2025 Coffeeneuring Challenge #4: Errandonee Outside

I would have ridden yesterday, but my knee was hurting with the dampness in the air.

Since I’m retired, I decided to let it go.

Then this morning, Sweetie asked me to run a bunch of errands, and the day was drier and I felt like riding. So off I went, bringing along a cup of homemade coffee and an empty saddlebag that would be filled with library books.

I rode to Fremont, and down to NE Vancouver, where I stopped at the credit union. Then I rode over to the  newly renovated Albina Branch of the Multnomah Country Library to collect a couple of books that were being held. My goodness, what a beautiful renovation and expansion the building has had!

(Photo from Multnomah County Library)

The dark wood paneling was gone, replaced with sheetrocked and painted walls and huge windows to let in more natural light.

The building originally housed the Title Wave, the 

Library’s used book store. But the store hadn’t turned a profit in awhile and the County decided to expand the space for a renovated branch. The new building is more than twice the size of the old one, and has two floors and a tons of desks and tables, plus four community rooms that can be rented for events.

Plus, new bike racks out front with more capacity made it much easier for me to find a place to lock up.

While I checked out the two books on hold, the helpful clerk advised me that Sweetie had a third book on hold at the North Portland Branch, which would be not quite two miles away by bicycle on surface streets. So I decided to head over there and pick up that book as well. This branch had been remodeled too, and reopened just recently. Bike parking remains limited because there’s a bus stop right in front of the historic building, but at least they did add a couple of staple racks. I collected my book and headed back into Northeast Portland.

I enjoyed my coffee on the go, sipping periodically until my thermal cup was empty.

I promised to offer a sketch or two during this Challenge, and here’s my first, a sketch of my saddlebag. I’ve loved and used Carradice bags for almost thirty years now, ever since I first learned about them from the Rivendell catalog back in 1996 and saved up for one from them.

I cooled down from my ride sketching this before I put my bike away.

Total distance: around five miles total.