blog@cliffdweller

So, you'd think that since I live on the hill, I would've ridden the Portland Aerial Tram by now. But it's just not that simple. It actually took three tries to even find the thing open. Sheesh. It's like they think it's part of the public transportation for commuters or something, and have completely forgotten the tourist aspect of it all.

Would you believe they're closed on Sundays?

And they close at 5pm on Saturday.

I found out the first two times I went over to ride it.

So last night well after dark, I stopped in on my way home and, lo, they are open until 10pm on weeknights. So I took it for a spin.

Since it was an unplanned tourist outting, I had no camera except my flip phone. But here are some tiny pictures of the amazing view we had last night in Portland.

Overall, I was pleased. Teej accused me of having a happy tram face on the ride up. I was surprised to feel it jiggling as much as it did. I had heard that it was very smooth, but it reminded me of riding on a rail car a bit. I especially liked the swaying to and fro part right as we crossed the lower tower. I barely had any vertigo at all, except it did feel as if they turned gravity up a bit on our way down.

So check it out, if you haven't ridden it yet. Bring the kids. It'll be fun. Here's a tip: It's free if you ride from the top down, and it's $4 if you ride from the bottom up. So I recommend that everyone I know find a designated driver, get dropped off at the top and picked up at the bottom.