Day 27: Portland, OR

In the car on the way home from REI tonight (yes, this is the second time on this trip that my night activity has been a visit to REI), Lisa asked me if I had updated my blog yet today. I said that I hadn't, to which she responded, "This time are you going to make it sound like you're actually having fun here?" I thought that was hilarious. I am having fun here, but it's different from all of my other stops because I've spent a total of six weeks in Portland prior to this trip and I've already done most everything there is to do here. I came to Portland to see Lisa and Dave, to go to yoga, to eat good food, and to relax, and I've done all of those things.

Today I went to the gym in the morning and had a hair appointment in the afternoon. This is what I look like now:

Just kidding. That's what I looked like in the middle of getting my hair done. And those are not my legs. They belong to the woman sitting on the other side of the mirror. It kept freaking me out every time I looked.

The girl who did my hair was named Sierra. At first I thought her name was Sarah, which would've been appropriate since half of my friends are named Sarah (or Sara). She's from a little town somewhere between Portland and Mt. Hood and she wants to move to Tokyo one day to be a fashion designer/hair stylist/makeup artist. Here's a photo of Sierra counting the foils in my hair.

She counted 66, but it felt like more. The whole thing took about 3 1/2 hours. That's why I can only do this two or three times a year. I'm very pleased with the result. I'm definitely blonder now.

After my hair appointment, I went back to Lisa's and took a nap (again with the excessive sleeping! By the way, I remembered to call Washington Hospital Center about getting a new endocrinologist, but I'm waiting for them to call me back) and waited for her to get home from school. It was back to school night, so she didn't get home 'til pretty late. Then we went to REI, where I bought a bike lock, to replace the one I lost in Chicago, and a bike pump, and Lisa got a roof box for her car, Alice. Alice is a 2002 Jetta. She replaced Fanny, Lisa's 1998 Jetta that died last year.

Lisa talked to Dave today and he's doing okay. He is taking his pain meds after all, but he's still in a lot of pain. If he was still refusing to take his pain meds, I was going to suggest to his mom that she sneak the pills into his food, the way you do with dogs. Fortunately that wasn't necessary.

I'm planning to go to Anna's class at The People's Yoga at 7:30 tomorrow morning. After that, I'll pack up and head to Redwood. I made reservations at a hostel that's right in the park, on Highway 101 in Klamath. The last time I stayed in a hostel was eight years ago, and I've never stayed in a hostel in the US, so I've gotta admit I'm a little nervous. I'm sure it'll be fine. Then on Thursday, I go to Berkeley, where I'm staying with my friend Asa. I know Asa through my friend Tom Adkins, who I know through my friend Emily, who I know from Hah-vuhd. She and Tom dated in 8th and 9th grade, when he had orange hair. Haha.

Asa used to live in DC, but then did his Post-Bac at Harvard, then lived in Peru for a year, and now is in med school at Berkeley. At least I think that's the story. If I'm wrong, I'll let you know. Asa's twin brother, Adam, is still in DC and works with Tom at his company, Climate Lab. Asa and Adam know my other friend Adam, whom I visited when I was in Chicago, because the three of them were on the Crew team at Dartmouth together. Small world.

Lisa and I tried to take photos of us together tonight and it was a total failure. Lisa and Dave only have fluorescent lights in their house because they are very environmentally conscious, and fluorescent lights are so unflattering, so we had a lot of difficulty getting a decent photo of the two of us. We finally gave up taking photos in the guest room and took photos in the shower instead (clothed, obviously). Shower photos are a St. Mary's thing. The photos are funny. I'm having trouble uploading them because Lisa took them on her camera and emailed them to me and they're really big and I can't figure out how to download them onto my computer to make them smaller... blah, blah, blah. I'll upload them when I figure it out when I'm less tired.

Now it's time for bed.

Goodnight!