The afternoon she arrived it was still bucketing rain, and I tried to look on the bright side that it was probably better this way, since no one back in the snowy but sunny Rockies would believe my Cuz if she said that she went to Portland and it didn't rain. We traveled through the drizzle to a lovely nuevo latino tapas meal with our other cousins, reveling once we discovered that it was half-off wine bottle night and we didn't have to decide between white or red; you get both!
The next day, it was cloudy but free from sprinkles as Alton and I took Louise to Portland to visit Powell's Books, the world's largest independent bookstore, and Kenny & Zuke's, an award-winning deli that Julio still raves about from his visit four years ago! From there, Louise picked up a car rental to drive south for a day to visit a close friend of hers who also lives here in Oregon.
Upon her return, Alton and I shuttled with her back to Portland to drop off the car rental and visit the Portland Japanese Garden, which I had seen for the first time last January when my parents stayed with us. This year, the attendant at the entry booth offered Alton a scavenger hunt page with different landmarks throughout the park to seek out, including the "Moon Bridge" he and Louise are posed on below. After a delightful lunch at the Oregon Culinary Institute, Alton was happy to conk out in the car on our drive home!
You might be wondering why I refer to my cousin as "bike-happy" in the title of this post. Besides being a biker herself (motorcycle rider, that is), Louise also went on a bike ride with us while she was here in town! After my morning commute with Alton to preschool was mentioned in conversation, she offered to ride a bike with us on Thursday morning for the little guy's drop off/pick up. She didn't even balk when I suggested that while Alton was at school, she and I could ride to the grocery store for coffee and breakfast in their cafe. With muscles toughened from motorcycle ridin', she was ready for the pedal power challenge!
We got prepared the day before by letting Louise choose which of the bikes in our fleet she was going to ride, then got her seatpost adjusted to the right height and helmet properly fitted before she took off down our residential street for a test spin. I was happy to learn that we shared a similar philosophy regarding safety in high visibility and rider caution on the road, and Louise saw nothing dorky at all in donning a helmet and orange safety vest to cruise along with us; perfect, because I feel the same way! She got warmly dressed in jacket, hat and gloves, and was ready to pose for a picture with snowgear-snuggly Alton before we rode away.
What a blast! Louise said that she had not been cycling since her commuter bike had been stolen right out of her backyard while she was in college, and she really enjoyed herself with us today. We rode a total of just over 13 miles, earning our coffee and pastries for breakfast. Happily, it was the most sunny, beautiful, blue skies day of her whole trip, so a perfectly bright and crisp morning for our little journey. We returned to the preschool, where one of the other parents complimented Louise on her cool bike! Alton and his fellow students gathered in the center of the room to don dragon and lion headdresses and beat a drum in honor of the Chinese New Year. Louise and I smiled and took pictures of the giddy little kiddos.
Soon, it was time for my cousin to return to the airport and more sun, snowboarding, and skating back in Colorado. We had such a fun time with her while she was in town, and hope that it won't be too long before we get a turn to visit her and make more memories!
1 comment:
Sounds like a very fun visit.
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