to portland, to portland...

Last week, our family was lucky enough to get to take a trip to a fun new part of the country..... Portland, Oregon. Popi & daddy were invited to go and see the ginormous dental equipment manufacturing plant that is located there.... and mom, Gingi, & I got to tag along, too. As we were flying into Oregon (on a looooong 4 hour flight for yours truly), we could see several of the big snow-capped mountains in the area..... & once we hit the ground, the overload of trees & flowers in bloom reminded me of good 'ole Nashville (we don't have quite as many flowers/trees here in hot, hot Texas). It was a great break as far as temps go, too.... as the highs there were in the 70s and 80s.

From the airport, I got to take my first limo ride! However... as happy as you might think one would be about her first "high-class" ride in a limo, I was a bit beyond my happy time.... You see, we arrived in Portland about 11pm CST... a few hours past when I'm normally in my crib catching some big zzzzzs. But, considering I was "off" a couple of hours during the trip, I'd say that I did considerably well being a happy camper :o) The sweet people that were hosting us (Miss Melinda, Mr. Chuck, & Mr. Steve) were all so patient & pretended that I was no bother at all... ha!

We did some other super fun stuff, too.... we took the grand tour of the awesome manufacturing plant (the lull of the machinery kept me sleeping most of the time), we ate at some amazing restaurants (at which I proceeded to be a perfect angel at each - - hahaha - right!), we took a trip out to a vineyard for a wine tasting, we saw bazillions of roses at the rose gardens, and we made another short trip out to see a really big, beautiful waterfall (Multnomah Falls) and a fish hatchery with trout, salmon, & sturgeon.

OH.... and one of the mornings of our trip... mom, dad, & Popi got up very, very early to go fishing for sturgeons. Have you ever seen a sturgeon??... those suckers are UUUUUGLY & HUGE! Some of the ones I saw at the hatchery were about the size of a bath tub. Anyhoo.... together they caught several 2 to 3 footers, two 6 to 7 footers, and one that was almost 8 feet long. Although mom's camera battery went kaput, I can vouch for them, as I saw the photos on Miss Melinda's camera. Hopefully she'll send them over & I can add them here, so you all can see those big, ugly boogers!

What a fantastic trip we had... it was a gorgeous part of the country & our hosts were nothing but wonderful!

my first limo ride

scenery from the fishing trip (pre camera battery dying)

scenery from the vineyards

more photos from the vineyards (above)

the rose garden (above)

Multnomah Falls

the fish hatchery (above)

playing at the airport 0n the way home