Bike to Work

May is National Bike Month, established in 1956 and sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, when many events are offered to showcase the benefits of biking. Bike to Work Week runs from May 11 to May 5, 2015, with Bike to Work Day on May 15 to highlight that biking is a viable transportation alternative.

Postcard US-1996944 to Germany shows a biker in Portland, Oregon, the most walking, biking, and public transit friendly city on the West Coast, according to Walk Score. Minneapolis, MN (Bike Score: 81.3), San Francisco, CA (Bike Score: 75.1); Portland, OR (Bike Score: 72.0); Denver, CO (Bike Score: 71.3); and Boston, MA (Bike Score: 70.3) are the top five most bike friendly cities in the U.S. In comparison, Las Vegas is unfortunately a car-dependent city, ranked 29th (Bike Score: 52.0) among the cities with 300,000 residents or more. An article from the Las Vegas Review Journal has listed 6 scariest things about riding a bike in Las Vegas.

World Book Day

World Book Day is an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing and copyright on April 23 every year. It was celebrated for the first time on April 23, 1995.

Postcard US-1828687 to Germany shows people reading books at a park in Portland, Oregon.

Oregon State Capitol at Salem

The Oregon State Capitol, located in the state capital Salem, OR, houses the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the State of Oregon. Outgoing postcard US-3202770 to Austria was a vintage linen postcard, published by E. C. Kropp Co., showing "Pride of the city of Salem, community center of the verdant, prosperous mid-Willamette Valley valley region, and pride of all Oregon - is the majestic new capitol building. A tribute to the achievements of the past as well as to the forward vision of present day Oregon, this building was erected when fire destroyed the original edifice in 1935."

Constructed from 1936 to 1938 and expanded in 1977 as the third state government buildings in Salem, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Hexagon

Postcard US-2621782 from U.S. shows this well-documented quilt that was the work of Abigail Scott Duniway (October 22, 1834 - October 11, 1915). Outspoken and often controversial, Abigail Scott Duniway was an American women's rights advocate, newspaper editor and writer, whose efforts were instrumental in gaining voting rights for women. She came over the Oregon Trail in 1852 from Illinois with her educated parents and family. The quilt, measured 80.75" x 60", was made from 1869 to 1900.

Wikimedia Commons: Abigail Scott Duniway ca 1870-1900

International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon

Postcard US-1830375 to Taiwan shows a variety of roses in the International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon which I visited on September 29, 2010 during my JetBlue AYCJ trip. There are over 7,000 rose plants of approximately 550 varieties in this 18,200 square meter or 4.5 acre garden, where you can see downtown Portland and Mount Hood in a distance.It was mostly cloudy with light rains in the morning I visited so I couldn't see Mount Hood. Nonetheless, the view of roses was not disappointing even it was near the end of their April through October blossom season.

The garden was established in 1917 to serve as a safe haven for hybrid roses grown in Europe during World War I. Today new roses are continually sent to the garden from around the world for testing of their colors, fragrance, disease resistance and other attributes. It is the oldest continuously operating public rose test garden in the United States. It exemplifies Portland's nickname of the "City of Roses" and the volunteering efforts from Portland citizens who contribute about 500 hours every year in tending the garden.

It was also listed in the Ten Things to Do in Portland by the Time magazine.

Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon

Postcard US-2436381 traveling to Germany shows the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon. The garden is influenced by many of the famous classical gardens in Suzhou, China, and features covered walkways (廊), pavillions(閣) and bridges (橋) according to the Chinese Fengshui design.

I visited this walled Chinese garden enclosing a full city block, roughly (4,000 square meters or 40,000 square feet), in the the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood on September 28, 2010 as part of my JetBlue AYCJ trip. It was listed as one of the Ten Things to Do in Portland, Oregon by the Time magazine.