liveonearth (liveonearth) wrote,
liveonearth
liveonearth

3 bridge day

Today I took a break from studying and Suzanne and I went downtown. We walked over the 17th Ave and caught a bus that took us near the Ross Island bridge, where we jumped off, crossed a street and got on a 19 going across the Ross Island bridge (#1) downtown. We rode to the north end of downtown and got off in Chinatown, and walked down to the Saturday Market (yes I know it's Sunday). The marimba band that I had heard before was playing again! I was so pleased. The band is Boka Marimba, and I bought a CD, but the music coming from little computer speakers cannot compare with the vibrant sound of this band live. They are incredible. The whole crowd was smiling and dancing, as before. We listened to them for 3 long songs, then walked the market, checking out the arts and crafts. Then we threaded our way past the gauntlet of homeless people on the stairs to walk out on the Burnside bridge (#2). We found a corner in the sun and out of the wind, and stopped there for a few minutes to watch the boats and the city. By the time walked back from the bridge we were really cold. It isn't that cold here, but for some reason 40 degrees here seems a lot colder than 20 in Flagstaff. We ducked into a bar for a coffee with Baileys and some pizza. Once we were warm, we went back out on the street and waited for another bus, taking the 4 across the Hawthorne Bridge (#3) to Division. It was good to get out on the town with Suzanne. We haven't gone out much. The bus system here is quite good.

Tonight I got in some good study. My project was to try to symbolize and label all the anatomy parts that I need to know for my cadaver lab exam--on one page. It was tight but I believe I got every essential word and term on there, with some indication as to its whereabouts.

Tomorrow is the first week of final exams. Mostly it involves reviews with a few exams and lots of assigments due. Somehow a whole week of Thanksgiving break went by without my really doing all that much schoolwork. I guess it's a good thing.

I did get on the river the other day, the Clackamas from some power station to Bob's Hole at about 1,500 CFS. I don't know how long the run was but I'd guess 6-7 miles. We had a group of 9 that had met up online via PDX kayaker. I had met Susan when Suzanne and I drove up the Clack the day prior, and that was how I found out about the kayak trip. The weather was cold and windy, and most people were wearing full drysuits and pogies. I certainly was. The run is rated class III and that's about right. The group was beginner-intermediate and I was by far the most experienced paddler there. They were all afraid to go into the rapids, and waited for one guy to give them the scoop about how to run it. I just went ahead, catching eddies and waves as I could on the way through. The last three miles had some good play on it that will get better when the water is up. I met another paddler that I would boat with again, so that's two people for my the boating circle already.
Tags: portland, river, transportation
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