I’ll be honest, I’m not sure that this is a reliable source, but for what it’s worth, here it is.
The hotel is nice, and seems to be what I needed after a sleep-light time in Seattle.
There is art. And a sofa.
There is a bed, and a screen so that you can tell where the ‘bedroom’ begins.
There is also a view, with trees.
If I’m right, those more distant trees are in Washington.
I got myself a 7-day travel pass for getting around, and tested it out by taking a trip to the airport.
OK, it’s just up the road, and was only two stops, but having bought the thing at a station (from a machine, which dispensed change in coins only) I kind of wanted to use it.
The MAX/light rail runs right up to the airport terminal; Maybe 100m & an escalator ride between the train and the check-in desks.
Auckland International, please learn from this.
Seattle, you’re OK, but your signage could be better.
Caught up with a friend from New Zealand.
Well, they’re from the US, but we met in NZ?
Anyway, we had dinner, and climbed Mt. Tabor, and generally chatted about how things had been for the last five years or so.
I’d like to point out that Mt. Tabor has the most interesting water reservoir buildings I’ve ever seen, with a distinctly ‘castle’ vibe to the construction.
Took this photo because, … Well, because it made me laugh.
This one was taken in a place called Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd, just down the road from the hotel at one end of the strip-mall cluster, which I think is referred to as Cascades Station. I messed up the angle, I’m thinking, because it’s much flatter in real life than it appears here.
Not 100% on what that glow effect is.
Portland has a Saturday Market down by the river, which I went to.
In the rain.
I’d started looking for something in a hat to keep the sun off while I was in Seattle, but hadn’t had a lot of luck.
Found this in one of the stalls at the far end of the market (the market stretches from under a bridge at the riverbank back a couple of blocks, so it’s occasionally interrupted by roads) , and was sold by the fact that it’s also waterproof.
There are a number of artists set up there, including one with a familiar style.
Found a piece that I recognised from an image meme – Your future self is watching you right now through your memories
We had a fun chat which did touch upon the topic of credit, and how clear his signature isn’t on that meme.
I also tried an Elephant’s Ear, which turns out to be a naan-ish thing that you can expect to shed sugar & cinnamon pretty much everywhere.
On the advice of the aforementioned friend, I went to Washington Park & ambled around in the green stuff.
Conveniently, the MAX line which goes by the hotel went through the park, which was a real time-saver.
Interestingly, the line passes under the park, so you get off at a station which is maybe 300′ below ground, and take an elevator up to emerge … next to a carpark.
It’s understandable, but I’m just imagining a situation where the building for the elevators is the only structure in a clearing, surrounded by forest.
There’s quite a lot of the park; What’s shown here is some of it.
I was impressed by the trail mapping.
And by the signposting.
I remember some of the training walks we did for Team W.T.F where the trail markers required you to be standing right next to a marker to see the next one.
And be 7′ tall.
And then there’s all the green stuff.
And then there was the Redwood Deck.
As it was Talk Like A Pirate Day, it seemed the time to take a shot which looked as nautical as possible, and this is what I came up with; A ship threading it’s way through a treacherous forest, trying not to scrape the hull open on a tree as it passes by to starboard.
I’d started playing with a thing that I’m pretty sure I found out about from a former co-worker; what3words
The idea is that, rather than referring to a location by numeric coordinates, it uses three words, which will hopefully be easier to remember & harder to transpose, double-up, or drop.
It may go the way of Swatch Internet Time / Beat Time / Biel Meantime, but the names are fun.
