On the road - Portland

Oregon  

I didn't blow away! I had complicated travel plans lined up for October that had been tossed into the air by Hurricane Matthew's evacuation surprise. Instead of going directly to Portland, Oregon from a conference in Atlanta as planned, I had been in Augusta, back to Charleston and then scrambling to figure out if I could still change flights and pull off my trip west. I did! My goal was for a quick trip with my son out to visit my daughter in Portland. 

The crazy thing is that we landed there for one gloriously sunny day before tropical storm alerts were warning for the west coast. I have never set myself up to be a storm chaser. We made the most of our sunny day stopping at waterfalls along the Columbia river gorge. It is such a contrast to our lowcountry scenery I was in heaven with cool mist on my face. We had lunch at the pFriem Family Brewery and wandered the cute little Hood River town.

The rest of the visit was rain sprinkled but didn't hamper our pleasure. I love Portland's quirky neighborhoods and my daughter had all the best brunch and lunch spots lined up. I traveled lightly and left my big camera at home so have a few cell phone photos to share this time. We enjoyed the Art Museum and visits to the discounted Columbia and Adidas shops as well as IKEA. There is nothing better for me than to hear my two grown children laughing and enjoying each other's company.

The storm was hitting the worst the night I had a 3 a.m. airport cab arriving but I didn't have any trouble getting home. Thanks to the coastal Boeing locations we now have a non-stop Seattle to Charleston flight which is grand. I have one more lazy day to recover and then back to reality. I hope everyone has recovered from the storms on both coasts.