Potlatch Weekend...

Thursday was a comedy of errors trying to get out of work, but I left around 2:00, and frantically completed a bunch of important errands before Luke got home. We knew we'd never get out of town before rush hour, so we just sucked it up and hit the road at 6:00. Once we passed the airport, I was in unexplored territory. We arrived in Portland about 9:30. Upon parking the car, we immediately ran into whumpdotcom, cynthia1960, n6tqs and Fred-whose-last-name-I-never-remember-if-I-even-knew-it-at-all. Tasty burgers were had from a joint across the street, and catching-up ensued. Luke and I then checked in and went up to our room. We had a corner room at the end of the hall with lots of windows, a lovely view of downtown Portland, and a huge bed. Very nice! We brought my laptop, and had no trouble getting into the hotel's network. Throughout the weekend, many people were complaining bitterly about connectivity, but we never had any problem with it. We settled in for the night and thought "we should get a big bed like this one.."

Friday, with the help of the Potlatch local guide, we made our pilgrimage to Powell's Books. We rode MAX, Portland's way-spiffy light rail line. I was overwhelmed by the hugeness of Powell's, and didn't really try to find anything specific. Once again, we hooked up with Whump and company, and went to lunch at Henry's 12th Street Tavern. Best meatloaf I've ever had. Amazing. Upon returning to the hotel, we relaxed for a bit, then went to be social. No need for dinner, lunch was too huge! We hung out in the consuite and caught up with folks.

Saturday, we went back downtown to the Saturday Market. Hemp, hippies, tie-dye, etc. I bought some fudge. Yum. Then we went in search of some of the chocolate shops listed in the Potlatch local guide. We had a wonderful time exploring downtown. Wandered past a Lebanese place called, I think, Habibi, and enjoyed a great, spontaneous lunch. Buying mass quantities of chocolate brightens any rainy afternoon! After another round of post-expedition relaxing, we had dinner with calimac and wild_patience. Have map, will travel- without a native in tow, we ventured far from the hotel to a place called Bernie's. Great meal, lovely company. Saw a bit of the auction, then hung out in the consuite. Lasted till midnight or so, then BedZilla dragged us in..

Sunday was the banquet. Not too bad, as banquet food goes, and a pleasant table of folks to sit with. Luke went off to take picures, and I, again, hung out in the consuite. Over the course of the weekend, there were people I wanted to spend time with- and did, and it was wonderful. There was someone who I hoped to spend time with- and didn't, because they didn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. Not sure what was up with that. And there were a few people who I really didn't care to try and talk to for a number of my own, possibly childish, reasons.
We went on another fine dinner expedition with davidlevine, kateyule, purplecthulhu, and Allen & Donya. Then we collapsed into BedZilla and watched nature shows on TV.

We had both taken Monday off, Luke had class at 6pm, but we had no need to rush to get back. We packed up the car and hit the road at noon. Arrived home just before 3:00. Overall we had a really nice time, I think the con was well run. Many people had issues with the hotel, but I guess we lucked out. In some ways it felt like a honeymoon for us, exploring by ourselves and doing touristy things. Portland was easy to get to, and easy to get around in. We'd love to go back and explore it further.