June 15, 2023
Some summer plans
Old news
So let’s step back and catch up a bit, beginning with a quick look at the place we’ll be staying for the next four weeks. One look is enough, because there’s so little to see here, folks. Other than the bathroom and a largish closet, you’re seeing the works here. Not much in the way of furnishings you’ll note, so it’s sort of awkward figuring out where to set things down. The dining table (the thin slat between the couch and range) is a particularly nice feature. It’s so narrow that it’s quite unstable. Already there’s been one mishap from this, when Rachael lifted herself up from it and tipped it, breaking the handle off of a coffee cup when it slid to the floor.
We really do need to look more carefully at the gallery of photos in the listing before we book a place!
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Yesterday got off to an early start when we both wake up around 3:30 (thanks, jet lag!). As long as we’re up at this ridiculous hour anyway I assemble both Bike Fridays in preparation to taking them down to Sellwood Cycle Repair for some badly needed maintenance. After that I leave at six to grab a quick breakfast at Caffe Umbria before driving down to Sunnyside Medical Center for my appointment for an echocardiogram and EKG.
Unfortunately I misremembered and forgot that Umbria doesn’t open until six. So I drive to the Starbucks on Lovejoy which really does open at six - or used to anyway before it closed down last winter, something else I’d forgotten. So I drive to the one over by the Schnitzer, but it’s a thing of the past too. So I reach to pull out the phone and consult a map for a nearby Starbucks that’s still in business, but find I forgot to bring my phone (thanks, aging brain!).
So I drive back to the apartment to pick up the phone and then proceed to Sunnyside because by now it’s too late to do anything else. The echo and EKG are the first part of the cardio plan, btw. I have to have the EKG before I can take a stress (treadmill) test, and all three must be completed before my consultation with my cardiologist to see if they should just shoot me and get it over with or if better options are possible. I’ll report back when more is known, but for now we’ll leave the subject here.
Back at the apartment, I arrive not long before Rachael opens the door and asks for help with her immense load she’s brought back from the storage unit - her Surly, panniers, and as many bags as she could carry wheeling the bike the four blocks back to this place, its tires all but flat. She feels and looks like a bag lady and wonders what people in the apartment building’s lobby must have been thinking when she wheeled in.
I load the two BF’s into the car and drive down to Sellwood Cycles. We’re taking the bikes there instead of the neighborhood REI that’s been our primary LBS for years because this REI is closing down because they’ve been so abused by street violence and security concerns that they can’t keep it open any longer. Which is beyond depressing for both of us for many reasons. Cut by cut, Portland is gradually feeling less attractive to us.
We do like Sellwood Cycles though. It would have been our main shop long ago if it were more convenient. Today they take both bikes, say they’ll get back to me when they have time to inspect them, and say it’s likely to be a couple of weeks before they can perform whatever work is needed.
Rachael and I leave together soon afterwards for a ride together out the Columbia. We’re just riding, so there’s very little camera work. I do mange to get off a quick shot of her crossing the Broadway Bridge when she has to stop because she forgot to mount her Varia rear light. And then we see an Osprey, but you’ve already seen that so we don’t need to show it again - if you’ve forgotten already, scroll back a page and when you’re there focus on those exceptional feet clutching the utility line as though it were a sleek trout.
And then, not far past the osprey I stop us again for a mommy mallard and her brood of nine, because Rachael loves ducklings and I know she’ll approve. But that’s it.
New news
I was going to include here our next day also, but yesterday took so much longer to write up than I’d expected that I’ll stop here. Today can wait for tomorrow.
Some Summer Plans
Team Anderson likes to plan far into the future, but keeps a flexible attitude in case things change. We planned out this summer way back in January: four weeks in Portland, followed by a six week road trip with the Raven, followed by a two week stay back in Portland, and then a flight to Bilbao for the start of a ‘real’ four month tour: three in Spain, and one in Cyprus. We booked everything for these three months in America, including two AirBnB stays in Portland and all of our lodging in Canada. We also booked our flight to Bilbao (with a four day layover on the way in Minneapolis to visit Shawn and his daughters) but stopped there because we weren’t certain yet where we’d want to end it in Spain - Malaga and Valencia are the primary candidates.
Here is the plan we booked for the Canadian road trip:
It was a nice plan, if we do say so ourselves. A leisurely pace, with reasonably short driving days and multi-day layovers to be filled with hikes and rides on unladen bikes. Features included a swing by Boise to visit Racpat and share a belated wedding anniversary celebration (we were both married on July 8th!), four nights in Canmore, four more in Jasper, another four in Radium Hot Springs, and three in Nelson.
Unfortunately, that’s now old news. The plan was round-filed about a month ago when we were notified that our two week AirBnB booking had been cancelled. It was cancelled due to a screw-up by our host, who hadn’t known that AirBnB stays in central Portland of less than 30 days are no longer permitted. He couldn’t host us for a two week stay, and didn’t have availability for a longer, legal stay.
So we started looking for alternative stays, and learned something very interesting. There is a big difference in Portland between stays of 29, 30, and 31 days:
- Stays of 29 days or shorter are forbidden;
- Stays of 30 days or shorter are subject to city occupancy tax.
- Stays of 31 days or longer are not subject to city occupancy tax.
I’m embarrassed to admit that we never really noticed the occupancy tax line item, but it’s quite large - well over five hundred dollars for the two weeks we had booked. Shopping around, we found a decent sounding downtown condo for 31 days that is less expensive than our 14 day stay that was just cancelled - cheaper because it came with a 30+ percent discount for making a monthly booking, and cheaper still because we’re avoiding occupancy tax.
In other words, we’re getting two free weeks of lodging if we stay in Portland for 31 days at the end of the summer. So we’re doing that, and will remember this for future bookings. And of course we had to take the pruning shears to the road trip, which now looks like this:
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10 months ago
I read this to Rachael, and she was very envious. “She lives in Revelstoke? What a great place to live.” We were ther for a couple nights five summers ago and have wanted to return ever since.
10 months ago
It looks like Canmore is on your itinerary also. Please send me an email at mckaar4athotmaildotcom and we can hopefully coordinate a meet up. If the dates work you are welcome to stay at our place as a base. Kirsten and Lyle
10 months ago
10 months ago
So, that’s the plan at the moment and everything necessary has been booked, rebooked or cancelled. We’ll see though. For one thing, Boise and Racpat are well off route now, so we’ll see how that looks when the time gets closer. More importantly though, we’ll see what’s learned when I’ve had my consultation with the cardiologist. It’s possible that further revisions or even cancellation of the whole thing will be called for if I need to be in town for some sort of medical procedure. Time will tell.
Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 30 miles (48 km)
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