Proposals and Pork

I was at a site visit yesterday for a potential job and it went pretty well. I came home totally excited and typed out a scope of work to send off to the architecture firm right away. We discussed the plan over the phone, agreed on a rate, and I think things should be in motion by Friday. Of course there are tons of approvals, so the work might not begin for a couple of weeks.

By the time I finished with the proposal it was 4pm and the hour when we start to think about dinner. Working from home, or as I call it, our "alternative work schedule," has turned us into old people. Dinner is usually on the table no later than 5pm. Yesterday was no exception, but we needed a few things at the grocery store. So, we hopped on our bikes and rode out to Safeway downtown. Of course, large trips in the future will be reserved for the car, but we were able to get everything we needed for dinner last night as well as fresh veggies for the rest of the week.

The veggies fit perfectly in the front basket of my bike. However, I found out that the basket not only looks clunky (with that giant mount on the front) it is also not really useful for anything except lettuce (or maybe flowers). We stored our bike locks in the bottom for the ride home and the weight made the handlebars really hard to control. I think this weekend I'm going to remove the whole thing and search for a basket or bags that will fit on the back rack so I can transport more practical things -- like a full load of groceries.

I have to say that I am pleased that we have taken advantage of the really nice weather over the past couple of weeks and ridden our bikes to a lot of places where we would have normally driven. This weekend we rode out to SE Hawthorne Blvd. to Pastaworks for pancetta and fresh pasta. They seriously have some of the nicest-looking meats I have seen in a while. The pancetta is far superior to any I have ever tasted (it contributed to a kick-ass pasta carbonara).

Friday Date Day/Night

Today we have three things to accomplish:

1) Obtain an Oregon drivers license. The DMV opens at 8am downtown and I plan on arriving with my proof age/ birth/ residence/ citizenship/ bra size/ blood type/ shoe size. I'd say that I would ride my bike (like a true blue Portlander), but that would ruin my hair and force me to have a hideous ID photo for the next 5-8 years. We'll take care of the license plates and car registration another day. I can only handle one transaction at the DMV at a time.

2) Register to vote. No, we haven't done that yet, but don't worry, the deadline isn't until October 14th. We're way ahead of schedule. Since I've been thinking about volunteering to register young voters in Portland, I think it would be a little weird if I weren't already registered myself. This will be the second Presidential election that I volunteer to help with voter registration and voter awareness...let's hope this time my efforts pay off.

3) Attend a debate watching party at the Roots Organic Brewing Company. Even though I've already determined my candidate of choice, I feel it's my patriotic duty to hear what they both have to say. Oh, and to heartily poke fun at my foe (should he choose to show up). Also, we really haven't made many friends yet, so what better way than to convene with people who love beer and my candidate of choice?!

Of course there are several boxes that still need to be unpacked and a ton of cardboard that needs to be taken down to the recycling bin. I'm sure we'll try and fit them in between our very patriotic duties tomorrow.

"Staples"

As planned, I completed my "admin" day by paying a visit to Safeway (for the third time in a week). For all of the organization methods I try to apply to our moving box chaos, I have not yet mastered the comprehensive shopping list. Luckily, we have three grocery stores within a short walk or drive.

Since we've lived in our apartment for almost three weeks, I decided that it was practically a crime to open the refrigerator and only find baby loaf of Tillamook cheddar, six bottles of beer, a jar of Grey Poupon, and some butter. While all of the above are tasty, we were starting to feel hard pressed for snacks and meals that didn't end with burrito or quesadilla. Pantry "staples" were desperately needed. Beans, tomatoes, rice and pasta were all on the list, especially since the weather turned a little cool and I'm in the mood for soups. I managed to fill up an entire grocery cart full of basic foods and fresh veggies. The guy at the checkout counter looked overwhelmed when I pulled into his aisle - as was I, since it looked like I was shopping for a family of 16.

I convinced myself that Tillamook Marionberry Pie ice cream could be considered a "staple" (especially since it was on sale). We thoroughly enjoyed our bowls after dinner last night. The ice cream is rich and creamy and the berry swirl and pie crust are divine. "Must be laced with crack," we said while laughing at our own lame Marion Barry jokes. Only a former D.C. resident (thoroughly steeped in the news of corruption) would get nostalgic about kooky politicians while eating delicious bowls of ice cream. Right at that moment I missed Washington a little, probably for the first time since I've been in Portland. Wait? Back to reality. Tillamook. Deliciousness.

Today I plan on hosting my own cooking marathon with all of the delicious things I picked up at the grocery store. I think chicken noodle soup and chili are on the menu. Maybe if I get ambitious, I'll make a batch of cookies. How very domestic of me!

Charge It To Admin

For the past two days I have been immersed in tasks that (if I were getting paid) should be charged to the "admin" account. They're the types of things that nobody really enjoys, but must be addressed every once in a while. I sent out a couple of emails regarding job opportunities and tinkered with my resume. I also checked out a few temp agencies to visit in the near-ish future. Since we moved into the apartment I have also been avoiding the filing cabinet like the plague, not knowing what sort of beastly things were lurking. Today, I opened the top drawer to find a jumbo hanging file that I had never seen before. I exclaimed "Dear God, what is this?! And why did it move with us?!" Jesse mysteriously disappeared into the bedroom.

While preparing for the move from D.C., I discovered that I had married a petty hoarder. I say petty because he isn't one of those egregious types that saves bubble gum wrappers and old cereal boxes (and sometimes he hoards things that turn out to be really sweet). However, today I opened that jumbo mystery file and found that it contained over six years of paper bank statements - complete with the little inserts that come in the envelope. As a historian, it was fascinating to document the evolution of Bank of America's privacy and disclosure statements from a two-page pamphlet to a small book over the years. As a pragmatist, I couldn't understand what would possess a person to open an envelope, unfold their bank statement, and file away the entire contents (very neatly) in their active vertical files. Needless to say, the paper shredder got a workout this afternoon.

Yesterday, I also started sanding my chair (considered an admin task in my book). Almost immediately, I remembered how much I dislike sanding - not because it's hard work, but because I really could do without the feel and sound of sandpaper scraping wood. I also don't really care for the feeling of sawdust on my fingers. It's akin to the sensation you get in your teeth and head when you hear nails on a chalkboard (only much less severe). My friend Kyle hates the feeling of fleece (or anything soft and velvety). I think he's probably one of the only people who could truly understand what I mean. It doesn't prevent me from sanding, but I wash my hands a lot. With that said, I do think the results are worth the horror because I have been able to rub out nearly every scratch and blemish. It's hard to tell from the photos, but the vertical post has been sanded, not the arm.

I think I'll end my day of "admin" tasks by taking another trip to the grocery store to buy some of the food staples that we have forgotten. I have had the urge to bake cookies for the past few days in our giant new oven, but lack things like brown sugar, and chocolate, and baking powder. Shopping for grocery staples isn't really fun, but I'll be happy to have a fully stocked pantry again!

The New Chair

Jesse and I stopped by Fairly Honest Bill's, a used furniture and knick-nack store, two weeks ago and saw this chair. It was lumped together with various pieces of decaying furniture and was being used as a bed by Oreo the cat. There weren't price tags anywhere, so you had to ask Bill (who was lounging in the corner of the store watching TV). When asked, Bill said he wanted $85 for the chair. I think he must have seen my face (a grimace followed by sheer confusion) because he felt obligated to explain his price. "It's mid-century," he said "that makes it more valuable." Hmm. Obviously Bill has quite a high opinion of his junk and a low opinion of my intelligence. Signs outside of the store clearly indicated that haggling was not appreciated (and I really wasn't looking for another chair). So, we thanked him and left.

We returned to Bill's this past Saturday to scope out any new acquisitions and found a different man tending the shop. His name was Bob. I walked to the back of the store and found that "my" chair was still hanging out on a side aisle. Jesse called over Bob (who smelled terrible) and asked how much he wanted for the chair. Bob scratched his chin and said $65, which was much more reasonable. I knew that I'd have to immediately recover the cushions and clean up the wood once we got home, but I had been thinking of excuses to pull out my sewing machine since we arrived in Portland.

I was eager to get started on recovering the cushions with the new fabric we found, so I took apart the old cover and cut out all of the necessary pieces Saturday afternoon. At that point I realized that the old foam was falling apart, so we ran out to get new pieces cut yesterday morning. By the evening, I had completed the bottom cushion. Both Jesse and I just stood there and stared at how it completely transformed the frame. I was so excited to see it finished!

I worked on the top cushion this afternoon and finished just before dinner. I'm completely happy with how it looks. My next step is to clean up the wood so it lives up to the nice new cushions. I can't wait until we finish unpacking the boxes in our "living room" so I can see how it looks with some of our other furniture!

Weekend Outing

I have been on a hunt for a couch. No, the perfect couch. Not perfect in terms of bright, shiny and new, but a perfect fit for my criteria: good "bones," cheap (but lacking pee stains), no longer than 70 inches, and not terribly heavy.

Apparently that couch does not exist (at least not in Portland). After nearly two weeks of searching on Craigslist and a dazed Friday afternoon trip to Ikea, J pointed out that I might want to consider a paradigm shift with regards to furnishing our apartment. Feeling defeated and a bit overwhelmed, we each flopped down into a POÄNG chair. At that moment, J came up with a brilliant idea. We could just sit on chairs. Duh. It never occurred to either of us that we don't need a couch.

Saturday morning I woke up invigorated and ready to find another awesome chair. We ditched the plans to drive to Tillamook to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and instead went to a nearby second hand store to check out a chair that had been posted on Craigslist the night before. It wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped, so I decided not to take it. I was bummed, but still optimistic. J suggested that we stop by another store we had visited our first week in Portland to see if there were any new arrivals (or if this one chair that had caught my eye might still be around). And it was. And I got a pretty good price. Obviously it needs some love, both on the wooden frame and the cushions, but it was a great excuse for an outing. So, we decided to ditch the car and take our bikes for a spin.

First we stopped at the library to check out some furniture restoration books and then headed to the largest fabric store I have ever seen. J was even impressed at the magnitude. (For those of you who are starting to feel sorry for J, you know, for spending his anniversary weekend chauffeuring my butt around shopping for furniture and fabric, just wait. I redeem myself.)

Fabric stores of this size are never located downtown, so our bike ride was nice and long. And by long, I mean 16 miles round trip, which made J a very happy man. We were gone for about four hours and I was pooped and sweaty by the time we got home. However, I was extremely happy because we found the perfect fabric for my chair (and I rode my bike for 16 miles).

Even though our Saturday included stops at the library AND a fabric store, I think J would agree that it was a really great day. I'm so glad we decided to go together on our bikes. We saw the city from a completely different perspective and it made this Saturday seem like our first real weekend as residents of Portland.

Bikes!

Since Portland is such a bike-friendly town and we would like to drive our car as little as possible, last weekend we decided to go bike shopping. After trying out a few different bikes, I determined that I would like a more European-style upright bike (as opposed to a commuter bike with striaight handlebars).

The bike that I fell in love with was the Gary Fisher Simple City. However, it seemed silly to drop $600 on a bike before knowing if I'd even really like riding around the city. So, Jesse started searching Craigslist (for both of us).

He found his bike about 4 days after he started. It turns out that the guy he bought it from bought it in August and found out that he had to go overseas to work. So, Jesse got it for $100 less and it's practically brand new.

I actually found my bike while browsing for a couch in the furniture ads on Craigslist. The lady who was selling it put it in the wrong category, so it's very possible that I was the only one who contacted her. She was selling it for about $250 less than I would have paid in the store - there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it other than some dust here and there. It's more along the lines of a beach cruiser bike, but with 21 speeds.

I went online yesterday before purchasing the bike to read user reviews. The bike gets top ratings for sure. People who have an Electra Townie 21 speed love the ride and comfort. The only problem is that they're all between 50 and 85 years old and have had various hip and knee replacements. I would be willing to bet that they all have garages too because the Townie is a total bitch to haul up three flights of stairs. Jesse often tells me that I behave like a curmudgeonly old man, so maybe I found my bike soul mate - the Oldsmobile of two wheeled transportation. It even has a little bell that I can ring violently like the Omas in Germany.

We took our bikes out for a spin last night and I think I need to make a few adjustments before feeling 100% comfortable on it. The lady who owned it before me had the handle bars jacked up and the seat pushed way low down. When I first hopped on the bike I felt like I was on a chopper. However, once we get the handlebars all situated, I think it's going to be a sweet ride.

The Furniture Game

Before we left D.C., Jesse and I sold a bunch of our stuff on Craigslist. With the proceeds, we set up a few different ING Direct savings accounts earmarked for purchases we would likely make once in Portland. All book sale proceeds went to the "E and J Savings" account, which was the largest account and pretty much paid for our move and will help pay for living expenses, new bikes, etc. Furniture sales went into the "Furniture Fund" and when Jesse got a performance merit award at work we set up a "Stereo Fund."

Jesse didn't spend the full amount set aside for his receiver, so his funds were redirected to support the purchase of furniture. The rules of the game are pretty straightforward: purchase as much furniture for the house while staying within the $609 budget allotted in the "Furniture Fund." Exempted from the game is anything purchased for Jesse's home office. So far I feel pretty good with how things have developed:

My Chair: Purchased for $89 at a consignment store in Portland. It's a solid chair that rocks and swivels, and is the perfect size for me. Also, it is totally cute. Yes, the fabric makes me sweat in 90 degree weather, but that will be remedied someday. Jesse said with my first paycheck I should treat myself to a new pair of awesome shoes - I think I'd much have a nail gun and air compressor.

Our Bed: Purchased on Craigslist for $125. Reason it is rad? It's solid wood and not Ikea. Other than sustaining irreparable knee, shin, and toe damage from running into the end posts, I have no complaints. (Well, maybe except for the dirty laundry that keeps piling up nearby.)

Kitchen Cart: Purchased for $56 at Ikea. Even though we have tons of built-in cabinets in the kitchen, we seriously have zero prep space. This was one of the first things we purchased after taking an initial scan of the apartment. Now there's room for one person to chop and mix while the other cooks or bakes.

Metal storage rack: Purchased on Craigslist for $25. Again, the kitchen has tons of built-in cabinets, but I was astonished at the amount of kitchen items that we unpacked. I think they may have multiplied in the storage crate. The shelf will provide a little extra storage space for things that won't fit directly in the kitchen.

That leaves me with $314. I'm a little nervous because I still need a couch AND kitchen chairs. The couch will likely eat up most of the remaining budget.

Will I win the game? Or fail miserably? You vote.

Progress

We've been unpacking at a steady pace and rearranging our exploded boxes so that there are defined paths throughout the apartment. Our rearranging and unpacking is only interrupted by feverish searches on Craigslist for furniture and bikes, which has been almost a full time job alone. I still haven't found a couch, but hopefully one more weekend of intense searching will yield some results.

Parts of the apartment are still a total nightmare, but scattered throughout there are pockets of order - like my reading/web surfing/lounging nook. It's not much, but for the moment it's all I have (there literally aren't any other chairs for me to sit on). Speaking of my cute little (wool blend) consignment store find, it's not a very friendly hostess given this blazing hot heat. Who knew that it would get to 90 degrees in Portland in mid-September. I radiate when I sit in it, and not in a good way. I'm afraid it might be made of some heavy duty combustible 1960s fabric and I might just catch on fire. Or melt directly into the seat. I still love it dearly, but may speed up my plans for recovering.

As predicted, our anniversary was very low key (but not in a bad way). Jesse said it was hard for him to really celebrate or 365th day of marriage on a workday. I completely agreed. Instead, we ran some errands and went to Doug Fir for happy hour. This coming weekend we are going to drive out to Tillamook, eat some cheese, and enjoy the Oregon coast. Tonight, for a treat we picked up cupcakes from Saint Cupcake around the corner from our apartment. In honor of our of the banana chocolate layer that we would have saved from our wedding, I picked up the fat elvis and the banana chocolate chip pound cake, as well as the pumpkin spice with cream cheese frosting, and chocolate cake with chocolate mousse. They were delicious. We ate all four.

I'll be knee deep in packing materials tomorrow, but hopefully the kitchen will be completely organized and fully functioning!

Our First Year

Holy Dude!* We've been married for a year. It certainly was a quick 365 days.

In the spirit of other "firsts" in our relationship, a few highlights:

Our first date. This was the scrap of paper that Jesse tore from his City Paper in D.C. for me to jot down my phone number. We found it while unpacking some of Jesse's things before our move in August. "Froggy Bottom May 7th after turning in paper for Goodyear." He called about a week later and asked me out to dinner. We went to Pasta Mia. We saw each other every day for the rest of the summer.

We spent many Wednesdays at Toledo Lounge in Washington, D.C. during our first summer as graduate students. $2 pints of beer whenever it rained. Luckily (for our thin wallets), it was a very wet summer.

Our first Halloween was one of the best. I dressed as the Ice Queen and Jesse was Wolverine. He grew a beard to get those sideburns. (I filled in the patches with eye liner.) In preparation for the night, we gelled, and combed, and moussed each other's hair. It was quite an evening.

This was our first case of roller fever. We were whisked back to our childhood when they played the Ghostbusters theme and dimmed the lights - recalling all the broken arms that were sustained by friends who were caught at the bottom of a roller skating pileup. Jesse loved skating so much that he developed a walnut-sized blister on the bottom of his foot.

There have been a lot of "firsts" over the past five and half years, but this one feels pretty darn amazing. Even though today's "first" will be rather low-key (given our still unpacked state), I couldn't think of a better place to celebrate - in our apartment, starting a new adventure in our new city.


*Phrase courtesy of Larson. He exclaimed this sentiment at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco when seeing the awesomeness of the drum bridge. We also happened to be on our first double date with Larson & Serena.

Pure Chaos

But it's already starting to feel more like home.

The crate arrived around 12:45pm, weighing in at just a tad under a ton. Seriously, 1900 pounds. The UPS delivery guy had to struggle to keep his fork lift from flying over the top. It was funny and a little scary at the same time. We were both giddy to open the door and see if all of our stuff made it alive. From the appearance of the boxes, it didn't seem as though anything was majorly crushed (we'll see). For the next four hours we unloaded and hauled boxes up to the third floor. It was an epic day, but we survived and there are only book boxes left. Brian said he'd come to help us haul the rest, since I really can't pick them up.

It's hard to imagine how we literally got rid of 50% of our stuff before moving and we still have (almost) a ton piled up in the living room. I certainly have lots of things to do over the next few days and oh, how I do love to organize. I think what I'm most thrilled about is having our kitchen items at my disposal again. We're already planning what our first home cooked meal will be in our new place. It's nice to no longer feel like we're living in a dorm room outfitted only with a desk, two air mattresses, and two chairs.

By the time we had finished unloading most of our stuff yesterday, my legs and arms felt like noodles. However, our mattress was the one thing left that we really, really wanted to have last night. I don't know how we managed to get it up three flights of stairs without breaking our necks (or a window). Luckily, we were so loopy from hauling all of the boxes that we laughed all the way up the stairs - mostly from my groans, umphs, and minor falls. I have a mysterious brush burn on my shoulder from one of my spills, but it was totally worth the fall. Last night I slept like a log on my own sheets, under our quilt, and on my pillow.

Hallelujah! We are Blessed with DSL

Finally, I can check email in my own apartment. Our phone/DSL service was officially turned on Tuesday, but UPS did not deliver the modem until almost 9pm. I nearly died waiting. Luckily, it was set to arrive at Anna & Brian's house, so we had a good excuse to hang out with them for the afternoon. We headed out to the Academy Theater for two-for-one movie night. We saw the new(ish) Indiana Jones movie for $3. Total. For movie "snacks" we had an awesome Oktoberfest micro brew and a slice of delicious cheese pizza. I don't think I can express how much I am loving Portland.

Afterward, Brian took us by his "office" and gave us quite a tour/talk about roasting coffee. He also gave us a few samples to try at home - one of which allegedly smells like Fruit Loops. I'm not convinced about the Fruit Loop bit, but it is quite tasty. We had two cups yesterday and I felt a little like I had tried crack for the first time. A spinning feeling in my head took over and I got the shakes as I came down from my caffeine high. One cup a day from now on. That stuff has a kick.

Oh, and say hello to our useless electronics graveyard. After buying three different phones, we discovered that the buzzing noise on our phone connection is the phone line and not our stupid cordless frequency. I have spent so many hours now on calls to Qwest that I give up. I'll think about the phone service next week, which will likely result in an $85 charge just for the technician to breathe on our stupid phone box. For now, Jesse (and his coworkers) will have to learn to love the buzz. I hate the buzz enough for everyone.

In happier news, our crate arrives today between 11am and 2pm (hopefully in one piece). I dread the unloading process, but can't wait to have my things in our new apartment. Let's hope that it's not too terribly hot outside and we find our fans rather quickly as we unpack.

Chairs

Not much time to blog today. I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon (squandering prime free WiFi hotspot time) and we're about to head to Ken's Artisian Bakery for Monday Pizza night. But, a sneak peek at the newest addition to our apartment.

His and her's chairs so we don't have to sit on the floor. As we found out on Sunday, Portland has a host of second hand furniture stores with totally cool furniture (that costs less than Ikea). Mine is a beauty. A rusty orange fabric that rocks AND swivels. Jesse's is stationary, but that's a good thing because he tends to wiggle too much anyway.

A self portrait (taken on our vacuum cleaner box) of us enjoying our finds. We walked down to the Pearl district last night to try out the free internet at Powell's and I window browsed at all of the high-end furniture stores to get upholstery ideas for recreating my little burnt-orange gem. The fabric is a tad scratchy, so I may endeavor to reupholster it mid-winter when I start to lose my mind from all the rain.

The wheels are also turning in the prospective tool department. I have been trying to justify owning this beauty for quite a while. But for now, a last view at the chairs at work. A beautifully set table (courtesy of Jesse), complete with Ikea packing paper table cloth.

First Day in the Apartment

We arrived at our apartment Saturday Morning and in no time had made a list of things that we desperately needed:
1. Toilet paper
2. Chairs
3. Food

Basically, we had to find a Target (or Target-like store) before the sun went down, otherwise we'd starve and have to use moving paper for our bathroom visits. I was so excited about the fact that we now have a bedroom that I decided (for the first time in my life) to set out on an excursion without a plan.

We first ended up at a complex of stores near the airport that didn't have a Target, but we browsed through Ross and IKEA for things we might want after all the desperate needs were fulfilled. Unfortunately, we just weren't finding basic things like mops and brooms and shower curtains at IKEA. In a stroke of brilliance, we decided to try to find an internet connection and stumbled on a Best Buy. There we strolled in and pretended to shop for computers while I Googled "Target." In a few minutes we were back in the car and on our way. In just an hour, we had filled up the back of the car with essentials like soap, shampoo, laundry detergent and basket, plastic forks and spoons, and lots and lots of toilet paper.

Somehow, even after the shopping spree at Target, two of our three items on the "necessities list had not been met. Still no chairs or food. After picking up dinner (and blogging a little over a beer) we walked to Trader Joe's for milk and breakfast foods. This was the sad state of Jesse's Sunday morning ritual, so we set out to find a desk and a few chairs so we wouldn't have to sit on the floor.

We were successful, but I've finished my iced tea and would hate to overstay my welcome at the free WiFi hot spot. More on our furniture adventures tomorrow.

Finally On Our Way

We embarked on the final leg of our epic trip across the country this Friday. Neither of us slept much on Thursday night - we were way too excited. Jesse finally got up at 6am to take a run and I rolled out of bed not much later to wash our sheets, make sandwiches for the road, and stuff everything back into my suitcase. We were on the road by 9:30 (with 6 Emily's muffins for emergencies).

There was hardly any traffic, so we made awesome time. I drove for approximately an hour on the highway and nearly had a nervous breakdown. I think I did fine, but was white-knuckling the steering wheel all the way. By the time we were past Redding, CA, I was back in the passenger seat with my camera in hand. Despite the fact that Highway 5 is pretty boring for a major stretch throughout California, it provides spectacular views on its northern-most section through the Oregon border. We passed by an amazing group of lakes on the way to Mt. Shasta and for miles the mountain peeked over the surrounding hills. I'm glad we got on the road so early that we could pass through this part of the trip while the sun was still up.

We arrived in Ashland, OR (just a few miles over the California/Oregon border) right around 5:00pm and decided to stop for dinner. Even though we weren't very hungry in the car, by the time we sat down at Greenleaf Restaurant we were ready to gnaw off our own arms. I got a fresh fish sandwich and Jesse had a delicious Thai chicken wrap. I'm so glad that we didn't press on for another 20 or 50 miles. After dinner and a coffee, we decided to head to Roseburg, OR to stay for the night - putting us just three hours from Portland for the Saturday morning drive.

This morning we were on the road again at 8am, both ready to finally be home. Since our Super 8 motel had coffee that looked like weak tea, we decided to take to the highway without a morning brew. Bad idea. One exit later we stopped at Dutch Bros. Coffee. It was also a bad idea - with very weak coffee - but there was an open road calling. We landed in Portland around 10:45am and were standing in our very empty apartment just a few minutes later.

It's great. We're extremely excited. It will be interesting living for the next week (or so) without any furniture. Or internet. But it will be fun!