Tilikum Bridge

Tilikum bridge in Portland after sunset

Anika is visiting for Christmas and we went into Portland yesterday to do shopping and taking some pictures. We ended up at the Tilikum bridge near the OMSI because I had seen it lit up in color and was hoping to catch that with a deep dark blue sky right after sunset.

Full moon over Tilikum bridge

We got lucky in that the full moon rose over the bridge as we were getting coffee to fight the cold and the sky had cleared for the spectacle. People were outside watching and the barista asked us whether we had seen the moon. Their manager had told them to all go out for a moment and see it.

View of Portland from the East bank of the Willamette

We were less lucky with the color display. It did not come on. Today, I learned that the colors depend on the mood of the river. The aesthetic lighting is controlled by a program that takes as input the depth, flow rate, and temperature of the water below the bridge. Kinda cool except when you want to see colorful lights and the river is not in the mood for it.
Speaking of bad luck, today we wanted to hike up to Saddle Mountain, but it is raining.
All my Tilikum bridge pictures are on flickr.