Travels

I woke up Saturday morning looking up at Mount Shasta.  Unlike other Saturdays, in the distant past, this time I remembered how I got there.  It was the first morning of an 8 day vacation, in some ways a glorified road trip.  Over the course of 8 days we traveled more than 1,600 miles.  Little did I know when I looked up at Mount Shasta Saturday morning that this was just the beginning of a journey through truly beautiful country.  But I have to ask, who says vacation is all about relaxing?  We did sleep in a little bit, but our days were full.

Sunday morning I woke up to this view of the ocean on the Oregon central coast.  The drive to the coast was interesting.  We left Mount Shasta Saturday morning in sunshine and blue skies.  By the time we reached Medford Oregon the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and we experienced some drizzle, but no real rain.  Continuing north we stopped in Eugene Oregon, overcast, and just wandered around admiring the city.  Then it was off to the coast.

I don't believe I have ever driven through so much greenery in my life.  From the time we reached Eugene until we arrived at the coast we were driving through forest.  The layers and textures of the different shades of green was breathtaking.  For a boy originally from the desert of Las Vegas it was like being on a different planet.

Just before nightfall Saturday we arrived at our destination, a friend's house on the central coast of Oregon.  Unlike the beaches I ran on during my high school years on Southern California, it was not warm and inviting.  I didn't even touch the water but I'm sure it was COLD!  Still, the beach and the rhythm of the waves has an allure I can't deny.  Unfortunately, as we started to walk along the beach the rain finally came in force.  If not for my coat I would have been soaked, even with it I was wet before I got back to the house.

After waking up to the ocean Sunday morning we headed out for Portland.  Back from the coast to interstate 5 and then north.  The weather report said we would have rain in Portland.  The worst rain was between Salem and Portland.

Our first stop in Portland was the Oregon Zoo.  That's where we met this talented little guy.  You may not be able to tell from this picture but this is a full grown black bear running on this log inside his enclosure.  We spent the day with our umbrella and poncho walking around the zoo watching the different animals.  We watched the fruit bats at feeding time, kind of freaky.

After the zoo we found our way to our room for the next three nights.  After dropping off our luggage it was off to meet a friend for dinner.  Those that have been to Portland may have heard of the "Kennedy School", I never had.  So we had called our friend Cindy and asked where would be a fun place to meet her for dinner.  When she suggested the "Kennedy School" we thought she was talking about a cooking school.  Not quite!

I hope I get all of this right, or at least close.  The Kennedy School was an elementary school in northeast Portland constructed in the early 1900's.  In the 1970's, I think, it was to be demolished and was eventually bought by a private company who left the building intact and "repurposed" it as my wife would say.  It is now a hotel, with at least two restaurants, two bars and a movie theater.  We ate in the courtyard that evening, under the stars, near an outdoor fireplace with a patio heater nearby.  The food was very good and the atmosphere was fun.  The walls of the school are decorated with black and white pictures of former students and staff over the years of the school and supplemented with eclectic art, mostly from local artists.

We enjoyed the Kennedy School so much that Monday afternoon when we found ourselves in the area we went there for a late lunch.  This time we ate indoors, seated at a window where we could watch the rain falling on the courtyard and the beautiful plants.

So, enough of a travelogue.  Portland, and the rest of Oregon, was beautiful.  My wife commented several times that if we had moved there when we were younger we never would have left.  Maybe so.

I do have a couple of comments to include.  Our friend Cindy said, "welcome to Portland the polite".  She was right everyone was very polite, until we were on the freeway coming home and a minivan with Oregon plates and a Jesus bumpersticker gave us the finger as they passed us at 85 mph.

Portland seemed a lot like Santa Cruz north.  We saw more people with dreadlocks, panhandling, and/or homeless than I've seen anywhere besides the Bay area in Northern California.   I don't travel a lot.

The big question is, would I go back to Portland?  Probably.  But, as my wife points out, there are a lot of other places we would still like to explore.  So, it may take several years to get back to Portland but I bet we will.

Celebrity Spotting

I don't know when it exactly started but I do know why.  For years now anytime I go somewhere with my wife and children within minutes someone says the name of a celebrity and the rest of us look to see who they're referring to. This began as a means of keeping our children occupied at some event, like waiting at my oldest daughter's 6th grade graduation.  Whoever had the idea that families should all sit and wait through a graduation ceremony for the end of every school, elementary school, middle school, etc., never had to sit through one with a 5 year old.  I'll tackle that subject another time.

Anyway, I digress, as a means of keeping the children, and their father, entertained, my wife started celebrity spotting.

This activity reached an all time high when the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie came out and we vacationing in Santa Cruz.  One of the kids started it and it just went on and on.  There are blocks in Santa Cruz where there's a lot of people roaming around that look like they could have played Johnny Depp's double in the "Pirates" movies.  One day the kids spotted Johnny Depp 13 times between the boardwalk and downtown.

Another high point of the game was at my daughter-in-law's college graduation.  It was on the lawn  on the campus, in late May, temperature near 100.  It was a miracle there weren't more people with water bottles and water balloons starting something.  This time it wasn't Johnny Depp that was seen every where you looked.  The name I heard most was "Snookie".  The first time I heard the name I looked just in time to see a rather large young lady wearing a dress, I think it was a dress, that was about 3 sizes to small with orange skin and her handing standing at least 2 feet above her head.  After that I didn't bother trying to see who people were referring to when they said, "I see Snookie again".

Some people may not think it is nice, but it can be a fun diversion.  And, every once in awhile you actually do see a celebrity.  On one trip to Disneyland, coming out of Autotopia I grabbed my wife's arm and said "look, it's Teri Hatcher!"  My wife didn't even turn around and just said, "yeah right."  She finally looked when she heard somebody walking by saying they had just seen Teri Hatcher.  Yes, it was Teri Hatcher at Disneyland.  Once in awhile.

Card shopping

I have been told many, many times that men are procrastinators when it comes to buying gifts and even more so when it comes to buying cards.  I had heard this so many times I had even begun believing it was true.  I saw examples that supported the statement.

This next Sunday is Mother's Day so this is the week to get out and buy gifts and cards.  On Monday I stopped at Target on one end of town.  As I bought my mother a gift card and my wife a greeting card I noticed that the entire aisle of Mother's Day cards was full of men searching for the perfect card for their mother, wife or other important woman in their life.  So, as I left that store I was convinced that men were procrastinators.

Later in the day I stopped at another Target on the other end of town.  I wasn't shopping for cards.  As I walked by the card aisle I was surprised.  They had the same display of Mother's Day cards, but there wasn't a single man standing in the aisle looking for Mother's Day cars.  The aisle was full of women, young women, old women, women of every age.

So, this year at least, it's a draw.  Both men and women are procrastinators.

I guess I can check again the week before Father's Day. Probably not the Monday though, maybe on Tuesday.  You know how it is, I'm sure I'll get to the store before Father's Day and find a card, just don't look for me there early.

For all the mothers I have been inspired by, taught by, etc., Happy Mother's Day.

Cinco de Mayo

It's the first Saturday in May and my wife and I spent the morning on the American River in our kayaks.   Not the rapids and whitewater part of the river, a calm area with two bridges.  We launched and decided to head upriver.  This is a stretch of the river we visit a couple of times a year, it is close enough that we can actually get there during the week after work.

There is always plenty of wildlife to see.  In the past we have followed beavers, herons and other birds.  This trip we saw a lot of ducks and geese.

There are several reasons to go upriver first, not the least is the fact that if we go upriver first we can then float back to the dock.  When we begin going upriver the current is really gentle and we can paddle easily.  We pass under a new bridge, at least four lanes of traffic across, the noise is deafening.  We paddle a little further and we cross under the old bridge, only two lanes of traffic and less noise.  Right next to the old bridge is the really old pedestrian bridge.  As we pass under each bridge our view of the river is framed by the bridge, closing out anything but the river, and the green hillsides rising on each side, ahead is a hillside covered with trees.

As we pass under the last bridge the river starts to narrow and the current becomes stronger.  It took us twenty minutes to paddle from the dock to the last bridge.  From the last bridge it takes us more than twenty minutes to go less than half the previous distance.  For almost ten minutes we feel like we are paddling on a treadmill, barely making any forward progress.

After almost fifteen minutes on the treadmill we reach our destination, the turnaround point.  Suspended about fifty feet above the water is a sign hanging on a wire.  "Warning, you are entering state prison secure area, TURN BACK.  VIOLATORS MAY BE SHOT, THE WARDEN".  Some days we paddle until we are exactly under the sign before we turn around and ride the current back to the dock.  Other days, like today, we get to the point that we can see the sign and call it a good trip and head back.

Besides getting some exercise and enjoying nature we use the time on the river for another benefit.  All along both banks of the river are blackberry bushes.  We have learned to bring bags with us and we stop along the banks and pick ripe berries.  Unfortunately, we found out the first of May is to early for blackberries this year.  Still, even without the berries, a morning on the river is almost as good as it gets.

Then we floated and paddled back to the dock and pulled the kayaks out of the water.  A successful trip, no one went in the water, no boat got stuck on rocks, bushes or anything else.  Just a pleasant, mostly quiet morning on the river enjoying nature and each other's company.  Now we have to return to reality and think about getting a few things done.

What did any of this have to do with cinco de mayo, I don't know, it was the fifth of May and everywhere I looked stores, restaurants and everything else had signs that said cinco de mayo.