Spring! (time to get out after hibernation)

The weather has been fluctuating quite a bit lately from cloudy rainy days to blue sky sunny days. This past weekend, we were lucky to have had the latter, so it seemed like Spring has arrived. A couple of days later, it's cloudy and rainy again, but I'm sure we'll be having Spring days more often from now on.

Nice weather makes you want to get out and do things you haven't done much during the Winter. I had been a bit of a hermit since I'd gotten back from Japan and haven't socialized much, but with the nice weather, it was time again to see friends I hadn't seen since last year.

On Sunday, I had a Sunday brunch with my friends APAK (Aaron and Ayumi).
You may recall from last year that they did a guest post about their trip to Seattle. They are a bit similar to us in that they are a married couple and make artwork. The top picture is one of their cards of a couple riding a tandem bike. (You can get a set of their cards from their Etsy shop)


This is another example of their art.

Anyway, so we went to a place called Jam in South East Portland.

Ayumi had the pancakes and Aaron had the bowl of stuff (don't remember exactly what was in it).


I had this. Poached eggs and hash browns. It was all very good.

After that, we rode our bikes a bit.

Ayumi has a nice old Peugeout mixte bike. Not sure the make of Aaron's bike as it has been painted over.

We went to Goodwill.

Aaron tried out this blue helmet. It matched what he was wearing, but he decided to hold out. They weren't that into riding bikes before, but I think they are starting to get into it now. And why not? Biking in Portland in nice Spring weather like this is so much better than sitting inside a metal box (car).

Flowers are in bloom too.

I think it's too early for Chery blossoms, so these must be peach or plum. There are so many of these trees in bloom all over Portland, and there's a faint, but nice smell as you ride by them.


I have been riding a bit too. This is the top of Rocky butte which I wrote about last time. I rode there 3 weekends in a row and I'd been refining my position each time. I'm still laboring my way up the climb, but I think I'm starting to find my climbing legs again. It was warm enough to take off my shoes for the first time as well. That small white mountain in the distance, I believe is Mt. Rainier in Washington.

Anyway, so it's a nice time of the year again here in Portland. We're still having cold rainy days as well, but from now till like end of Summer is really the best time of the year here in case you're thinking of visiting.