Not All who wander are Lost

This title popped into my head and I didn't even realize, until checking on Google, that it appears in The Lord of the Rings, just like last week's entry. Speaking of wandering, maybe I should get back on topic. Yesterday's adventure (well, for me since I didn't know where I was headed, just what the destination was), started in southwest Portland. I went through the local farmers market on the Portland State University campus and took pictures of some of the musicians and the colorful displays of fruits and veggies (although some of the musicians are colorful too, but in a different way). There was every kind of fruit, vegetable, meat and cheese imaginable (including organic goat cheese, which begs the question does organic goat cheese come from organic goats and what is an organic goat?). From there, it's up Mill Terrace to the Vista Bridge and into the Arlington Heights neighborhoods. Both the MacLeay and Wildwood trail systems have access from several residential areas. Almost any dead end street you encounter is actually a mini-trail head onto either of these connecting trails. One of the things I like about Portland is you can go from bustling city and skyline to quiet forest trail in about 30 minutes of steady walking. Soon, all you can hear is the muffled road noise far below and even that goes away if you listen more to the crunch of your steps on the path. At this point, I looked at my GPS and could tell I was either on the wrong path or had wandered into another city. Figuring it was the former I went to Plan B. Suffice it to say I didn't go the way I intended to get to where I wanted to go, but I did get there. Pittock Mansion was the first stop and after picking up the trail again from there, I continued on, crossed Burnside, and picked up the trail again. Now this is where the lost part comes in (that last bit was just some wandering). The paved roads along here are hopelessly curvy and with the trees all around, it is often difficult to tell which direction you're going, much less which direction you should go. I was headed for the rose garden and wanted to get there by a different route than usual, and I succeeded. I came across a sign that said the rose garden was up ahead. When the road curved, I realized I had been to this spot in the road before but had never gotten there quite this way. It was at that point I realized the only way you ever really learn your way around a place is to get lost in it and then go back after you figure out where you got lost. One of my favorite lines is, "I've been lost here before." And because I'm having absolute fits with the pictures, they are below in no particular order where they can do no damage to the text wrapping.