Highlights from Portland! I had a fantastic trip up to Portland and out to the Columbia Gorge last week.

 

One of the coolest things in Portland is their fantastic network of bike paths and bike lanes, including one that floats on the river. [video1][video2] It was hilarious biking on it, because it kept bouncing around due to heavy 4th of July boat traffic on the Willamette River.

After a few days in Portland, Esther and I took a bike ride down the Columbia River Gorge. It was brimming with greenery and waterfalls. The bridge we crossed into Washington had a surface of grating instead of pavement, so it was really scary biking across. If I looked down instead of ahead it looked as though I were flying a hundred feet over the River. I almost wiped out.

We finally arrived at the Phoenix Festival, a sort of mini-burning-man in the woods of Washington not far from the town of Klickitat. On a hot summer's day in Klickitat, the entire town can be found at the swimming hole, daring eachother to leap from ever higher points on the riverside cliff into the river. This was a ton of fun. We were also repeatedly stalked by a small rattlesnake that kept coming into our campsite and slithering around. We cornered it under a log, then debated what to do. Finally, we drove it away with long sticks and it didn't come back. On the last night Jason and Esther took part in the biggest fire-show I've ever seen. It was fabulous! [video]

More Photos and Videos here.

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