My Monday is sort of a blur right now…not because of some last minute drinking binge on spring break but because of travel hangover. Have you had that before? You travel from point A to point B and you just want to sleep? You take a red-eye so you can see all the things, but then can barely keep your eyes open on the shuttle to your car?
Yep. That’s me today.
Incase you missed it, Sam, Memphis, and I traveled to Portland, Oregon. I was in town for a conference, and it was also our spring break week. We had layovers in Denver and Phoenix. We had wonderful TSA agents, flight attendants, and down right kind, genuine people who were gracious and patient with us.
 
Portland…well…
Portland is weird. In fact, there’s a sign around town that reads, “Keep Portland Weird.”
Portland is the first place that I’ve been in a long time that did not make Sam feel weird for having a service dog. No one asked us, “what’s wrong with your dog?” or “is that a lab?!” No one said, “LOOK! A MAN WITH A DOG!” or “OMGEEEEEEE, A DOG!” In fact, I only counted four times that people asked, “is he working now?” instead of reaching out to pet him.
No one stared at us or followed us to see where we were going with a dog…and no one questioned Memphis being a real service dog or not.
During our time away we had wonderful accommodations…our rented apartment was basically brand new. We were close to the Convention Center. I had delicious coffees and lattes. The food was good (but Sam hated drinks being served in glass bottles). We met up with one of my dear friends from high school, and I saw friends from the conference (it was only my second year, but I felt like I’ve known some of my conference friends for years), and I got to see my SIU friends again.
My heart was full.
And I haven’t even told you about the conference yet…
With the travel, the chaos of layovers, the stress of flying and hoping luggage makes it to your final destination, there was a lot of good things from our trip. As Sam reminded me…when he was deployed in Iraq, a fellow soldier would always say, “it’s all about the memories!” Boy, did we make some memories.
We saw mountains, some were even snow capped.
Sam and Memphis went to Astoria and got to see the “Goonies” house from a distance.
We visited Deschutes Brewery and had a wonderful meal with some excellent company (thanks, Julie!).
I went to the famous Powell’s Books…and purchased a few things (okay, maybe a lot because it is being sent UPS to me now).
I presented on a panel with some very amazing folks who are part of a larger field of veterans studies.
I saw conference friends—Jenni, Mariana, Corrine, Ashley, and several others.
We saw food trucks, or the pods…but I did not get to eat at the Grilled Cheese Grill (darn).
We made a Target run…just to feel at home.
The University of Oregon is an amazing campus! We picked up some Ducks gear, and had some delicious pizza from Tracktown Pizza…yummm!
I saw SIU friends (Jenni and Ashley)…and Seanse! We were able to go to Seattle and meet up for some delicious pizza and great conversation.
I took a trip with my best friend. And he didn’t mind one bit that part of it was for professional development, and time to be with “my people.”
And, one of the perks—
We picked up coffee from Stumptown…which is how I am managing my Monday!
