Portland Trio

Such a full and enjoyable day, despite the unseasonable heat!

After a leisurely breakfast at Crema and picking up a few food and drink necessities, we took a long walk to a beer festival, where we ran into a Bellingham friend and tasted some excellent libations.

Returning to our Portland apartment for a brief rest and change of clothes, we were off on shanks' mare again to meet for the first time my second cousins on my father's side, R ( on the left) and J, as well as J's delightful son F.

I'm sure that their maternal great-grandfather and my paternal grandmother, who were siblings, were looking on with approval this evening as two branches of their family connected with wide-ranging personal anecdotes, family history stories, puns, and more, including some imaginative wordplay led by eight-year-old F.

We finally parted, and Phil and I headed for our local home -- and ran right into Portland's annual Naked Bicycle Ride, which this year had perfect weather for riding in few, if any, clothes. The mood was joyous, friendly, and welcoming to people of all ages and states of fitness, and we followed along for several blocks, enjoying the jubilant mood.

And a final delight -- I racked up 13,250 steps (5.44 miles) on my Fitbit today!

Tomorrow will be quite different, as we're renting a car and driving about 25 miles to Bryn Seion Church, where we'll be singing in both the afternoon and evening sessions of the church's 80th annual gymanfa ganu (hymn-singing festival in Welsh and English), an activity dear to our hearts. What a wonderful and varied vacation we're having!