Oregon Days Are Here!

We made it! Yesterday was actually a great travel day. No, it was a fantastic travel day with lots of fun in-between!

The kids did awesome, even though it began at 3:45 am MT, with our flight leaving at 6:40. This wouldn't have been so early, but we helped good friend and new club member, Troy, celebrate his 40th the night before (great party by the way!).

The actual flight from Denver to Portland was uneventful but I have to say - I love Southwest! Very easy going, nice staff and we practically had the plane to ourselves. Their seat reservations are still whacked (refer to earlier blog).

My brother Scott and cousin Steve picked us up at the airport and stuffed our 4 bags (down from 5) into his suv. We then went over to Steve's house and visited a bit. Steve's wife, Shannon, celebrated her 50th the night before (again, Happy Birthday Shannon), so we all were a little haggard.





Oh, before I forget, apparently the hit drink of the night at their party was the following margarita recipe: Equal parts of frozen limeaid concentrate, tequila (replacing water) and BUDWEISER. Yes, Bud. According to Steve, it cannot, must not, be anything other than Bud - no Fat Tire here. I think further recipe taste tests are in order.


For brunch, we went to a place called McMillians Kennedy School. I've never heard it, but apparently McMillians are all over Oregon and Washington. This particular one was an old elementary school they renovated into a pub/restaurant/theatre/lodge. Here's their site, super cool: http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=57&id=465

Then we headed on down the road and did a little shopping along the way with my niece, Mandy, before we made the long trip home. Which actually seemed really short because we told stories the whole way and I learned from Scott and Sandi several hysterical ways to get out of speeding tickets (no, we didn't get pulled over, just reminiscing).

We drove through Eugene, where the track & field Olympic trials are going on. The air was really smokey because of the fires in Northern California. I wonder if it effected the athletes. For sure it didn't hurt Tyson Gay, who broke the 100 meter world record with a time of 9.68 seconds. Oh wait, he can't claim it because he had a tail wind of 4.1 meters per second and anything over 2.2 just isn't allowed (like, how do they determine this? Why was the line drawn at 2.2? I'd like the guy's job that figures out that calculation).

We arrived in Chiloquin at 7:00 PT - thanks again for the ride bro! Spaghetti, fried chicken and green salad was on the menu upon arrival. Afterwards, we just relaxed. More of that going on today.



It's great to be home!