Vacation, Part 2

More random observations:

--Rachel is a fantastic travel companion. One day in Portland, Drew got up crazy early to register her for fall after-school activities online, and he asked if he could sleep late while Rachel and spent time together later that morning. She and I went downstairs to the hotel breakfast area and had a lovely time talking over our food while sitting outside and watching the activities on the Willamette River. When we were done eating, we went to the pier and watched a tourist steamboat dock, and walked around a bit before we decided to go back upstairs to see if Daddy was awake (he was, and was in the shower.) On the last day of our trip, we headed to Sea-Tac to stay at what turned out to be an incredibly crappy hotel, but Rachel never complained -- she laid out all her clothes so we could leave bright and early the next morning, and was chipper throughout the plane ride and the layover, never whining about being tired or not in the mood to do something. I hope this lasts into her teen years. I'm starting to think she may be ready for us to take her to Europe or someplace equally compelling.

--Portland has suddenly become choked with traffic. What gives? It was probably true while I was there, but as I pointed out to Drew, he and I never drove around during the day because we were working. It took us almost two hours to get from Southwest Portland to Southeast Portland one day, and I really felt the whole stress of driving since I drive so little of it in D.C. That would definitely kill my desire to move back to PDX, unless we were in a situation where we could rely solely on the city's public transportation system (but D.C.'s beats it all to hell.)

--We saw way too many people. Drew was right -- I should have left us time to see Mt. Hood, Multnomah Falls, Cannon Beach -- but I was so focused on visiting Rachel's little friends (and mine, too), that after a while it felt as if we were running from house to house and meal to meal. We did get to spend some time at a barbecue that some of my chorus buddies threw for us, then raced to meet a friend of Rachel's at Salt & Straw, a novelty ice cream place, and then we had an afternoon playdate the next day with Rachel's friend Lila Anne (her mom, Suzanne, and I used to work at the Oregonian together), and then dinner with my friend Amy and her sons Jake and Tony (I work with Amy's brother, Jay, at The Post), and earlier in the week we met Rachel's friends Tessa and then Devin for pizza both times...I really want to maintain contact with folks there, if only to hold out hope that when Drew and I retire (if that ever happens:)), then we'll be able to spend summers in the Pacific Northwest with people we know and love and are comfortable with. In many ways it was an easy vacation -- we knew where things were, we knew we could buy things we forgot to bring, if necessary -- and so it's tempting to return there every summer.

--We are foodies! We brought back so many treats -- Moonstruck chocolates, Missionary Chocolates (a great vegan chocolatier I discovered at the Portland farmer's market), six slices of cake from Konditorei, the world's best cake shop in Salem, big cookies that Drew likes from the farmer's market...too bad we couldn't bring back the fruit. Maybe next time...