Portland’s Classical Chinese Garden
I’ve walked past Portland’s Chinese Garden a couple of times now without walking in, but now we enter. We discover that a magical oasis lies within the whitewashed walls. Next post: Ok, I Was Wrong Read More …
Wooden toys at the Portland Saturday Market
Portland’s Saturday Market cuddles up against and under the Burnside Bridge, but also spills into the surrounding historic neighborhood. Artists selling their own work are largely located at the bridge, with vendors selling everything else Read More …
More bridges in Portland, Oregon
College roommate Michele is taking the train down from Seattle to meet me for the weekend, so I probably should figure out where the train station is. As it turns out, it is only a Read More …
Gallery Hopping in Portland, Oregon
Tonight’s activity seems tailor-made for me – a mini gallery tour in the Pearl District, complete with fancy food and local wines! Along the way we stop at Tanner Springs Park, a fabulous urban oasis. Read More …
Bridges in Portland, Oregon
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but once today’s keynote speaker, Sharon Wood Wortman pointed it out, I realized that Portland definitely is a city of bridges. I can see six right from my Read More …
The Great Land: Alaska
Alaska Itinerary Day 1: Evening in Anchorage Apparently Denali is visible from the other side of the plane as we come into Anchorage. Even though we can’t see it, I’m taking that as a good Read More …
Shore Leave in Glacier Bay, Alaska
We land on a gravel out-wash that is low, flat, and braided with leaping streams. The stream itself seems to defy gravity, somehow leaping above the level where we stand watching it without ever Read More …
Glacier Gazing: Margerie and Grand Pacific
We motor along the rocky shore of the Tarr Inlet, passing more gouged and scoured rock that is being colonized by vibrant vegetation. Between the bright fall foliage along the rock face and the dark Read More …
Glacier gazing in Glacier Bay: Johns Hopkins
The landscape is fascinating, in some places raw and new-looking, as if just created. Of course, in a way it has been, when John Muir first visited here in 1879 much of the bay was Read More …
Glacier gazing in Glacier Bay: Lamplugh
Our first new glacier for the day is Lamplugh, a rapidly receding tidewater glacier that sits underwater behind the sand piled in front of it. I’m fascinated by the way the compacted ice glows intensely Read More …