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Date Night

AKA:  Portland for Lunch

Ted and I made a tradition of going to see the colors - the Autumn colors up in the mountains here in beautiful Utah.  We would leave in the morning and go see the beauty that surrounds us.  This year, we changed it up a bit.

This last week I was in training all week for the job.  Ted and I talked that if I had Sunday off, we would try and go somewhere. Thursday, we decided Portland.  Leave late Friday night and come home Saturday evening, leaving Portland in the afternoon.  We got us listed on the flights we wanted, set up the rental car and found a hotel for the night.

I managed to get us on the guest list for the Sky Club.  Made a new friend during the class and he got us in the club.  It's where those frequent fliers, important people, celebrities and such go to relax, chat, eat free food and drink free alcohol and other beverages.  There are also showers available and places to set up your computers.  Our flight there was delayed about a half hour.  We ended up in the back of the plane, Ted in the window, me in the middle and another gentleman in the aisle.  Not comfortable, bumpy flight because of the storms heading toward Utah.   We got in around 11:30 p.m. to Portland.

We went to get our car from Hertz.  Because I have a membership there, they just have a light up board with our name and the parking spot number listed.  You just walk up, get the keys off the dashboard, load up your stuff and check out with the guy at the booth.  I was so pleasantly surprised when we got this little sporty Mustang.  It was pretty awesome and fun to drive.

From there we headed to our hotel.  When looking for hotels, I looked for one close to the airport, because I knew we would be ready to relax and go to sleep.  When we got there, we found out that we were booked for a smoking room.  This was my mistake when we were booking.  Ted instantly started telling him that a mistake had been made.  Well, the gentleman at the desk moved us to a non-smoking room.  It ended up being a suite because that was all he had.  It was a small kitchenette and separate living area with a king sized bed and jetted tub.  It was awesome.

The next morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we went on our visit with color.  Ted used to live in the Bay Area of California and he spent a lot of time in Washington, but not alot in Oregon.  The only time I remembered spending time in the Portland area, we drove through on our way home from our Alaskan cruise and decided to go through Portland - and that was horrible because it added three hours onto our trip home!!  Anyway!!!!  We wanted to go to the coast - but, little did we realize that it was about an eighty - yes eight zero -  mile trip both ways.  But, we figured if we went there, we could have time to play by the ocean, get lunch and then head back to the airport.  Which is literally what we did.  We drove through some of the most amazing scenery imaginable.  The greenery and the trees hugged over us like a cocoon over the two-laned road that we took to get to the ocean.  It was so beautiful!



We made it to the ocean and drove up the coast line.  Our first view of the ocean was so incredible.  It was like it was suddenly there.  And the closer we got the more we got that amazing ocean smell; the salt and the sea.  It was such a powerful sight.  We drove up to a state park that was on the beach and just stood in awe of the beauty and the power of the vast ocean - waves upon waves upon waves.







We looked on the GPS for a restaurant close by to have lunch.  We ended up at The Schooner.  It was right on Netarts Bay.  We sat in the enclosed patio so we could look out upon the bay.  We had fish and chips and just enjoyed the scenery.



Once lunch was done, we knew we were going to have to really push the accelerator to make it in time to the airport.  Plus, we had to fill up the rental car before we returned it.  So, we had to hurry. We figured that we were going to make it with a little cushion, but we didn't account for bad Portland traffic, a wrong turn and having to fill up the tank.  I had to go to the bathroom so badly, that I could hardly breathe and I definitely couldn't concentrate on anything that Ted had to say.  I didn't want to stop, because I was afraid we would be off schedule even more.  We finally were able to fill up the car, empty my bladder and return the car.  We made it through security about 45 minutes prior to flight time - whew!!!

Ted stopped after security to make sure we were headed to the right gate - we found out that our flight was delayed for two hours.  CRAP!!!  Had we known that, we would have spent much more time by the ocean!!!!  I kept watching the listing, they were rebooking so many of the passengers.  By the time we boarded three hours later, Ted and I were seated next to each other in first class.  Big and comfy seats, plenty of stretch room, whatever you want to drink and snacks.  What a way to end the most amazing date night we have ever had - - - - - - - - - - - - - thus far.

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