Oregon - Portland

The next day we headed out to explore Portland. After breakfast at Mothers, we drove over to the South Waterfront District to take the Portland Aerial Tram. The tram is one of only two commuter trams in the country, and connects the waterfront with a hospital.



The ride is short, only lasting a few minutes. But it does give you a good view of downtown Portland and the mountains in the distance.



From the tram we drove north into Washington Park. Portland is famous for its roses, but since it was late February all of the roses were dormant. So we headed over to the Pittock Mansion, an mansion that was built in 1909 on a hill overlooking the city. The mansion is open for tours, but we instead went to the back to check out the view of Portland.



You should usually be able to see Mt. Hood from here, but it was too cloudy.



I was also excited to be there since the mansion was the finish line in the 13th season of The Amazing Race.



Just before dark, I drove over to the Eastbank Esplanade and set up for some more shots of the Portland skyline and the Williamette River. As the sun set, the sky began to light up with color. The Esplanade was busy with people walking and riding bikes, but a lot of them stopped to watch the sunset.



And the city after dusk. The bridge on the right is the Hawthorne Bridge, which opened in 1910. It's the oldest vertical-lift bridge in the country, and one of the busiest bridges in Portland.



The next day, we were a bit lazy and ate lunch at Sizzle Pie and then made another visit to Powell's City of Books. We drove by this parking lot, which was tucked under a building and guarded by a tree that was straining to get some sun.



After that I drove out of the city again, ready to visit another waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge...