Hiking in Portland
Seriously, the whole city was this pretty. And clean.
First stop: Portland. Which was so lovely, we all wanted to move. Nothin' (in the US) touches New York's mass transit, but Portland comes damn close. And the city is seriously clean. And seemingly empty (for a large city. We kept walking the downtown area, wondering what the holiday was.) And there was organic food everywhere. Mostly local, too :) And everywhere we went was environmentally friendly. The toilets in the airport were dual flush. Even the local, quick-food shops used glassware (and organic ingredients!) Klean Kanteen water refill spots were everywhere. It was definitely dreamy :) The child was entirely enchanted with the tram system. And the arial tram. We were enchanted with the lack of traffic and the ability to drive the whole freakin' city in a day (when we skipped the trams...)
P and E scouting out the city from the sky.
But what wowed us the most were the parks. Seems like nothing (in the US) touches Central Park, either. But this was amazing on a whole 'nuther level. Pristine, perfect trails, and the trees! Ohmygosh. THE TREES. Walking through these forests, well, it was truly beyond words. Or, well, I've got a word : Happiness. Or maybe, beauty. Or, inspiring. Or, hmm...
(This picture encapsulates my only torment on the trip. There were so many sites I could have camped at for hours, shooting, sketching, seeing. But a quick click as we hiked had to do. The kid is too young to empathize with artistic needs :) He was way too excited to race me through the trees (the dirt floor was amazing to run on!!!) to wait for such silliness. But I'm glad I got the glimpses I did - this tree was the first P petted, purring contentedly "There's carpet on the trees here!")
And then you walk a few blocks or drive a minute or two and bam. You are downtown again having an organic pizza with local veggies. It was a good start to a blissful break.
Just a jump from the pizza place. Really. I love Portland!
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