RV Adventure – Portland, OR Part II – NNs On the Wind

June 9, 2019October 30, 2019 Kathleen Ennen

JUNE 8, 2019 – Portland, OR

Today was another early travel day. Up at 5:30 to walk to the SeaTrain Station and get to the airport by 7 for the 9AM flight to Portland OR. We remembered that we had to make it through US customs as well as security so the 2 hour preflight window was good for all the queues as well as a stop at the airside lounge for a nice breakfast of eggs and toast and very good coffee!!

It was a short flight on a clear day which gave us a chance to see tall peaks of the Cascade Mountains in Washington. Impressive to be looking out the window and see a snow covered mountain peak at nearly eye level. It was a small plane and not sure of the altitude we were at. Seems we were passing by Mt Rainier first and then Mt Adams. Beautiful!!!

We took the MAX line to the house to drop off our stuff and then headed into town, on the river to watch the Rose Festival Dragon Boat Races. Cheri has been practicing hard for 10 weeks and the races are held on both Saturday and Sunday to accommodate the approximately 60 teams. Each team gets to race at least twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday. The teams with the best times get to race a third time on Saturday and the finals on Sunday offer a third race to those that get that far with the best times. What a show!!

As part of the festival we also saw, in the distance, the Coast Guard demonstrating a water rescue by helicopter. I’m glad to have my long lens……..

After a great dinner out we were given a driving tour out to the Columbia River and back by an enormous rose garden in full bloom. Amazing….

Roses

JUNE 8

Coast Guard demonstrating a water rescue by helicopter

JUNE 9, 2019 – Portland, OR

During the Rose Festival a number of US Navy and Coast Guard as well as Canadian vessels arrive for display and public tours. WE didn’t want to tour a boat but had to stand in a 45 minute line to get checked in and through security. We explained we just wanted to walk dockside to see the boats. We were given an escort by a young navy seaman who knew a great deal about the boats. It was really fun to have a private tour!!! We left the Navy side and its security, and then walked along the dock to see the Canadian and US Coast Guard ships. It’s fun to be so close!

JUNE 9, 2019 – Portland, OR

We then headed back down to the waterfront to watch Cheri in her second race. It was windier and much choppier so the times weren’t as good as on Saturday. The team, UDragonU ended up 3^rd in Division 2. They didn’t get a prize but they did better than last year as there raced the finals in Division 3 in 2018. There was a fun “celebration” gathering at a nearby pub afterwards. The team spirit was terrific. Here are 30+ plus paddlers and partners that mostly only get together during the practice season that starts in late April. They vowed to try a mid-winter social event as they realize how much fun they all have when they are together.

We have traveled over the years and retired in 2017, when we started on a nine month long adventure departing in December 2017. In the past we’ve traveled to Sri Lanka, Africa (several times), Turkey, and made a number of trips to Europe, and St Lucia. Our 2015 trip to Turkey, took nearly 3 weeks to explore Istanbul, Cappadocia and the areas in proximity to Izmir.

This is a chronicle of our travels, past and present. We love to travel by trains, planes, ships, and cars – and love sailing whenever and wherever we can.

We retired from the US General Services Administration, the Federal Government’s landlord! Thom worked at planning and large scale program management of numerous projects and Kathleen, a registered professional civil engineer, was a project manager for many infrastructure and building renovation projects, including both design and construction aspects, in New England, Florida and the metro DC area. We lived in Washington DC for 12 years and upon retirement sold the house, putting a few things in a 5’x5’ storage unit and started traveling.

On return to the US in September 2018, after traveling to 21 countries, we bought a Class C RV – 2019 Thor Freedom Elite 24FE. We enjoyed our week long camping trip in New Zealand in a small converted van with few amenities, so this seemed liked a good way to tour the US. We hope to visit family along the way and as many US National Parks as possible.

UPDATE – the Covid pandemic made travel more difficult for us. We were abroad for several months when the pandemic started and returned to the US in July 2020. After several months in the RV to visit Utah and Albuquerque NM, we moved east, bought a house on the Northern Neck of Virginia, and sold the RV. For 2021 and 2022 we tended to our new house and cottage, gardens and various boats including a 18’ 1977 Marshall Sanderling catboat and a 25’ Steiger Craft Chesapeake fishing boat, and kayaks and a canoe. Hopefully travel will start again one day!!

May 2022