Thursday, February 08, 2007

Move over Eiffel Tower

So Portland now has one tourist attraction.

Kinda.

I've had friends come to visit up here in the past and laugh when all I can show them are big trees, big rocks and a big waterfall.

Because there just is not all that much "touristy" stuff to be found here in lil ole Portland, Oregon. No Disneylands. No Statue Of Liberties. No big balls of yarn (damn it). No Hard Rock Cafes even. Nuthin'!

But now we have a tram! Which has made BIG news here in Portland. (Though mostly because of how much it cost us and not because everyone is excited about it.)

My friends and I are perhaps a bit dorkier than most ... and not only because we went to ride it on its official opening day.

Though we'll get to the extra dorkiness in a few.

First off ... how about some pics? Because really ... I must show off what has been pegged to be the new postcard of Portland (pictures of the tram in general .... not MY pictures, per se. Just sayin'! :))

Here's one of the tram cars coming into the South Waterfront station.




And a couple of shots from inside the tram car as we head up the hill.


Beautiful downtown Portland, OR. Which will be even MORE beautiful once we get some leaves back on the trees!




Another ... with Mt Saint Helens in the background.




The other tram car headed down from our destination



And the views from the upper tram station are spectacular!!

Here's one of Mt Hood to the east.



And here are a couple looking north towards downtown Portland with Mt Saint Helens in the background...



Portland is so beautiful. I still stop once in awhile and just look around and appreciate how lucky I am to live here. It 'twas a good choice to move here ... oh yes it was.

And finally, a couple of more shots of the tram cars for any Tram Geeks out there. I must say, I'm not so keen on how much that wire supporting the tram bends from the weight of the tram car. Cuz ... it's quite the drop as you can see, especially in that second picture.....




Okay, so now on to the part where the Extra Dorky comes in.

So I was there with a big group of people and the atmosphere on opening day was pretty fun-loving and jubilant. So you take a tram car full of happy, excited (and slightly dorky people) on their first ride on the tram's inaugural day and you get a lot of laughing and screaming. As can be viewed here in this video when the tram car driver described how we would feel a "distinct sway to the west" as we passed over the first tram tower...

(the video starts out REALLY slow .... but the tram is moving ... I SWEAR.)



And when you are Super Dorky, you must laugh and scream when you pass that same tram tower on the way back down. It's a curse.... :)



All in all ... a really fun time. And fabulous views to be had. Y'all should take a ride if you are in town. Screaming like an idiot.... optional. :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I cannot view the video on your blog. Any suggestions????

monkeysuncle said...

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! TRAM DORKS!

I love it. =)

Kat said...

goodgirl036 ... you can try linking directly on YouTube. Cut and paste these...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u0V5JI6GhE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7fG8mUjnJA

shannon said...

that is too funny! i love watching the trams go when i ride the 17 to work on tuesdays...they are pretty, those trams.