We finally felt safe breaking out of the Covid pandemic and flew to Portland to visit Ben and Martha. There were surprisingly no issues at the airports or on the planes.
We walked to the Farmers Market and I went across the street to Mr. Plywood, a local hardware and lumber company - I scouted out the supplies we would need for putting in landscaping stairs in Ben and Martha's back yard.
Each morning, I would quietly leave the house. around 5:00 a.m. and walk to the 7 - 11 store which is open 24 hours a day. Besides getting my early morning coffee, the three mile round trip got me some exercise. I went through the section of Portland known as the Jade District - many nationalities here, especially from Asia. I had a hard time figuring out the 82 Tidnea de Mariscos until I saw it correctly as Tienda - Spanish for shop.
On my way back, I would stop in the courtyard of Portland Community College, a school known for their art programs. I found this interesting statue made of thin sheets of metal, looking solid from the side but transparent from the front.
We four went to the coast for three days, staying in a rental in Neskowin, It was a lovely house with lots of room for all of us and several interesting antiques.
Walking the beach, we saw starfish, the Ghost Forest and Proposal Rock.
Refinancing our mortgage was delayed two weeks, but while in Neskowin, the credit union sent a notary to us and we signed the hundred or so pages of documents to close on the loan.
The beach and the town were quite nice and I hope we can return for a longer stay.
Everything was very lush and colorful through out the town.
Then back in Portland, we worked on several projects - cutting Ben and Martha's large table down to a smaller size, trimming overgrown bushes in the back yard and installing those landscaping stairs.
Our timing was perfect, as the weather was great and the travel went well.
We felt so good about it all that I booked flights for four more trips, Portland in September to dog sit while they go on vacation, El Salvador in October with Fuller Center for Housing and two trips to Spain in November and December with Vaughan Town.
No comments:
Post a Comment