A Matter of Endurance

About this time four years ago while Lauren was off to Southeast Asia for the summer, we decided to take advantage of her empty home and spend a week there with friends. Verne came up with several ideas for entertainment appropriate for Pam (my age) and her son (around 20). He’d just read about the opening of Portland’s 4T, the T’s standing for Train (MAX), Trail (ranging from easy to parts that are moderately difficult), Tram (Portland Aerial Tram), and Trolley (Portland Street Car). It sounded like a great way to spend the day experiencing Portland. We were all game. The first leg of the adventure is a train ride from Pioneer Square downtown to the Portland Zoo, where a 4-1/2 mile hiking path (Marquam Trail) with a 650 feet elevation change between beginning and end takes off through forest trails and ends at OSHU (Oregon Health and Science University). From there the aerial tram, pictured below, carries passengers from OSHU to the city’s South Waterfront district providing a beautiful view of the city. A short walk and about a 15-minute ride on the trolley returns one near the starting point in downtown Portland. Well, we did it and although Pam and I were limping a bit by the time we completed the hike, it was the highlight of our week together.

We’ve wanted to do it again with Lauren, but either timing or weather has prevented us from doing it until this past weekend. We set out from Pioneer Square around 9 a.m. and finished about four hours later. There’s no way the hiking trail is just 4-1/2 miles…it’s got to be at least 6+ miles. If we ever do it again I’m going to wear a pedometer and test the accuracy of the trail map. And, the level of difficulty? It’s got to be a 4 out of 5 stars! I seriously thought I wouldn’t make the last ½ mile. There was one thing, though, that kept me going the distance and it wasn’t Lauren’s urgings and coaxings. When we set out on the trail from the Zoo, we passed a group of about 15 very, very old women (we heard one say she was 90 and I expect the average age was in the late 80’s) and their leader, a very fit-looking man in his early 50’s, who appeared to be gathering for the hike. We weren’t far when we heard talking and laughter behind us (actually, gaining on us) and it was this very group of old ladies. It’s all I can do to huff and puff and complain while hiking. Chat it up? No way! Here I am after the first mile...

Verne was not about to have them pass us, so he was in the back of our threesome pushing me and Lauren was the pacesetter in front encouraging us (me) to pick up the pace a bit. We made it to the first rest top, Council Crest, with these women on our heels still chatting and laughing and their leader giving us a smug look, as if to say “Not quite what you expected, huh?” The group appeared to be stopping and I figured they were just going to make a short hike of it, admirable and fitting for this geriatric group. Another hiker took this picture of the three of us before we pushed on. 

We hit the trail without much of a break to get some distance between us in case they were planning to hike the next two miles to the second rest stop, Marquam Shelter. It was no time before they were close behind and we’d hardly had time to catch our (my) breath after reaching the rest stop when they walked out of the forest still talking and laughing, completing the gruesome four miles no worse for wear. Unfricking believable!!! Well, there was no resting for us. We took off uphill as fast as I could walk, because at that point it was either hike at my pace or carry me. We managed to save face and beat (not by much, though) those old women and their cocky guide, but the experience has definitely got me motivated to get in shape before we attempt the 4T again. I plan to break out the Weightwatcher cookbooks I packed away years ago, stop making excuses and open the exercise videos (still in their shrink wrap) I’ve collected over the years, and hang a picture on the fridge of some very fit 90 year old (I’m thinking of Helen Mirren as my inspiration…not quite 90, but older than me). That’s at least a start!

Our hike pretty much exhausted me for the next few days, but I did manage to work through the pain of sore muscles and we walked the local Farmers Market and the Portland Berry Festival the following day. The Lake Oswego Farmers Market is superior to any market I’ve ever attended. It’s held on the lake in downtown Lake O and there must be over two hundred vendors. It’s a wonderful mixture of fresh produce, plants and flowers, food artisans, and entertainment. It’s an event that should not be missed while visiting the Portland area. This was our second year attending the Berry Festival. As we did last year, we arrived at Lauren’s with all of our canning paraphernalia, ready to make jam from the fresh berries. I showed some self-control this year at the Festival and only bought a flat (that is 12 pints) of berries, which yielded 20 half-pints of jam (as compared to 36 half-pints last year). We lucked out and one of the vendors had fresh boysenberries, which are typically not available until a little later in the summer. We made a single batch of boysenberry jam (to save and savor) and two batches of mixed berry jam (blackberry, raspberry, boysenberry, and blueberry) to share with berry special people. Nummy! Oh, did I mention...the majority of the Festival vendors, such as Salt and Straw (Portland's farm to cone ice cream shop) offer samples and sell berry products, such as marionberry, goat cheese, and habanero ice cream and cucumber and raspberry sorbet. I sampled both and they were amazing!

Saturday afternoon Scott and a friend arrived and spent the rest of the day with us. We had fun drinking wine and some pumpkin beer leftover from Thanksgiving and catching up. After a few Flying Pie pizzas we tried to make a hotel reservation and found there wasn’t a room to be had in the Portland area. Once again I’m reminded of the need to travel with reservations. Lauren (always the little sister) was kicked out of her bedroom and forced to sleep on the sofa with her cat, Chloe. Fun for the cat as she never gets to sleep with Lauren and she spent the night walking on her and biting her toes. Not too much fun for Lauren. Oh well, it’s just one of those things you do for a much older brother.

Much of the balance of the time was spent working a list of chores around Lauren’s home. The list didn’t look like much, but every item had its own challenges and we worked steadily for a couple of days. Seems like after our last trip to Portland Lauren assured us she’d not work us so hard in the future. Hmmmm….and she wonders why we’ve scaled back to quarterly trips to see her. Just kidding, Lauren! We always enjoy leaving knowing that we’ve made your life a little better with a few DIY repairs or home improvements (those spice racks are awesome). Start a new list…we’ll be back in September!