Vehicular variety, May 21, 2009

Turns out that I saw several sorts of vehicles on that particular day in the past. Here's a unique one, for sure, an electric three-wheeled truck.



Reminds me of vehicles I've seen in Italy. There to the left of that sidelight, there's the word Xebra and a stylized zebra graphic with lightning for legs. Above the single center headlight, the word Zap with a lightning bolt as punctuation instead of an exclamation mark. And how about that 53 in the circle? Is that a nod to Herbie the Love Bug's racing number? I believe it is!



A motorcycle gunning its way into the traffic alongside a minivan in need of an oil change.



A lady on a white motorcycle in downtown, going north on SW 2nd Avenue. I have no idea the make of the motorcycle--it's too far away for me to make out any words on it. I can tell, and I clicked on the photo to see it at its largest so that I could verify what I thought I saw, that she's wearing high heels. High heels on a motorcycle! Maybe that's a scooter since it has that little shelf place for your feet? I don't know.



Another vehicle, a London black cab but with the steering wheel in the accepted American position, on the right.



The sign on the door says Avalon Hotel & Spa. It looks like this place has closed now or may be has a new name--I saw a red banner with closed on Yelp. I read an old review on Yelp where a man from San Francisco said, I still haven't taken the car service into downtown. Next trip I will. It's an older style English cab. That guy needs some help, y'all. This vehicle doesn't look anything like an older style English cab--it's too modern for that. The images I found at Google for black cabs showed a lot like this one, but with the steering wheel on the left. The older style ones definitely convey their different era of origin.



Talk about vehicular variety--a food truck, too! Only found one mention of it in a 2013 answer to the question about where to get the best burrito in Portland: specifically Ely's Rolling Grill and their Lengua Burrito. The burrito is excellent but the real trump card is the cooks who watch nothing but Saved By The Bell in Spanish while cooking the food. There you have it. Ely's in Beaverton. I don't see that particular item on the menu--see below!



Lots of variety on their menu. One of my favorite junior high school teachers kept this quote written at the top of the blackboard: Variety is the spice of life. So, maybe that's why Ely's Rolling Grill - Mexican & American food has such a variety in its menu, so that they'll be spicy? Sorry, I'm rambling now.

Winter Opposites - No. 6, motorcycle man wears it all well

Somewhere in Portland, riding a TriMet bus, I noticed this motorcyclist. His mustache caught my eye first, quickly followed by his sunglasses, helmet and pony tail. I sat there while the bus waited at a traffic signal, looking out the window on a sunny July 24, 2010, thinking of the times I rode behind my dearly departed husband LeRoy on his British racing green Triumph motorcycle. I thoroughly enjoyed holding onto him as we rode around Kansas City back in the day.

University of Oregon motorcyclist on an early Saturday morn

About 9:15 a.m., I'm at the corner of W. Burnside and NW 21st, waiting for the 15 bus to take me close to Pioneer Courthouse Square, July 25, watching traffic and pedestrians. I heard the motorcycle and turned to my left, looked, thought "Photo opportunity," lifted the camera to my eye from around my neck, and snapped this one. It doesn't do his deep tan justice, nor did I get his mustache, doggone it. While he's no spring chicken, you certainly can't tell it from this photo. And when I looked at the photo at its largest size on Flickr, I think I saw a scar on his knee, like he might have scraped it on some pavement somewhere sometime. And then I noticed a pale turquoise X on his thigh. What? A band-aid maybe? I just don't know.

Anyway, I wasn't out waiting for a bus just to take photos of interesting passers-by. I was headed for Pioneer Courthouse Square to meet up with a some of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts Tour Guides. Our latest perk, a tour of the public art on TriMet's Yellow Line Max, with Valerie Otani, one of the artists who helped plan and create it. Here's a bit from TriMet's Web site:
Art on Interstate MAX Yellow Line

Artwork at every stop along the MAX Yellow Line draws from the history and culture of the area to create a unique identity for each station.

With over 40 local artists contributing artwork and 75 community members participating in forums and committees, the art along MAX Yellow Line is a proud reflection of a historically rich and vital part of Portland.

Y'all know I'm going to put photos here soon! Hope you'll come back to look.

Hedonistic ride?

Walking from the bus to the MAX Friday evening, after a hedonistic few hours at 3 Doors Down Cafe, Marsha spied this holiday-themed motorcycle. "Look!" she cried. "Oh, I've got to take a picture of that!" I exclaimed and bent over to unzip the rolling black bag. Laughing congenially, she said, "Imagine that!" We laughed as I snapped this photo.

By the way, hedonism, according to Merriam-Webster Online, means the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life. Yep, that was our entire evening, with a big ol' dose of well-deserved relaxation at the end of the work week.

Wednesday, July 16, 2007 ... ABC Wednesday, Z is for Zing

Several Saturdays ago as we walked along NW 23rd, my rolling black bag and I, we spied this orderly row of Harleys. Immediately, my rollin' black bag noticed those two travel bags standing proudly attached to the first bikes in line.

Ah, to speed over hill and dale, the wind rustling your whatever-denier-nylon-self. Zing went the strings of my rollin' black bag's heart, contemplating a life on the road, at speeds much greater than my feet or mass transit afford. That's the life for a travelin' bag!

Not. I see no motorcycles in my future, although there is a romantic British racing green Triumph in my past. Alas, my rollin' black bag wasn't even a twinkle in my eye back in 1972! Holding tight to LeRoy, the reason for the zing in my own heart, lent a brilliant sparkle to my eyes.

Yes, I've gone bonkers here, stretching for this Z, but I had fun. Hope you did, too!

If you're of a mind to, please go to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place for loads of other ABC Wednesday blogs! Look at the list of links per Mr. Linky.