Cacti and Wanderings

About two weeks ago, Dan and I went to Northwest Cactus and Succulents (this husband and wife duo with huge cactus greenhouses in their backyard) and picked out a few cacti to replace the one we inadvertently killed.

Unfortunately, it appears we are already on the path to killing one of the new guys too, our "Old Man of Mexico" (below)












But these guys are doing just fine! They are mesem lithop from South Africa:









And here is the one I picked (left) and the last one Dan picked (right). They are from Mexico and Bolivia respectively.









I had a very frustrating mail experience this weekend. See if you can read what it says on the "Return to Sender" sticker, and I think you'll know what I mean.









This Saturday afternoon, after Dan went to a solar energy lecture and I did my sign language homework, we jogged down to the new Portland Tram. It was the grand public opening, and they had free rides, music, cookies, and hot beverages. The tram looks like a bullet, and it is basically like a ski lift that operates between the end of the streetcar line and the 9th floor of Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) Hospital. They are going to charge $4 for a round trip, so we are getting our free rides in when we can. They will have free rides every weekend in February, including Friday nights for the city lights. The view from up top is really spectacular! You can see the whole city, the Wilamette River, and Mount Hood, a sliver of Mount Rainier, Mount Saint Helens, and sort of a jumble grab bag around Mount Adams.

Here is my tram cookie!









I will close with a brief pictoral journey of our bike ride up in to the west hills today..we biked from NW 23rd up Thurman St. to Leif Erickson Drive, which is this old carriage road that is now a multi-use trail within Forest Park, the largest urban park in the world (I think.)

n.b. Leif Erickson was a viking.

Dan watching unicyclists (4) from the streetcar stop. I really like the intent interest on his face. He aspires to ride a unicycle someday. I tried to get a picture of the cyclists, but no dice.









Some cool sights on Thurman along the way to Forest Park:

Mt St Helens



























Trailhead at Leif Erickson Drive












It was steep on the way up--we went about 5 1/2 miles from the trailhead, and it was a lot more downhill on the way down, but it is considered a "beginner mountain biking" trail, and those rocks and sticks were very bumpy, especially at the higher speeds coming back down!!! I'm afraid I was quite sore sitting on a pillow at this Tibetan spiritual dance presentation we went to tonight, and tomorrow will surely bring more soreness. But well worth it!