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which portland?

Until recently, I sat on the board of my church. During a recent meeting we were discussing who would attend the denomination’s annual convention in Portland, Oregon. I jokingly (I thought) said we could all go in my van. Others, we knew, were flying up, but a road trip sounded like fun.

A couple of months later, there we were, three of us heading north on I-5 in a pounding heat wave. Since none of us were delegates, we later rewarded ourselves and took advantage of our freedom to play hooky and explore the area. Portland is one of those places I’d driven through—once steering an ancient high-profile, motor home over a frighteningly high bridge across the Willamette River—but not given much thought to otherwise.

One thing I’ve discovered, however, is that there’s no place on earth that isn’t interesting, once you spend a little time there. The first thing that caught my attention in Portland was its self-designation as the City of Roses. This surprised me because I grew up in the City of Roses, and it wasn’t Portland, Oregon; it was Richmond, Indiana, where an enterprise known as Hill’s Roses had flourished and which now boasts an American Rose Society garden in the heart of the city’s unique Glen Miller Park.
Bottom line: There are two Rose Cities that I know of and probably a few more.

As for the name Portland itself, I became curious about how many cities of the same name dotted the map after a cousin, seeing some Facebook posts that friends of mine had made, texted to invite me to stop by her house in Vermont on the way home. On the way home from Portland to San Diego? Actually, what she said was, “Are you in Maine? If you are, take a break at my house!”  A little research revealed that there are actually 21 cities named Portland in the U.S., and others outside the country. Of all of them, Portland, Oregon has the largest population (600,000-plus in the city itself) with Portland, Maine, the other well-known Portland, claiming roughly 10 per cent of that.

But back to the west coast city, with only five days, most of them spent at the convention, we were able to see only a smattering of what the area had to offer: bridges, the largest independent bookstore in the world, the Columbia River Gorge, a performance of Macbeth in an unlikely venue ... Herewith, a quick glimpse. 
                                                                                                     July 8, 2015

click on images below to view full photos and captions
A stone church in tiny Dunsmuir, California.
Cary Grant double feature? Really? In Dunsmuir, California.
Our home away from home, a vacation rental in Portland
Driving across the Steel Bridge, opened in 1912, going from our house to the Oregon Convention Center
The Steel Bridge, as seen from downtown
The entire center of the Steel Bridge lifts to allow boats to pass through
The unpretentious entrance to Powell's Books, the largest independent book store in the world
A tiny portion of Powell's many storied interior
A nod to self-publishing
The Espresso Book Machine, which I was told could print and bind an average sized book in 8 to 12 minutes.
These young people were obviously intrigued by the process.
Looking closer still
Not your typical Shakespeare in the park. This is Shakespeare in Portland's Lone Fir Cemetery.
The audience awaits the performance.
Actors watch the approach of others.
A weekend street market in downtown Portland
Musicians play for their own entertainment in the park by the Willamette River.
Kids loved the mime and the watery playground behind him.
Pathway to Latourell Falls (in the distance) in the Columbia Gorge
A stream below the falls
David, Michael, Misty, and me at Bridal Veil Falls in the Columbia Gorge
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