Month: July 2018

For any of you that followed the TV series Dexter, you know he ends up as a lumberjack in what we believe is the PNW.  Even though I know he’s fictional, it crosses my mind that I’m in Dexter-land when I go out for walks here. Not that I should have ever been worried. I wasn’t Dexter’s normal kind of prey.

Bestie and I have spent some extra quality time together this summer, as I needed some space to get my head together after the 5 year mind-fuck that’s been going on at my house. It’s been good being on the beach, feeling the breezes and walking through the stillness of the trees here. It feels so good that I’ve thought of staying.  Amazingly, it’s been one of the hottest summers for Portland, with temps in the 90s, yet where we are, we are lucky to break 67 and I had to go buy another sweater. It’s been weird to have October in July, but if you are a fan of typical fall weather, you’d love summer here.

This past weekend, we went to Portland’s Saturday Market, then off to Spirit Mountain to try our hand at the slots and enjoy the local feeding trough. Both were pretty good. Due to parking restraints, we didn’t get to spend as much time at the market, but enough time to get my purse I’d come to find. I was so happy, I got two!

At Spirit Mountain, we paid our respects and donated (gambled) our money in the casino. It was a nice facility. The next morning we got up and drove to Evergreen Air Museum to see the “Spruce Goose”, which is a marvel in engineering. It’s freaking huge!! It’s so big you can’t really get a good shot of her.

Even this panorama doesn’t really illustrate how phenomenally huge this plane is.

Unlike visits to the PNW in the past, this time we aren’t so structured. I’ve enjoyed the easy pace and relaxing time with my bestie.

I’m here for another two weeks, so we’ll have a few more adventures before I go home.

Even though I had some travel planned already, Hubby and I decided we needed a bit of a break to clear our heads and give each other some space. I extended my travel to 6 weeks away, with only a few days for me to come home and repack.

Last Friday was week 1 of 6.

Yesterday, I needed to do something outside of the house, so I went to the Phipps Conservatory and wandered Schenley park. I’m finding pockets of Pittsburgh that I like! I went into a Carnegie Library and saw the museum of natural history… though it was too late in the afternoon to go in.  I hadn’t realized that Pittsburgh had its own version of the “lock bridge” either.  I wandered by the fountain dedicated to Mary Schenley and saw kids playing in the water and I wandered by people who had brought their hammocks to the park, their toes peeping over the edge of the fabric while they read their books or lazed in the shade.

In one corner, there were young flexible people using each other as support for some pretty acrobatic balancing holds. In the opposite corner were some elderly Asian folk, performing a kind of meditation. And across the way, there were princesses dressed up in their finery to visit with children who were learning to play chess and connect four with giant game pieces. Students were strewn about sunbathing on the lush green grass and everyone seemed to enjoy the very pleasant weather.

This is the same kind of scene you see in the movies just before an alien ship crashes into the park, or a giant monster starts plucking up people and eating them. But no, it was just all very pleasant. So I left and went to the casino!! Because that’s what you do, right?

The casino was in the direction I had to go to get home, so I stopped in. At first I lost $20.00, but then my penchant for playing machines named for places I’ve visited kicked in and I played DaVinci’s Diamonds until I’d won all my money back. Then, I left! Because that’s also what you do, right?

It’s been a lovely visit with my daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law, and while I don’t leave for another few days, I’m already missing everyone.