Trip to Oregon - Finished!

Okay, I'm back!! Finally! :) And back to Wednesday, July 21st, the last time I posted about our trip to Portland. We checked out of the motel at 10:30. The Lloyd Center was only a couple minutes from our motel -- we actually could have walked it. It's a big, beautiful mall; we found the ice with no difficulty. We watched Kool Kamp kids learning to skate. Took a bunch of pictures of the ice for people back in the office, then at 11:00 we went in to the office and asked for Pam. She came out and we enjoyed becoming acquainted with her. She showed us around the offices, then John took a picture of the two of us at the entrance to the rink. After we left her we went upstairs to the Food Court for a bite to eat. I ended up getting only an Orange Julius smoothie -- all the foods looked good, I just wasn't all that hungry. The smoothie was satisfying and held me until dinner later that evening.

The Ice at Lloyd Center in Portland

John at an Overlook of the Columbia River Gorge

Tuesday, July 20th

Mt. Hood

We left the mall and let the GPS guide us to US 26 East and then to US 97 South to Sunriver. Scenery was beautiful!!! We went around the southern portion of Mt. Hood again, then it wasn't long until we saw Mt. Washington, then the Three Sisters, and then Broken Top. It was difficult to get good pictures -- the snow caps on the mountains looked clear until I looked through the camera lens; then they tended to blend in with the sky.

In Sunriver John signed in for our room, we unloaded, then went back to the Lodge to register for the TCA conference. We had a lovely view of Mt. Bachelor from our room deck. The room was small, but sufficient. I had to sit on the bed to use my computer, but I did have good Internet connection -- that's getting easier and easier as the years go on. :)

At 6:00 we went back to the Lodge and outside to where the dinner was to be held. They began serving cocktails at 6:00 with dinner at 7:00. Kevin and Norma Cooper arrived shortly after we did. Kevin is Sr. VP of Finance for Erb. I forget how long he's been with the company, but it's a few years fewer than John. They live in Ontario, Canada. The guys enjoyed networking with employees from other trucking companies -- generally with trucking companies they have a relationship with. Norma and I caught up on our families, etc. The sun was setting over Bachelor Mountain as we finished our dinner. Kevin had registered a bit too late, so they were in a condominium just off the resort grounds, so they had to drive back and forth to the Lodge for meetings, etc.

Mt. Bachelor as Seen from Our Room Deck

Thursday morning I slept in -- it's always a challenge working on a three-hour time zone difference, so when I slept till 10:00 body time, it was only 7:00 Pacific Time. I didn't bother going over for breakfast, but did go over to the lodge around 10:00 PT. I didn't see Norma around, so I got a coffee and muffin at the café then went upstairs and found a comfortable chair where I could read, work puzzles, and people-watch. At 12:00 I decided to go sit outside so I wouldn't miss John if he walked by on his way from where their meetings were to our room. When he came by, we agreed that he would meet me back at the lodge after he had changed clothes and shoes, then we would meet Kevin and Norma for lunch around 1:00.

We had a nice lunch on the patio, then the four of us piled into the little two-door Ford Focus Kevin had rented, and we headed for Bend. In Bend we followed Norma's directions to drive a scenic route that took us between Mt. Bachelor and Broken Top. We stopped frequently to take pictures. It was a lovely loop tour. Back at the resort, we had time to relax a bit, then freshen up for dinner.

Lake Todd with Broken Top Mountain in the Background

Dinner Thursday evening was held at the High Desert Museum. We were bused there from the resort. Again, cocktails were served outside while a local Indian tribe entertained us with tribal dances. We were standing on the wrong side of the patio -- the drum was much too loud for my ears!! Dinner was inside the museum, catered by the resort staff. Foods at these conferences are always delicious and abundant! We lost Kevin and Norma in the crowds -- Norma wanted to tour the museum before eating -- so we enjoyed dinner with three people from a small trucking company in Fort Worth, TX; and three others from a Xerox company in St. Louis.

Indian Tribe of the High Desert Entertaining the TCA Group

John Posing in Front of a Teepee in the High Desert Museum

Friday morning John attended his final sessions while I packed up our things. They always have several gifts for us -- this year there was a lovely woven throw with the history of transportation woven into it. There was also a heavy wooden plaque depicting the history of transportation over the Oregon trail from the Pioneers to today. Unfortunately, it was rather large (11 x 14) and quite heavy as it was solid wood, so we decided to just leave it rather than packing it into our already heavy luggage. There's always a bottle of local wine from one of the sponsors, and we have to pack that in our checked luggage as well -- if we bring that home with us, I give it to my brother-in-law.

We checked out at noon, then began our trip back to Portland. This time we took a different route back -- from Bend we left US 26 and drove US 20 across the mountains -- a smaller highway and much more curvy, but we saw some beautiful scenery, saw acres and acres of mountains that had been destroyed by fires (tied right in with the book I had just finished reading comparing disasters in the US with actions taken by the US government against Israel.) We stopped in Sweet Home for lunch, then got on Rt. 228 through Brownsville to I-5. We arrived at our motel near the airport in good time.

Mt. Washington

We were up at 3:15 to leave for the airport -- the motel didn't have a shuttle to the airport (John thought they did when he booked it), so he had to take the car back before we could check in at the airport. Our planes were all on time -- although we were about half an hour late taking off from Dallas to Richmond. A latch had to be repaired before we could take off. The flight from Portland to Dallas was fascinating -- seeing Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters from the air was marvelous, although we didn't fly right over them. Then watching the topography change as we entered Utah, seeing the Great Salt Lake and the remnants of Lake Bonneville which had composed the Great Salt Lake many, many years ago. The Salt Lake certainly doesn't look like 80 miles long when you're flying 7 miles above it!!

We landed in Richmond at 6:30 EDT. Got our bags, called for the parking lot shuttle, got the car, stopped for gas, and were home by 8:00. John left after church the next morning for Ontario.
So that was our trip to Oregon. ..... It's been a super busy week at the office. There have been many changes, but this post is already too long to explain them, so I'll do that another day.
Shalom y'all!!

Portland - Part 2

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!!

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.