Here she is on her way to the last day of school.
Remember the Big Pants we found back in May?
Well, Chloe took them to school and here she is wearing them with a friend.
Those sure are some big pants!
Summer in Portland has started! June is here and this is the tale of two bike rides. Last week we could see the temp was going to rise into the high 90’s to numbers too complicated to contemplate. So we decided to go to the river.
Here’s Chloe and her bike helmet she painted after the Meatwad character from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon.
From our meeting place in downtown we rode on my big bike down the greenway along the river. Here we are on top of the Sellwood Bridge. Chloe hasn’t ridden her bike on a ride this long before, and with the crazy heat I decided it would be best if she was a passenger on the back of my bike.
AQUA TEEN!
It is indeed nice down at Sellwood Riverfront Park in the cool waters of the Willamette river.
You’ve heard of that guy “Jesus”? Well, he’s more than your Mexican gardener. Meanwhile, Chloe has gotten so into the band Weezer (she’s wearing a Weezer t-shirt in the above photo) that here she is showing us how to accept Weezus into your heart.
We rode back into town.
If the art ain’t good, then Goodwill don’t have it, none.
Just like any normal teen, Chloe requested a bowling pin for an early birthday present.
By the time we go on the train we had ridden the entire river loop around the city. Both sides of the river, from north to south. We were both pooped, but what a great day!
Here I have my bike loaded up with Chloe’s bike. For today she was going to go on the longest bike ride she’s taken to date. One of the things you can do with a cargo bike is tow other bikes.
CUTE!
On the waterfront I spotted this goose family, keeping the little ones cool in a puddle by the walking path.
We were on the west-side greenway, headed to the big Goodwill in Sellwood.
We rode about 15 miles on this day. This being Portland, almost the entire trip was done on bike paths.
Lunchtime at New Seasons! Chloe survived the big hill!
Speed Racer! Chloe briefly absconds with a little-kid scooter left abandoned on the sidewalk.
After an hour at the Goodwill “bins” dad is going a wee bit bonkers.
Here I am imitating “Art”.
Go, Chloe, Go!
From Sellwood we took the Springwater Trail to the 205 bike path.
And we made it back to my place! Total milage of about fifteen miles.
Chloe made it, but we were both ready for a sit-down and dinner.
Just to show off how great this bike is, here’s a shot from this morning when my housemate Drew and I hauled home 5+ metric grocery bags on it.
Off to Everyday Music!
As you’ve heard, Chloe has a thirst for audio CD’s and here’s the place to get ‘m!
Time is an illusion, pizza time doubly so.
Goodwill. Dad pretends to wear an egg sombrero.
Pants! Really big pants! Chloe took these home, they are going to be some kind of costume.
They are so huge she can fit in just one of the legs.
We are taking suggestions on just what the heck this is.
Our next adventure started with getting this electric cargo bike. It’s an Xtracycle Hopper.
It carries one old guy, a passenger and whatever else we can strap to it!
We started out at a goth coffee shop. How goth?
Instead of sugar cubes they have sugar skulls.
That’s attention to detail!
Then we rolled over to NW Marine Art Works.
It’s a huge industrial building where they used to build sturdy working boats.
Holy cow, its huge!
We learned to appreciate art.
While the “fine art” on display was indeed fine, we both preferred the guy who filled his space with crazy junk.
Across the street is another former industrial building that now houses a model railroad club.
These trains are actually running with model steam engines, not electricity!
We rolled across town to the celebration for the 100th birthday of the Burnside Bridge.
Yes, a party for a bridge. #portland.
Best photo of the day
Here we are playing Punce in the park after dinner.
Some Chloe doodles for you
Here’s some of our post-Easter activities.
The lovely beast behind us there is the Thompson Elk Statue and fountain. Not only is it nifty to look at, it has a long and interesting history. During the craziness a few years back it was damaged and subsequently removed and sent for restoration. Recently the city put it all back together and threw a little party. We were walking by as they were getting that set up.
Another Goodwill find, one we did not bring home.
These look like separate cookies, but…
…they merged into one big mega-cookie.
I also made a monster cracker.
Portraits of the artist waiting for the train.
Yesterday we were downtown and had lunch at Saturday Market.
Well, then we went for a walk down the waterfront around the Cinco de Mayo festival, but we didn’t go in. Waiting for the train we discovered we’d walked away from the market and Chloe had forgot her dog bag-purse. Yikes! So we hurried back.
That’s not Chloe flipping us off. A friendly vendor had spotted her bag and kept it around hoping the owner would come back for it. Chloe was very excited to get her collection of old and unusual coins back. We was quite upset thinking she’d lost her Euro coins and old pennies.
Clams.
After walking a few miles around downtown, biking to Goodwill and making dinner and more cookies we were pooped. It was a full, fun day.
We have a new holiday for you.
What do you call it when you have Easter, the day before Easter?
We call it Preaster. Enjoy…
Chloe decided Preaster lunch would be hard-boiled eggs and Brussel sprouts.
Dad had a salad.
Then a quick trip to Goodwill, found some hats.
Then home for egg dyeing.
You know, it isn’t easy to take photos of round things.
Yes, someone is turning 16 soonish. And she had to make a Weezer egg.
The one on the right says, “help”.
On the left, green egg and …? On the right, corn egg!
The big score from Goodwill was this… an Eiffel Tower stuffie?
Somebody went to Paris and brought this home.
Still has the original tag, from 2000!
So, what were we up to in March?
Dinner with Garfield.
Saturday Market opened!
A Mike Bennett mural!
Chloe finds Commie Jesus.
She was excited to find a new-in-package vintage McDonald’s Toothbrush!
Beat it!
Chloe spots a Goth Bar.
Yes, we like spotting murals.
Meat! It’s neat to eat!
Chloe’s gotten deep into the band Weezer. And she’s gotten interested in gasp! audio CD’s!
On a Goodwill trip she found an unopened 100 count stack of blank CD’s.
“Dad, can you burn CD’s?”
“You bet I can!”
When on the train, you can split your earbuds across two people and groove to the same tunes.
Here we meet Paul Bunyan in Kenton.
Here’s a great photo of Chloe and her new guitar!
She is officially taking guitar lessons and she loves the big noise it makes.
Exciting new hair colors!
Teens love M&M’s!
Rarrr! On the train.
Yes, Chloe insists on making Calvin-style faces for every photo.
Oatmeal cookies!
How does a teen in 2026 become obsessed with 80’s Garfield and the band Weezer?
Note to self: next year, don’t wait until the last night to check out the Portland Winter Light Festival.
Gramma Diane came out for a visit. Here we are under the mistletoad in downtown.
Everybody loves the umbrella guy!
Here’s us in front of the big Christmas tree. It’s actual size.
…and then it was time for Ramen. The next day…
On our way to taking our pig out for pancakes, we stopped at the beach in Newport, OR.
We sure got lucky with the weather, nicest day out evar.
Next up, Cobble Beach; part of Yaquina Bay State Recreation Area.
It is indeed a fine place to recreate.
Chloe says this is her favorite beach spot.
Notable for its tide pools and associated critter viewing.
And here it comes, the last sunset of 2025.
Here we are at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
The best part? When you walk through the tunnels with aqua-critters all around.
During our visit we took in a temporary exhibit displaying sculptures of sea life made from plastics washed up on the beaches. Here’s Chloe taking a close look.
A whale, a tree, gramma and Chloe.
Sasquatch! A short and semi-informative visit to the North American Bigfoot Center.
Does he/she exist? Doesn’t matter, really. The mystery is the fun part.
Pork and Kraut, the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch good luck meal on New Year’s Day.
Also Big Daddio’s birthday! I’m a million years old now.
To finish up mom’s visit, we went to the zoo.
Elephants!
Well, my first attempt for a tree this year, with all the various complications,
ended up being this sad specimen:
Lesson learned: don’t order plants off the Target website.
Yet, our sad plight was observed on Facebook and some friends came by.
Isn’t this much better?
Presenting, the Disco Ball Christmas Tree:
Later, Santa came with presents!
Meanwhile, back at Chloe’s place…
Yes, it’s a Merry Christmas!
Chloe makes a fish… and the lucky feller who got it in the gift exchange.
And now, some recent Chloe art.
Chloe’s 2025 Halloween costume was conceptual.
heart + handcuffs = “Cardiac Arrest”
Meanwhile, we continue with our exploration of incomprehensible Asian snacks…
And yes, Chloe has taken to eye makeup and dyed hair-bits.
Here she’s showing off her salad dressing earrings.
I took Chloe to a hot pot place for dinner. She was convinced we were in a “fancy place”.
Nice enough, indeed, but actual fancy will have to wait for another day.
A couple days later…
We did some biking around.
With the help of Santo, we evaded some zombies.
And we had dinner again!
Meanwhile, the new kitten seems to be doing fine.
Yes, that is a physical object Chloe made.
You have extra tongues lying around, don’t you?
She made this with her 3-D sculpting pen.
…and that’s it for now. See you next time!