It is sunny!! The high pressures and low pressures moved around out off the coast and the northwest got some long overdue sunshine and warm(er) temperatures starting yesterday. Russ and I reveled in the afternoon sunshine; we took our bikes down to Fort Vancouver for a ride. There is a new land bridge that connects the Fort to the river front, providing a
walkway over Hwy 14. It was a rather expensive project but it sure did turn out nice. There are lots of native plants started along the edges of the bridge and many informational signs and places to stop for views of Mt. Hood, the water and the plane traffic at PDX. We were happy to utilize it's gentle incline of a pathway to get us over the highway and to the river. There is a nice wide walkway known as the Waterfront Renaissance Trail that runs through Old Apple Tree park and then along the river, providing beautiful views of the water and a nice paved surface to walk or bike. The old Apple tree was planted in 1826 and has survived quite a bit of history so Vancouver deiced to make a little park around the ancient fruit barer. It is a pretty neat little park. There were a family a rabbits playing in the grass near the tree when we rode by. It always amazes me how adaptable life can be. Amongst two very busy highway 
overpasses and a concrete jungle, wildlife is able to survive and thrive in a little bit of green space. We had a lovely peddle all the way down the walkway until the pavement ended at a large interesting stainless steel metal sculpture. It reminded me of a woman worker from the World War II era artwork, there was a whimsical house and boat sculpture at her feet along with a welding mask and various other tools. After a bit of research, it turns out this is Wendy the Welder. Built by a group called "Women who Weld" to commemorate and celebrate women’s contribution to the war effort and also honor all the workers in the neighboring Kaiser Shipyards. It is quite an impressive and fun piece of artwork. After admiring the craftsmanship and detail, we decided it was probably time to start heading back before it got any darker. It was a lovely evening spent cruising along the river and exploring new parts of Vancouver but especially soaking up some late afternoon sunshine!
walkway over Hwy 14. It was a rather expensive project but it sure did turn out nice. There are lots of native plants started along the edges of the bridge and many informational signs and places to stop for views of Mt. Hood, the water and the plane traffic at PDX. We were happy to utilize it's gentle incline of a pathway to get us over the highway and to the river. There is a nice wide walkway known as the Waterfront Renaissance Trail that runs through Old Apple Tree park and then along the river, providing beautiful views of the water and a nice paved surface to walk or bike. The old Apple tree was planted in 1826 and has survived quite a bit of history so Vancouver deiced to make a little park around the ancient fruit barer. It is a pretty neat little park. There were a family a rabbits playing in the grass near the tree when we rode by. It always amazes me how adaptable life can be. Amongst two very busy highway 
overpasses and a concrete jungle, wildlife is able to survive and thrive in a little bit of green space. We had a lovely peddle all the way down the walkway until the pavement ended at a large interesting stainless steel metal sculpture. It reminded me of a woman worker from the World War II era artwork, there was a whimsical house and boat sculpture at her feet along with a welding mask and various other tools. After a bit of research, it turns out this is Wendy the Welder. Built by a group called "Women who Weld" to commemorate and celebrate women’s contribution to the war effort and also honor all the workers in the neighboring Kaiser Shipyards. It is quite an impressive and fun piece of artwork. After admiring the craftsmanship and detail, we decided it was probably time to start heading back before it got any darker. It was a lovely evening spent cruising along the river and exploring new parts of Vancouver but especially soaking up some late afternoon sunshine!
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