Let me begin at the end. I just have to share with all of you how amazingly wonderful it was to get off the train and ride our bikes home on the many well marked, adequately wide, convenient bike paths of Portland. I feel so fortunate to live in such a bike friendly place, and why the hell did I stop riding? I have been spoiled in the last two cities I have lived in, Eugene and Portland. I have learned that not all places are quite as bike friendly.
So, back to the beginning. Riding the train was SO fun!! It was all so retro, from the beautiful art deco design in the station to the Amish (Mennonite?) families waiting in both Portland and Seattle, to the utter lack of security. Seriously, to all you terrorists out there: train travel is the way to go. Our Captain (?) Driver (?)
Engineer (?) actually announced "We are about to leave the station, so if there is anyone on board who is not a passenger, get off now, lest you become one." I honestly think I
could have traveled without a ticket and no one would have known. It is SOO easy to take your bike on the train, too. They let you go to the head of the line, ride it right to the train. Unfortunately, we did not do our research well enough, because this happened to be the weekend of the STP, a 200 mile bike tour from Seattle to Portland for much braver people than us. So, the bike racks were FULL and we had to pack our bikes like luggage. That takes one HELL of a suitcase! Actually a $15 cardboard box. But, so
worth it. For $60 apiece, we got a round trip to Seattle, we had beautiful scenery to look at
through huge windows, as 
much head room as in our house, ample leg room and the gentle, continuous repetetive movement that makes one feel so calm and safe. Oh, and I almost forgot! The onboard movie: Swiss Family Robinson! Which fit right in with my complete obsession with islands right now. I
kept getting confused and saying things like, "watch out for the Others!" or "Is this the part where they find the hatch?" Dan and I were taking bets to see what the movie would be on the way home. I thought maybe The Parent Trap (Haley Mills version) and Dan thought probably Escape from Witch Mountain. Either way, a win-win.
So, I finally settled my mind about the bike tour. My confidence grew. I realized 15 miles isn't that much over a whole day on a bike. I could do that. There was one huge fact I completely overlooked. It didn't even OCCUR to me until I had a conversation with a very fit cyclist as we were both waiting for our boxed bikes to be unloaded from the train in Seattle. He was doing the STP and assumed we were, too. When we told him our plan, he said, "Oh, Bainbridge! That's a good ride. I do a ride they have there in February, called the 'Chilly Hilly'. Yep, lots of hills." I feel really stupid that I didn't think of that . I SHOULD have known. I grew up on
the Oregon coast, for goodness sakes! I know the coastal terrain. And this is a coast wedged between two mountain ranges. its just that when
you look at the map, it looks so innocent, so 2-dimensional. Such a nice
flat terrain. Don't fall for it!! It is ALL hills. BIG ONES!!! Including an unbelievable leg that was 1.5 miles of AT LEAST a 30 degree angle. But, I DID IT! I wasn't necessarily nice about it. I wasn't brave or a good sport. It was the last garden of the day. It was hot. I was sore, I
was SOOO tired. But, I did it and I have to say I'm pretty proud and impressed with myself. Now pass over some more Aspercreme.
I will leave you with some of my favorite bits from the gardens:
