Exploring the City of Roses

 Good Morning Blog World.  Little Fox here and today I'm taking Navy and Cocoa around town.  First stop is to visit historic Union Station (built in 1890).  Union Stations are scattered around the US and the idea behind it is that more than one train company shared the station vs. a specific station for a a specific RR company.  Anyway, the "Go by train" sign is a local landmark. 

Just got to cross this fence. 

A few more blocks. We made it, time to go inside. 

Cocoa and I went to explore while Navy wanted to just take in the grandeur of the station.

There is a cool walking bridge over the tracks.  You can see some of the bridges our town is famous for. 

Another bridge (actually, we are waiting for a freight train to pass so we can continue our walk).  My goal is to take the guests to the waterfront to see the cherry trees in bloom. 

Before we get to the trees Navy wanted a picture or two by the river.  The convention center is in the background (the two green towers)

We made it!  The cherry trees are in bloom. 

These trees were a gift from Japan to Portland and planted in 1990. 

The country of Japan donated these trees to Portland for the dedication of the Japanese American Historical Plaza. 

There are about 13 engraved stones that tell the story of many of Oregon's Japanese. 

The stones talk about the internment camps the Japanese were sent to during WWII and honor the Japanese American soldiers who fought in that same war. 

Onward, this gang is hungry. 

On the way to lunch we found a nice little park. 

The gang is always up for posing with outdoor art. 

Cocoa gets to choose the dining option today.  Who can go wrong with ice cream and coffee. 

We ended up at Cosmic Bliss an ice cream company that started in Eugene and makes dairy free and dairy ice cream.  Navy is waiting to enjoy his two scoops (one dairy based chocolates peanut butter and one scoop of dairy free cherry amaretto). The patience Navy has is amazing being that I and Cocoa already ate our ice cream before any pictures could be taken. 

Where are we off to next??