Tuesday, September 23, 2014

A Visit to Portland, Oregon

Last week I visited my son and daughter-in-law in Portland, Oregon. We hiked, walked the city neighborhoods, ate wonderful food, watched the Vaux's Swifts roost and visited Powell's Bookstore, a huge independent new & used bookstore. Portland is a wonderful city!

On the flight into Portland, we passed over Mt. St. Helens.
It seem to me that all plants grow more lushly in Portland.
These 
roses caught my eye.

We climbed to Angel's Rest for amazing views of the Columbia River gorge.
We walked among the tall trees up to the rocky outcropping,
about 5 miles roundtrip.
Thousands of Vaux's Swifts roost inside this chimney every night for three weeks  as they are gathering to migrate south to Central and South America. First the birds gather in the air over the chimney. Then in concert, they begin circling in a funnel-shaped formation as they follow each other into the chimney. Once they began circling, it took about 20 minutes
to get them all inside the chimney.

For three weeks, hundreds of adults, kids & dogs gather on a hillside
each evening to watch the spectacle. It's a fun party!

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