- I have forgotten how beautiful a drive it is from here to Portland. And I still can't remember, because it was cloudy and rainy all the way there. Apparently I wasn't going to be getting away from the drippy weather after all. Also, it was dark for most of our drive (there and back), because the sun goes down at 3pm these days.
- We got a hotel room for $69.99 with a king-size bed, a fridge, and a microwave. Not bad at all! The mattress was pretty stiff, but otherwise, no complaints. Except for the guy in the room above us with a really heavy tread. And whoever was watching TV really loudly at 11:30pm. And whoever was going in and out of their room late at night and slamming their door every time and it shook our whole room. And guy across the hall with a freaking DOG in his room. Don't you love hotels?
- We brought a cooler full of food, and only ate half of it. We decided to splurge and get pizza, because Art LOVES Papa Johns Pizza, and they deliver right to your room. The guy delivering gave me a funny look. Like he wanted to ask me out or something. But he wasn't the only creepy guy I encountered this weekend.
- Since Art was at his training all day Saturday and all day Sunday, I just sat around the hotel room. And got NOTHING accomplished. I brought my bible study homework AND my drivers license study guide, and I didn't touch either of them. Can you say "slacker"? And it's not like I was on the internet all day, because we didn't bring our laptop. But there was a computer in the hotel lobby with the SLOWEST INTERNET EVER. Can you say "trying to get directions was a joke"?
- I only sat around the hotel room on Saturday. On Sunday, we checked out before Art went to his training, and he drove me a huge bookstore in Portland so I could spend the day there. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. It's called Powell's Books and it takes up an ENTIRE city block. It's at least three stories high. I don't think I actually went to the top floor. So that takes care of Goal #106 from my list of goals: "Spend an entire day at a bookstore." Originally I had written, "Spend an entire day at Chapters", but this place is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY bigger than Chapters. It's not as flashy, but it doesn't need to be, considering it carries over a million new and used books in over 4000 sections. You literally need a map to navigate the place successfully. I took me about 20 seconds to find 30 books I wanted to buy. And believe it or not, I didn't give in. I didn't buy a single book.
- Considering how much I love books, you would think that it was the most amazing day for me, but there were a couple of downsides. First of all, Art's training started at 9am, and the store opened at 9am, so he had to drop me off before 9am. Which means that I was in a strange city, in a shady part of the city, alone, with nowhere to go, for 30 minutes. At least it wasn't raining. But I was actually scared. And even though the area was considered "downtown", it was old downtown. And it was early. So it's not like I saw a ton of people around. And there wasn't a Starbucks (or something like it) that I could duck into for a while. There was a gas station, but it was teeny tiny. I couldn't hang out in their either. So I just walked around, trying to look like I had somewhere to go, and not like I didn't live there.
That worked until some guy honked at me, drove around the block, and came back to ask me for directions. I brilliantly told him that I didn't live there and didn't know where anything was. Perfect. I might as well have been wearing a sign that said, "I'm the perfect candidate for abduction!" After I told him the truth, he asked me how I was doing. I said "fine" and then turned around and ran. So that was the other creepy guy I encountered this weekend. He was probably innocent, but I didn't feel safe, so I prayed that he wouldn't come back, and that nobody was in the mood for rape or murder that day.
-I encountered two other people on the streets of Shady Portland before the bookstore opened, and they were both homeless. One was a woman, and she asked for money. I know I know I know, I'm supposed to give money to homeless people, because they're just going to use it for drugs and/or alcohol, and instead I should buy them food. Well, I couldn't buy her food even if I wanted to, because nothing was open, and I didn't know where any non-open food places were. So I handed her a $5. As Marilla said in Anne of Green Gables: "Goodness knows the world is full of beggars, Rachel, and it's a pretty pass if we can't help a fellow being in need. Christian, or not."
- The other homeless guy said "Just call me Ron." I told him my name was Jen. Which isn't too far from my actual name, but it was the only convincing not-complete-truth I could come up with. And you know what? I feel like I could have told this guy my credit card number. He was the nicest person I encountered yesterday. He asked me if I drank (and I said no), and he told me he was from San Francisco, and his friend asked if he was bugging me, and I said no. He's just a nice guy. And he really was. Neither asked me for money, or anything else.
Now, I don't feel particularly comfortable around homeless people, but I was so relieved to have met him. He was the last person I talked to before I walked through the doors of the bookstore, and that little conversation kept me going for the rest of the day, because I actually felt pretty lonely yesterday. It's a good thing I love reading. I read a novel and half in the 9 hours I was there, and I did it sitting in practically one spot: on the floor. It was one of the few carpeted areas in the whole place, and since every bench and chair were occupied all day, I parked myself there instead.
- When Art showed up at 6:00, I was so relieved I almost started crying. Before heading home, we had ourselves some dinner at a place called Beaches Restaurant in Vancouver, WA (yes, there's another Vancouver, and it's mere seconds north of Portland). It took us a while to find the place, and Art was getting frustrated, and I was so tired and so hungry, but when we finally got there, it was worth it. The view, the food, the service....I'm really glad we took the time to stop there. So if any of you are ever in the Vancouver area of Washington, go to that restaurant. It will make you happy.
-The drive home was actually shorter than the drive there, because it was late, which means less traffic. Still, we only got home just before 1am, and as of right now, I haven't unpacked or washed anything (other than myself). It's amazing how exhausted one gets after sitting in a car doing nothing for 5 hours. At least neither of us were in danger of falling asleep. Art "sang along" to the radio most of the way home. It amused him, and kept both of us awake.
- The most interesting word I encountered on our whole trip: Skookumchuck. It's a river.
- We got a hotel room for $69.99 with a king-size bed, a fridge, and a microwave. Not bad at all! The mattress was pretty stiff, but otherwise, no complaints. Except for the guy in the room above us with a really heavy tread. And whoever was watching TV really loudly at 11:30pm. And whoever was going in and out of their room late at night and slamming their door every time and it shook our whole room. And guy across the hall with a freaking DOG in his room. Don't you love hotels?
- We brought a cooler full of food, and only ate half of it. We decided to splurge and get pizza, because Art LOVES Papa Johns Pizza, and they deliver right to your room. The guy delivering gave me a funny look. Like he wanted to ask me out or something. But he wasn't the only creepy guy I encountered this weekend.
- Since Art was at his training all day Saturday and all day Sunday, I just sat around the hotel room. And got NOTHING accomplished. I brought my bible study homework AND my drivers license study guide, and I didn't touch either of them. Can you say "slacker"? And it's not like I was on the internet all day, because we didn't bring our laptop. But there was a computer in the hotel lobby with the SLOWEST INTERNET EVER. Can you say "trying to get directions was a joke"?
- I only sat around the hotel room on Saturday. On Sunday, we checked out before Art went to his training, and he drove me a huge bookstore in Portland so I could spend the day there. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. It's called Powell's Books and it takes up an ENTIRE city block. It's at least three stories high. I don't think I actually went to the top floor. So that takes care of Goal #106 from my list of goals: "Spend an entire day at a bookstore." Originally I had written, "Spend an entire day at Chapters", but this place is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY bigger than Chapters. It's not as flashy, but it doesn't need to be, considering it carries over a million new and used books in over 4000 sections. You literally need a map to navigate the place successfully. I took me about 20 seconds to find 30 books I wanted to buy. And believe it or not, I didn't give in. I didn't buy a single book.
- Considering how much I love books, you would think that it was the most amazing day for me, but there were a couple of downsides. First of all, Art's training started at 9am, and the store opened at 9am, so he had to drop me off before 9am. Which means that I was in a strange city, in a shady part of the city, alone, with nowhere to go, for 30 minutes. At least it wasn't raining. But I was actually scared. And even though the area was considered "downtown", it was old downtown. And it was early. So it's not like I saw a ton of people around. And there wasn't a Starbucks (or something like it) that I could duck into for a while. There was a gas station, but it was teeny tiny. I couldn't hang out in their either. So I just walked around, trying to look like I had somewhere to go, and not like I didn't live there.
That worked until some guy honked at me, drove around the block, and came back to ask me for directions. I brilliantly told him that I didn't live there and didn't know where anything was. Perfect. I might as well have been wearing a sign that said, "I'm the perfect candidate for abduction!" After I told him the truth, he asked me how I was doing. I said "fine" and then turned around and ran. So that was the other creepy guy I encountered this weekend. He was probably innocent, but I didn't feel safe, so I prayed that he wouldn't come back, and that nobody was in the mood for rape or murder that day.
-I encountered two other people on the streets of Shady Portland before the bookstore opened, and they were both homeless. One was a woman, and she asked for money. I know I know I know, I'm supposed to give money to homeless people, because they're just going to use it for drugs and/or alcohol, and instead I should buy them food. Well, I couldn't buy her food even if I wanted to, because nothing was open, and I didn't know where any non-open food places were. So I handed her a $5. As Marilla said in Anne of Green Gables: "Goodness knows the world is full of beggars, Rachel, and it's a pretty pass if we can't help a fellow being in need. Christian, or not."
- The other homeless guy said "Just call me Ron." I told him my name was Jen. Which isn't too far from my actual name, but it was the only convincing not-complete-truth I could come up with. And you know what? I feel like I could have told this guy my credit card number. He was the nicest person I encountered yesterday. He asked me if I drank (and I said no), and he told me he was from San Francisco, and his friend asked if he was bugging me, and I said no. He's just a nice guy. And he really was. Neither asked me for money, or anything else.
Now, I don't feel particularly comfortable around homeless people, but I was so relieved to have met him. He was the last person I talked to before I walked through the doors of the bookstore, and that little conversation kept me going for the rest of the day, because I actually felt pretty lonely yesterday. It's a good thing I love reading. I read a novel and half in the 9 hours I was there, and I did it sitting in practically one spot: on the floor. It was one of the few carpeted areas in the whole place, and since every bench and chair were occupied all day, I parked myself there instead.
- When Art showed up at 6:00, I was so relieved I almost started crying. Before heading home, we had ourselves some dinner at a place called Beaches Restaurant in Vancouver, WA (yes, there's another Vancouver, and it's mere seconds north of Portland). It took us a while to find the place, and Art was getting frustrated, and I was so tired and so hungry, but when we finally got there, it was worth it. The view, the food, the service....I'm really glad we took the time to stop there. So if any of you are ever in the Vancouver area of Washington, go to that restaurant. It will make you happy.
-The drive home was actually shorter than the drive there, because it was late, which means less traffic. Still, we only got home just before 1am, and as of right now, I haven't unpacked or washed anything (other than myself). It's amazing how exhausted one gets after sitting in a car doing nothing for 5 hours. At least neither of us were in danger of falling asleep. Art "sang along" to the radio most of the way home. It amused him, and kept both of us awake.
- The most interesting word I encountered on our whole trip: Skookumchuck. It's a river.
4 comments:
Jenene your narration of your trip was quite interesting. I'm glad you both made it home safe and sound...well safe anyway. You missed one important part to you trip, how did Art do at his certification, let me guess, really well. Call us tomorrow, I have a day off. Love Mom
Sounds like you could have used a GPS to find the restaurant! Interesting day with the people you met.
oh man!!i would have bolted too if some strange guy started asking how i was doing. :) i have watched FAR too many movies and been reading "google news" far too often lately. :)
Okay, I'm figuring you just forgot we live here because 1) we could have gotten you into a luxury hotel for the same price of what you paid and none of the ickiness you put up with and
2)We could have entertained you all day Sunday. I had the whole day off and would have loved to show you around downtown!
So next time you guys are in Portland...let us know!!!!!!!
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