PDX Time is Winding Down.

We've had three full days with our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.  We've walked, gone to Foster Burger for lunch, played games, travelled around on the bus and the trolley. We've spent lots of time playing Candy Crush, Angry Birds and Toca Cars. Linnea mastered purling and started a new knitting project. Here's a photo from Foster Burger. Once again, click on the picture to see the whole thing. 

We had some minor complications while we were here. I developed an allergic reaction on the plane which morphed into a full blown dry eye issue. I was able to get my internist to fax a prescription to a chain pharmacy here in Portland.  It took a day and a half of telephone tag, but I got the drops and my eyes are now fully healed. 

The other argle-bargle involved our Master Card. I got an email from Chase concerning the Home Depot breach. Our card was to be replaced. The bank was sending new ones. Since we planned to be away for a considerable time longer we would not have access to the cards. After talking to Chase, they offered to send the new cards here in Portland via UPS overnight.  Then while we were at the pharmacy, where we inefficiently made three separate purchases still using the old cards, Chase called to verify our cards were not stolen. Apparently numerous small purchases in the same store triggers this.  Actually, that's good, stopping fraud before it mounts up to a large amount. Now the big chore will be notifying all of the vendors we pay automatically on the card. That we be a job when we get home since I don't have account numbers and passwords with me. 

Tomorrow we're heading to Vancouver, BC, via Amtrak. We're told it's a beautiful ride up the coast. We'll have one night in a hotel and then board the Zuiderdam on Saturday. 

And we made it

We arrived in Portland right on time. We debated about taking a taxi but in keeping with the rest of the day, we opted for public transit. The trip from the airport to Chris and Becky's house is $1 each for "Honored Citizens."  It involves the light rail, a bus and a two block walk. Both Dick and I were wrangling two suitcases and a backpack. (I probably have mentioned this in a previous post. It's a consequence of booking a trip that combines Alaska and glaciers with the Panama Canal and sunshine) My biggest concern was the elevator at the transfer point. If it's not working, it's one big flight of stairs. I've managed it in the past, but not with two suitcases. 

Fortunately for us, the elevator was working and when the bus pulled up, the driver put out the handicapped ramp. We were able to roll our suitcases right on. She did the same thing when we reached our stop. Tri-Met at its best. 

The kids were waiting up for us and were so excited when we finally arrived. I'm always so delighted at the way they respond to us. So, we now have a little more than three days before it's time for the next phase of our journey. 

Travel Day

I'm sitting on the plane enroute to San Francisco. It's full, not a single seat open. So far, no angry confrontations about reclining seats have occurred.  There have been three separate incidents in the past few weeks so I wondered if we would experience it. The gentleman in front of me is quite tall and has reclined his seat, probably because the person in front of him did so. My left knee is jammed a bit but it's manageable. When Dick and I travel together, we usually take an aisle and a window seat. The hope, of course, is that the middle seat will remain empty. No such luck this time. 

We took a taxi to the Westfield Transit Station and caught the train to the airport. We considered walking to the station, we have done this in the past. But, each of us had two suitcases and a backpack. The train to Newark was an express which was fortunate. We found elevators every place we needed them. The biggest challenge was navigating what NJ Transit refers to as "the gap" between the train and the platform. In Newark it seemed enormous. Good citizens and a train employee helped us at each point. Once we got to the airport we were able to shed the large bags. The journey from home to EWR involved four legs but was totally seamless. 

We have a long layover in SFO. We used our guest passes to the United Club which is quite comfortable. There are snacks, drinks and wi-fi. It's given me a chance do do some blogging. We're told the terminal has a number of good restaurants. With the time change, it will soon be dinner time for us. We plan to give one a try. 

Click on the photos to see them full size. 

Here is Dick doing what he does best, reading the NY Times. The United Club was a nice place to do that. 

It was a six hour very full flight from Newark to San Francisco. As luck would have it, I was seated next to a knitter. We had a lot to talk about during the flight as we both worked on projects. I made a lot of progress on my sock. 

Packed and Ready

Well, we did it, packed all the things. There were frantic moments, mislaid sunglasses, a quick run to Target for another suitcase, lots of pill counting and packaging. It's amazing how much work it is to go on vacation. We each have a carry on bag and one to check. It's going to be an arduous day because I was unable to book a direct flight. We're flying to San Francisco and after a long layover, on to PDX. I'm told there is free wi-fi at the SF airport and many good restaurants. And we have passes to the United Club. I'm sure we'll find ways to pass the time. 

I feel as if we are going off on a great adventure. 

Bucket List Cruise

On Monday we set off for Portland, OR, on the first leg of a great adventure. We'll spend a few days with our west coast family before boarding Amtrak to Vancouver, BC. There we will board the Holland America ms Zuiderdam and set sail for Alaska. Seven days later we will return to Vancouver but rather than disembark, we will continue on as passengers as the ship relocates for its winter season in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. It's a total of 27 days. You can see the map below. Click on the photo to enlarge it and you will see the entire itinerary. 

I haven't used Blogger in over a year and my skills are rusty. I'd like to continue the text after the graphic, but it's resisting my efforts right now. I'm planning to report regularly from the ship with photos and remarks. I hope you will follow along. 

Week One in the Great Smoky Mountains

I'm participating in back to back Road Scholar hiking programs in Smoky Mountain National Park. At least I thought I was. Come to find out the first program at the Hinton Rural Life Center in Hayesville, NC, actually consisted of hikes on the AT in Nantahala National Forest.

There were 17 participants and two leaders. Each morning after breakfast we made a bag lunch and set off in two vans to hike a section. The hikes were planned to be in and out which was a bit of a disappointment. Since there were two vans it was possible to hike the same distance and cover more trail mileage but unfortunately this is not how the trip operated. Monday we hiked from Deep Gap to Standing Indian Mountain where there were fabulous views. We ate our lunch on the summit and returned to the vans. We stopped at Standing Indian Shelter.

On Tuesday we hiked about 2.6 miles from Rock Gap to a side trail that led down to Standing Indian Campground. We found a spot for lunch and then walked back out. On this hike we stopped at Rock Gap Shelter. It was empty on the way in but on the way out we were joined by a number of thru hikers who were planning to spend the night. A shuttle service operates from Rock Gap to the town of Franklin, NC, where many go to shower and re-supply before entering the Smoky Mountains. The hikers we met were planning to visit Franklin the next day. The shelter is quite close to the road.

You can see our fearless leader, Jack, in red, standing in the shelter.

On Wednesday, in order to give group members alternatives, The vans traveled to both ends of the section. From the north, it was a two mile hike to Siler Bald, from the south, four miles. This gave hikers the choice of a four mile round trip, an eight mile round trip or a six mile point to point hike. I was delighted and chose the six miler. As we took the two mile steeper walk in, we arrived on Siler Bald much earlier than the other group. The views were magnificent and we enjoyed our lunch up there.

On the way out I took the opportunity to visit Siler Bald Shelter, located quite a way downhill on a loop parallel to the AT. I joined the group taking the four miles back down at the trail junction.

Adventures on Tri-Met

I've been to Portland, OR, numerous times.  My son, daughter-in-law and three adorable grandchildren live here and I try to see them for six or seven days four times a year.  And I've been a big fan of the transit system. I always take public transit from the airport when I arrive and frequently take it back to the airport when I'm ready to depart. I use it to visit yarn stores and to get downtown for Sunday UU services and children's theater. It's cheap (Honored, Portland's euphemism for senior, Citizens travel for $1.00) and the service is frequent. I have an app for my iPhone that plans out my trips and tells me how soon the bus will arrive at my stop. What more could one ask for?

This trip Tri-Met has not quite lived up to my effusive praise. Coming in from the airport I must change from the light rail to the #71 bus to end up within two blocks of my destination. It's never been an issue in the past. This time I stood at the transfer point with more than 20 other people for over 30 minutes. While the sun was out when my plane landed, by the time I reached the NE 60th Ave. overpass it was drizzling. Finally a bus pulled up. It was not full but it had a sign in front saying, "Drop Off Only."  Some people did get off and the bus pulled away leaving all of us standing in the rain. I called Tri-Met from my cell phone only to be told that the bus was running late.  This, of course, was not news. We'd all been standing there for more than half an hour by this time. Apparently when Tri-Met busses run late the dispatcher orders the driver to leave prospective passengers standing at the stop so the bus can make up for lost time. In other words, the bus will be on time but the passengers won't. I don't understand this but it appears to be standard practice. Ultimately another bus came along although by then we were all pretty wet.

Thursday after walking the twins to school, I took transit to Twisted, a yarn shop in NE Portland. My PDX Bus app got me there with no difficulty. As I was meeting a friend she dropped me off relatively close to home and I enjoyed the rare sunny February weather and walked home. Today I headed back to the same yarn shop. After dropping the twins off, I headed to the bus stop. As I approached the intersection I could see the bus at the stop on the other side of the street. The light was against me but I scurried across to catch it before it pulled away. Traffic kindly stopped for me. The bus driver chastised me for rushing across telling me it wasn't a safe thing to do. I told him it was  because I was from the east coast where we have s faster pace. He was not convinced. I got to the yarn store in good time and enjoyed the morning having coffee and working on my current project. It's a very pleasant space as you can see.

At 11:30 I realized I should start back if I was to be home before pick-up time at school. I checked the PDX Bus app and it didn't seem to want me to go home the way I came. I was puzzled by this and reluctant to follow the app's directions because it wanted me to take the #77 along NE Broadway and then change to the dreaded #71 which had given me so much trouble on Wednesday. No matter how I tried I could not get the app to allow me to retrace the morning route. Ultimately I acquiesced and took the #77. I confirmed with the driver that I could transfer to the #71 at NE 58th and Halsey. I got off the bus and the app reported that the #71 was due in one minute. And it did turn up quite promptly. As I boarded I asked the driver if I was headed in the right direction for SE52nd and Division and he said no, it was in the other direction. My heart sank. That's not what the app showed but I was not certain myself. Then he corrected himself and said it was the right bus. As soon as we arrived at the NE 60th Ave overpass I was on familiar territory. I made it home just in time to watch the napping baby while my daughter-in-law went to fetch the twins. As I exited the bus (the driver announced the Division stop for my benefit) I told him he had me frightened for a minute there. He told me he had frightened himself when he realized he had the route reversed in his mind. So, all's well that ends well but I now now that the Portland bus service is not quite as wonderful as I have touted it to be.