After 2 weeks working in Portland, OR, I started my Oregon cycling trip this morning. I was hoping to start at 9AM but had to return a pair of cycling shorts to REI early in the morning and it pushed back my departure 2 1/2 hours. I had no idea that the first several miles were going to be straight uphill on Burnside St. to get over the mountains west of Portland. I made the mistake of stopping for a breather and then had to push the bike and 60lb. load the rest of the way up. The good thing is that once I was up and down, the rest of the day was relatively flat.
I was heading to Banks, OR first so that I could hookup with the Banks-Vernonia trail. Banks is 30 miles from Portland—30 miles was my planned max riding distance a day. However, I wanted to push my self the first day so I could have some miles in the bank in case I needed them later in the trip. I stopped in Banks for a pizza and then headed directly for the trail. The total length is 22 miles. The first three miles were relatively flat and easy. The next 8 was a steady climb on a slight incline…I wasn’t ready for it and it was a bit demoralizing. Thankfully, at mile 12, things flattened out and the rest of the ride into Vernonia was fast. At the end of the trail was a campground…a sight for sore eyes. I am writing this post from the campground picnic table.
Tomorrow, I am going to try to push myself again and do 40 miles towards Astoria–we’ll see how that goes.
I am off to Portland, Oregon for work today. Before leaving for this trip, me and my nephews had planned a trip to North Adams, MA to see the band The National at the Mass. Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MOCA) and Hawthorne Valley Association benefit show. We bought $275 tickets for the benefit and to have the opportunity to meet the band before the show.
The stars aligned and it also turned out that my hometown Pittsburgh Penguins were playing Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals last Thursday before we left for MA. I left home in Kentucky late morning last Thursday and arrived just in time to meet my nephews and friends in downtown Pittsburgh to watch the 8PM game at Market Square. We had planned on watching it near Consol Energy Center but they had to close the streets near the arena because over 20,000 crazy fans showed up to try to watch it on the big screen that was setup outside of the arena. They quickly assembled another big screen in Market Square and it turned out to be an equally crazy scene so we ended up leaving after the 1st period to watch the rest of the game at a local bar. The outcome was a bit of a disappointment as we were hoping to see the first Pittsburgh sports team win a championship at home in Pittsburgh since the Pirates did it before I was born in 1960.
After the late night in Pittsburgh, we got an early start the next morning driving to Mass. with a layover in Cooperstown, NY. Great weather and light traffic made for an easy drive. We spent the evening having dinner and great beer at the Ommegang Brewery (got a new appreciation for krieks—and I am not a cherry person). The next day the weather completely changed with rain and cold weather arriving early—49 degrees in Cooperstown to start the morning. We had a quick breakfast at the Doubleday Café, walked to the Hall of Fame in pouring rain and toured the museum for a couple of hours and then hit the road for the cold and rainy three-hour drive to North Adams, MA.
I forgot how nice upstate New York, Western, MA and the entire Berkshires area are. We landed in North Adams early afternoon on Saturday, took a quick drive across the Vermont border and back to North Adams for some pizza and beer before the concert. We headed over to Mass MOCA around 4PM for the show and had some more beer at Bright Ideas Brewing (do you notice a theme) before we entered the museum. We picked up our special VIP passes and walked around the museum for a short bit and then went to the VIP event at 5PM to meet the band and have a little more food and drink.
After 40 minutes or so, The National arrived and socialized with the 250 or so fans that attended the event. It turned out to be a great time and we all enjoyed it very much…well worth the price of admission…and for a great cause too. The show was great as well…but they always put on great shows. The venue was on a converted baseball field, outside near the back of the Mass MOCA museum. We lucked out with the weather, as the storm ended in mid-afternoon it brought rising temperatures—70 degrees all through the concert.
The weekend was topped off when the Pens won the Stanley Cup the next evening–shortly after our long drive back to Pittsburgh from western MA.
Here are some pics and videos of the crazy extended weekend activities. I apologize for the crappy video (iPhones still have a long way to go for night-time shooting) –but it’s really about the music, right?
After a long hiatus there are a few things on the vacation horizon. Coming up soon is a solo cycling trip in Oregon in June–even though I may not be in the proper physical condition, I am still going to try. The course I am considering (zoom in to view route):
If I survive the cycling adventure, I have a more proper trip planned for October–a 10 day trip to Armenia and Georgia. More to come.
In light of everything that has been happening in Syria the last two days, I have been doing a lot of reminiscing about our 2011 trip. Last night I went through all of the blog posts and photos I posted back in 2011 and realized that I really didn’t write much and only posted a handful of photos. I believe that I have mentioned in a previous post a problem I have with living in the moment and capturing experiences while they happen. It is so difficult to try to recollect specific experiences four years after they occurred but I will try to list some of the memories that stood out…along with posting many more photos from the 2011 trip to Syria. Here goes…
The ease in which I passed through Syrian customs both arriving and leaving the country
Damascus was much larger than I expected–old Damascus is only a small part of a much larger greater Damascus
Negotiating a trip to Bosra at the Damascus Hostel and the actual trip which was definitely worthwhile but very close to where the Syrian troubles began–the town of Deraa. Also while at a restaurant in Bosra, being offered the opportunity to buy ancient Roman coins which I quickly declined–I heard horror stories about folks trying to take antiquities out of the country–very illegal.
The insane taxi ride to the Damascus bus terminal which was essentially a chaotic open-air lot north of the city. I remember buying our tickets to Palmyra and then having to get the trip approved by a police person who had a little office in the corner of the station.
The several hour bus drive to Palmyra in the evening where a young student who spoke perfect English offered to set us up with a driver for the rest of our trip, then arriving in Palmyra late evening with so many young kids still running around the streets playing.
Our hotel in Palmyra being booked even though we had a reservation–so they took us to a house a few blocks down the road which seemed like it was still under construction–a strange but clean place.
Walking all over the ruins in Palmyra then the long hike up the hill to the castle and Derek trying to negotiate a taxi ride back down from a teenage souvenir vendor. After a quick call and a negotiated price, a car arrived and took us back down near to where we were staying–at a much higher cost than what we negotiated–I was furious.
Our driver trying to take us from Palmyra to the Crac des Cheveliers before it closed–we made it with about 15 minutes to spare and had a quick tour.
The evening drive from Crac des Cheveliers to Hama and seeing a bunch of fires lit in the middle of the highway along the way and what seemed like a lot of military personnel presence.
The staggering amount of plastic grocery store bags strewn along the sides of many of Syria’s backcountry roads.
And finally, the very awkward parting of ways of with our driver in Aleppo in which he became upset that we didn’t tip him properly. It is the biggest regret I’ve ever had on any trip because I know he was right. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time –I think I was just exhausted and not paying attention–but we eventually made things right, although at the expense of a not so great parting scene. If that driver ever stumbles upon this blog–I apologize a thousand times. Since that experience, I have made sure that I go above and beyond in this area.
Photo of entrance to the Temple of Bel taken during our April 2011 trip to Palmyra, Syria
It is with great sadness and extreme bewilderment that I learned today the extent in which ISIS continues to dismantle Syria’s cultural treasures. I have been reading the latest attempt in Palmyra to destroy the Temple of Bel–this after the destruction of the Temple of Baalshamin about a week ago. Bel is one of the most important cultural sites in all of Syria—in fact, one of the finest archaeological structures in the world. This destruction hits me even harder because I remember walking through both temples during my visit to Palmyra in April 2011.
I can’t begin to fathom the motives for this destruction and am utterly confused that nobody can seem to stop ISIS from continuing this rampage. When we left Syria in April 2011, it was apparent that Syria was in the beginning stages of The Arab Spring uprisings, but I could not have predicted that things would spiral this far out of control. It boggles the mind that Syria’s military and/or other moderate rebel forces in the area can’t deal with the ISIS issue.
I try to put these types of things into the perspective of the ever-changing nature of history—believing that this is just another phase in the history of humankind and that nothing lasts an eternity. Still it pains me to think that these treasures are gone forever and makes me extremely grateful that I had an opportunity to experience them in person.
Still, there are much more important things in the entire scope of the current regional problems. The people of Syria and many other Middle Eastern areas are experiencing a level of upheaval, suffering and uncertainty that I will never comprehend and my heart and hopes for a better future go out to them.
It’s sad to realize that it takes news of this type to bring Syria’s plight back into the forefront…particularly when you begin to recognize that the emotional and physical impact to the people, as a result of the last four tumultuous years, is exponentially worse than the tearing down of historical structures.
