My life after Idaho.

For a while there I wasn't even sure there was life after Idaho. I believe when I left off that I was trying to decide what sort of deliciousness to bring to the table after finding that there was no Mac and Cheese to be found. In the end I just stayed in and didn't eat. I couldn't seem to find anything I felt worth getting up for, so I just skipped it all. I do that sometimes when I travel. I woke up extra hungry, extra early the next day and found the bomb coffee/bagelry though so I was able to go out on a good note.

Portland was a good but long day, as I flew in in the morning, went right to the office and did my work there. Computer install, camera calibration, and site visits to the 5 hospitals for this customer. All while in the backseat of the car, and accompanied by 2 very chatty people. So basically I was carsick and wanting to put my ears out all day, as I had gotten little to no sleep in Idaho.

When I packed it in for the day in Portland I was ready for some air, so I decided that instead of bussing back to my hotel, I would walk along the bus route and jump on at some point. I got totally lost, and just under 2 hours later (about 1 hour after it started raining, praise be to my new raincoat) I managed to find the Max streetcar to take me to my hotel. I got lost a little after that, but ended up not only finding my hotel but stumbling at it from a new direction, past a little Pho shack. Being unable to think of anything better for a sad wet Portland night than a bowl of delicious soup, I went in and ordered some to go.

It went sort of like this:
Her: "Hello! Welcome. Have some tea!"
Me: "I'm just going to order some soup to go"
Her: "yes. Have some tea!"
Me: "Do I look that pathetic?"
Her: "Have some tea!" at which point she pretty much forced a mega mug of tea on me while I looked at the menu and ordered. (when I got back to the hotel my suspicions were confirmed. I looked like who did it and ran, the rainy version)

When she handed me 2 grocery bags of food, I began to wonder if I had slaughtered the pronunciation so bad that I had ordered a feast, but since it had still only come to 12 bucks I was not concerned enough to question. It turns out it was just Pho done right. I wish I had had the foresight to take a picture of the setup, because it was f*cking deluxe, but I forgot. I was too hungry, too cold and it all smelled too delicious, which in fact it was. But she packed everything. Fish sauce, pickled peppers, jalapeños, royal basil, sprouts, veggies, tofu, something that I didn't even know about...everything except a bowl for which I really can not blame her. Even though I looked homeless she was totally within her rights to assume I probably did have a home, and dishes. It was cool though, I was able to over come and enjoy several delicious pots of soup:

coffee-ness is next to godliness

I went to bed fat, happy and warm in the middle in that way that only soup can help you do, and left the next morning for home. Flights were uneventful, except for the 2 yentas I got stuck sitting next to on the first flight. One german, one just plain crazy. The crazy one had a purse full of clippings about all the recent stories on frozen embryo property rights, and apparently either had an embryo she wanted to see made into a baby or was trying to create one - that's maybe not so crazy, the crazy part was that 1) somehow her father was involved ("I just can't bear to see his genes not live on, we're such good people!") and 2) She didn't actually want to raise the kid. ("I think my brother would probably do it, or we could find someone who would and who would let us visit") Umm. yeah. So I spent most of that flight with my headphones on, studiously avoiding eye contact and trying not to choke when she said shit like that.

I got home at about 10pm, unpacked and passed out. By 7am the next day HN and I were on the road to Jersey, leading a caravan of high school kids for a weekend of canoing. We went to the Mullica River, which was nice. The foliage was gorgeous, and you'd never have guessed we were even in Jersey which was sweet since I make a point to try to never go there. It was a decent time, but I struggled a bit with travel lag and my general disdain for teenagers. These ones were pretty tolerable as far as things go, and there were s'mores to make up for it all. HN was wise enough to get everyone their own bar of chocolate which worked out well, since there was no way I was giving up rights to mine once I opened it.

mmmm, fire.

me and my trusty steed, looking out for what lies ahead

beached for snacktime

Sunday evening involved sweatpants, a book and some french fries and yesterday was a sickeningly work-y day. No word on the farm yet, but I feel lucky. Christmas on the farm sounds so good I can't even believe it won't happen.