Portland, day two
It was a beautiful, perfect sunny day in Portland today -- yesterday was overcast for the most part, but today was crystal clear, and we could see Mount Hood from the hotel and from the office in which our all-day meeting took place.
Never fear -- I won't bore you with the details of the meeting, but I was very pleased with it. So often, I make a trip somewhere and just feel like it's a colossal waste of time because nothing really gets done, people talk just to hear themselves talk, round and round we go and we've not actually resolved any issues or made any kind of progress. Such was not the case today, so I was very grateful.
All I wanted to do after the meeting, though was go to the gym and then order room service in my PJs while I got some work done for a conference call tomorrow morning, but my boss wanted to go out to dinner, so off I went. It was a gorgeous night, and we sat outside right next to the waterfront, and it definitely beat the gym in the end.
One of the Portland people we met with today noted that Oregonians are manic in the summertime, because there is such a narrow window during which the weather is warm and clear and sunny up here, and everyone just pours out of their houses in July and August. This phenomenon was definitely in full effect tonight -- dozens of people were walking their dogs (which made me miss Tucker...when did I get to be such a sap?!) or jogging along the waterfront, or going out in rowboats on the river (the Willamette, dammit!).
After dinner, I excused myself and went for a walk along the river, and treated myself to some of the yummiest ice cream ever. I think I love Portland. It struck me how many cities I absolutely love -- San Francisco, Chicago, D.C., London, even Des Moines -- and I wondered if at some point I need to get out of Jersey and experience life somewhere else for a while. And maybe that'll pan out down the road -- maybe Smelmooo or I will get a job we can't pass up and want to move to another place for a couple of years -- but deep down I sense that, despite my crazy travel bug as of late (I daydream about us quitting our jobs and just traveling around everywhere -- Alaska, Australia, Africa, England, Spain, tropical islands, New England inns, everywhere), I'm forever a Jersey girl, in spirit and in fact.
Which is fine, actually, although it's sort of a drag that, when I have meetings with people in Oregon and ask, "Okay, I have half a day free in Portland -- what should I do?", they can't answer because there are too many great things to choose from: "You could go to Powell's (the giant bookstore) for a full day, or go to the rose gardens, or rent a bike, or go hiking on one of three mountains, or go on a boat tour, or just ride the cable car all around the city, or go to the gallery that features all local artists, or..."
And Jersey has great stuff -- beaches, hiking, biking, Hot Dog Johnny's, historic landmarks, whatever -- but when people come from out of town to my office, and ask what to do, I say, "Well, there's a Ben & Jerry's across the street, and if you have a car you could drive into Princeton proper and walk around and window shop, and there are some good restaurants there, but otherwise...eh...not much nearby...Oh, there's the mall! And a movie theater."
But still, there's no place like home, and I'm looking forward to getting back tomorrow to my hubby and our puppy.
Never fear -- I won't bore you with the details of the meeting, but I was very pleased with it. So often, I make a trip somewhere and just feel like it's a colossal waste of time because nothing really gets done, people talk just to hear themselves talk, round and round we go and we've not actually resolved any issues or made any kind of progress. Such was not the case today, so I was very grateful.
All I wanted to do after the meeting, though was go to the gym and then order room service in my PJs while I got some work done for a conference call tomorrow morning, but my boss wanted to go out to dinner, so off I went. It was a gorgeous night, and we sat outside right next to the waterfront, and it definitely beat the gym in the end.
One of the Portland people we met with today noted that Oregonians are manic in the summertime, because there is such a narrow window during which the weather is warm and clear and sunny up here, and everyone just pours out of their houses in July and August. This phenomenon was definitely in full effect tonight -- dozens of people were walking their dogs (which made me miss Tucker...when did I get to be such a sap?!) or jogging along the waterfront, or going out in rowboats on the river (the Willamette, dammit!).
After dinner, I excused myself and went for a walk along the river, and treated myself to some of the yummiest ice cream ever. I think I love Portland. It struck me how many cities I absolutely love -- San Francisco, Chicago, D.C., London, even Des Moines -- and I wondered if at some point I need to get out of Jersey and experience life somewhere else for a while. And maybe that'll pan out down the road -- maybe Smelmooo or I will get a job we can't pass up and want to move to another place for a couple of years -- but deep down I sense that, despite my crazy travel bug as of late (I daydream about us quitting our jobs and just traveling around everywhere -- Alaska, Australia, Africa, England, Spain, tropical islands, New England inns, everywhere), I'm forever a Jersey girl, in spirit and in fact.
Which is fine, actually, although it's sort of a drag that, when I have meetings with people in Oregon and ask, "Okay, I have half a day free in Portland -- what should I do?", they can't answer because there are too many great things to choose from: "You could go to Powell's (the giant bookstore) for a full day, or go to the rose gardens, or rent a bike, or go hiking on one of three mountains, or go on a boat tour, or just ride the cable car all around the city, or go to the gallery that features all local artists, or..."
And Jersey has great stuff -- beaches, hiking, biking, Hot Dog Johnny's, historic landmarks, whatever -- but when people come from out of town to my office, and ask what to do, I say, "Well, there's a Ben & Jerry's across the street, and if you have a car you could drive into Princeton proper and walk around and window shop, and there are some good restaurants there, but otherwise...eh...not much nearby...Oh, there's the mall! And a movie theater."
But still, there's no place like home, and I'm looking forward to getting back tomorrow to my hubby and our puppy.
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