In my city, Portland, Oregon, all summer there are numerous events around town known as Sunday Parkways. Streets are closed to cars. Pedestrians and mostly bicyclists take over the road and have one worry free day. There is an official route, enforced by the city and police, that winds around different neighborhoods. This summer, 2013, there are five Sunday Parkways events. The North Portland Sunday Parkways was a 9.5 mile loop around beautiful North Portland. It had five parks along the way and tons of vendors. We were not interested in vendors. We were interested in beauty and fitness. We slow down enough to see the sights but we walk fast enough to stay winded. It was somewhere in between 95 and 2000 degrees outside. We were melting. We did not bring enough water and my sister was really really dehydrated. Why didn’t we take the free water from that lady five miles ago? Hmmm, lesson learned, I suppose. We finished in less than three hours. We weren’t breaking any records but we made it. We headed to the nearest Subway. I couldn’t stand at the counter to order. I had no calories left. Thank goodness for sisters. Our journey had begun.

For information about Sunday Parkways click here.