We flew out of Binghamton on July 1st at 11:10am. I was reminded yet again that getting to the Binghamton airport 1hr 20mins before flight time is about an hour to soon. But we did get to see the captain of the Blue Angels take off on a practice run for the July 4th airshow.
The check-in and flights were all uneventful and largely on time, with clear but hot weather from Phili to Charlette to Oregon. A 3 hour layover in Phili gave time to read and snack. No time in Charlotte due to almost an hour delay boarding and waiting on the runway. A 3 year old blonde several rows back in route to Phili started asking repeatedly from the second the plane started moving/taxiing "Mommy, are we flying yet? Mommy, are we flying yet?" A couple crying babies were also nearby on our remaining 2 flights, but right across the aisle going to Portland was a young family with an infant and curly topped quiet reader. Reminded me of days gone by! There was a screamer 10 rows up that really agitated the 50 year old woman in the seat ahead of us (she was almost worse to listen to than the child)!
The five hours en-route to Portland seemed long without a meal to occupy even a 1/2 hour. We polished off all fruit, granola, etc and slept a bit. Some moderate turbulence over the rockies had the passenger to my left quite uptight. What a beautiful landing in Portland as we came in with Mount Adams, St Helens and Rainier to the north, and the wing almost clipped (it seemed so close) Mt Hood to the south. No problems getting our single checked bag, picking up our 4-door Corolla and making the almost 60 mile trek south to Salem. It was good to hug Josh and have a couple slices of pizza at midnight (or was it 3am?), listening to but a few of his adventures before bed. Josh's host family, Roger and Jan Brehm, graciously gave us their master bedroom for the weekend as they were out of town.
No big plans for Thursday, but our bodies seemed ready for morning before the clock said we had "slept in". Josh's normal soccer schedule definitely allows us time to ourselves on the back deck to read and drink coffee. (Their supper after practice is usually around 10:30pm or so!)We wandered the streets of Salem an hour or so, clean and quaint with interesting shops and friendly proprietors. I stopped into 3 shops within several blocks that had mineral specimens displayed, picking up a small Oregon "thunderegg" half from an nick-knack Antique store. The owner was personally interested in local Indian artifacts, but knew about the coastal agate possibilities and thunderegg locales to the east. On to Venti's for a flavorful Teriyaki lunch and some wonderful fresh apple crumb bread from Harvest Bakery. Back "home" for a brief rest watching "Grizzly Man" on Animal Planet before heading off to practice on a nearby Williamette University turf field.
We wandered a bit while the guys warmed up, and Em rested in the car for the second half, but I stuck it out to the end. After all, this might be my last practice!! I couldn't help thinking about the many fields that Josh's soccer passion has taken us both to over the years. Dave Irby, owner of the Surge, stopped over to introduce himself to the "stranger who came to watch his team practice". We talked for 15 minutes, a very pleasant, down-to-earth and mission oriented guy. As the names were read for the 2 game weekend trip north to Vancouver, I headed back to the car, after making sure Josh was free for the weekend. After all, there was a chance he might be starting since he showed so well in practice!!Click for Em's Picasa Pictures
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