If you were wondering why I didn't blog yesterday it's because my wife and I flew to Portland. We've found it easier than paying for parking to rent a limousine to the airport from where we live and have a driver take it. Interestingly enough, doing this is even cheaper than renting a car to drive to the airport from where we live (at least according to my wife.
Then we get to the airport and notice at our gate there is no plane and then still there is no plane at boarding time or 1/2 hour after we are supposed to take off so many other passengers on our flight were pretty upset about this. We have traveled enough to sort of take this kind of thing in stride but still it wasn't that fun watching the rain come down outside and it was raining from the SF Bay area to Seattle yesterday and snowing in the Sierras and Cascades. Finally, about an hour after we were supposed to take up someone brought this plane from storage because Air Traffic control wouldn't let it get to our gate because too many planes were taking off and landing for Christmas. Then the pilot and crew all apologized to us for taking off 1 hour after we were supposed to and the pilot told us that he would make up a lot of time by flying faster. If you fly higher you can fly faster I guess even if it is bumpy which it was at times. Everyone kept their seat belts on the whole flight unless they were going to the rest rooms on board because of the bumpiness. I had a window seat and as far as I could see in all directions it was clouds below us the whole trip. However, once we got into Oregon I could see snow on mountains above about 4000 foot elevation but it looked wet in all the forests below that altitude too. But, mostly all we could see was clouds from the huge rain storm as far as we could see. But, it was very beautiful and reminded me of the movie "The Aeronauts" which takes place in the mid 1860s in England and the male character actually did what they show in the story as a meteorologist and English Scientist and went up to I think 37,000 feet in a balloon then. So, we were likely flying at the same height as "The Aeronauts"(2019) did.
We got to Portland and found out that not all rental car companies have cars right there at the airport so we changed rental car companies because we had too much luggage to haul that far off site and rented an All wheel drive vehicle in case we had to deal with wet roads and snow with a lot of ground clearance for any situations we might run into while visiting 2 of our children for Christmas. One of them is married with a family and one is younger with a room mate here in Portland. And we have one more in Europe which we will see in February 2020.
So, Merry Christmas! everyone and Happy Holidays!
Showing posts with label Portland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portland. Show all posts
Monday, December 23, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Portland, Oregon
If you have never been to Portland, Oregon before it is a little like Seattle with about 1/2 of the rain. It is also the whitest city in the U.S. and people say the city reminds them a lot of european cities to for some reason. It is also a place where many Swedish people migrated to around the beginning of the 1900s and Seattle is like this too. I guess in some ways Portland and Seattle reminds them of Norway and Sweden because it is so green from all the rain.
The Williamette and Columbia rivers are a big part of Portland too as well as the whole Portlandia thing. I suppose you could say the real "Ecotopia" of you have ever read the book in the 1970s or since is really Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. It's a more alternative way of viewing reality for many. But, it has always been this way since all the dreamers of the Gold Rush Days both in California and Alaska moved west or came to the U.S. from other countries then. So, there is still this "I can do anything" sort of attitude in places like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego still from all of this.
But still, Portland has it's own flavor. For example, there is Powell's book store in downtown Portland. When a place rains or is cloudy as much as Portland people tend to read a lot because of a lot of rain during the winters when it might not be the best to go outside much. So, Powell's bookstore is a multi-story book store that is almost a kind of social hub of the city just like it's theaters. When it rains a lot indoor entertainment is a big thing even though you might have only a couple of days of 1 or 2 inches of snow in the city you still have a lot of days of 30s and 40s temperatures during the winter here. Seattle is a little like this too only with much more rain.
My father moved from Seattle to San Diego for the Sun and really loved taking his shirt off and running around the beaches and deserts in shorts. And so when we moved to California in 1952 when I was 4 it was a completely different life than in Seattle where you spent a lot more time indoors because of the cold and rain and snow.
Another interesting thing about Portland is it is only about 3 hours by car to Seattle. So, this closeness creates many business bonds and cultural bonds between these two Northwest cities near the coast and the Pacific Ocean.
Getting used to always being outside year around and temperatures in the 100s Fahrenheit often in the summers except when we lived near the beaches where it is usually cooler was a big adjustment for me at 4. But, I loved the warmer temperatures and all the different birds like Mockingbirds and other birds and animals in San Diego too then in 1952. We settled in Vista and then moved to El Cajon where I went to Kindergarten and then my parents were put in charge of a church in Los Angeles and so I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles from ages 6 in Tujunga to Glendale from age 8 to 21 (1956 to 1969).
Also, nearby to Portland is Mt. Hood. So, only about 1 or 1 1/2 hours a way you can drive up to Timberline Lodge in the snow (most of the year) at 6000 feet and sometimes (maybe this year) you can ski year around because there is so much snow there too. In Seattle you have a similar experience with Mt. Rainier where you can see Mt. Rainier from almost anywhere near Seattle with a view of it.
The Williamette and Columbia rivers are a big part of Portland too as well as the whole Portlandia thing. I suppose you could say the real "Ecotopia" of you have ever read the book in the 1970s or since is really Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. It's a more alternative way of viewing reality for many. But, it has always been this way since all the dreamers of the Gold Rush Days both in California and Alaska moved west or came to the U.S. from other countries then. So, there is still this "I can do anything" sort of attitude in places like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego still from all of this.
But still, Portland has it's own flavor. For example, there is Powell's book store in downtown Portland. When a place rains or is cloudy as much as Portland people tend to read a lot because of a lot of rain during the winters when it might not be the best to go outside much. So, Powell's bookstore is a multi-story book store that is almost a kind of social hub of the city just like it's theaters. When it rains a lot indoor entertainment is a big thing even though you might have only a couple of days of 1 or 2 inches of snow in the city you still have a lot of days of 30s and 40s temperatures during the winter here. Seattle is a little like this too only with much more rain.
My father moved from Seattle to San Diego for the Sun and really loved taking his shirt off and running around the beaches and deserts in shorts. And so when we moved to California in 1952 when I was 4 it was a completely different life than in Seattle where you spent a lot more time indoors because of the cold and rain and snow.
Another interesting thing about Portland is it is only about 3 hours by car to Seattle. So, this closeness creates many business bonds and cultural bonds between these two Northwest cities near the coast and the Pacific Ocean.
Getting used to always being outside year around and temperatures in the 100s Fahrenheit often in the summers except when we lived near the beaches where it is usually cooler was a big adjustment for me at 4. But, I loved the warmer temperatures and all the different birds like Mockingbirds and other birds and animals in San Diego too then in 1952. We settled in Vista and then moved to El Cajon where I went to Kindergarten and then my parents were put in charge of a church in Los Angeles and so I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles from ages 6 in Tujunga to Glendale from age 8 to 21 (1956 to 1969).
Also, nearby to Portland is Mt. Hood. So, only about 1 or 1 1/2 hours a way you can drive up to Timberline Lodge in the snow (most of the year) at 6000 feet and sometimes (maybe this year) you can ski year around because there is so much snow there too. In Seattle you have a similar experience with Mt. Rainier where you can see Mt. Rainier from almost anywhere near Seattle with a view of it.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Portland, Seattle and Medford are a Smoke Mess today: Boise too
Data and Forecasts courtesy of:
       Action Day |
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National Parks/Monuments 
Tribal Boundaries
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