Mr. Man and I took an adventure today while my wife worked and had personal time. We simply pulled out the bike map for North Portland. I had previously mentioned to Mr. Man that there were bike trails along the banks of the Columbia River. (For the benefit of my Michigan friends, the Columbia River is the north border of Portland and is the dividing line between Oregon and Washington.) The Willamette River, which flows into the Columbia is the river that bisects Portland between east and west.
So we determined that we would take the train to the end of the line, get off and take the bike trails along Marine Drive. It was quite beautiful. We biked about 3-4 miles through lots of industrial areas that support the nearby pier and docks for the Port of Portland. Our intended destination was Kelley Point Park. We didn't know what was there, but we knew it was where the Willamette and the Columbia intersect.
It was beautiful. Our biggest surprise was the beach! Yes, sandy beach right along the river bank. Mr. Man played for a while in the sand. We enjoyed watching the boats, tugs and freighters go by on the river. It was a beautiful sunny day, yet we remained in the shade the whole time because of the beautiful tree cover. Felt so good to have sand between our toes. The water was cold!
We biked back to the train station along a much friendlier route by taking the bike trail the whole time. Turns out part of the bike trail is actually a road that has been closed to cars!
Mr. Man and I were exhausted from the ride and the hot sun beating down on us. We convinced Ama to meet us in China Town for dinner at Vegetarian House. Yummy end to a beautiful day.
1 comment:
Sounds like a beautiful and fun day for you two. Thanks for breaking down the Columbia River for us Michiganders.
I wonder what a closed down road for bikes only feels like.
Hey, This time last year, you were hatching that plan to go to Portland no matter what...if I got my chronology right...now look. You did this!
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