Day: August 10, 2018

I tried posting something Thursday morning explaining my short absence (Dude, you’re gettin’ a Dell…) but it didn’t go live until Saturday night.  I ended up getting a new laptop Friday when I got to Portland and now have it up and running.  This is my first post using it (well, after getting the Draft from Thursday to go live a few minutes ago).

I am now in Portland for the remainder of the weekend and have the new computer at least to the point where I can use it for basic stuff, and have transferred my trip pictures to it.

Thursday I drove to Portland, picked up my new computer and was invited to spend the night at the home of my sister-in-law’s brother and his wife who moved to Portland from New Jersey several years ago.  They were leaving Friday for Tucson to visit Susan’s parents so I am now in an Airbnb for the next three nights.  This afternoon I took the Portland light-rail train “MAX” from the northeast side of town where I’m staying to the southeast side of town to have dinner at the restaurant where my niece (who attends college in Portland) is working.  Traffic was crawling on Interstate 5 when I went south – Friday afternoon rush hour – and it was still crawling when I came back north, so I’m glad I took the train.

After her break was over and I had finished my meal I hopped on the northbound train to head back to where I’m staying.  This was the view as we crossed the Willamette River from east to west (downtown Portland is in the background)…

… and then as we crossed it again from west to east about 20 minutes later (after a few stops downtown):

On the far right of the middle photograph you can see the submarine I toured last year while I was visiting Portland (search for “USS Blueback” on the Home page or use the calendar there to go back to posts dated August 9, 2017).

Actually, I’m getting another Hewlett Packard.  Yesterday, while I was reviewing pictures from the past few days and getting caught up on posting some things, my laptop, which has served me very well for many years, started showing early warning signs of failure.  I have already ordered a new Hewlett Packard laptop and will pick it up in Portland, Oregon when I arrive there later today (Thursday).  It may take me a day or two to get it set up and transfer files and photos from the old machine, which hopefully will continue working throughout that process.  I backup pictures regularly but have other things which I don’t backup that often so I want to get this done before I lose anything crucial.

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This has nothing to do with my computer issues but is a lone photo I took on Monday as I returned to little Nehalem, Oregon where I was staying at the time.  This outfit has little “cars” which people can pedal on old, unused railroad tracks!

They are called “Rail Riders” and evidently groups of up to 10 of these vehicles are sent out together (3 groups per day) to pedal through several miles of scenic countryside.  I was talking to some people who were getting ready to go out but the organizers called them together for an orientation and safety meeting so I didn’t stick around to see them off on their journey.