Winding Down in Portland

17 Comments

We spent our last week in Portland before flying to Minnesota. Over time, I think, our lifestyle has actually afforded us more time with our families than had we stayed put in Chicago. I’m sure there is no way we would have seen each other as much had we slipped into the grind, even if flights would have been cheaper and easier. I know I certainly would have loved to have been able to spend a month with my grandpa when I was just a little guy.

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The official “70” picture.

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Summer doesn’t start on the Oregon coast until, I believe, August. The same month it ends.

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Ouest’s list of supplies needed to construct her latest creation.

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And here is the artist’s rendering of the finished product.

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That right there is how you score a goal.

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Lowe and Bridget became serious best friends on this visit. No matter how incredibly rough he is with her, she never wants to be anywhere else but right next to him. They played for many, many hours together.

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Getting the Porsche ready for another extended absence.

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Our friend’s Megan and Nick, co-author of Live on the Margin, and wandering travelers extraordinaire. Somehow we always manage a meet-up in Portland despite our vagabond ways. Lowe brought his own dog, named Luv-U, along to the park with him.

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Five days earlier it was 103 degrees in Portland. Today there was hail.

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And then we were gone. Portland behind us, Minnesota in front of us, an East Coast summer on the way, and South America looming ever closer.

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17 Comments on “Winding Down in Portland”

  1. Being a Grammy, I of course love the photo of Ouest putting flowers in her lounging Grammy’s hair. So sweet. Safe travels.

  2. It seems like all the big adventures somehow are conceived in Minnesota. Must be the air up there!!
    Wish you guys were closer to California for our visit. One of these years!!!! 😀

  3. I’ve seen her considerable talents with beads, throw in some metal, a solar panel, some bailing wire, and a couple screws and a gardening robot is all but inevitable!

  4. Good on you showing Lowe how to change his tire. Self reliance at an early age bodes well for his future. Happy Trails!

  5. East Coast summer? Alright! I’ve been waiting for you guys to meander over here. I hope you manage to see New England, it’s wicked pretty this time of year. Safe travels!!

  6. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
    Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
    Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?
    ~ Five Man Electrical Band

    Wow! Talk about overkill. I live in Canada and it’s the same here. Once while driving through Washington I saw road signs that said that throwing burning objects from your vehicle is prohibited. Isn’t that just common sense?

  7. I’m as old (almost) as Gram. Graduated in ’66. I don’t remember a hug from either Gramma ever. Your kids will have so much good to remember. Priceless.

  8. A lot of those road worthy, non rusted 356’s are going for 6 figures on a regular basis these day – you are a lucky man to have kept it and teaching Ouest to drive in it will be a gas!!

  9. The bathtub art is so expansive! I think it is a sign that your children’s minds are very free, without some of the social constraints other kids have. What a treasure!

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