Tuesday Night Skate
Story Michelle Dennis
Photos Nancy Hartman

Greetings people of the Portland skating community!!

Tuesday night was a terrific skate in spite of the overcast conditions (which were quite unexpected!!). It was great to see the old group show up! Thanks for coming, Nancy, Maria, Jerry, Dan and Keith (the "Original", and he is just that, heh heh heh :-)

We made our route decision in record time and skated off from Salmon Street Fountain at about 7:15 in the direction of Willamette Park at cruise speed (I led the pack with, I guess, a little extra energy). At our first big pause, the condominiums next to the trolley rail tracks, we joked and chattered, and posed next to the bronze beaver statue at the side of the path (or I did, there was no convincing the others to take turns).

After some maneuvering around the gravel dusting the path at another trolley track site, we wound down the path to the Willamette boat ramp parking lot where there was time for exhibition of skating prowess and skill. Here is where music comes in handy! Dan’s getting quite good at turning backwards and forwards on his wheels. Keith getting reacquainted with his wheels, and the rest just glad to be outdoors.

Finally we skated to the end of the park where Maria got her chance to mingle with the local wildlife. The small gang of mallards were skeptical, but couldn’t help their curiosity of Maria’s astonishingly realistic quacking (ask her to do it when you see her!).

We rolled back to the fountain in the twilight of a gorgeous downtown evening in a cool (but not cold!) breeze, jokingly begging some passing bicyclists to give us a tow. I’m sure their answer would have been different had we all not been moving uphill.

Well, that was our Tuesday adventure. Stay tuned for tonight’s skating details coming soon, no doubt. Pray for a break in the clouds, and Roll ON!

Michelle