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.

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.

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Postcard US-2333998 to Ukraine shows an aerial photo of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, taken from a Jetblue plane on approach to Portland, Maine on September 7, 2010. It was the first leg of my All-You-Can-Jet (AYCJ) trip from New Orleans, LA to Portland, ME with a transfer at JFK airport, NY.

Cape Elizabeth is a wealthy town in Southern Maine, with a population of 9015 as of the 2010 census, where the historical Portland Head Light is located. Visible on the lower-left center on the card, the lighthouse is predominant at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor.Built from 1787 to 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in the state of Maine. In 1872, an artillery base was built around the lighthouse to guard the entrance to the harbor. It was named Fort Williams in 1899 and remained active until 1962. It then became Fort Williams Park maintained by the town. The Park includes Portland Head Light and the former lighthouse keepers' house that currently serves as a maritime museum museum, remains of the military fort, the ruins of Goddard Mansion, and recreation facilities such as tennis and baseball courts. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1973.

The United States Postal Service issued a Portland Head Light Forever Stamp as part of the New England Coastal Lighthouses series on July 13, 2013.

Ram Island Ledge Light, Maine

Postcard US-2378450 traveling to Czech Republic shows an aerial view of the Ram Island Ledge Light in Casco Bay, Maine. It was built during 1903 and 1905 as a result of repeated shipwrecks in the past and the steamship "Californian" accident on February 24, 1900. The lighthouse was electrified in 1958, automated in 1959, and converted to solar power in 2001. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as "Ram Island Ledge Light Station" on March 14, 1988.