traffic jam

pictures from yesterday's traffic jam and wreck.... i decided not to take any pictures where you could actually see the person down.  it was bad though...

ready for the day to end....

the heat is brutal.  it's after 8pm and it's still over 90.  i wouldn't care but with no a/c it's unbearable.  and the dogs are miserable.

today i decided to venture out and take care of some of my errands, meaning - returns.  headed out to ikea to return a $25 shelf.  what a fucking mistake.  as i'm driving down the 205 freeway, i notice that there isn't a single car in the opposite direction.  i then notice that on all the on-ramps on the opposite side there are people outside their cars walking around on the ramps.  i then notice there are cops on every overpass and helicopters circling overhead.  at this point, i know something is up.  no one knows what's going on.  i decide to keep going because the traffic getting off at every exit is really backing up. i finally make it to ikea, heavily annoyed. i return the stupid $25 shelf and head back out hoping that the traffic is gone.

the traffic is slow but moving.  then it comes to a complete halt.  i then see a huge insane motorcade pass and it's obvious that it's someone important.  while stopped i check my iphone (yes i know it's illegal but we weren't moving!) and it appears that the vice president is in town and going to some private fundraiser.  thanks man!

i creep slowly along with the other annoyed peeps.  i finally make it to the 205 bridge that goes over the big river in portland.  traffic comes to a complete stop again and we don't move.  a while later sirens begin to blare and people are driving everywhere on this 4 lane bridge to make room for the fire truck.  did i mention that we were completely stopped and there was no where to go?!  clusterfuck.

we keep inching down to 1 lane of traffic to pass a horrible motorcycle wreck in the middle of the bridge.  the person was laying in the middle of the road while the firemen worked on him.  it was bad.  the ambulance couldn't even get up there.  i was just glad to make it by and hope that that person is ok...

finally made it home after 3 hours.  then went and bought another fan in hopes that it would help.  now i feel like i'm in a convection oven and not just an oven.  yay.

hotttttt

yesterday was incredibly hot.  today it's supposed to be even hotter with temps up to 100!  normally i wouldn't care so much but we have NO A/C!  misery.  it's already hot in here and never really cooled off last night.

saturday cannot get here fast enough....

beautiful days

i'm listening to two snoring dogs and grateful i have a few moments without a cold, wet nose nudging my arm for pets.  i love them but damn....nonstop.  especially when i'm trying to get work done.

the weather has been amazing lately with no rain.  today, however, is supposed to be the start of a major heatwave.  it was blatantly obvious while at target yesterday and the fan section was quite bare.  i lucked out and got one that was freshly stocked.  it will be my only source of comfort these days as most places do not have a/c.

i was out running errands yesterday when i noticed a beautiful, unobstructed view of mt hood.  it's rare to see it due to the constant clouds present.  i forgot to take my camera with me when i went to pick lee up from the hospital but did manage to capture a grainy pic with my iphone.  notice the snow on it.

last few days...

it's now tuesday...where did the weekend go?  oh yeah...unpacking, shopping for apt stuff, unpacking some more, cleaning, etc.

4th of july was uneventful but the sunset was really pretty.

it's hard to tell in the photo from my iphone but it was lovely.  the weather has been great but i hear it's going to be f-ing hot this week.  not looking forward to that as i hate heat with a passion.

finally working on laundry from the trip.  how could i forget the joys of using communal laundry facilities? what can you do though...

lee started her rotations today.  these first 5 weeks are inpatient at the hospital and are going to be brutal.  so it looks like it will be me and the pups and lots of pdx exploration...

first full day in pdx...

barely slept last night and woke up to the yellow lab jumping onto the blow up bed with me.  bad habit but it was really cute.  cannot wait to unpack my suitcases as i have no idea where anything is.  hopefully i can tackle that this weekend...

exhaustion set in today with the feeling of fighting a cold again.  i'm sure the freezing rainy weather hasn't helped.  meltdown ensued.  plans changed for the day but it turned out for the best anyway.

we went downtown to explore the food cart phenomena that has taken over portland.  love.  love.  love it.  they are lined up in various parking lots with every type of food you could ever imagine.  dangerous.

we went in search of one cart in particular.  the most dangerous of them all.  big-ass sandwiches.  that's the name of it.  perfect description too.  they put hand-cut fries ON THE SANDWICH.  with the most delicious bechamel cheese sauce on it.  i think i died.  we got roast beef, cheese sauces and fries on a fresh ciabatta roll.  we passed it back and forth and it was gone in a matter of minutes.  insanity.

we then went in search of the dump truck featuring homemade dumplings for my sister.  they even had bacon cheeseburger dumplings.  i tasted it and it indeed tastes like a bacon cheeseburger.  
we were stuffed and miserable after that...i tried to rest after getting home but the dogs kept getting in my face trying to get attention.  


hours later and after much discussion we picked a vietnamese bistro for dinner.  pretty damn good.  of course the sun finally came out while we were eating.  here is lee (my sister) digging on some cilantro.

got fro-yo again and stopped in new seasons which is the gelson's of portland.  


really hoping to sleep tonight.  


tomorrow i've got to find my external hard drive cords so i can back up my laptop.  need to dump some stuff so i can upload new pics.  getting behind....

day 9: oregon ---> portland

didn't sleep well...again...but i was ready to get out of the hotel.  packed up, loaded the car and left.  the drive felt like it took forever.  luckily it was great scenery to look at because i don't think i could have taken another idaho.  i swear the last 2 hours felt like 5 days though.  of course there was road work consistently throughout the state which majorly slowed me down.  was happy to finally see mt hood and some falls and then the drive through town to my sister's place.

only unloaded a couple of things.  have so much shuffling to do around her place to make room.  another person plus another person's stuff on top of what was already here and her 2 big dogs = not much room.  we'll make it work though.  she won't be here all the time and it will be just me and her pups.

the crazy pups were excited upon the arrival.  lots of pets (and fur) later, i was still being bombarded with dogs in my face.

we walked to a place in the neighborhood called salvador molly's for happy hour and $2 bite night.  it was  delicious and we had entirely too much food.  the artichoke and cotija cheese tamale was my fave.

we walked around some more and ended up at korkage wine shop's wine tasting.  went to the food co-op and looked around and headed back to the house.

decided to go get some fro-yo at a new place.  the you serve it, fix it and weigh it type place.  peanut butter flavor was f-ing yum.

then went to my new fave store, fred meyer, where you can buy anything and everything you need and don't need.  can't get over how nice people are here.  i'm not used to smiling faces and hello's.  where are all the middle fingers and overly botoxed peeps?  must...learn...to...smile...more...