Day 2 - Portland/Bend/Sunriver

One more airport reflection: Is there any surface on earth that is free from the blight of advertising? When I was a kid, I got used to seeing ads on grocery carts. In my young adulthood, I discovered them inside bathroom stalls at restaurants and bars. Surrounded at every turn, on cars driving down the highway or t-shirts walking the other way in the mall, I feel like I spend every day drowning in a flood of marketing.

Yesterday, for the first time, I was exposed to advertising in a place where I never thought I'd see it. You know those bins that you put laptops, shoes and jackets in to be scanned through airport security? Yup, they're putting ads in the bottom of those now. Score one for those geniuses on Madison Avenue--*evil* geniuses, that is.

I arrived in Oregon safe and sound yesterday afternoon, shaken but not stirred by the descent into Portland. The plane touched ground just in time, right after I'd reached for the turbulence-induced "comfort bag" (there's a euphemism if I ever heard one). Claudia and Ray were there to meet me at the airport, and brought me across the bridge, just north into lovely Vancouver, Washington.

After quick stops this morning at the two Joes' (farm stand and Trader), we set off on the 3+ hour drive to Sunriver, Oregon. The day started cool, got cooler and wetter as we ascended Mt. Hood, then got sunnier and hotter as we entered the central Oregon desert. We met up with Kristen, Nick and Zoe at the Deschutes Brewery in Bend for lunch, where the "Extra Special Burger" is not just hyberbole. After lunch, I got to ride in the red Beetle with Zoe and Nick (he drove), and Zoe showed me her volcano on the way to Sunriver.

There's a wine festival practically right outside the front door here this weekend, and we walked around to watch the set up in progress this afternoon. The inflatable kids' thing was already up and running, and after some initial complications (many thanks to 3½ year old Zane, who came to the rescue), Zoe had lots of fun climbing and sliding.



After which, Zoe and I had a raccoon vs. bear race (she won.)



Kristen and Claudia prepared us a wonderful dinner, served in the open air on the deck. Zoe demonstrated that raccoon racing is not the only thing she excels at.



She's pretty much my hero. If I were to spend every day between now and my return to Nashville exactly like today, I would feel like I had gotten more than my time's worth.