Wednesday, August 5, 2009

PDX











Things I forgot about Flying:
#1. It's one of the few activities where having short legs is an advantage.
#2. The puddle jumper planes are very small.
#3. The puddle jumper planes are very loud
#4. Once I get into the air, I remember that I'm not afraid to fly.
#5. That this country is pretty amazing.
#6. And huge

I had 2 totally uneventful flights. The hostess on the first leg (Aberdeen to Minneapolis) actually recognized the mini sock I had pinned to my shirt as a symbol of the Sock Summit (she didn't remember the name, but "oh yeah, that sock... thing" was good enough for me).

It was really amazing to watch countryside that I traveled past 2 weeks ago, zip past in 6 hours. I didn't get many pics because there was some cloud cover, but South Dakota is amazingly green.

I worked mostly steadily on the Plane Sock (koigu, baby cables, my own design), but I also was wise and slept as much as possible, since I was awake at 3:30 am yesterday. My seatmates on the MPLS/PDX run came from different places, but both barely made their connecting flights. Both also talked about nothing else, and I do mean nothing else, for the entire 3 hour flight...

Portland is as beautiful as it was 2 weeks ago, and not nearly as hot as it was last week. It was a lovely 78 degrees whenI deplaned, and the evening was balmy and lovely. Kris, Jane and I (BFF for over 40 years, plus one other who couldn't make it last night but we'll see her tonight)(and yes, I saw them all 2 weeks ago, but that was Family Time. This is Girlfriend Time), ate at Jakes (link in a post a couple of days ago), and OMIGOD!!!!! Best. Food. Ever. I won't try to describe how any of it tasted but Kris had halibut stuffed with crab, Jane had sauteed crab legs and artichokes, I had a mix of halibut, salmon and crab/shrimp cake. It was massive, and everything was a taste bonanza. We didn't leave room for dessert, but we ate it anyway- sharing walnut apple pie (best I've ever tasted) and marionberry cobbler (ditto) with local ice cream (!). Oh yeah, and a bottle of Chehalem Pinot Gris. It's going to take a week to run this meal off, and it was worth it.

After supper, we wandered the streets of downtown Portland for awhile, landing at Powell's City of Books for an hour. Then we got back to the hotel (The Mark Spenser) and collapsed. Today, we shop (more salt store), yarn, and schmooze.

Tomorrow, I Summit!

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