Good Thing I'm a Wealthy Public Educator!

3 trips to PDX in 2 days.
Repeat that incomplete sentence a few times.
On Friday, I headed up to the Portland International Airport from Corvallis, dragging along my good buddy, Carnivorous Hippy. We went and got Albin! He's here visiting for 2 weeks from Sweden! Up and back, filling up with gas ($59) as we left Corn-Valley, was 1/2-a-tank. Not too bad, for a 6-cylinder Honda Accord.Here's a shot later Friday afternoon in Corvallis High School. My daughter (graduating Malory), son (Colly-Wolly-Gum-Gum), Joe, and Albin (the Swede) were so happy to be reunited after 11 months apart! Albin was our exchange student from Sweden last year. We absolutely LOVE him and are so happy that Malory will be visiting him in Sweden in less than a month!

Then, headed up again on Saturday, this time with my Handsome Husband. We swung through McMinnville to pick up my mom, who was on her way to OKC to spend time with my SAB (Stupid-Ass-Brother). Took her in, got her all settled, ate some lunch at Panda Express, and said our good-byes. Hubby and I then headed to IKEA to pick up some much-needed junk (including 4 brand-new flat sheets...it's a long story involving ghosts), then into downtown for some meandering and shopping. Oh, man! I bought some AWESOME junk at a store completely filled with cool Chinese antiques, propaganda materials, and other assorted junk! Hubby is so sweet. He'll go anywhere with me, no whining or complaining!
Then, as per usual, we ended up in a cool bar with my youngest brother, Robb. He's the cool brother, all straightened out and living an excellent life in the heart of Portland. Artwork, sales job, friends, music, writing, and more artwork fill his life, as well as nightly outings for good beer and a few cigarettes. Anyway, as we were sipping our cold Laurelwood Porters, my dad called Robb on his cell phone.

Robb: Howdy, Dad.
Dad: I don't understand. How'd you know it's me?
Robb: Ummm...caller i.d., Dad.
Dad: But I'm calling you from my cell phone. Isn't that an anonymous number?
Robb: Why are you calling me, Dad?

Me: Hi, Mom!
Mom: How'd you know it was me?
Me: Oh, good god!
Anyway, Mom had been sitting in the airplane for 4 hours, not going anywhere! The plane had electrical problems and there were no other flights heading her way until 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning! DAMN!
We paid our bill and all of us, Handsome Husband, Robb, and myself, loaded up into the car for another trip to PDX! Mom was just slightly freaking out, as she isn't much of a traveler and was planning on spending the night at the airport, despite the fact that United was offering her a room in a nearby hotel. We met her outside the Departures area (she said, "How will you know how to find me?" on her cell phone............ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!! Get it?)
We drove her all over, after getting bad directions from the folks at the nearby Embassy Suites, an finally found Country Inn Suites. Guess what? There was a BAR downstairs. So, we got her settled in her room and the 4 of us headed down for some Widmer Hefeweizens and onion rings. I then drove Robb back into NW downtown Portland to his apartment, and filled up with gas. Ready for this? $61.00.
I set the cruise control at 76 as we hit I-5. Leaned back and chatted with Handsome Husband, listening to Led Zepplin's "Latter Days," making bets about exactly what time we'd be home. It was 8:41 as we entered the freeway. It was 9:54 when we pulled into the driveway. Yep...1 hour and 13 minutes from Portland to Corvallis....no cops, no brake lights, just a rockin' drive home. When we got out of the car, I noticed that there was 1/2-a-tank in the car. So, according to my calculations, that's approximately $90 worth of fuel.
Man, my rear-end is sore...