Escaping Winter - Bikes, beers & boobs in Beervana

Yes, another week with no sign of snow! Even had a few days of sun - seems the stories of never-ending rain here in Portland were unfounded.

Picked up some "cruiser bikes" (aka dork bikes with big-ass saddles) and have spent a couple of days checking out town. There are tons of cool bike features in town, making it pretty fun to roam around on bikes: you can roll your bikes on to the trains and there are bike hangers on the trains, cross-town bike routes on side streets are marked with bike symbols on the pavement, bike lanes everywhere, including some bike & bus exclusive roads, and the coolest thing is the bike signals at intersections - roll your bike over the bike-symbol painted at the stop line, and the light changes, sometimes with bike-only symbols! I'll have to post a picture of that.

On one of our first rides we rode up a volcano located within one of the city parks (how many cities have volcanoes? how cool is that!)


Then the next day, I ended up running up that f#$#$G volcano 2 or 3 more times on the hash house harriers run. There are 3-4 hashes a week here, so I'm sure that I will get in great shape (running or drinking, you decide). 30 odd folks on the hash, clear night, two beer checks and a keg at a partially finished house at the end. Return home by bike and train, so beverage enjoyment was not limited...



My 100-mile drinking diet is going very well. There are reportedly 30 breweries in Portland, and one of them is less than 5-min walk from here. (steam in photo is emanating from brewery just below our house - note bike lane and yet crazy double-decker interstate bridge in background)

Also, beer is very cheap, and both local beer and local wine are sold in very civilized fashion at the Safeway.






Did a cool "trail" hike one day called the
"4T" trail - for Train, Trail, Tram and Trolley - it is a loop where you do all four, including the highest point in the city. The train section included one of the deepest transit stations in North America - some 200+ feet deep! I was excited because it was the first time I've ever seen my professional organization's logo in public - there was a plaque in the station from the Association of Engineering Geologists - hee ha!







Finn's Grandma also arrived this week from Ontario. So, they've been busy doing serious tasks like "paper-bag-pants" and "junk-food-eating", Georgi and I have been able to go out for some hot dates....Avatar 3D one night, and a burlesque show the other night!

Oh, ya, and did I mention, not only no snow, but the cherry tree across the street is starting to flower.

MORE PICTURES HERE!