Back to Portland

Well, back in the City of Roses after a wonderful trip down the coast.  It couldn't have been a more pleasant road trip. 

On Friday I drove from Arcata, California up to Ashland, Oregon.  A beautiful drive through the coastal mountains.  A fair amount of fall color in the hills. 

In Ashland I checked-into an all suites hotel that was very nice.  A room damn near as big as my apartment in Juneau.  I wandered around downtown Ashland which is very quaint.  The two major industries are the Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  A very congenial atmosphere with lots of good food and beverages.  Had supper and went back to my room where I booked a ticket to see Hamlet on Saturday afternoon.

My last encounter with the Prince of Denmark was back in the 9th grade - Mrs. Green's English class.  I spent some time Saturday morning online brushing-up on my Shakespeare studies.  A plethora of crib notes are now available online - a huge boon to modern day 9th grade students, I'm sure.  Then I was off to the theater for a wonderful experience.  A fun pub supper with lots of amusing company at the bar.  A very good day. 

The festival offers a range of theater - not just the classics of the Bard of Avon.  The 2010 program included "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", a stage adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" as well as a number of offerings by contemporary playwrights.  And there are several productions I'd love to see scheduled for the 2011 season.

So...just one  more attraction to add to the Oregon desirability list which grows longer by the day...

Yesterday was a travel day.  Drove from Ashland back up to PDX.  There were HUGE thunderheads - I drove through three distinct storms that included lightning displays and serious downpours.  There was a winter storm watch for the Cascade passes and I guess the Columbia River bar was shut-down as well.  I checked-in to the Benson around 4 PM, had an early supper and was sawing logs by 8 PM.

Tonight it's off to Bamboo Sushi with Jim Larson, Jane, John and Amanda.  Leah has a conflict but I will be joining her for lunch in an hour or so.

Life is good!