27 May 18

I was up at the crack of 07:30. After breakfast and a leisurely read of the newspaper, I hit the road again, westbound along the Columbia River. The drive along the river and through the gorge was beautiful. I resisted stopping at every lock and dam, but at Bonneville, I could stand it no longer and had to go in for a closer look. The river is high now, so there was a huge amount of water coming through the sluice gates. The fish ladder was in full flow and lots of fish (salmon?) were fighting their way upstream. I was planning to stop at Multnomah Falls, but there were so many tourists (on this Memorial Day Weekend Sunday with gorgeous weather; who woulda figured?!?) that the entry to the park from the westbound side was closed off and there was a half-mile tail-back from the eastbound side. So, I decided to leave this for another time and proceeded on to Portland, checking in at The Palms Motor Motel (definite throwback from the 60’s; but cheap) at about 14:30. I immediately walked south for one block and boarded the Yellow line tram into town and spent the afternoon wandering aimlessly around Portland until my knees called a halt, conveniently next to the Yard House, where I enjoyed a couple of libations and a light meal. Back to the motel before dark for a bit of laundry and an early night.

28 May 18

Although I crashed before 10:00 last night, I had a somewhat restless night. I got up at about 07:30 and hit the tourist trail in Portland. I rode the tram into town and had a hearty breakfast at Starbucks. I wish I had checked the weather before I walked down to the tram station, as the high for the day was 69F and I was dressed in shorts and sandals (although I did bring my PolarTec vest along, thank goodness). Then I rode the bus up to see the Japanese Garden (including green tea at the Umami Cafe) and the Rose Garden, both of which are on the hill about 1.5 miles to the west of downtown Portland. It is all beautiful and very nicely done. After lunch down in town, my knees were still sore from 3 hours of walking around the gardens, so I rode the trams and buses around town for a couple of hours. There are a lot (I mean a LOT) of homeless people in Portland, especially in the downtown area; highest concentration of such I have ever seen. After riding around, I stopped for a pint and a snack at Kells Irish Pub and watched the very end of the Astros win over the NYC Yankees, along with snippets of a couple of other games. Back to the motel to prepare for tomorrow’s final leg to Anacortes. I’ll be glad to have this excellent road trip behind me.