Two of the three pairs of shoes that made the trip with me. My first hot meal of the trip. England Scotland Heritage Tour, 2014, from Trafalgar

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My T-I-R-E-D feet are in the plaid slip-ons. I wore them on departure day, not wanting to be slowed down by having to tie shoes at the airports in Portland and Calgary. I changed to the Saucony's in the middle of the photo for our first outing in London on Monday, October 6. Once we left our hotel, Ibis Earl's Court on the Lillie Road, we took three tube trains, the District, Piccadilly, and Northern Lines, to Camden Market. Tired fun was the order of the day! Back at the hotel, the plaids served as slippers.



Back to our fun! Once we exited the Camden Market tube station, this large orange sign grabbed my attention. Since one of my goals on this trip was to eat some flaky, delicious British fish and chips, I pointed it out to Juliet. We crossed the street, talked with a nice young man giving out information about their specials and gladly accepted his help through the doorway.



Once we stepped inside, we knew instantly we were in the right place. The young man explained to the two lovely young ladies who ended up waiting on us that we were hungry and interested in their menu.



Can you tell from my photo the perfection of this lunch? Flaky haddock, piping hot chips, fresh mint peas and authentic Italian salsa verde--the young ladies were Italian, so they should know! I cannot remember exactly, but I think it was 3:30 or later London time when we ate and neither one of us needed another meal that day. Satisfied to the Nth degree with our meal--Juliet had grilled mackerel--we got directions to Camden Market from the same young man out and the sidewalk and made our way to the shops.

Open.

The Players Club card room is no more--I noticed it on the Labor Day weekend Sunday. I thought this photo would be fitting for today's post because my Trafalgar tour ends today with a long, long, long flight home. However, I plan to be open, 24 hours a day I don't know about, but open for blogging and getting my Pacific Northwest legs beneath me again after having been in Europe since October 6. I return to work on October 20. Thank goodness for my earned vacation hours!

My favorite steam locomotive, the SP 4449 at Union Station

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My brother Howard came to visit on a Friday, flying in from Jackson, Mississippi. The next morning, October 20, 2012, we got up early in order not to miss the SP 4449 steaming out of Union Station, pulling the Deschutes Steam Special vintage rail cars on an excursion from Portland to Bend and back the next day. We stood around for a long time, waiting for a few memorable moments up close and personal with this beautiful machine. It was worth every bit of effort, every bit.

Cyclocross, a sort of crazy I'll never experience except through a camera lens

October 2, 2011, Alpenrose Cyclocross. Lamont knew a few folks in the race, so he invited me to tag along to watch. To paraphrase, good golly, Miss Molly, these folks sure like to roll. Steep, slippery, muddy, snaking--all terms that describe the course that they strived to roll. Men and women of all ages did their best to stay upright and finish. I had a great time watching and taking photos!

The bike box at work at this intersection.

Bicycle commuters at the corner of SE Madison and SE Grand, waiting to head west over the Hawthorne Bridge into downtown Portland. I took this photo at 7:42 a.m., October 13, 2011. I had walked part of the way to work on that dry morning. That brick building is where I work. The green-painted pavement is a bike box which allows bicyclists to get in front of cars in order to be visible at specified intersections. It's a safety measure, particularly where cars want to turn right and bicyclists want to go straight.

Watching a confident goat out for a walk

When I drove out of Portland in a Zipcar on October 1, 2011, to go to the October harvest and Halloween-related activities at Bauman's Farm and Gardens, I never expected to see a goat on a raised walkway as one of the petting zoo animals. I watched it go in and out of doorways and across these shelf-like walkways with total confidence. No bored goats at Bauman's, no sirree buddy bobtail!

One of my AIA Photo Walk photographs

A photo that I took while standing in the parking lot on the AIA Photo Walk, October 22, 2011. My goal, to line up the top right corner of the shorter building with the cream-colored surface on the neighboring building. Considering how much I don't like bending backwards and looking up because I'm afraid I'll fall right on over, this photo turned out pretty good.

Two photographers at it in The Pearl.

October 22, 2011, I participated in an AIA Photo Walk over in Northwest Portland, in The Pearl. Had a great time, took some photos I really like, some of which I've posted in the past. Since I'm posting ahead so that I don't loose my momentum on the blog while I'm on vacation, I don't have time to check to see if this one is already posted. I don't think anyone will mind, no matter what, since it's been all of those years since I may have posted from this album. I like the look of these two women concentrating on their choices. We'd been told to look up and at the various surfaces and angles available on the edges of this parking lot. We've got good light, great textures, two sorts of cameras and two ages of women, plus those automobiles. I like this photo.

Sidewalk, sunshine, shadows and shoes

A photo like this is so much fun to get the chance to take! I'm enjoying the photo and the fact that those shoes are not on my particular feet!

Bridges, railroad cars and the Portland Trail Blazers

Seen from the Steel Bridge, the Broadway Bridge and, in the distance, the Fremont Bridge. The train snakes along slowly and keeps all of that freight on the tracks. To the right of this sight and across a couple of streets stands the Moda Center where the Portland Trail Blazers play their home games. I'm off on my Trafalgar tour, missing a couple of pre-season games, but I will be back in plenty of time for the first game of the regular season at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 29. When I took this photo on October 25, 2008, the arena was still known as the Rose Garden. A lot of us still miss that name for the building.

Autumn colors and the not-so-pink Big Pink.

Looking south towards downtown from the pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks next to Union Station. I thoroughly enjoy looking at The Big Pink, no matter the perspective, even when it's not so pink. I have no idea why all of those posts and cables are on top of that building. Anybody know? I took this photo on October 25, 2008, while on the bridge walk.

The blue sky seen from deep inside the leg of the Morrison Bridge while on the bridge walk, October 25, 2008

Here's what I mentioned on yesterday's post, the view as the bridge operator raised the bridge while we were down inside the western support. The towers are on the south side of the bridge, and we entered through the bridge operator's door.

Here's some info on the bridge that I found on the world wide web:

The bridge is the largest mechanical device in Oregon. Thirty-six feet gears drive 940-ton counterweights located inside each of the piers. The 69 ft. clearance is sufficient for most river traffic, requiring bridge openings only about 30 times a month. It currently carries 50,000 vehicles daily in six lanes. The canted windows of the control tower give the distinctive look of air traffic control towers. It is named after John L. Morrison, a Scottish immigrant who built the first home on Morrison Street. The current bridge does not connect to Morrison Street at its west end because the second bridge was left in operation while the latest version was built.

I'm not gonna let vacation slow me down, y'all.

I'm posting this photo today in honor of my departure from Portland's international airport, known as PDX. I'm off to England and Scotland for a Trafalgar tour, a dream trip with my friend Juliet who moved to Portland from Minneapolis. She found me through this blog! So cool!

Don't be fooled, though. This is not the air traffic control tower seen from the airplane. I took this photo on October 5, 2013, from a TriMet bus window as we crossed the Morrison Bridge. The bridge operator works in there and raises the bridge as necessitated by Willamette River traffic. I've actually been on a tour of that bridge and got to go down into the support, which I call the leg, of the bridge through the door on the tower. After we walked down the stairs, the bridge operator raised the bridge and we got to hear and see all of the works move--Spielberg woulda loved that sound!--as well as a huge concrete section which eventually opened enough that we could see the sky!

Pink super hero gives me the eye when I take his photo at the Race for the Cure

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Today's photo, one more with a lot of pink from the Race for the Cure. You know that this super-hero-in-some-sort-of-pink-pants caught my eye. He must've felt me taking the photo because he aimed his razor sharp eyes right at me. I could see 'em through the lens!

Starting Sunday, October 5, I will be out of town, off to England and Scotland for a Trafalgar tour. So, I'm doing my best to complete posts for the days I will be out of town. I plan to search my photo archives for at least one photo that I took on that particular date at some point in the past. I hope you'll enjoy them!

UPDATE, 6:18 a.m. 10/4/2014: Evidently I did not take at least one photo on each day in past Octobers, to I've posted photos taken during October in past years. Enjoy!