River Walk

Portland is sometimes called the "city of bridges" because there are 17 that cross the Willamette and Columbia Rivers in the Portland area (I think). We still haven't mastered all the names of them, but on Sunday we got to explore many of them by walking over them and under them. 

We had never walked the 3 mile river walk that goes from the Hawthorne Bridge to the Steel Bridge. Walking along the East Esplanade was lovely - crowded since it was a nice, sunny, weekend day - but nice. There were walkers, bikers, runners and even people on scooters. We watched some people boating on the river and just enjoyed seeing a different perspective of the city.

The we came across quite a few locks. Do you know what these are? I didn't - I had to google it and found out they are "Love Locks" and are quite popular all over the world. Supposedly couples will place a lock on a bridge (or other specified location), kiss, then throw the key into the river as a symbol of their never ending love.

Steel Bridge

crossing the Steel Bridge

Once we got on the west side of the river it was a completely different scene - very Portland (very weird). There were a lot of homeless people on both sides of the river - it seemed more than usual, but I think the homeless population is only on the rise.