Cross country adventures
It was a great trip. I got to see where my wife used to live, meet two of
my LJ friends I’ve never met before and meet one of their significant
others and the other one’s sister. Plus got to two states I’ve never been
in before (even if one for only an hour) and see all sorts of new and
interesting things and have all sorts of interesting discussions!
After I dropped my wife off at the Dallas airport Sunday I didn’t do a
whole lot. I walked around the area near the hotel, looking for her plane
taking off. But, it was several hours late, so my waiting under the flight
path at the correct time did me little good. I did finally see it as it
took off just at sunset.
Monday I had to wait until my coworker flew in to meet me. So, I ate the
hotel included breakfast and watched morning TV. Got to say, I’m not
impressed with morning TV.
When Matt landed we drove off towards the customer site. We stopped for
lunch at a cafeteria style barbeque place. It was OK. Not as good as the
place we are with phoenixisrisen Saturday by a long shot.
The company we visited was pretty good. I’m sure they can make what we
want. It’s a very nice, new, big and busy factory. I gave my presentation
on why we need the special features we need. It was clear they thought
they could talk us out of them, but then realized we really do need all
that stuff. So we got a “we’re going to review our quote before we send it
to you.”
As I said, I’m pretty sure they can make what we want. I’m just not sure
how much they’ll charge. (Right now the rooms are $37,000 to $210,000
depending on the size…)
Their sales guy took us out to dinner, which is not only nice, but against
my company’s ethics policy. (We’re not supposed to let anyone buy us meals
or give us gifts.) We offered to pay, so we said that was good enough for
ethics and ate the food.
The next morning we met up at 4AM and headed over to the airport. It took
us much longer to get from the rental car return to the terminal than it
took to get from the hotel to the rental car return.
Flying from Dallas to Portland we changed planes in Phoenix AZ. I was
quite sad on the flight as I was in a middle seat and everyone around me
shut their windows. I had never been to AZ before and wanted to look out
and see it from the air.
On the next leg of the flight I made sure to get a window seat and was glad
I did.
The Phoenix airport seemed very nice. It had signs up all over saying it
was the “nicest airport in America”. I’m not sure if they mean the US,
North America or the whole pole to pole thing.
I did stop and buy my wife a turquoise bracelet in the airport. They were
having a 50% off sale. They had some very nice ones, but they were
hundreds of dollars. I found something on the other end of the scale.
The young woman who worked there offered to mail my postcards for me. So,
I mailed postcards to uawildcatgrl from the state where she
lives, but not postcards from that state. Hope that’s OK.
The Portland tourist bureau seems to be very proactive. As I stood in the
Phoenix airport waiting for my plane a woman came up to me and asked if I
had been to Portland before.
“Not yet,” I told her.
“You MUST go see Multnomah Falls,” she said.
“I’ll try, but I’m only there for a short time.”
“This man hasn’t seen Multnomah Falls,” she said to another person in line.
“Oh, you MUST see it,” the other person said to me.
“He hasn’t seen Multnomah Falls?” another person asked.
“I promise I’ll try,” I said.
“What are you promising to see?” the first woman asked me.
“Those falls. Starts with an M. Multona or something. Everyone seems to
know them.”
“Write it down or you’ll forget!”
So, I wrote it down. Then they called the boarding for the plane and I was
pretty happy about that.
Having a window seat out of Phoenix was very cool. I had no idea the city
was as large as it is. It just went on and on and on.
Then we flew up along side the mountains and over some cool things. It was
a bit cloudy, so I’m not sure how well my photos will come out when I
finally sit down and edit them. (I’m pretty booked up the next few days,
so I’m not sure when that will be.)
As we came in towards Portland we had a very nice view of some of the
volcanoes around there. I’ve read about them many times, but never seen
them before. It wasn’t hard to spot Mount Saint Helen’s as I’ve seen so
many photos.
The land around Portland really reminded me a lot of some of the valleys in
Vermont.
But, the city itself was invisible as a cloud was in the river valley, but
only over the city.
A few fighter planes guided us in. Not sure if that’s normal in Portland
or not. Maybe they were there to make sure I went to those falls…
I was surprised the Portland airport was so large. I’m told I came in
about as far away as you could from the exit, but it took a good bit of
time to walk across it all. And, there appears to be a shopping mall in
the middle.
When we got to the rental car area there was a huge line for Hertz, which
is the company Matt was renting from. So, I got to read for an hour while
he got the car.
The company we were visiting there took us to lunch. We offered to pay,
but let them.
Then we toured their company. It is much smaller than the one in Texas.
(Of course, everything is bigger in Texas…)
But, they have a very good computer tracking and inventory system that
takes the orders straight from the computers and has the automated machine
cut and drill the part. So, they win on that.
The small factory might be a problem as they said when it gets crowded they
store things outdoors.
I’m not sure I want the sides of my multi-million dollar machine waiting
outside for a couple of days.
Granted in the 22 hours I was in Portland, it did not rain. But, the city
does have a reputation for it.
I think it is going to come down to the price between the two as both have
some good things going for them. We’ll see what they quote.
When we were done with the tour their sales guy told us he had planned a 3
hour trip to show us the area. It was going to involve going up and down
hills, mountains, rivers and such. (He had a land rover. I guess they do
that. I was surprised how little room is in a land rover.)
“I’m meeting some friends about 4,” I told him. It’s almost 3 now. So, I
don’t have time for a 3 hour tour.” (And, who knows how long a 3 hour tour
will really last…)
“I should at least show you some water falls. We can do that in an hour.”
“The Mahatma falls?” I asked. (I’m just no good with names.)
“The Multnomah Falls,” he said.
“That’s the one!”
So, we drove about ½ hour east and saw the falls. They are very
impressive. There is a painting we’ve had for years that seems to be
modeled after them. So, I’m going to have to compare the two.
We drove back to Portland and I checked into the Holiday Inn. It was a
very big one: 8 floors and a convention center. It was OK as hotels go,
but not as nice as the one in Texas, and that wasn’t as nice as the one in
Pennsylvania. But, it was only 10 minutes from the airport.
charliemc and her sister came out to meet me. Since I had
already seen the falls, they brought me to down town Portland. They help
run the Portland Rose Festival, so I got to see the HQ building, which is
surrounded by roses, and their offices.
Then we went to a Chinese place near there and had a very nice dinner.
(Charlie will have to tell the tale of the $28,000 piano.)
I had mentioned I live bridges so we set off and they took me over almost
every bridge in Portland. It was just about sunset and the city lights
were all coming on. It was very nice. And, since they have lived there
their whole lives they were able to tell me much more than I would have
found on my own.
It was a very nice visit and a great time. I was very happy to meet them
in person!
As I had been up since about 1 that morning local time, I had no problem
falling asleep when I got back to the hotel.
At 6 I was back up and in the airport shuttle over to Portland airport.
As I said, there is a shopping mall at the airport. So, I did buy some
things. Not much as I was only doing carry on luggage. But, some cool
things. (A map of the area, a Portland hat for my wife, some post cards,
etc.) It was nice they were open at 8AM.
I had flown Jet Blue down to Texas, then US Air to Portland. Going home I
was flying American.
I was a bit worried about it as both of my wife’s flights had been more
than an hour late, one double that.
But, this time they flew on time.
Leaving Portland I asked for a window seat. The only one available was in
the very last row of the airplane. But, I wanted to see Portland from the
air again, so I said OK.
Sadly in MD-80’s, the engines are on the side of the plane and in front of
the last window.
So, I had a window seat. But, all I could see was the engine 4 inches away.
And, it was LOUD!
I took out my iPad decibel meter. It averaged about 84 and peaked at 101.
The legal limit is 85, so it wasn’t quite illegally loud, but was as close
as you can get and not go over.
There were also two young children just ahead of me, and two more across
the aisle. So, it was loud in several different ways.
But, on time.
I had planned to eat lunch in Dallas, but only had 45 minutes. All of the
places to eat were sit down places that were crowded. So, I ended up
grabbing some candy at the convenience store there. (They did have
sandwiches. But, looked like they were left over from the siege at the
Alamo. So, I didn’t go that route.)
Flying up to Boston I had an aisle seat. But, I’ve flown into Boston
plenty of times and know what it looks like. The window went to an
Australian man who had never been to the US before and seemed to enjoy
looking out the window.
The plane got off late as they kept letting people on, even after our
departure time. I assume there was some connecting flight that was late
and they were holding it for them. That isn’t like them. They usually
slam the door and fly away.
But, we still got to Boston on time.
My wife ran into traffic trouble getting me, and I ended up walking over to
where she was as it was easier. But, she got me and brought me home.
She had gone to our favorite restaurant and bought me one of my favorite
dinners to go and had it waiting for me when I got home.
So, it was nice to be home in many different ways.
It was a good trip.
For work as I checked out those two suppliers and got a very good idea of
what they can and can’t do.
For me as I got to meet friends I had not seen face to face before, see
lots of things I had not before and got to go home to my wife at the end!