Our travels

17th August 2024 at 15:00 - Damian

Portland has Benson Bubblers¹. Clean drinking water.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benson_Bubbler

Sally demonstrating the local's trick to increasing flow by blocking two of the nozzles.

17th August 2024 at 03:21 - Damian

The food in Portland has been exceptional. We've not yet come across a dud. Last night we went to Apizza Scholls in the Hawthorn neighbourhood which is only 30 minutes walk from our Belmont location.

18" Margarita. See pint glass to the right for size. We could only eat half.

17th August 2024 at 02:59 - Damian

Today is our last full day in Portland 😞

Yesterday we did the 4-T Trail¹ which took us up a gondola and a 7km hike to Washington Park² where we visited the massive rose garden and Japanese garden.

1. https://www.4t-trail.org/take-a-hike/4t-map/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Park_(Portland,_Oregon)

We don't really have an appreciation of roses but bees are great and this one was going bonkers collecting pollen.

A bit of the forest trail between the top of the gondola and Washington Park.

Bonsai tree in the Japanese Garden.

Us in the Japanese Garden.

16th August 2024 at 03:03 - Damian

Yesterday we went on an introduction to Portland walking tour. So far Portland is my favourite place followed closely by Chicago.

The atrium of the Newmark Theatre.

Pho at Luc Lac Vietnamese.

A tasting flight at Rogue.

16th August 2024 at 02:54 - Damian

We were pretty knackered when we arrived so went straight to our Airbnb in Belmont, got some washing done and only ventured a couple of minutes' walk from our digs.

Found a nice dive bar called Bare Bones and, later, a Greek restaurant called Bluto's that cooked over an open fire. Absolutely delicious and we'll likely eat here again before we leave.

Hummus.

16th August 2024 at 02:49 - Damian

We survived the longest leg of the train journey. We've found there's always some loud nutjob in coach class and this leg was no exception. Still, we made it and we're now enjoying exploring Portland!

A view of the Empire Builder train from the rear.

13th August 2024 at 00:02 - Damian

Last night we re-boarded the Empire Builder train in St Paul Minneapolis on the trip from Chicago to Portland.

This leg is the longest of our trip at 1 day 11 hours with two nights to endure.

We've stocked up on snacks and will have the three course dinner onboard tonight.

A bleary stop at Fargo in the early hours of this morning.

12th August 2024 at 05:44 - Damian

Pull tabs. In the pub. Similar to our scratchies but it's a limited pool of cards and you can see which prizes have been claimed.

$2 cards. Pop open the back to see if you have any shamrocks. We didn't.

A perspex box of cards with a display showing which prizes have been won.

12th August 2024 at 01:07 - Damian

Playful sculpture beneath the Minneapolis City Hall.

12th August 2024 at 01:05 - Damian

The Mississippi river had large waterfalls (larger than Niagara) downstream near St Paul when first discovered by explorers in the 1600s (it was a meeting place for local native tribes).

The bed is limestone over sandstone and so the falls rapidly erode and migrate upstream, losing height as they go. They were covered in concrete to stop further erosion after a catastrophic collapse in the late 1800s.

View upstream from the falls from the water power park.

The concrete slope of the falls. Bigger than it looks in the photo.

12th August 2024 at 00:44 - Damian

Yesterday we did a self-guided walking tour of the mill district of Minneapolis¹. Me navigating, Sally reading aloud.

Interesting history on this section of the Mississippi where a natural waterfall was harnessed to run first saw mills and later a massive flour milling industry.

1. https://www.bigboytravel.com/minnesota/minneapolis/riverfront-walking-tour/

A view of the old mills from the east bank.

The Gold Medal Flour mill. Beneath it is the bustling Saturday market.

12th August 2024 at 00:37 - Damian

We arrived in St Paul at around 2330 on Thursday night. 30 minutes delayed but fortunately we're staying at the Hyatt which is right next door to the station.

On Friday we took the green line light rail to Minneapolis. There we explored some of the Skyway system, the sculpture garden and visited a couple of pubs.

Although we didn't experience any dramas the light rail felt unsafe. One dodgy guy was wearing a balaclava!

Big blue rooster sculpture.

Spoon bridge with cheery sculpture.

Detroit-style pizza. Bit of a sloppy mess. I still prefer Napoli-style.

Map of the Skyway system. Walkways between shops to keep people off the roads and in from the cold in winter. The world's longest at something like 10 miles.

9th August 2024 at 09:25 - Sally

See you later Chicago. What an amazing city, really enjoyed our time here.

Our favourite so far.

People in Yosemite/Boulder still winning friendliest prize though. Must be the hiking and fresh air.

Next up St Paul / Minneapolis - on the train now.

8th August 2024 at 12:53 - Sally

On Sunday we walked the 4.5km Bloomingdale (606) elevated walkway. Very nice!

It was very busy and very hot! Didn't stop the runners and bikers though.

Followed by a lovely early dinner at Lula's in Logan Square.

Bloomingdale Trail (606) in Chicago

8th August 2024 at 12:50 - Damian

Today we hired bicycles and followed the lake front cycle path south of the city. 35km all up.

After that we did a boat tour focusing on the city's architecture.

We're really loving Chicago!

Heading north back into the city on the lake front cycleway.

8th August 2024 at 00:25 - Damian

Yesterday we planned to hire bikes and cycle 30km of the lake trail south of the city but it was cold(!) and windy. We went for a 6km meandering walk instead.

We also went to the Chicago Flyover¹ virtual tour at Navy Pier. Incredibly well done. Recommended.

Today we've got a boat tour booked but will have another crack at cycling the lake front beforehand.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5WmgVDswL4

Crack the whip sculpture.

The ever-popular Cloud Gate sculpture. Known as "The Bean" to locals.

6th August 2024 at 11:30 - Damian

This skinny building doesn't look like much but it's the birthplace of house music¹.

The Warehouse. DJ Frankie Knuckles.

Much of the music I loved in the 90s sprouted from this building. Fat Boy Slim, Leftfield, Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Faithless and many, many more. ❤️

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_music

The Warehouse.

6th August 2024 at 11:21 - Damian

It's been muggy as today. Only 30°C but with the humidity we really struggled.

Managed to walk 12km through Lincoln Park, the zoo (depressing as all zoos tend to be), the lakefront (where we had a swim) and around the city centre.