Barfing and Exploring Southeast Portland

We had an interesting week. One day of barf. One day out on the town. Another day of barf. Another day of discovery.

The days we were stuck inside weren't all bad. We watched a lot of TV and did a lot of puzzles. Actually, we did the same two puzzles over and over again. If I have to do that princess puzzle one more time I may end up being the one to barf all over it.

On one of our well days we decided to explore the Mt. Tabor area. The weather was a bit chilly, but it was at least dry and partly sunny. We mobilized onto my bike/trailer combo and set off.

The ride was relatively quick. Biking in these southeast neighborhoods is so easy. The roads are built for bikes. The drivers encounter so many bikers that they actually watch out for bikers and yield to them. It's really nice. Then we got to Mt. Tabor and I basically died.

Who puts the playground on top of the mountain? Seriously! It took some serious gusto to get up there. At one point I made Tommy get out of the trailer and walk while I walked my bike with Lily in tow. It was so steep and the wind picked up as we got higher and higher. Suddenly a chilly day turned bitter cold and miserable. By the time we got to the top of the mountain the kids were frozen and begging to leave. Tommy gave the playground the ol' college try, but Lily flat out refused to get out from under the blanket in the trailer. We stayed at the playground for about 90 seconds before deciding to play and eat our lunch at the Swap 'n' Play. Tommy made me promise not to take them back to Mt. Tabor until summertime.

Yay, we're having so much fun!

OK, now we're actually enjoying the forest a little bit.

A view of downtown Portland from Mt. Tabor.

Looking out east from Mt. Tabor you can see Mt. Hood looming in the distance.

In spite of the cold, I had a great time. Mt. Tabor is beautiful. In the summer I plan to spend lots of time there. There is a playground, picnic tables everywhere, several trails snaking around the mountain, and an awesome view from the top. A family could easily spend an entire day there.

One of the things I really adore about Portland is that people are out running, walking, and biking no matter the weather or time of day. It's a very active place, which I really appreciate. When we were at Mt. Tabor we saw tons of people up there despite the blustery weather.

We had another good health day today so we got out to visit OMSI. It's so close to us now and the kids love it. Tommy literally came home and read math textbooks and wanted to learn all about submarines because of what he saw at OMSI. Lily is a bit young for a lot of OMSI, but she has fun, too. We bused over there, only because Tommy insisted that we do, but in the future that will be a pretty quick and easy bike ride.

You know how people say they fall more in love with their spouse each day they are together? That's how I feel about Portland. And about Ben, too, but mostly about Portland.