What a Whirlwind Trip! Definitely not long enough, in my book. I had a hard time figuring out what Time Zone I was in, Monday. I have a slide show to the right on
A bit of background information: My host, Terry and I have been friends since high school and website partners for 4 years now. He is a native of Portland, and has lived there all of his adult life.
The flight from Omaha to Denver, then Portland went very well. No glitches, however had a bit of a yikes! moment in Denver, when I was called to the podium. They just asked if I would change seats (from row 21 to 12), so a family could sit together. I thought for sure they were going to bump me or something just as bad. A little turbulence going into Denver, but I can't think of a time that a flight into Denver wasn't bumpy.
This time of year the normal temp in PDX (aka Portland) is 45-50 degrees and rainy. Thinking it would pretty much be the case for my trip, I had a heavy jacket. Silly me for leaving my "Portland TrailBlazers" winter coat at home. I soon regretted that decision, as the temps were more in the 30s than 40s. Thank God, Terry had an extra coat I could wear. You'll see me dwarfed in his coat in the pictures! lol Even the cashiers, at the places we visited, commented on it "never snows this late in the year."
Needless to say, walking out of the airport to the MAX (lightrail) station was a bit of a shock to see/feel freezing rain. After taking MAX to downtown Portland, I met up with the bus Terry drives. It worked out that he was on his last run, then he was done for the night. After work, we met up with Terry's roommate to grab a bite to eat. Sounds simple enough, but I swear this visit to the restaurant was a visit to the Twilight Zone. The waitress kept forgetting about us. She was the spaciest woman I have ever met in my life. After asking if I could have the onions left off of the steak wrap, she asks me if I want Onion Rings. (hello!) The guys ordered breakfast sampler platters, which included pancakes and bacon. She served the eggs, hash browns and sausage, but forgot the rest. Even after pointing it out to her it still took 15 minutes. By this time, I'm just about to fall asleep sitting up. We finally gave up and talked to the Manager, who comped our meals. It took close to 90 minutes, when it should have taken about 45.
Thursday, Terry and I went sight seeing. We started by going to Multnomah Falls. When we arrived, we decided to grab "breakfast" at the snack bar. (Polish dogs for breakfast? lol) While we were waiting in line, it started to snow. Oh joy. Fortunately, storms pass quickly, unlike snowstorms in Nebraska. So we wandered around the gift shop for a while, just long enough for it to stop snowing. Then we walked up to the bridge. There is the option of hiking to the top of the falls. As cold and nasty (weather) it was, we decided not to.
On the way back into Portland, we went to "The Grotto", which is a (Catholic) sanctuary. This place was beautiful and peaceful. A wonderful way to get exercise! (God does work in weird ways...never thought I'd say those words! lol)
After The Grotto, we drove to the top of Mt. Tabor. Mt. Tabor is a dormant volcano, right smack in the middle of Portland. Plus the view from the top is just amazing! There's a small ampatheater (spell?) which is along a portion of the volcano which had blown at one time. So you can see the blackened lava rock.
Of course had to check out, at least one of the malls. We walked around one for about an hour, after eating at the food court.
For those who wonder over here from "The Gatewood Newsletter"...now you see how I lost 3 lbs. this trip! Needless to say, sleeping Thurs. night was not difficult. After all the walking/hiking, I was down for the count.
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