Beautiful Day in Portland

I didn't leave the house/office until after lunch yesterday.  It was quite the beautiful day, in the high 70's with blue sky.

Coming from the south on I-5 into the downtown area are some "S" curves called the Terwilliger Curves.  The first curve goes to the right and puts you into an easterly direction which is straight in line with Mt. Hood.  Just before entering the second curve to the left the mountain comes into view briefly if it's not overcast.  I wish I could take a video of how it comes into view because some days there's a "Wow" factor - and yesterday was one of those days.

The picture below was taken later in the afternoon from the west hills above Northwest Portland.

 

The picture doesn't do it justice.  Some days it looks closer than it's 60 miles from downtown.  As you can see, it has snow on it year round.  At 11, 249 feet it's the tallest mountain in Oregon.

 

Above is Mt. St. Helens, once the tallest peak in the Portland area, and a rare appearance of snow capped Mt. Rainier, only 54 miles southeast of Seattle.

Above shows three of the four Cascade Mountains that are visible from Portland.  Mt. Adams in Washington is on the right.

 

Another view of Mt. Hood from the Salmon St. Fountain.

As I left downtown I got to thinking about Mt. Hood having some Spiritual implications.  It's always there even when it can't be seen.  Even though it's a volcano and one day is expected to erupt, so far it's rock steady and doesn't change.  Some days it's taken for granted and other days it's appreciated.  When you get close to it you realize how big it is and how small we are.  And then there's the realization after pondering such a marvel that we're just spinning on a big rock through space and there's either Someone in control or no one is. 

Anyway, just riding and thinking.