Tag: Beaverton

Through the Rain in Beaverton

Dear Liza,

Last week Grandpa Nelson and I had a day when we didn’t have anything we needed to do, so we headed off for a transit adventure.

We caught the Magic number 15 downtown and transferred to the Red line train heading west. We usually get off the train at Washington Park to go to the zoo, but this time we stayed on the train to Beaverton, about 5 miles further on.

The Central Beaverton train station had some shops and pretty apartments nearby, and some interesting pavings.

The day was overcast and chilly, but we had dressed properly and weren’t worried. Grandpa even had an umbrella in his backpack.

We walked along the five-lane busy suburban roads, realizing that being a pedestrian this far from downtown was harder. We needed to walk blocks before finding a safe place to cross busy Farmington Road to get to a doughnut shop. This far from downtown, cars are the king.

We even found a sticker on a power pole that agreed with us!

By the time we finished our snack, the rain had begun in earnest. We headed toward the old downtown, and saw these giant Adirondack chairs and other street furniture that (on a drier day) would have been fun to play on! But since we were getting very wet, we changed our minds and headed back to the transit station.

By this time my jeans and coat were soaked through and I was cold. I was happy to get on the dry train and head home. Still, it was good to have seen a new part of the greater Portland area.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Out for a Drive

Dear Liza,

Since we have lived in Portland, we have used our car less and less. I thought of this as a good thing …. Less pollution, less wear and tear, more exercise. Right?

As it turns out, cars need to be driven. Some electrical parts of the car are always on, and need electricity from the battery. Driving generates power which charges the battery. Therefore, if you don’t drive the car enough, eventually the battery will die. This happened to us a few weeks ago and we decided that if we are going to keep Miles, we needed to take him out more. We drove clear across town to a craft show where our friend Cathy Scott was selling jam. We bought a bunch!

Heading home, Grandpa Nelson found us a new (to us) McMenamin’s venue for lunch! It is called the Grand Lodge and used to be the Masonic Lodge’s retirement home in Forest Grove. As with all the McMenamin’s, it was delightfully quirky and historic. I will tell you more about it in the next blog.

We are still in blinding bright Fall sunshine along with below freezing temperatures. On the drive home, Mt. Hood loomed like a ghost, enormous and covered in snow.

Love,

Grandma Judy