Post Offices – Life of Brian

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Please read today’s post title in the voice of Jan C. Gabriel, the Chicago-area motorsport announcer who is best known for popularizing this ubiquitous motorsport phrase.

Today’s sunrise was set for just after 7:30 AM, so I set my alarm for seven o’clock. Unfortunately I woke fully up at around quarter to six. So, I brushed my teeth, packed up and got in the car. The first 2 post office were photographed in pretty much in the dark. Not really an issue, during the South Carolina post office roundup I took around a dozen in the dark and several more at dusk or dawn, and I kind of really like them.

: Salem – I set the alarm for 7:00 AM, but I woke up at quarter to six, so I got up and got going. This is Salem’s main Post Office and 1 of 4 with the Zip Code of 97301. (12/8/24)

: Vista Station – It was still dark for this Post Office and I cold have used the other photo I took, but I liked being able to put the sign in the shot. (12/8/24)

: Pringle Park Plaza – The sun was up enough now, but mostly because I had breakfast between post office #2 of the day and this one. (12/8/24)

: West Salem – This post office was right on the other side of the Willamette River, so it was a quick bridge crossing back and forth. (12/8/24)

: Hollywood – When you say Hollywood, CA I think movie stars, but when you say Hollywood, OR I’ll think homeless people living in a rat-trap looking RV that is parked off frame to the right. (12/8/24)

: Salem Hollywood DCU – The last of the seven Salem Post Offices. Time to head north and home. (12/8/24)

: Donald – This town of around a thousand people must all sleep in on Sundays until it was time to go to church because there was no a soul stirring at 10 minutes to nine in the morning. (12/8/24)

Just Another Sunday

Sunday, December 1, 2024

And just another trip to capture images of Post Offices. Today’s objective was to take pictures the four downtown post offices that I missed on on earlier attempt, plus one that was practically on the way home.

This time I got up at the crack of dawn, thankfully at this time of year its 7:30, to hopefully minimize my interactions with traffic. It was a good idea because there was hardly any traffic around the downtown area and I saw more transit busses than automobiles. The lack of traffic was also helpful because in the middle photo of the top row below I had to park in the travel lane to take that picture.

So now, of the two dozen Post Offices that are in the city limits of Portland, I have only one more to get. And quite possibly if I wanted to I could have grabbed that today too, but it is so far west of town as to be almost in the town of Beaverton. Besides it is practically next door to the Mini dealer where I will be going to soon enough to get something fixed on that car, I’ll get that one then.

: River District – This is one of the two downtown Post Offices I couldn’t find back in October. (12/1/24)

: Central – This is the second Post Office I couldn’t find back in October and I bet I did drive right by it back then. It is not really marked so as to be noticeable. The PO is the door to the left of the lobby of the Five Oak building. (12/1/24)

: Waterfront – Google maps led me from the Central Branch to this Post Office around the corner from where I am parked now, but there was no place to park. So I had to cross the Willamette River on the Hawthorne Bridge, turn around and cross back to get the photo. (12/1/24)

: Southwest Portland DCU – On this one, kind like the last one, I missed my first opportunity and had to drive a ways then turn around to get here. (12/1/24)

: Lents DCU – This Post Office seemed positively rural compared to the first 4 of the day, but it is still inside the big city limits. (12/1/24)

The Man Of 11% Of A Thousand Post Offices

Sunday, November 24, 2024

And also, the man of 29% of the 385 Oregon Post Offices.

Yesterday evening the weather forecast called for rain overnight, turning to just cloudy during the day today. So, I mapped out about 8 post offices to go get photos of in the morning only to wake up this morning to find it raining and now it was going to continue raining for the whole day.

I briefly considered calling the drive off, but I now know from living here for over a year, that even if the forecast calls for rain, that rain, more than likely, will be just off and on not a steady downpour. I jumped in the Miata and headed south.

It did rain pretty steady for the first 25 minutes on my trip down I-205, but it did become sporadic once I started driving on B roads going through the Post Office towns. My second planned Post Office was in West Linn, but when I got to where it was supposed to be, it wasn’t there, it was a paved parking lot for what looked like a new supermarket. Guess it moved to somewhere else. The address I had was from 5 years ago when I first compiled the list. I really should check these on USPS.com before I go out looking.

The convoluted post title was because a few miles from home on I-84 heading west the New Blue Miata hit the 1,000 mile mark.

: Mid-Century Modern post office in a what was probably a bedroom community for folks who worked in the big city. (11/24/24)

: Ten miles further south from Gladstone, Canby still retains its small town feel, but not for long. (11/24/24)

: The city of Aurora is second alphabetically on the list of Oregon and consequentially has the second lowest zip code. (11/24/24)

: Located at the southernmost end of the Portland metropolitan area, Wilsonville is the gateway to the verdant Willamette Valley. (11/24/24)

: I thought this was the post office for the town of Lake Oswego, but it is for Lake Grove, a neighborhood inside Lake Oswego, This means I need to go back and get the actual Lake Oswego post office. (11/24/24)

: Multnomah Branch – I was waiting for a car parked near the door to leave, but after 5 minutes I got out of the car and took a photo anyway. As soon as I got back in the Miata, the car left, so hopped back out and scored the clean shot. (11/24/24)

It’s Sunday So…

Sunday, November 17, 2024

…its post office hunting day.

Instead of my usual go west into the heart of the big city I turned my eyes east to go a bit rural. And it was worth it. After the first 6 or so miles the roads turned very rural, all twisty, narrow and traffic free with plenty of elevation changes. Perfect Miata roads, almost. Today was a rainy day, so while I enjoyed driving them I didn’t push the car too much because I’m still getting used to the new cars handling and grip.

: Boring – They have a sense of humor about their name because the city’s motto is “The most exciting place to live!” and they have two sister cities: Dull, Scotland and Bland, Australia. (11/17/24)

: Sandy – The town is named for the Sandy River that flows nearby. Which is also the case of the road that I live on, Sandy Boulevard. (11/17/24)

: Eagle Creek – Going from Sandy to Eagle Creek was a blast. Narrow twisty 2-lane roads that at times reminded me of northwest South Carolina and at others it felt very Pacific Northwest. (11/17/24)

: Beavercreek – This was today’s lowest number zip code. Otherwise it is just another rural post office. (11/17/24)

: Oregon City – The signage tells me this was a early 2000s Post Office, but the building looks nothing like a Post Office of any era. Maybe the building was for an entirely different company that went bankrupt so Uncle Sam repurposed it. (11/17/24)

: Clackamas – On the USPS website it lists this as the Clackamas Post Office. But there are two town names and zip codes on it. I’m speculating here, but maybe the Happy Valley post office stopped getting enough business to warrant a separate building. (11/17/24)

: Clackamas DCU – This is the first Detached Carrier Unit I have run into in Oregon. They were a lot more prevalent in South Carolina. (11/17/24)

Another Post Office Picture Drive(s)

Sunday, November 10, 2024

After today I am 1/4 of the way through getting pictures of every Post Office in the state of Oregon. Of the 22 post offices labeled Portland I only have 5 left. Trouble is, of those five there are 3 that I tried to get already, but for some reason couldn’t find them. I’ll try to find those at least one more time. The first picture in the top row was taken yesterday when I took a drive to way southeast Portland to CravenSpeed to buy their Clear Acrylic Wind Deflector. The other five were taken this morning.

: Tigard – While visiting CravenSpeed, purveyors of fine automotive accessories in Tigard I made a stop at the Post Office there to add it to this gallery. (1108/24)

: Piedmont Branch – This is right across the street from a food truck village. Good thing I wasn’t hungry because they were all closed on an early Sunday morning. (11/10/24)

: Holladay Park – This Portland Post Office is on the east side of the Willamette River near the Moda Center where the NBA Trailblazers play. (11/10/24)

: Sellwood Branch – I drove in the opposite direction and did a U-turn so I could pull right up front. (11/10/24)

: Milwaukie Branch – Milwaukie is still a city, but the United States Postal Service calls it Portland. (11/10/24)

: Oak Grove Branch – I was going to walk out to the street so I could get a shot that included the nice brick monument that had the name om it, but you couldn’t see the car and not much of the post office itself. (11/10/24)

The Long Way Home

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Not really long, it was only 239 miles compared to the straight trip of 221, but time wise it went from 3-1/2 hours to 6. If driven without stopping, those extra miles increased the time by about 30 minutes. Where did the extra 2 hours come from? There was a 20-minute gas stop, a half an hour was burned at a coffee shop having a latte and a muffin and another half an hour eating lunch. The 40 minutes was finding and setting up a photo of four Post Offices along US30 northeast of Portland.

: Rainier – This Post Office is identical looking to the one in Troutdale, only it is a nice shade of blue unlike Troutdale’s wood tones. (11/03/24)

: Columbia City – A cute little Post Office in a building that probably started life as a single family home. (11/03/24)

: Saint Helens – This town was founded in 1845, as “Plymouth”. The name was changed to St. Helens in the latter part of 1850 for its view of Mount St. Helens, roughly 39 miles away in Washington (11/03/24)

: Scappoose – This Post Office was located on a very busy US30 so this angle was my only option to get a photo. (11/03/24)

Somewhere between Saint Helens and Scappoose the Mini advanced past 47,000 miles.

Another Sunday, Another Post Office Safari

Sunday, October 20, 2024

I set out with a planned route that would net 7 more Portland Post Offices. It didn’t take long for the plan to fall apart.

Not A Post Office Anymore

My first stop was at the Portland Airport. I had tried for this post office once before by following signs that said post office with an arrow and it put me somewhere where I had to back out. This time I used Google Maps in satellite mode and saw where I went astray the last time, then dropped the little man to make sure that image matched what was on the map page. And when I got to where the post office was, that is exactly what it was, was. The building is still there and you can see the address numbers up on the wall. And just to the right of that is the ghost outline of the official Postal Service metal signage.

Not A Public Post Office

I plugged in the address of my next target and headed off. Not long after driving along the route I spotted a nice big piece of granite with the words “United States Postal Service” engraved on it, so I pulled in. The parking lot out front was huge, but the only way in said “Employees Only.” I turned around and started driving to the other side, but was not an entrance there either. The building was twice the size of the parking lot. This must be the sorting facility for all the mail that gets flown in, not where I could go and buy a stamp.

The next two post offices were right where Google Maps said they would be. My loop was now taking me back into the heart of the big city. Turns out my next stop was smack in the middle of a very young hip happening place. I had to loop the block 3 times before I just gave up und headed for the next Post Office on the list. Back home I figured out what happened here, when you type in the address, Google shows you the map and on the left there is a static street view shot of that address. It showed the building I was looking at, but that building is not there anymore. That street view image is from 2019 and if you drop the little man and you will see what he and I saw, a new building where that PO was.

The next Post Office was the main post office for the big city and big it was. The photo I took of it shows a little more than half the building size. Then I missed the next two post offices altogether. I circled the block twice in each instance, but what I was seeing was not what I was expecting to see. I wonder those are the other place and those buildings have changed. I’ll give it one more try before I just shrug and move on.

: Kenton Station – In a nice little neighborhood of North Portland. (10/20/24)

: Saint Johns – This post office looks a little old because the shopping center around it is full on new stores. (10/20/24)

: Portland- This is called Portland because it is the main post office for the big city and big it was. This photo shows a little more than half the building size. (10/20/24)