PORTLAND, Day 1

We had one plan for today, and that was to go to Art in the Pearl, an annual art show here in Portland. We got there around 11:30 a.m., even though we left the hotel at 11 and it's only about two miles away, if that.  But parking was a bit of a struggle, and then we got on a street that had no turns and ended up coming back across the bridge and then back to the Pearl district.  By the time we got there, Connie, Jean, Pam and Norm had just arrived.  We decided that we would start out together, but agreed to meet at 1:30 and go somewhere to lunch.  It's a pretty good fair, at least judging by the fact that I bought a painting by a Grass Valley painter (and saved $55 by not paying California sales tax) a very cool sleeveless tunic wrap, for want of a better description, and a gorgeous little vase.

(Te isn't the vase.  It's smaller.  

 There's one more item I'd like to get, but John doesn't like it as much as I do, so I probably won't.  

We could actually go back tomorrow.  

We went to lunch at a cute little Thai restaurant that Connie found a few blocks from the fair.  Some blackberry Margaritas were had -- they sound so Oregon, and some local brews.  While we were there, we noticed that it was pouring down buckets of rain.  I had seen that there was a 20% chance of rain today, but I usually think that means no way.  I guess that's just how it is in dry Sacramento.  

It had stopped by the time we went back to the fair.  

We stopped at the Pearl bakery to have a brownie and some coffee.  Back at the fair, we closed the place down, then made a quick stop at the museum store we passed on the way there.  

We took Connie and Jean back to their hotel so we could pick up some things we can take home because we have a car.  You should have watched them networking at the fair, in addition to the amount they have done for the two days they were at the conference.  

We then went back to Powell's books and bought a few things and spent about an hour and a half.  We weren't hungry, since we had such a big lunch, so we stopped at a place called Noodles where you could get any type of pasta --Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, and American (Mac and cheese).  You could get whatever you wanted in either ther a large or small plate, which was a perfect amount of food.  And of course a local beer called Bad Pig.