night, we went down to Riverplace and met with Brave Athena--who is every bit as smart, funny and quirky as she is in her blog --whereupon, I grilled her about Portland. It seems like a very cool place to live. There are cycling communities that get together for activist and social events, and lots of running events.We sat down at Three Degrees restaurant and had hummus, fried potatoes, and "Monty Margaritas". Well, actually I was the only one having the MM's, as Husband is the DD. I do love my Margaritas. I recently listed it as my favorite t3 drink. If only race directors knew. Brave Athena and I chatted about various subjects regarding Portland, as I'm intensely interested in how probably it would be to live there. I'
m very attracted to the progressiveness and mild climate. I'm interested in the state of mental health care, since that is where I hope to be after leaving the teaching profession, some day.The river was really pretty as it got dark, with the city lights on it, but then as cities do in July, Portland began radiating the heat it had collected all day long, and it wa time to call it a night.
One thing I really like is how slow drivers are in Portland. They don't endeavor to cut your off or prevent you from getting where you want to be, as they do in other places. Albuquerque, for instance, is a sea of people who want to get there first, and they will, even if they have to cut you off in the meantime. But I digress.
It's funny how apologetic people are about their cities. Gosh, I'm sorry it's so hot...so rainy...so dry...so cold...throughout our stay in Portland many, many people have apologized for it being so hot. I expect it, first of all, to be perfectly miserable just about everywhere in the US in July, heatwaves be damned, and folks, you don't need to apologize to me! It's a nice gesture, but I think that a lot of people, women especially, apologize too much.
My belief is that if you are apologizing for something, then do something about it. If you can't, then you shouldn't be apologizing.
I've had a good time with the inlaws, and we've spent most of today explaining the mechanics of triathlon so that they can watch us with an educated eye tomorrow, but I know from experience that it will be 400 some-odd people running around, zipping off on bikes, stripping off wetsuits, changing shoes, whatever. It will be the first time we've had family observe us for a triathlon. Packet pickup was today at the REI in bend, and the triathlon starts at a mind-numbing 9 am. Boy, it's gonna be hot for us back-of-the-packers.
More tomorrow, and a race report.
