I made it to Portland and back in one piece. I was wary of air travel given the inane new security restrictions (whatever happened to "Nothing to fear but fear itself"?) But the process was quick and efficient in both directions. The only unusual bit was having to remove my belt in Las Vegas after it set off the metal detector. I've worn the same belt through the same checkpoint numerous times in the past without a peep, so I assume they've tweaked the sensitivity. Actually, a few trips back I heard one of the security guys at McCarran say that they regularly change the sensitivity at all airports, so people are never sure whether they'll be able to get something through. I certainly feel better knowing that sometimes the metal detetors are cranked DOWN a notch or two to keep the bad guys on their toes.
The flight up to Portland was pretty smooth. I mostly just crank up the MP3 player and try to doze on these trips, but at one point I looked out the window and saw what I thought was a pretty remarkable vista -- 6 mountains in the Central Oregon Cascades all lined up. Here's the original picture, which is sort of washed out and blue, but that's how it looked that day (you should be able to click the small photos for full-sized versions):
And since that is a bit washed out, I "enhanced" the photo in my editing software and placed arrows pointing to the mountains in the shot. I'm not an expert on the Cascades by any stretch, but I believe we have (from foreground to background, or right-to-left): Three Sisters, Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mount Jefferson.
The weather all weekend was fantastic, though a bit on the hot side. It wasn't quite as humid as I feared it might be, but of course compared to Vegas any amount of humidity in the heat feels a bit like a sauna. On Sunday, I drove up to Pittock Mansion to try to take some pictures of the city.
There were at least three separate bridal parties taking pictures there at the time, so it was kind of tough to walk the grounds without getting in the way. I managed to get a few shots, including this classic Portland angle. Unfortunately, with the hazy conditions in the distance you couldn't see Mt. Hood at all that day. Normally it would dominate the upper-left corner of this shot for one of the most scenic urban skylines in the country:
Anyhow, it was a great time visiting family and friends, and a much needed splash of green!
(Oh, and speaking of Green...)
(And I can't forget the Halloween crew...)
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