Shopping on our bikes, not in our car.

So, we were looking for a bike ride route for our weekend ride that would allow us to ride our bike and do our errands, and Honey says, why don’t we do a loop that includes inner SE Portland so we can stop by the Portland Nursery which is on SE Stark. “I would just like to look around and get some ideas” she says. And I hear, “I would like to pick up some plants, because I have some ideas”.  Which means, I had better be prepared, and I hook up our two expandable grocery panniers to the back rack. As we approach the nursery, the rain clouds open up and forcing a mad dash to the espresso stand just outside the nursery. We drink our hot coffee under the covered areas of the tropical plant section and as we wait for the weather to clear. This gives Honey ample time to find plants that she would love to see in her garden. She is reluctant to ask about carrying some home, so I assure her that those two plants she likes will be easy to take home. This opens starts her on a roll, and I am powerless to stop her til she has collected 8 plants she needs to have. In the meantime, I have found a half dozen 5 foot bamboo poles that would be perfect for a blueberry netting cage. TheTiedowns1.jpg bamboo poses a little challenge since I hadn’t prepared for possibility of strapping poles to my bike. But with the nursery’s generous donation of some pretty cool little adjustable tie down straps, I was able to easily strap the poles to the top bar of my bike, with the poles sticking out under my seat and straight out the back. This is one more reason IPlantPanniers1.jpg personally like the straight top bar design as opposed the the sloping top bar design. With the plants snugly packed into the open top panniers, we were off. This adventure, coupled with our walk out to the retrieve our take/bake pizza, we enjoyed a productive, car-free day.

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