back to portland

first blog while back in portland for the new year.

hard to believe it's 2011.

2011.

where did the last decade go?

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it was hard to leave raleigh behind and to say goodbye to my sweet dog.

i hate more than anything leaving him.  somehow i think it gets harder each time.

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flew out on a 6:20am flight.

6:20am!

that means getting up at 3:30am.  a time when i'm usually going to bed.

needless to say it was dark out.

are pilots able to function and operate all of this at that hour?

it was dark for quite a while since we were flying west.

then an amazing sunrise came up on the left side of the plane.

that only semi distracted me from the young mormon guy i sat next to.  he spent a good portion of time preaching the gospel to me.

now listen... i respect anyone's beliefs.  but please do not try to convert me at 5:50am before we've even taken off.

i can barely sit up at that hour, much less think.

the next flight i sat next to a man that picked his nose most of the flight.  and when he wasn't picking he was sleeping with his hat covering his face.  lovely.

here's the view:

made it safely back to portland before noon.

i was delirious from the lack of sleep but glad to be home.