It's a long, long way to Portland. It's a long way to go.

Mari and I were invited
by Daniel and Elliza
to come to Portland to see
our newest granddaughter, Elliot.

We decided to drive,
partly for the hell of it,
partly because Mari has a slightly used Subaru,
replacing a long-term Ford Escape,
and partly because--
among other things--
it made it easier to see our daughter, Heidi,
and Jack, somewhere near Santa Cruz.

We aimed, first, at Las Vegas,

mostly out of sheer curiosity,
since we had never been there.
We will probably not go there, again.

It has been our intention
to see a show
because we had (logic in play, here)
never been to Las Vegas before.
When we got there,

we said "To hell with it: let's eat."

Cigarette smoke everywhere.

We did enjoy the drive
through desert places
we had never seen,
or could not remember.

The next day, we drove through
even more interesting places,
wriggling our way on back ways
to Lake Tahoe, not Reno,
but the south end of the lake where we had an enchanting seafood dinner
at a table next to a young couple from England, at a restaurant at the lake.
The "patio" was glass-protected from whatever wind there might have been,
providing both an indoor and outdoor experience, simultaneously.

On the morning after,
we drove around the east side of the lake,
just for the views, stopping for breakfast
at the Tunnel Creek Cafe,
proudly said to have been a prop
for the TV show, "Ponderosa".

I found myself staring up at a pine tree
wondering what kind of pine it was:
eventually logic kicked in, again.

I was more intrigued by the sign on the wrong side of the building--
the back side, the uphill side, the side facing the trees--
that advertised the availability of gluten-free food;
just what Hoss and Little Joe would have wanted, I assume!

That day,
and another,
we drove toward Portland.

Comments

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