Christmas Season 2011 Travel I

After barely settling in for about 6 weeks here in Sun City West, and just getting over the shock of our first move in over 30 years, and after memorizing the way to Target and CostCo we succumb to those clever ad people at Southwest, and pack as many bags as we can because BAGS FLY FREE, and head out for the rainy northwest to check up on the Mazzucas. And the extra bags serve us well as we cart packages from one child's house to the other.

It turns out Southwest DOES charge for more than two bags and for bags that weigh MORE than 50 lbs: we are amused by more than a few dummies who didn't figure this out before arriving at the airport. This all-caps thingie is fun. It reminds me of my father writing letters back in the day when people actually exchanged letters, hand-written letters my dear grandchildren, believe it or not. Because he grew up speaking and writing German, he would frequently capitalize nouns especially when he was writing quickly.

OK, back to the bags: where do people get those monster-sized bags? The ones that take two people to move I mean. Still, Southwest does run some amusing ads and seem to make the barely bearable flights just bearable enough to make you think that sitting in the middle seat for 90 minutes isn't that bad. The picture at the top comes from Sea-Tac Airport near sunset.

Patrick and Peggy et al have moved back to Issaquah. Peg is becoming the go-to Mold-Lady of the year in the Northwest, while Patrick is weighing his options and keeping a "clean and orderly place." Their house is still fairly close to the famous Issaquah Cafe, home of The Bob, and recently. the Half-Bob. Perhaps part of the reason for living in the eastern suburbs is the excellence of the schools. Nic starts high school next fall at what looks and sounds like a good public school. I'm sure Peg and Patrick will still have to pay attention to what is going on.

Nic joined a rugby team, preceded by an extensive physical and mental exam designed to be useful in assessing concussion injuries. Seriously, I was very impressed by the examination and the supervisor was kind enough to explain why they were up to. I am pretty sure concussions come with the territory of those playing rugby. It also takes leather balls to play rugby if I remember the bumperstickers of yesteryear.


Zac auditioned for and won the role of Hero-Boy in a production of Polar Express. Below is a signed copy of the playbill which I shall sell for a huge profit when he becomes famous.

My Guess is Chicago and the Midwest are Flyover Country

This is from the new airport in Medford Oregon.

A Short Day in Portland

Pioneer Square in downtown Portland.

Santa Rosa (STS) to Portland (PDX) late Sunday afternoon. No matter the weather this city, Portland, that is, though I have nothing to say against Santa Rosa, I just don't know much about it except for its nice little airport, Sonoma County Airport, named after the cartoonist Charles Schulz, who invented the "Peanuts" characters and the comic strip chronicling their adventures. According to Wikipedia Santa Rosa has had other famous people come from that city including Luther Burbank and Julie London, but on the other hand its "seismicity" which W uses to describe the likelihood of an earthquake, may be higher than a lot of other places.

Anyway, Portland plugs away just being a decent civilized place, with toleration for most kinds of people, including the ordinary like us. By the way, is there a lobby for normal ordinary people with no special axe to grind? I have no idea why Portland would want to try to be a major league city, they are barely at the AAA level.

Tonight we were hungry and tired and decided to try Typhoon, a Thai place, next door to the hotel: we scored heavily on their nibble menu, washed down by some of Oregon's Pinot Gris from King Estate, of course.

And of course, the estimable Hotel Lucia, as in the Italian pronunciation I think, a short walk from Pioneer Square, always delivers cosmopolitan comfort, including beds very similar to our own by Tempur-Pedic. And apparently a recent addition is the new flat screen TV.

Sunday must have been a slow day for the hotel as they gave us a really nice corner room on the 6th floor, from where we had the usual city views in the morning along with the usual steely grey overcast sky. Carol had trouble finding the hair dryer until she looked in a bag next to a strange device labelled "iron" in the closet. I had my usual difficulty opening the hermetically sealed coffee thingie but the nearby corkscrew saved the morning. Is this problem just part of aging or are the people who make packages getting better at sealing them so that children and normal non-thieving people have great difficulty opening them?

I think I am sounding like Ian Fleming: "Bond flicked his trusty Zippo, and quickly inhaled his favorite Turkish brand of cigarette."

Powell's Book Store is probably the best in the world. And it is very close to the Hotel Lucia, as is the ballpark and some other good places to eat, and some theatres, etc, etc, etc, come to think of it. I only got as far as the Technical Book Store this time as I only had a morning to spend.

Sorry, my pictures from downtown Portland went somewhere, I know not where, including a picture of an interesting evangelist walking down Broadway who greeted me with "Jesus is back on earth, friend." He had very large hands and was slightly reluctant to have me take his picture. He had a blonde beard and flowing robes and sandals so he obviously had been to makeup and costuming.

We may be taking one of the last direct flights from PDX to BIL early this afternoon, as I read somewhere that even Horizon is desperately trying to staunch the cash hemorrhage sustained with the increasing cost of oil. It seems kind of redundant to suggest that a civilized train system might help everyone. Like the one they have in Portland which takes you directly from the airport to downtown.

Xmas Travel 2006

We are off to ABQ at 6am! Returning at 10pm 25 Dec. So we need to be there about 5am, so up at 3am. Will take car and park it in long term parking and then pick up on Xmas Day in the late evening.