Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Fall Colors in Portland, Oregon -- Wed., Oct. 31

Our flights from San Antonio to Phoenix, and Phoenix to Portland on Southwest Airlines went well: no crying babies, both flights only about 1/3 full, and the ride was mostly smooth with just a few bumps. We were able to switch seats into an exit row for our Phoenix to Portland segment. It was nice to have extra leg room.

Michael, our son, picked us up from the airport last night about 11:50 p.m. Portland was a cool 54 degrees and a little foggy and overcast. We had a few sprinkles on the 1/2 hour drive to Mom's house.

The fall colors are still beautiful, although the rain and wind have scattered some of the leaves into a multi-hued carpet...beautiful patterns of red, yellow, peach and orange spread across green lawns or grey cement. People here have landscaped in such a way that not only their trees turn color, but also their shrubs.

View from Mom's patio.
View in another direction from Mom's patio.
The next picture is autumn leaves in an evergreen shrub.


 

Begonias in a neighbor's yard.
 



A view down the street.
Today is overcast and rainy. There has been a lot of rain for the past two weeks, so lawns, golf courses and fields are a lush, springtime, new-growth green.

Bob and I headed into downtown Portland this morning to take care of business with an attorney and the bank. We had forgotten how much we love downtown Portland. It is a walkable, friendly city. Nordstrom, Meier & Frank (Macy's), and other clothing stores still have the large picture windows with beautifully styled mannequins on display. I remember how much I loved walking past Meier & Frank's window displays decorated for the holidays.

For lunch, Mom made egg salad sandwiches and I stirred up some pea soup. I am definitely adding to the foods I can eat, although I did have my egg salad without bread. This afternoon, for a snack we're having chocolate/banana smoothies. 

Halloween is tonight, but I don't think we'll have any trick or treaters in the retirement community where Mom lives.

Tomorrow, we have more business to take care of in the morning. In the afternoon, we will go with Mom downtown to take her bird to the birdsitter. Then tomorrow night, my sister and son are coming over to Mom's for dinner.

We packed light for our trip to Australia to keep everything as carry-ons. We will be staying in timeshares with washer/dryer in the unit so we can wash our clothes as they get dirty. Plus we'll have a very small rental car and we need the luggage to fit.

Pretty mellow day today.

Travel Bug out.

15 comments:

  1. Portland is one of our favorite cities also. Love Mt. Hood.
    Enjoy your visit with family. Hope all the doctor appoints go well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the colors where you are too. Do you remember many years ago the "monrail" at Christmas time upstairs in Meier and Frank and Live nativity and "story book" lane in Lloyd Center? Aw such nice memories. Have a wonderful time in Austrailia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I remember the "monorail" in Meier & Frank and also Peacock Lane which is still going strong from what I understand.

      Delete
  3. We love Portland. We spent two weeks house sitting there before we got the RV...though it was during an unusual dry spell.

    Hope your looooong flights go well!
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds like a good day. Glad you are getting more comfortable eating.

    ReplyDelete
  5. And, there was a time we used to dress up to go downtown Portland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. When I was in high school in Newberg, my friends and I thought it was a great adventure to dress up and take the bus (Greyhound) into downtown Portland for a day, eat lunch in a nice restaurant and shop at all the big stores. As I recall one of our parents picked us up at the end of the day.

      Delete
  6. What a great way to start your adventure. . .with wonderful memories. . .wishing a fabulous safe trip to you and yours!

    Janice

    ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing.blogspot.com

    FaceBook.com/ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! What beautiful colors. Safe travels! Have a wonderful trips. See you when you get back.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful fall colours in your photos. You continue to impress me with your resolve and determination to make the very best of your unfortunate accident. Hopefully, in just a few more months, you'll be back to 100% and this will begin to become just a memory.

    Have a great trip.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful colors. Although we had quite a lot of rain here in TN, the colors weren't as vibrant this fall compared to last year. You are one tough cookie going on with your trip! Safe travels, looking forward to reading about another great adventure! Tom & Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  10. I loved Portland's downtown, too. A bike friendly city... and that huge park (forgot the name) with miles of wooded trails. Also loved local McMinians?... great brew pubs. Safe travels,
    Box Canyon Mark

    ReplyDelete
  11. Portland is one of our favorite cities. We came very close to moving there before we began our RV adventure. Great fall colors. Soon they will be gone (sigh).

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful fall colors. We've only been to Portland twice ... once in the early '80s to visit a friend who took us to the Rose Garden, and the second time in 2010 to pick up our Phaeton; no time to wander around and explore the city then because we had a tight schedule to keep to return to the east coast. Looking forward to spending more time in OR sometime in the next few years.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You take great pics! Hope the healing is coming along nicely :)

    ReplyDelete

Please let me know what you think, your experiences, and constructive criticism to make this blog stronger.