I scored a hat trick with these trifectas.

Thursday morning in between buses on my commute to work, I walked back over to Pioneer Courthouse Square to check how many flowers remained from the Flower Sale at the end of the Festival of Flowers. I couldn't resist taking a few photos. Here you see a few beauties with the Portland Hotel wrought iron arch in the background, added joy with the pedestrian's placement inside the arch. Then there's the TriMet bus heading north on SW 6th, part of the Portland Transit Mall.



And here's another photo. I wanted to share it because not only is there a TriMet bus, there's a MAX train, too, waiting at the traffic signal in just the right position to be seen through the arch.

Hat trick, three goals scored by the same person; trifecta--excuse my stretching this one--I took these photos with these items in the exact order that I predicted, once I realized what was happening right before I clicked the button on the camera. 1st, Festival of Flowers; 2nd, Portland Hotel wrought iron arch; 3rd, TriMet on the Portland Transit Mall.

Pioneer Courthouse Square's Festival of Flowers 2016

I got off the bus downtown on the way to work and walked a few blocks to see this year's Festival of Flowers. I wanted to make certain I got to go before any predicted rains messed with the blossoms.



Here's a wider view. I took these photos from SW 6th and did not walk across the square to the higher viewpoints. I might go back if it's not raining--they're on display unaltered through June 14.



Just to the right of the previous photo, you see the entrance to Visitor Information. Look, there's another waterfall downtown!



And here's the part that's to the right of what the other photos show.



Looking through the wrought iron arch at the Festival of Flowers. I love this bit of history that remains on this site. The Portland Hotel stood on this square between 1890 and 1951 when it was torn down and replaced with a two-story parking lot; an original archway and gatework from the hotel were made part of the square's design and are found today on the south side of the square. I've seen photos of that hotel--do I ever wish it still stood? Yes, although I would greatly miss what's known as Portland's Living Room, I would love to see how that hotel could have been, if maintained and respected.



Getting artsy with the arch.



I really like sandwich boards filled with information and enticements.