Going West 2013: Wednesday July 3

The last couple of days we’ve been exploring Portland by city bus. It’s cheap, a great way to get around, and no parking hassles. We did buy trips on the Grey Line tour bus that has a narrated tour, but realized pretty quickly the city busses are great. The tour bus did give background and information, which was nice. Monday we started at the rose gardens and Japanese gardens in the city park. A tour of the Japanese Gardens was very informative of the design and culture of the gardens. I learned that moss is very popular in the gardens, so we have a good start for a Japanese garden in our yard. After that we walked through the Rose gardens, then caught the tour bus for the rest of the city tour. We ended up by the waterfront in the area of Voodoo Donuts. We got a Voodoo dozen, and they’re unusual. Captain Crunch and Fruit Loop encrusted, chocolate peanut butter nut encrusted, etc. Some are very unusual. After standing in line in the sun for donuts it was time for a beer, so we walked to Descuhutes Brewery for a sampler. Then home to hang out at the pool while the laundry cleaned itself. We bought some jalapeno and cheddar burgers that we grilled for dinner.

Today we started at The Grotto, a Catholic outdoor shrine and gardens. It is built on two levels divided by a cliff. Part of the cliff has been hollowed out to make a shelter for an altar. There are statues and gardens and contemplation areas, one of which has a panoramic view. Back on the bus to Rogue Brewery for lunch, then we rode and walked to Union Station, the Amtrak station that has been refurbished. Nice, but no Grand Central. The bus again back to Jantzen Beach. We discovered that tomorrow we’ll need special passes to get into the campground because it backs up to the Columbia River and there are fireworks across the river tomorrow night. Only residents will be allowed in the park.

Riding the bus has proved to be a wonderful experience. We’ve seen a lot of Portland that we would not have seen, many different neighborhoods, some funky, some very nice, some not so nice. We’ve also seen a lot of different people and have had the chance to talk to a few. I’ve used Google maps to find routes and stops and times, and there is a phone number to call to find out exactly when the bus will reach the stop where you are waiting. Traffic makes the printed schedules a general guess. Tomorrow the Blues Fest!