June 10, 2025
Glenn Jackson Bridge
The sky looks promising when I wake up around five this morning. I take my shot, close the curtain on the window so the morning sun won't bother Rachael when it breaks the horizon, and head back to bed myself for awhile.
This is so much better. It's not too darn hot today - it's a full ten degrees cooler than yesterday, and almost cool enough to need a layer when we leave the apartment around 9:30. So refreshing! We really do need to get out earlier.
We're taking one of our favorite rides today, one we've done hundreds of times perhaps: across the Broadway Bridge, up Greeley to Willamette Bluff and follow it past the University of Portland, north to the Columbia River, and then east up the river to the I-205 bridge or however far we feel like going on the day - sometimes we'll add another dozen miles by looping the Troutdale Airport and stopping for a break on the way back at Chinook Landing - but today the out and back to the bridge feels just right, and the first ride of any real length Rachael's taken for a while. And at the end her primary complaint isn't about her feet or wrists or breathing for a change - it's her aching triceps, from holding her weight up. They don't get the same kind of workout on her walks.
We're just here for the ride and to enjoy sharing the experience, so I leave the Canon behind and just take shots with my phone at a few places where we're stopped anyway. The first is at a train crossing that occasionally holds us up. Today's is amazingly long - there must be a couple hundred cars in my estimation, noticing one identical car after another passing us every three seconds. I'm puzzled about what this is, with every car exactly the same, all tightly lidded and labeled Canpotex (Canada potash export, I assume). I'll read up on this later and see that this is part of an export system for distributing potash from Saskatchewan to the world. The system consists of these immense trains - typically about 200 cars, according to the Canpotex website - delivering product to international ports. One is here at the mouth of the Willamette, just south of Kelley Point. The train is apparently on its return run, racing back to Saskatchewan for another load.
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“How much does the U.S. rely on Canada's potash? The U.S imports 90 per cent of the potash its farmers need annually and 85 per cent of it comes from Canada.“
So wouldn’t you think we would want to play nice with our closest neighbors?
2 days ago
2 days ago
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Finally the last car comes into sight around the bend, and soon we're crossing this Columbia Slough and then heading east upriver.i don't make another stop with the phone until we reach our end point at the Glenn Jackson Bridge and Rachael stops for a snack break before we turn back.
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Sound track: Caravan, by Thelonius Monk
Later, we celebrate with lunch at probably our favorite local restaurant, Gallo Nero. We enjoy a terrific meal and walk out telling each other we should put it into our regular rotation over the next seven weeks before we leave for London.
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Secondly, your 25 mile marker is literally a stone's throw from my place. So if you ever need a pit stop while you’re out this way…
Anyway, glad to see your riding and I’m sure you’re pleased with your plan to head back to Europe. Hopefully we can connect for coffee before you leave.
Jonathan
4 days ago
4 days ago
Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 1,152 miles (1,854 km)
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