07-03-2026 On Our Way

The day we had been anticipating for months had finally arrived.

With all of Mattie's things packed into the car, we headed first to Home Away From Home, her boarding kennel. She has stayed there before, so we felt completely comfortable leaving her in their care. They promised email updates and those adorable little report cards, along with three trips outside each day and playtime every other day with dogs her own size. Mattie has always charmed the staff and loves making new canine friends, so we knew she would be fine. Maybe a little sad and missing us, but fine.

We have never made it Portland in 4 hours!

After dropping her off, we merged onto Interstate 5 and pointed the car north toward Portland and PDX. It's about a six-hour drive from home if traffic cooperates, and that was the big unknown. It was Friday, and Portland's huge Waterfront Blues Festival was in full swing along the river.

I had attended the festival once years ago when Deborah was treasurer of the Cascade Blues Society and had a booth there. It was great fun spending two days surrounded by wonderful music, especially since I had free admission and a quiet place to escape the crowds whenever I needed to retreat to Deb's booth. The fireworks over the river that year were spectacular...and so long, loud, and overwhelming that I was secretly relieved when they finally ended!

Deb in her booth at the 2006 Waterfont Blues Festival in Portland

No fireworks for us this year, although I wasn't surprised to notice a number of distinctly bluesy-looking people checking into our hotel.

Considering it was one of the busiest travel weekends of the summer, traffic was amazingly light. We even had time to stop at a surprisingly good Applebee's for lunch. The portions were so generous that we had plenty left over for an early supper back in our room before heading to the airport.

Lots of leftovers from pour delicious Applebee's lunch

Traffic remained easy until the final three miles before our exit, where everything suddenly ground to a halt. It took about twenty minutes to crawl those last few miles, but because we had allowed plenty of extra time, neither of us felt stressed. By the time we reached the hotel, however, I was suddenly exhausted and more than ready for a nap. Go figure.

Perfectly comfortable room with a decent bed and linens

We settled into the La Quinta Inn & Suites near Portland Airport. It isn't fancy, but it's clean, comfortable, and serves exactly the purpose we needed: a place to rest before catching the 7:00 p.m. shuttle to the airport for our 10:00 p.m. red-eye flight to Boston. It also lets us leave the car for the duration of our trip, which is far easier than parking at the airport. The shuttle drops us right at the entrance, and any help with our luggage is appreciated. Although both suitcases were under the 50-pound limit, they were about as heavy as we could comfortably manage.The desk clerk had to search around to find someone to help us with our luggage, but once she did he was cheerful and very helpful. No waiting bellhops here like the fancier hotels.

look closely and you can see the little Lexus in the shade in front of that white shuttle van

When I asked about the safest place to leave the car for seventeen days, she pointed to a parking spot directly in front of the lobby. Perfect. Before we headed inside, Mo disconnected the battery ground cable to make sure the truck would start when we returned.

Our Alaska flight was scheduled to depart at 10:00 p.m., so we caught the 7:00 shuttle to the airport. The timing worked out just about perfectly, although we still had to wrestle our luggage ourselves since there were no porters available at that hour. We checked our bags, discovering that Alaska now charges an additional $35 per checked bag, made our way through security, and soon arrived at our gate with plenty of time to spare.

For what was supposed to be one of the busiest travel days of the year, we were amazed at how empty the airport felt. Someone told us the previous day had been absolute chaos, with many travelers choosing to leave early to avoid the holiday rush.

The new waiting area before we went through security at PDX

PDX has recently completed an extensive remodel. It looked beautiful, although I realized I could hardly remember what it had looked like before. Security was quick and painless, and before long we were comfortably settled at the gate waiting for an on-time departure.

Our Alaska flight had the standard three-and-three seating. Since it was only about a five-hour flight, I had decided not to pay extra for Economy Plus. Then, just before departure, Viking sent me an offer to upgrade our seats, and I quickly accepted. It wasn't expensive, and the little bit of extra legroom was well worth it.

Mo had the middle seat, I had the aisle, and our window-seat companion was a large young man who immediately put in his earbuds, closed the window shade, and settled in for the flight.

view of the off limits facilities at the front of our plane

The only downside was that our seats were a very long way from the bathrooms we were actually allowed to use. The first-class restroom was only a few rows away, but, alas, those of us in steerage had to make the long trek to the back of the plane. Thankfully I didn't have to make too many trips.

wildfire smoke above the cloud layer over the midwest

As we climbed away from Portland, our seatmate lifted the shade just enough for us to look out. The western sky was hazy with wildfire smoke, a reminder of the Oregon summer we were leaving behind.

The first photo shows two excited travelers just beginning a long-awaited adventure.

The second shows two rather worn-out old ladies by the end of the flight.