Chicago-Seattle-Portland

What a week! First my plane out of Reno was delayed for 4.5 hours leaving Reno, so what I had hoped would be a nice evening in Chicago, turned into a midnight arrival in the windy city. It was the day before the weather change and so it was actually warmer in Chicago (no snow on the ground) than it was in Reno. The airlines tried to blame it on the weather---but it was lovely in Reno AND Chicago, so I have a hard time believing this!

Of course, true to this part of the Mid-West, the weather was soon to change. Our original flight was canceled at 4pm (even though the snow had yet to fall) and was post-poned until 9pm). And right as the snow was now coming down and blowing all over the place, our plane left around 9PM and headed West for Seattle, and the weather was bad in both places---yet the plane still flew. Paola and I had hoped to spend the evening sightseeing in Seattle, but of course by the time we arrived it was once again near midnight. Sigh.

After a day of appointments in the cold rain, we had some local wine-tasting in Issaqua (Walla Walla Valley!)--and decided to head to the downtown, Pike Street Fish market to celebrate Paola's birthday. We found a lovely quiet little place and ate some wild salmon and then headed back to our room for an early flight to Portland.

Did I mention the rain? OK. So we left a rainy Seattle and arrived in a rainy Portland. At least our first stop was River City Bicycles, one of the most fabulous bikeshops in the USA. If you are ever in Portland, this shop is worth a visit. More rain...more visits and then we headed to our room for a good nights sleep for the first time in days.

We woke up well-rested---and to more rain before heading to Hillsboro and then ended the day with Thai food with A friend and his wife. Another early morning in the rain before heading to some California sunshine and a weekend to rejuvenate in lovely Marina Del Rey, California!