Friday, December 21, 2007

Trip to Portland

My daughter and I flew from Wichita to Portland yesterday, with stops in Denver and Seattle. (Coming back it will be more direct, with a stop only in Denver.) Going on a Boeing 757 from Denver to Seattle was exciting. United definitely took good care of us on the trip, and my daughter's bag came through the checking process like it was supposed to.

In Portland I am staying at my oldest son's apartment in the downtown area. We walked down to the Willamette River riverfront area this morning and saw a drawbridge open and cl ose. I was surprised at how many bridges there are across the river. Normally there are many more blocks between bridges, even in a downtown area. (It is a wide river so each bridge is a major project.) I was impressed with a plaque recounting how Oregonians in 1938 decided to clean up the river pollution, and by 1972 it was again deemed safe for water activities. This puts Oregon about 32 years ahead of the rest of the country, in my estimation.

I am also impressed with the public transportation here. My son and his fiancee are getting along without a car. My son actually took the train to the airport to meet us, and we then rode the train back into town to within a few blocks of his apartment.

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