Last Internet For Miles

Arrived in Portland.  Never been in Portland before, and I had a little time to kill before the cruise, so I wandered around downtown a bit.  It's nice.  Pacific Northwesty.  (I've never set foot in Oregon before, but I have been to Washington twice, and it's similar.)  Lots of green.  Some sleek, modern buildings, but you just can't shake the feeling that you should be eating elk.

Getting here was ... well, standard for me.  Generally, I take early flights and end up procrastinating on packing the night before.  This results in me, say, filling little shampoo bottles at around 2:00 in the morning, and then having to wake up five hours later.  Well not THIS time.  This time, I finished packing by around 5:00 p.m.

OK, there was a small catch.  The Theatre Critic thing.  A show I wanted to review was opening on Friday night, and I planned to grab dinner, see it, write the review, and be in bed by midnight.

Riiiight. 

Traffic got ahead of me, and I didn't get to the theatre in time for pre-show dinner.  The show, which was set to start at 7:30, experienced technical difficulties, and got delayed by about a half hour.  And it ran about 3 hours, while I'd been expecting somewhat less.

When all was said and done, I got out of the theatre at 11:00.  REALLY hungry (and, of course, with no feed in the house, no idea of where I could GET food that late at night, and still needing to write the review).

Long story short (I'm in a hotel business center at the extortionate price fo $5 for 15 minutes -- but I thought, hey, last chance for a week), my review got submitted at quarter to three.  In the morning.  THIS morning, come to think of it.  A good four hours before I had to wake up to leave for the airport.

Somehow, I got up and dressed and ready; got in the elevator and went down to the garage ... and my car wasn't there.  A moment of panic; then the memory that the garage door was broken (AGAIN) last night and I had to park in the street.  A second moment of panic -- I'd forgotten to call and leave a message on the City's Parking Enforcement Answering Machine last night --they could have ticketed me!

Hauling my luggage across the street, I was pleased to discover they let my overnight parking violation slide.  A good omen (I hope) for the rest of the trip.