Day 45: October 21

Paul & I got to catch up with Laura Olson over lunch somewhere in Portland. There were quite a few good stories including her experience being interviewed for CNN's Welcome to the Future with Miles O'Brien. There will be a clip of her interview at some point. If news isn't your style, try this story on for size: There was a waiter at the greek restaurant that was wearing a purple octopus on his head. Really. He had a stuffed purple octopus headband on his shiny, bald head.

After all of the conference work was finished, Paul & I explored the Multnomah Falls, which for those of you not in the know, is the second highest year round waterfall in the United States. We climbed to the top and then back down. Not a whole lot to report. Just that this was the most tourist overloaded place that we may have been on this whole trip. Visiting a natural attraction right on the side of the road allows you to see a whole different breed of tourist that you may have otherwise missed. This type is the type that smokes the entire mile hike up the top of the falls and thinks that only "personal trainers and masseuses" can do so without wheezing. They also take a LOT of pictures in front of the falls with their cell phones. Convenient, but odd. High heel shoes and flip flops were more common on the blacktop pathways than sneakers or hiking shoes. English speaking visitors were greatly outnumbered by eastern europeans and finally, there were more toy dogs per capita than there should ever be in one place. As I was saying though, the falls were beautiful.

~
I find that in contemplating the natural world my pleasure is greater if there are not too many others contemplating it with me, at the same time. - Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
~

Dinner was at Paley's Place with dear Frank. My meal was all raw (on purpose) and Paul's was all side dishes (not on purpose). I thought oysters and steak tartare sounded like the perfect meal and it probably would have been had I been suffering from a salt deficiency - this place used all of the seasoning. The wine was great (we brought it from our wine tastings yesterday), the side of roasted beets were yummy, and Paul loved their mustard aioli on french fries. Best of all (or at least giving the wine a run for its tannins) was just hanging out with Flanklyn Niles.



I wonder how Danielle's date is going back in Columbus...