River Ride

Peter and I set off today for a ride by the river. We headed off toward the esplanade passing under the I-5 bridge and passing the homeless people sleeping in their sleeping bags. I wistfully thought of Finland and their lack of homelessness. We wondered what they do with people who have given up on life and chosen the life of the bottle or the needle. Surely they must have them, do they just provide for them and their addictions?

We cross the river and plan on heading north, but the train is crossing the path, so we turn around and head south along the waterfront. We pass under the Hawthorne bridge to be greeted by a gaggle of geese blocking our way. I take a few pictures and wonder why the camera is acting so strangely only to discover that it as stitched the photographs together into one picture. I might have try that feature out again.

We head further south along the river and travel to the south Waterfront for an unremarkable visit and head back. We've been contemplating taking up French so we stop by PSU to see what a French workbook would cost. It comes bundled with the text, they explain and costs 118 dollars. We pass.

We head back down to the river, south, across the tracks and over to where the police horses are stabled and trained. We stop for a picture that doesn't turn out because I was so worried about spooking the horses with my flash. So, we head back and at this point it starts to rain. The rain adds a sensory experience that I really like. I don't like being cold, but I don't mind the feelining of raindrops hitting my skin. We pedal purposefully along the river, up the winding ramp and onto Hawthorne avenue. Then we turn and pedal through Ladd's Addition, remembering how close we were to buying a house here.

We stop at New Seasons for the ingredients to make pea soup and Finnish pancakes. Thursday is pea soup day in Finland, but we missed it so we are going to do it on Friday. Peter is almost sick he is so hungry so we sit out front at the tables and eat a pastry.

Then we head home the long way, past Broder where we stop to check out the menu. We like this way better because it is safer and you get good lights for crossing Division and Hawthorne. It was a nice morning for a ride, and fun to get out and see the city.