Made it to Austin and plan to be here a total of three weeks.

I had two more days to walk around Portland. The Bundy Trial was going on and above I caught one of the protestors. Not sure if he was doing a google of Jury Nullification on his phone or not. Coincidentally, later that day the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on almost all the counts and deadlocked on the remaining. That was bit of a surprise.

St Stephen’s Episcopal church in Portland has a “bicycle shrine”. Above is the explanation.

Here is what it looks like overall.

I believe the shrine was initially a ghost bike for Tracey Lorraine Sparling. She was killed by a right turning truck in Portland. This happened two years before I moved there and less than half a mile from where I used to own a condo. As a cyclist, it definitely gives pause and has one think about being careful. It also let to some of the “green zones” in Portland where cyclists can move up in front to be visible by trucks.

After that, I found my way to the Portland Amtrak station for an almost 72 hour train journey.

First impression on being back in Austin was, “wow, it is still hot and somewhat humid here in November. The general maxim that high temperatures in Portland are often the low temperatures in Austin seemed to hold.

I walked my bike and luggage to Mello Johnny’s bike shop. I requested a full service on parts that wear as well as getting a few extra bits like brake pads and derailleur hanger. After that I took the bus to Southwest Austin.

Here I picked up my backup mountain bike from storage. I’ll use it or my other mountain bike around town. I have already voted. I’ve got an appointment for the travel clinic. Otherwise, a few weeks to finalized my Baja equipment list and take a short break from travels before celebrating Thanksgiving and then crossing the Mexico border.