Cleaning Up

In a few minutes, I'll start packing my stuff before we head off to Portland, where we'll spend the night to make it easier for me to catch my 6 AM flight to Denver, connecting onward to Columbus. I have to decide what to take with me (remembering to stay under 50 pounds) and what to give to Lisa to mail back to California -- or possibly just keep here in Oregon for eventual collection the next time one or the other of us drives between the two.

I have my seat assignments for the trip to Columbus. Doesn't look like I'll be able to get any work done on the packed flights. Fortunately, the weather forecast for Denver tomorrow is clear, so weather-related delays aren't a worry. But Columbus is looking to be cold and snowy. Yuck.

Good Thing Lisa Forgot Her Backpack

This afternoon we got away from Mehama around 12:30 PM. About 45 miles from Mehama -- roughly halfway to Portland -- is the TA truck stop with a Popeye's Chicken where Lisa and I often stop for lunch, as we did this time. As Lisa was getting out of the Vanagon, she realized as she went to get Kuma Bear out of his car seat that she'd left her backpack (where Kuma rides when not in the car seat) at home. Besides being Kuma's carrier, her backpack is important, so after we ate lunch we had to drive back to Mehama.

When we got back to Mehama, I realized that I'd left something behind as well -- all of my prescription medications! Thank goodness (a) Lisa forgot her backpack and (b) we were not in a huge hurry. Had we been rushing to get me on a plane this afternoon, we would have had to take me there and Lisa would have had to Express-Mail my medication to me in Columbus. As it was, it simply delayed us nearly two hours.

Getting to Portland, we once again got an upgraded room with a wet bar, although we're not really here long enough to make effective use of it. After getting settled in, we went to Lisa's friend Scott Sanford's house and took him out to dinner at the Hawthorne Fish House, where I happily demolished a plate of chili-fried catfish.

The earliest shuttle for the airport leaves at 4:30 AM, which I assume will be still early enough for my 6 AM flight, so I'll get about thirty minutes more sleep than I originally expected. But speaking of sleep, I'm still only going to get about six hours of sleep, so I need to get to bed soon. Lisa can stay an extra seven hours after I leave, and I've told her she's welcome to stay, enjoy the included breakfast, and maybe even use the hot tub before leaving tomorrow morning.