Portland and sightseeing

I've been in Portland, Oregon all week for the annual groundwater users group (GWUG) meeting, plus a little mini-vacation. "Mini" as in "flew out Sunday instead of Monday to allow for a day of sightseeing". It worked out wonderfully well, thanks to a friend and his wife.

( the details of the sightseeing... )

From there we went further south to a beach near Salishan (a high-end development), and had a long beach walk just enjoying the pounding of the surf and the cool air. Then it was time to start back, but we did go on south to Newport to pick up US 20 to head west. Then it was over to Corvallis, where they gave me a glimpse of Oregon State (where their younger daughter is in school), and then north to Portland. A very long day, but lots of fun...

Rest of the Portland trip

The Groundwater Users Group meeting started Tuesday and went through today, meeting at the local USGS office on the campus of Portland State University. The meeting was pretty productive, but I was less so than usual as Tuesday I came down with a cold. As colds go it's not too severe, but I'm coughing, sniffing, and wheezing, and my voice is threatening to go. Made it rather hard today when I was presenting a topic and the discussion went long--I ended up taking a coughing fit out in the hall towards the end. But I survived, and I hope I managed to keep my germs to myself.

I skipped dinner on Tuesday for an early evening, and skipped the excursion to Multnomah Falls yesterday to spare everyone else my germs in the 15-passenger van. As they left at about 3:30 for that trip, I took the streetcar to a Safeway for cold medicines, then on to Pioneer Square to a Moonstruck Chocolates store for truffles. This evening everyone went separate ways, so I found a good hamburger at a local chain called Stanfords--there was one three blocks from my hotel.

Tomorrow I catch a van to the airport at 9, and am armed with *real* Pseudophed for the flight courtesy of Dorrie. I discovered to my horror that Pseudophed requires a prescription in Oregon, instead of just being a 'behind the counter' medication as it is in Georgia. Funny thing about colds--everyone wants to give you their remedy for it. I took the Emergen-C (vitamin C plus some other stuff) from Eve, declined Greg's Zicam, and as I said fell on the offer of Pseudophed from Dorrie. Hopefully the ears will stay unblocked so the flight won't be to unpleasant. I'll be trying hard to keep my cold germs away from my fellow passengers.