#50

Greetings from Portland, Oregon, where I have accomplished a self-imposed goal.

If you go back to my August 3, 2008 post ("see the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet"), I was muttering about having been in all but 14 of the 50 states and that maybe I should make it a goal to see all 50 before I'm dead.  One of the reasons was that traveling to Europe became too expensive for us (the dollar vs. the euro and all that).  The other reason was, why not?  Since then, my sister Joan has told me that I stole the idea from her, but I have no recollection of that and, besides, is it such an original idea? and I hope she makes it too (she is 12 years younger -- she has more time than I did!).

So we hit 13 of those 14 states since August of 2008, and Oregon is #50, and this is one state I was really looking forward to visiting, for several reasons:  1) it's a blue state (usually); 2) it's supposed to be beautiful; 3) my Aunt Myrt lives here; 4) my niece Michelle & Family live here; 5) my friend Mary W. lives here (on the coast) and 6) everybody tells me how much I am going to love Portland.

We haven't seen much of Portland yet, are heading for the Pacific Coast today to visit Mary, then back to explore the city of Portland Friday through Sunday.

My next travel goal?  well, we'll see....