On the way into the Lone Fir Cemetery, I was met with this artist’s plea for money.
Category: Structures
Corner of Morrison and 20th unrecognizable.
On my way to Lone Fir Cemetery to see Portland Actors Ensemble’s production of Macbeth, I did a triple take at the changes that have occurred since Matt lived in this neighborhood and we regularly drove through this intersection.
On the Southwest corner, this four-story mixed use building. I couldn’t remember what used to be here and the portlandmaps.com 2013 aerial photo told me it was an empty lot. Actually, if you look at this aerial photo from 2004 you can see the intersection as I usually saw it, albeit from a street level.
This corner had a few two-story buildings, one of which held a recording studio or music-type place.
This was an empty lot. It’s now a big condo complex.
And here’s the corner that hasn’t changed. Because it can’t. Because it has a cemetery.
Down the street where these tall condos were, there were single family homes.
Ch-ch-ch-changes. It was weird how the place where one’s eye finds the sky had shot so dramatically upward in my absence.
City of Roses Motel, what have we missed?
Thanks to vacation, it’s been more than a week since I took this trek to the train. What has changed with our apartment building?
Here’s the long view:
Windows have finally been installed in our middle panel.
But we’ve still got that construction cloth on the side.
Sites of New Ulm
After that Turner Hall dinner, we needed a walk. New Ulm provided us with fun things to photograph.
Here they are in no particular order:
Most of the downtown buildings had great bones, but had undergone some unfortunate street-level renovations probably in the 60s and 70s. This hardware store looks good though. I would probably re-do the awning, but other than that.
Sara posing with a cutout of someone. I forgot to take a picture of the sign, though.
The famous New Ulm glockenspiel from the back.
And the front.
And the closeup.
And some info. We missed seeing the glockenspiel, arriving after 5:00 pm. And we had to leave the next day before noon, so the glockenspiel will just have to wait.
The Wanda Gag house. (Gag is pronounced Gogg) You might remember her 1928 children’s book Millions of Cats. This is where she grew up. (Houses & Homes theme!!!)
Awesome cutout detail on the second story of this house.
The John Lind House.
You know I love this wrought iron.
We spent a lot of time looking at this fabulous house. First, the turret.
Front view.
Carriage house.
Roof detail.
Widow’s walk and roof detail.
Back side of the carriage house. There was also a converted barn.
Moving on to another house we find some yard decor.
The New Ulm Witness Tree in silhouette.
Explanation. One of our problems with New Ulm was the constant references to the “Dakota Uprising” without a lot of contextualizing the Indian side of the conflict. This was a very large oversight in our minds.
New Ulm Witness Tree in color.
A very fun re-do of this street-level business. Unfortunately, most of them look like the insurance company, as pictured on the right side.
I loved these brick sculptures.
Hermann makes an appearance.
Sara steps off a carriage step. We noted that either the step has moved, or the road has gotten smaller.
Nice glass detail.
Hill House and details on Summit Ave.
You can see the Cathedral of Saint Paul to the left. And here we are at James J. Hill’s house. You can out-click and read about Mr. Hill.
We wandered around the grounds, but did not go inside. Nice house eh?
I have to say that the Turnblads had the better topper to their porte cochere. A sunroom beats a patio any day.
Beautiful wrought iron.
It would be lovely to have a summer party out here.
Gorgeous barreled ceiling. Also a great example of how much upkeep this house needs.
Even more room for your summer party.
A peek into the house and a gorgeous chandelier.
The view has changed since Mr. Hill’s time.
Sara is about to show us her raw power.
To push apart these two trees.
Having explored the grounds of the Hill House, we took a walk on Summit Ave to see what the neighbors have been up to.
Another good wrought iron detail.
Pretty eyebrow window with beautiful frieze.
Big tree with inviting front entrance.
Some rehab.
How about some serpents?
Beautiful paint job.
42nd Street Station
“What is this place?” I wondered as I wandered by. Not having to be anywhere at any time, I checked it out. 
Ah, it’s one of those places that takes a big space and then makes smaller spaces available to small businesses. These seem to be a very 80s concept to me.
I enjoyed looking at the different businesses and stopped in the restaurant to have a sandwich before heading home.
There was a deli counter and also a bar. I was offered a free Keno play, which I took. It was not a winner. (Surprise!)
My egg salad sandwich and water. 
I stopped in the bathroom on the way out and was interested to see this random room of antiques in the hallway near the bathrooms. There wasn’t a sign telling me what it was and there wasn’t a person to ask.
Walk to the Rugged Manic
Matt participated in the Rugged Maniac at Portland International Raceway. As that location is close to our house, we walked. Here are some things I saw.
Interstate Ave north of Argyle is experiencing road construction. This here is a new sidewalk added to the viaduct. I was interested to note the random fencing that is nowhere else along this section of sidewalk. My guess is that some sort of law says it has to be above rail road tracks, to keep shenanigans to a minimum.
Along this walk is a junk place. With some butterfly bush looking pretty. Butterfly Bush is classified as invasive, but I do appreciate how pretty it is as it takes over.
Cacophony of junk. 
From one point on the sidewalk you can see two mountains. Here is St. Helens, with a topper of electric wire.
And here is Mt. Hood with a swallow cooperating with me and agreeing to be in my picture. It only took 10 or so tries. 
This sign makes me wonder what became of Kamala.
Did Ramod send her packing, or did she leave on her own? Either way, Ramod wasn’t into shelling out for a new sign.
Goodbye to you, inviting lot.
I’ve long enjoyed walking past this lot at 1536 N Schofield St. It’s a little bit overgrown, but has some great mature trees on it. Portland Maps tells me it’s currently owned by the Frank A Morse Family Trust and was purchased for $22,500 in 1997. If I wanted to buy it and keep it a fun little hideaway, I’d have to pony up $210,000. I just ran some mortgage numbers and with a $5000.00 down payment and a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, I would have to pay $1900.00 per month. So I’m guessing this will be a large infill house very soon.
City of Roses Motel. Stucco.
Ooooooooo! I said as I caught my first glimpse of the stucco siding. So pretty! And it will look great against the grey skies of winter. Assuming it ever rains again in Portland, Oregon.
The other thing I have noticed is that all the windows have been installed except for this set. I assume they are leaving them open for easier access.
