This morning I will continue relating our trip to Portland....
After I posted yesterday morning, I walked across the street to the 7-Eleven I could see from our motel window -- we're on the sixth floor over the entrance. I didn't think to put a jacket on -- I had packed that in John's suitcase, but it's been so hot at home I didn't even think "cold"!! When you're used to temps being 75-80 and humid at 7:00 in the morning, 52° is downright cold!! And their was a fine misty drizzle swirling around me as I walked. I got a coffee and a bottle of grape juice -- one of my daily antioxidants -- then when I got back to the motel I stopped at the front desk and asked if my suitcase had come in. The lady said she hadn't heard that any had, but the gentleman said he'd check in the back. He came out of the back room pulling my suitcase!! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness! There was a (form) note of apology from American Airlines attached to the handle.
So now that I had my luggage I could shower and get ready for the day! John was finally able to get the car around noon, so as soon as he got back from that we headed out to find a Best Buy (I had gotten addresses online, figured out which one was closest to where we are, then plugged the addy into the Garmin. When we were flying out on Monday I tried to take some pictures from the plane, but realized when I turned the camera on that the battery was almost dead. I thought I had just charged the batteries, but either I hadn't or it wasn't holding a charge. Since that left me with only one set of batteries and tons of photo opportunities out here, I needed batteries, so we went to Best Buy and I got a set of 8 batteries and a new battery charger. This one is more portable than the one I have at home, so it isn't really money wasted.
From there we headed to drive through the Columbia Gorge -- John had gotten maps, directions, and notes on points of interest from the motel concierge. We got on the Oregon Heritage Road, stopping at interesting points along the way, enjoying the wonderful waterfalls, the beautiful views of the Columbia River and mountains. We stopped at the Char-burger for lunch -- the concierge had recommended their homemade pies. We sat at a table next to a window overlooking the river. The wind was blowing so strongly that an eagle had to struggle to fly into it. It was quite a site. Later a little wren was trying to fly to its nest next to the windows and was buffeted so much it could barely make it.
We finished eating and browsed the gift shop for a bit, then headed on east, then south to go around Mt. Hood. I had to think of how much my mom had enjoyed this area when she and her family wandered through here in the late 30's. She loved Oregon and northern California. I know she had spoken of Mt. Hood, but I don't remember her mentioning other volcanic mountains. Southern and eastern fruits could never compare to her memories of the luscious fruits in California and Oregon.
We arrived back at the motel between 6:00 and 7:00. Neither of us was hungry -- the hamburger and fries we had at 2:00 had quite satisfied us -- of course John had finished his with a piece of marionberry pie.
This morning John went out around 7:30 for his coffee and to read -- it's now 9:30 and he's not back yet. I've showered, put my makeup on, and am ready for the day. We plan to check out of the motel around 10:45, then head to the Lloyd Center -- I called Pam yesterday and she's expecting us. Rink Management, the company I work for, manages the ice at the Lloyd Center. Pam is the Assistant General Manager. I've met the GM, Don Baldwin, a couple times when he's been to Virginia, but he's on medical leave right now. He had surgery on his ankle again last week. He knew we were coming out, and we were looking forward to spending some time with him. But it will be nice to meet Pam, too. I have spoken with her and communicated via email regarding birthday mailings and new hire paperwork, so it will be nice to put a face to a name.
So, that's another day in Portland. After we leave the Lloyd Center we will head for Sunriver.
Shalom, y'all!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Portland, Oregon!!
So many of my friends are moving from Xanga to this site, so I'm going to be posting duplicates of my personal updates both here and there -- for a while at least.
I was planning to update last Saturday, but then didn't get it done, so I'm going to start today with our trip to Portland. We've come out here to attend the TCA conference (Truckload Carriers Association - Reefer Division). We'll be here in Portland until Wednesday afternoon, then drive across the mountains past Mt. Hood to the Sunriver Resort where the conference will be held.
We flew out of Richmond on time Monday morning at 7:00. Arrived in Dallas, walked to our outbound gate, then determined what we were going to do. It was 10:00, so we decided to have a bite to eat at one of the food courts. John had a breakfast sandwich, I had a grilled chicken salad from Popeyes.
Then I sat and read a while, listened to a Koinonia House message on my computer (didn't feel like spending money to get online to check emails). We had a four hour layover, so we had lots of time, but when you have to lug your carry-on luggage everywhere, it's not as nice. There was an incident with my red makeup/toiletry bag -- John had that and his own small file folder bag. (I had my purse and my computer case, although we sometimes switched off between the computer case and the red bag.) John sat in the food court sipping a coffee and reading, then went to the wash room. He picked up his bag and forgot mine! He did his thing, then wandered to where I was sitting. First thing I said was, "Where's the red bag?" Oops!! He went racing back to the food court and there was a security officer getting ready to take it -- someone had reported an unattended bag. John said, "Sorry, sir; that's mine." He wasn't asked to identify it. But my bag would probably have been blown up to make sure it wasn't a bomb. :(
Just as we were about ready to board our Portland flight they asked if anyone was interested in giving up their seat for $300 and take a later flight to Portland as the plane was overbooked. John raced to the counter and said we would take them up on that. They took our tickets and put our names down. We were the first to offer, so we ended up waiting ANOTHER four hours to take off. They gave us two $300 ticket vouchers to use within the next 12 months, two tickets for the next flight, and two $10 vouchers for lunch. We had to go to Terminal C for our next flight; the agent who gave us the vouchers told us the best food options were in Terminal D, so we took the Air Tran to Terminal D and had a lovely lunch at a Tex-Mex style restaurant. Then we took the Air Tran to Terminal C. Our flight was out around 4:30 Central time. We arrived in Portland with no problem at 6:00 Pacific time, then went to get our luggage. As we were coming down the escalator to the luggage carousels we heard our name being paged -- we were directed where to go to get our luggage that had come in on the plane we were originally scheduled to come in on -- well, John's luggage made it. Mine didn't. In addition to all my stuff, it has John's dress shirts in it.
John called the Crowne Plaza for a shuttle and we checked in and settled into a lovely room. We had a good night. It is now 7:30 Pacific time. John is out having a coffee before he goes to get the rental car. I'm dressed in yesterday's clothes. I think I'll walk across the street for a 7-Eleven coffee. I'm not going to shower until I've checked to see if my suitcase made it in yet. I need to wash my hair but my curling iron is in my suitcase.
So that's our trip so far. It's overcast this morning; temperature was 72° when we landed last night. It's supposed to get up to 85° today. Nice break from the 100's we're having back home this week! We had 3/4 inch of rain the other week, but storms have been going around us. Ashland had a nice rain Sunday evening during church, and over 3 inches were dumped on Interstate 64 from Goochland to Short Pump. We got lots of wind and thunder but not a drop of rain from that one. But God is faithful. He knows our needs and He will provide in His time.
I was planning to update last Saturday, but then didn't get it done, so I'm going to start today with our trip to Portland. We've come out here to attend the TCA conference (Truckload Carriers Association - Reefer Division). We'll be here in Portland until Wednesday afternoon, then drive across the mountains past Mt. Hood to the Sunriver Resort where the conference will be held.
We flew out of Richmond on time Monday morning at 7:00. Arrived in Dallas, walked to our outbound gate, then determined what we were going to do. It was 10:00, so we decided to have a bite to eat at one of the food courts. John had a breakfast sandwich, I had a grilled chicken salad from Popeyes.
Then I sat and read a while, listened to a Koinonia House message on my computer (didn't feel like spending money to get online to check emails). We had a four hour layover, so we had lots of time, but when you have to lug your carry-on luggage everywhere, it's not as nice. There was an incident with my red makeup/toiletry bag -- John had that and his own small file folder bag. (I had my purse and my computer case, although we sometimes switched off between the computer case and the red bag.) John sat in the food court sipping a coffee and reading, then went to the wash room. He picked up his bag and forgot mine! He did his thing, then wandered to where I was sitting. First thing I said was, "Where's the red bag?" Oops!! He went racing back to the food court and there was a security officer getting ready to take it -- someone had reported an unattended bag. John said, "Sorry, sir; that's mine." He wasn't asked to identify it. But my bag would probably have been blown up to make sure it wasn't a bomb. :(
Just as we were about ready to board our Portland flight they asked if anyone was interested in giving up their seat for $300 and take a later flight to Portland as the plane was overbooked. John raced to the counter and said we would take them up on that. They took our tickets and put our names down. We were the first to offer, so we ended up waiting ANOTHER four hours to take off. They gave us two $300 ticket vouchers to use within the next 12 months, two tickets for the next flight, and two $10 vouchers for lunch. We had to go to Terminal C for our next flight; the agent who gave us the vouchers told us the best food options were in Terminal D, so we took the Air Tran to Terminal D and had a lovely lunch at a Tex-Mex style restaurant. Then we took the Air Tran to Terminal C. Our flight was out around 4:30 Central time. We arrived in Portland with no problem at 6:00 Pacific time, then went to get our luggage. As we were coming down the escalator to the luggage carousels we heard our name being paged -- we were directed where to go to get our luggage that had come in on the plane we were originally scheduled to come in on -- well, John's luggage made it. Mine didn't. In addition to all my stuff, it has John's dress shirts in it.
John called the Crowne Plaza for a shuttle and we checked in and settled into a lovely room. We had a good night. It is now 7:30 Pacific time. John is out having a coffee before he goes to get the rental car. I'm dressed in yesterday's clothes. I think I'll walk across the street for a 7-Eleven coffee. I'm not going to shower until I've checked to see if my suitcase made it in yet. I need to wash my hair but my curling iron is in my suitcase.
So that's our trip so far. It's overcast this morning; temperature was 72° when we landed last night. It's supposed to get up to 85° today. Nice break from the 100's we're having back home this week! We had 3/4 inch of rain the other week, but storms have been going around us. Ashland had a nice rain Sunday evening during church, and over 3 inches were dumped on Interstate 64 from Goochland to Short Pump. We got lots of wind and thunder but not a drop of rain from that one. But God is faithful. He knows our needs and He will provide in His time.
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