The Robertson Tunnel Sunday, February 01, 2009

A blue line MAX train arrives at Washington Park station in the Robertson Tunnel Jan. 31 in Portland.

The 3.1-mile (5.0 km) Robertson Tunnel convey blue- and red-line MAX trains beneath the West Hills in Portland, Ore. The route opened in 1998 after five years of construction at a cost of $184 million. (Read more here.)

The tunnels are named for William D. Robertson (1947-1997) who was the president of the TriMet board of directors at the time of his death.

[right] Washington Park station displays a core sample collected during the construction of the Robertson Tunnel. The station sits 260 feet below the Oregon Zoo and the World Forestry Center.

A visit to Portland's own "Little Sweden" Thursday, January 22, 2009

The view from red line MAX (light rail) train as it crosses I-205 in Northeast Portland.

No parks this week. Perrie had some shopping to do on Sunday morning so we boarded the MAX out to Cascade Station, a big-box type mall right by PDX airport. It was a beautiful sunny day, about 30°F at 9 a.m. as we rode out to visit Little Sweden.

We went so early in part because we had several other errands and appointments that day, but also to take advantage of their ultra-affordable breakfast.

[left] Another view from the MAX, eastbound alongside I-84. [below] The cafeteria at Ikea serves breakfast for just $0.99 (left) or a slightly larger version (right) for $1.99. Coffee and tea are free until 10 a.m.







After breakfast I wasn't really inspired to take any pictures until I saw this (left) as we descended the escalator. I thought there were quite a few shoppers in the store, but I guess they expected more! The mass of waiting carts looked pretty cool, so I shot it from several angles.