Last Leg Of The Journey
Mark dropped me off bright and early Wednesday morning at the MPLS Airport. My flight to Seattle was uneventful. I had a brief stop at Los Vegas where I was all set to try my luck on the slot machines scattered throughout the terminal. But I learned there are no coin operated slot machines at the airport, just bills or credit card. Soooo I faked it!
It was wonderful meeting up with Katie at Pacific Luthern University. We took her friend Christina, and Jess Holden out for Italian food. Jess looks great and seems to have all kinds of great plans for the future.
There are floweres in bloom throughout the northwest right now. This lilac bush on campus was in full bloom.
I felt so pampered at Katie’s house! Her room mates were sweet, Katie gave me her bed while she slept on the floor, and there was chocolate, fresh flowers, and a gift waiting for me! What a sweetie! (the gift is a stamper of a little man holding a coffee cup with the words: “Thanks a latte” underneath.” The LLL will be impressed!
Katie showing off her bed and cozy set up.
Dallas, one of Katie’s room mates, got us to the train station in plenty of time.
I loved using Amtrac. It was inexpensive, clean, spacious sitting areas, plug ins and tables for laptops, a movie to watch, fast food to order, and, did I say cheap?! The view was interesting and at times quite pretty as we headed south towards Portland.
Katie was kicking herself because she had forgotten to pack a deck of cards. Do you think that slowed her down?!? Not in the least. Here’s a picture of the deck of cards “we” made with some trusty notebook paper and pens. Yup, I got roped into helping too!
We had planned to leave our luggage at the Portland station and explore until late afternoon, but when we got off the train Steve and Teresa Richardson were waiting to wisk us away. (They were the wedding taxi service.) We headed on to the airport in their rented mini-van to pick up Sara Wilcox and Collin Duncan. Once that was accomplished we headed south towards McMinville.
I’d heard Seattle/Portland area traffic is terrible. It’s all true! It took a long time to travel the 30 miles from the airport to McMinville. Once there we had a brief chance to meet up with Julie and Taylor before Steve dropped us off at the Red Lion Inn.
Katie pretty much disappeared with her buddies for the night. That was fine by me. It’s given me a chance to catch up on my blog, check email, call home, and soak in a hot bath. Wonderful!