Saturday & Sunday

On Saturday we took the EL downtown to The Saturday Market. This is almost like a state fair without the rides and livestock. A lot of vendors set up booths and sell their wares.. Lots of food choices. We chose gyros. Don't think I liked them very much. Having limited amount of room in my carry on luggage, the only thing I bought was some kettle corn.

Since it was Halloween there were a lot of little kids trick-or-treating. One was an adorable little gnome dressed like the gnome that advertises travel on TV. She was probably around 2 years old dressed in a light blue robe and red hat. One of the dancing water thingies was an attraction for her and several other little kids.
The chilly weather didn't seem to bother them. J & K had an artist do caricatures of them.

Kendra's choice of "things to show Gramma" was Powells Book Store. This is about 6 or 8 blocks from the market so we walked. Just as we started up the street it started pouring down rain. I guess this is the way it is in Portland. I bought a couple of books for reading on the return trip.

We then went to another little suburb to visit some antique shops and eat supper at a Chinese restaurant which was very good.

Back home & watched a little TV.

Sunday we went to Church. A very small church compared to the one they attended in Lincoln. C J % K were among several joining the church that morning. Some of this group were also being baptised. As we took communion we dropped rose petals into water in remembrance of the saints that have gone before us. They have a lady pastor and was a very nice service. C & I had coffee and walked around outside while waiting for K to get out of SS>

Terry picked us up to take a drive up Columbia Gorge. Even though Cindy said we would not eat anywhere we could eat in Nebraska, Arbie's seemed like the most convenient spot to have lunch. We stopped at Cindy's favorite falls, Monhotmah(don't think that is the right spelling). We walked up to the bridge about half way up, but decided not to go all the way to the top since days are kind of short and we wanted to go the dam and fish hatchery. There wasn't much to see at the hatchery except the aquarium that had a sturgeon that weighed over 400 lbs. I think his name was Herman. Back to Portland and another meal. This one in a place kind of like IHOP or Village Inn. Another very good meal. Good thing we were doing a lot of walking. Back to the apartment and repacked for the trip home. Said "goodbye to JD since she opted to sleep in.

Monday, up early to catch my flight home. Kendra got up for a goodbye hug. Cindy dropped me off at the entrance. The flight home was a lot nicer than the one out. I thought I might have time to get a bite to eat in Denver, but our connection to Omaha was not near the food court. I was glad I had my kettle corn and some cookies that Terry had given me. Got into Omaha around 4 and was back in Norfolk by 7. Had to stop at the store to restock for the week.

It was a great trip and I am glad I know how to picture the apartment and the area where My Girls live.

Portland/Clackamas

When we got back to the apartment, everyone was ready for bed.

Friday a.m. (not too early) we left to drive to Seaside. Seaside is not really beside the sea it is by the ocean. It is pretty much your typical tourist town. It is also the last stop of the Lewis & Clark expedition. We ate lunch at Pancakes and Pigs in a Blanket or some such name. Very good. We checked out the shops, Jaydee and Kendra decided to have their picture taken. Maybe one of them can post it for you. We walked up the hill and there was the ocean. It was cold and windy, but J & K took off their shoes and socks and waded into the water. Cindy & I decided it was too cold. On the way back to the car we bought salt water taffy and stopped at a 50's diner and had ice cream.

It was dark when we got back to Clackamas and Cindy took a wrong turn and we ended up crossing the Columbia River into Washington state. So I can say I have been in Washington. She finally got her bearings and we got back to what was familiar territory for her. We stopped for a bite to eat at a Mexican place and then went home.

We had only been home a few minutes when Cindy's friend, Terry, called and said he cut his finger on a can and it wouldn't stop bleeding and could she drive him to the hospital. It did require 3 stitches, but like a typical man, he was just going to duct tape it and let it heal.

More later.

Maybe Thanksgiving Day I can get Tammie or Abby to see what the problem is when I try to post pictures.

getting to Portland

On October 29th I left Norfolk at 10 am to catch a 2:30 flight from Omaha to Portland via Houston.  Although it was raining I wasn't too worried about the weather as it was just rain.  After getting checked in and wondering around a bit, I decided maybe I should get a sandwich and not wait until my short layover in Houston.Then I headed for my gate.  Our plane was about 10 minutes late getting into Omaha, but I wasn't too worried about making the connection since I had a little over an hour to get to my next plane.  Just about 10 minutes or so late taking off and away we went into the wild blue yonder.  And I do mean wild.  Our pilot informed us that we would be taking a different route due to the stormy weather.  He changed routes about 3 times to miss the worst of the turbulence.  Finally arriving in Houston at 6:10 to make the 5:59 connection.  Luckily (or not)  everything in Houston was late due to storms.  Our plane was waiting for us to leave at 6:45.  Another lady passenger and I raced to the next gate that included  a shuttle ride to another part of the terminal.  We made it in plenty of time around 6:30.   On the plane, the door is shut, and we waited to leave the gate.  And we waited and waited and waited.  Finally we taxied to the runway.  The pilot informed us there were 23 planes ahead of us.  Then everything was grounded because of high winds.  The cell was supposed to pass through in about 30 minutes.  Then the wind changed so we had to taxi to another runway.  While all this was going on we were allowed to have our electronics on so I called Cindy and told her expected arrival time was 10:30 instead of 8:30 PDT.  Aound 9:30 we left Houston with arrival time 11:15.  Do the math, that is 1:15 CDT.  After getting above or around the storms the rest of the flight was uneventful.  Thankfully,  Continental still serves food.  We had a soggy cheeseburger, a salad and a bite sized Hershey bar.  Sure glad I had the sandwich in Omaha.With our safe landing in Portland at 11:15 I called Cindy from the gate and told her we were on the ground.  Thank God and technology for cell phones.  Cindy is only about 20 minutes from the airport so after I got off the plane there was just a few minutes wait for her and the girls to pick me up.