Portland MI - May 20, 2013.

Portland, MI, is a town of less than 4,000 people in year 2013. A little background shows that the town is located where the Looking Glass River empties into the Grand River. The interest in the trip was to walk parts of the Portland Riverwalk, which is about 8.3 miles from the beginning to the end, and in part goes along the former Pere Marquette railroad track. The last train went over the track in 1984, and in this area is now abandoned. One can follow the track all the way back to Grand Rapids, where parts of it are still in use. Out of Grand Rapids on the northwest side, the track then heads to Coopersville. It is amusing to see that the islands in the Grand River in Portland area were never filled in the way they were at Grand Rapids, so one can get a sense of what the river at Grand Rapids might have looked like 150 years ago.