head home.  I need to balance my excitement for walking and this blog with the ability of my poor legs.  They were pretty sore on this walk (I really hadn't walked much in December), so it was a good reminder that moderation is needed.  I think I will try walking every other day to see how that goes.  I have a 1/2 marathon in May which is another reason why I need to get some miles under my feet.  But being careful is important because I don't want an injury to slow me down.  Because of this, my walk was very slow today.  Much, much slower than yesterday.  But the day really couldn't have been nicer and there is always so much to see on the waterfront, so I didn't mind.

 

 

I love that there is so much filming in Portland.  My husband works close to OMSI and there have been multiple TV/movies filmed at his office.   It's always fun to stumble upon camera crews.  There was nothing here today, but this sign. 

 

 

 

 

I thought it funny that I had just found a sticker with Joiner on it.  I'm sure this means something completely different. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know I've talked about how there is this amazing green moss everywhere. It's hard not to take tons of pictures of how pretty it is on stairs or walls. Today, I saw many sidewalks also covered in moss.  Crazy! 

 

 

 

 

This is about a block from my house.  I was really sad when they cut this huge old tree down.  I'm sure it was diseased, because it didn't look well. Still it's sad when our neighborhood looses such a large tree.  Besides the huge base, this is the only thing left.

 

 

Strolling in Missoula

 

 

The day before the wedding, we had time to meander around Missoula.  I really liked this town a lot.  I always play the game of 'could I live here' when ever I visit a new place.  I could definitely live in Missoula.  Yes, it's in a land locked state, but there is so much water around that I would do fine.  The town is filled with quirky folks and art is everywhere.  I found it easy to get the lay of the land and I could easily find any place we needed to go.

 

 

 

 

One of our first stops was this second hand store.  They truly did have everything.  I was tempted to take home an adorable red typewriter, but it was a bit too steep for me.  I was disheartened at the expensive price tags on everything.  I was hoping to find some real deals.

 

 

 

 

This was next to the old train station.  My husband liked climbing up the big red Xs.

 

 

 

 

We ended up parking next to the courthouse (it made finding the car easy) and happened upon Occupy Missoula. 

 

 

 

 

There were about 20-25 tents total on the courthouse lawn.  The following day, we saw a parade of protesters march through town. 

 

 

 

 

We all noticed the big M for Missoula when we rolled into town on Thursday.  On Friday morning, the M had been turned into MT 99%.  It's hard to see it in this picture.  It was pulled down by the end of the day.  Apparently tampering with the M is a felony.

 

 

 

 

 

The Clark Fork travels through town.  Missoula has a great waterfront park.   I was very impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked through the park until we stumbled upon a carousel.  The kids in our group were super excited.  I, on the other hand, was a bit leery.  The next thing I knew, I was strapped a top this beauty and on a fast paced ride.  I was surprised at how fast it went.  I hadn't been on a carousel for at least 20 years. 

 

 

 

 

We did get reprimanded by a 15 year old boy for not belting ourselvesto the horse.   It is the law after all. 

 

 

 

 

I saw several of these play structures around town.  They were big and really nicely built.  Several of the adults got lost inside.

 

 

 

 

 My husband quickly found the local record store and scooped up some great deals.  He was very happy.

 

 

 

 

 

I started to notice that everything around town has googly eyes on it.  From posters to these lights.  Nothing was safe from getting googly eyes.  I think this would be fun to do around Portland.

 

 

 

We only stopped into a few stores.  I always love a fisherman's store.  They have the coolest stuff.  I wish I could have spent more time in here taking pictures.  

 

 

 

 

I would love to return and check out more of the architure around town.  It seemed like every street has something of interest on it.  I'd love to bring my big camera to see what I could capture.