Good evening!  I'm writing to you from all the way on the west coast in Portland, OR!  A friend and I flew out today for a week of interviews and general west coast fun.  More west coast fun that interviews, really!

I'm going to TRY to keep you up to date on whats going on out here, but I may be having too much fun and not have time.  So sorry if that happens!

Here's the review of today!

• Drove to the airport in the AM, got some coffee.
• Spent leg #1 of the flight trying (and failing) to complete a crossword puzzle.
• Ate lunch at fudruckers.
• Spent leg #2 of the flight napping, listening to James Taylor, reading The Help, and trying (and failing again) to finish the crossword puzzle.
• Arrived in Portland, oogled at Mt. Hood from the airplane (we'll be there soon!), got our rental car, and went to our hotel!
• Drove to the hotel we'll be staying at later in the week... just for fun.
• Went to the Widmer Brothers Brewery!  Apparently, they like to brew their beer here in Portland, so we figured we'd try some out.  5 of the 6 were good... one was not.  Note to self:  Don't drink anything called "Old Embalmer".  I had an EXCELLENT schnitzel w/ potatoes.  Yummmmmmm.
• Went to REI to investigate snowshoe rentals and get socks for Keli.  I also found a pair of running tights that I actually liked that were on sale. 
• Now we are here, in the hotel, trying to stay awake until after 9PM so we don't get too off schedule!

The rest of the week has some big plans!  We're heading to Spokane, Seattle, Mt. Hood, maybe Mt. Rainier, back to Portland, and potentially (most likely) some random adventures in between!

And I'll probably post about something other than my fun travels... probably.

Adios!
Kari