Story 2Sept2022

The day started with me sleeping in until 6:45 and then getting going. In the morning, I had to pick up my guests at our airport in Portland, PDX. So I got going with a few cleaning items and headed to the airport in Air Volvo. The traffic was not too bad for a Friday, and soon Air Volvo had me in the short-term parking garage at PDX. I usually go to the top deck, but it was being painted, so it was closed–I love the view from up there. You can see the river, the planes, and the mountains from up there. But, I was stuck on the 5th floor–boring.

I took the elevator to the tunnel and into baggage claim. It is simpler to schlep the luggage from baggage claim to the parking garage than to try to handle the chaos of picking people up in front of the terminal. So I waited for my guests there.

I met them, and we were a bit early for lunch, so we drove through Portland, looking at the town, and back to Washington state to the restaurant Beaches on the Columbia River. We had a wonderful lunch; I love their salad and always order it. We were sitting outside watching the boats on the river.

The sky was gray with smoke. We could make out the hills, but none of the mountains were visible. The smoke is blowing directly north to us with fires in the south of the valley. Portland and the Beaverton area are in a low spot, and the smoke has settled there. Our air quality is yellow, 51, and my throat is irritated. You could smell the smoke.

Aside: The winds are back this evening, blowing the smoke and other pollutants out of the area. We have healthy air now.

Next, we headed to see Susie at the hummingbird house. We made it there without incident, but my guests were surprised by the extra-legal lane changes they saw on the way into the Beaverton and Tigard area. One driver changed their mind on the exit they were already in, then changed lanes across three lanes and took another exit. Impressive!

Susie was excited to have so many visitors, and we headed into the park. The skies are nearly smoke-free in Tigard and Metzger Park as it is closer to the gorge, and the wind pushes back the smoke. So we were comfortable hanging out with Susie in the peaceful and sunny park.

After about forty-five minutes and calling Susie’s mother, Leta, Susie was getting tired, we left the park, and we left Susie in Jennifer’s hands, the nurse aide for today, and Susie was headed for a nap. It was also agreed that I will hold off on the new Lord of the Rings (LotR) series until I can watch them with Susie. Susie wants to share them. Excellent! The series was released yesterday.

Aside: I am not quite a Tolkien nut, but I know most of the mythos and can tell you the canon version while explaining the differences in the version shown in the movies. I have read most of the follow-up items by Christopher Tolkien and everything from J.R.R. Tolkien. I have also written, I am sure you are not surprised, adventures to play a special version of Dungeons and Dragons set in Tolkien’s world in the Third Age. We played my reworking of some of the materials a few years back. I have most of the books on D&D for LotR.

My guests and I reached the Volvo Cave and rested a bit. We picked up some bits later at Target and headed to Beaverton Center. We did the food carts, and everyone found a different dinner. Next, we headed to my haunt of Central Taps and played the board game Azul. I had to teach the game, but soon they were doing fine, and I lost the second game. It was the last call; somehow, it was 11PM!

We had a lovely time and headed home. Soon everyone will be asleep.

Sorry if the text seems rushed and imprecise. My guests do not want to appear in the blog, so II need to leave the narrative at a high level. Thank you for reading!