The Tuesday afternoon report from Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. - My $19.99 Dr. Dean Edell bifocal sunglasses arrived this morning and it appears I guessed exactly right about the level of magnification I need to see my GPS clearly while riding. The magic number was +2.00.

We went downtown this afternoon to cruise the fabulous Powell’s Bookstore and in the process I found an eyewear store that had the perfect case for the sunglasses for about $8.

Sean bought me a copy of the Mark Twain’s “new” book, “Who is Mark Twain,” a collection of his writings that he decreed could not be published until 100 years after his death. Powell’s, by the way, is the most amazing bookstore I’ve ever seen.

At the risk of sounding like a rube from Arkansas, I was dazzled with the way downtown Portland handles the parking meter issue. Instead of meters on parking spaces, they have strategically placed kiosks that vend parking stickers. You buy as much time as you need, take the sticker bearing the expiration time, and use the post-it-note-type adhesive strip to stick it to the inside of the car window facing the curb. The instructions advise angle parkers to put the sticker on the driver’s side window and motorcyclists to stick it to the headlight, adding that unexpired time may be used on another block. It’s cheaper than maintaining and emptying thousands of mechanical parking meters that have dubiously accurate timing mechanisms. I wonder how long it takes for a system like that to pay for itself.

While sipping mocha at the Blend Coffeehouse, I reviewed my route south from here and decided against cutting west to the coast either at Grants Pass or via the Klamath River highway. While the scenic ocean route would be more entertaining, it also is longer and slower. I decided to stay on I-5 instead, riding 425 miles tomorrow. That would leave me only 276 miles to ride Thursday to reach my next motel in Gilroy. I presumably would arrive in time to unload my stuff and run down to Nepenthe for dinner. Then I could take all day Friday to savor the 133 miles from Gilroy down Calif. 1 through Big Sur to the next motel at San Simeon. What a treat – Nepenthe for dinner and Nepenthe for breakfast.

I might even get ambitious and take in Hearst Castle at San Simeon. Or play with the elephant seals on the beach.

I got an invitation to stay with lifelong friend Susan in Edmond, Okla. when I pass that way next week. Here’s a photo of me and Susan (she’s on the right with Jeannie Taylor in the middle) on our first day of school back in 1951.