muscle-powered saturday
Okay, back to our regularly scheduled blog. And back to my Dad’s visit a couple of weeks ago. After our coffee and wine excursions, we celebrated Earth Day with a muscle-powered Tualatin River trip. Audubon Society of Portland and the Tualatin Riverkeepers teamed up to host the combined bike ‘n’ boat outing.
muscle-powered saturday: 9 miles one way
We assembled at the north end of Fanno Creek Park for a cruise down the trail to Cook Park. The trail was a miracle of urban nature restoration, and Jim Labbe from Audubon was there to point out its best features to us.
Down at Cook Park, many of the bikers headed on back, but not us. Our trip wasn’t even halfway through yet. We followed TRK’s Sue Marshall over to the waiting canoes, hopped in, and headed two miles up the river and back. The day was perfect: the current was mild, the wind wasn’t too obnoxious, and the sun was soaking down into us as if to say, “Hey, put down that paddle for just a few minutes and just enjoy the river.”
And then we got back on the bikes and completed the afternoon with an uphill return haul to the starting point.
The next day, we heard the beautiful choir and organ at First Unitarian Church downtown, and then took in a Beavers game. The Beavs are Portland’s farm team, and Sunday’s game against Salt Lake was a convenient backdrop for beers and conversation. You see, minor league baseball—how do I explain this? It’s kind of like the Chicago Cubs. (I’m just kidding, John!)