My Return to the Rose City

Although the trip I'm on right now isn't as adventurous as going to Berlin or Rome, it's certainly a pretty awesome one nonetheless.

I'm back in Portland for the first time since the spring of my senior year in high school, and I'm in town for a speakers seminar with a motivational speaker who's been a sort of mentor/advisor to me.

After a busy day running around from one class to the next, then from one meeting to the next, I picked up my rental car (first time rental!) and drove down I-5.

It took longer than I'd hoped as traffic was bad, and I also felt really drowsy and started drifting twice while driving. So I stopped in Centralia, went straight to McDonald's, and filled up on burgers, fries, and Mr. Pibb's.

I made it into Portland around 8 pm, and it was so strange to actually drive through the city. As I was driving, I realized it was the first time I'd ever driven in Oregon since I didn't get my license till I moved to Spokane. Pretty neat stuff.

I spent the night (and also tonight) at my old buddy's place. So many crazy memories here from growing up in Portland...the time I broke my toe playing indoor basketball with him, reading all his Archie books, and the hours of playing N64 upstairs. Crazy.

Today was a busy day though...I woke up early and headed out to Jantzen Beach for the seminar. I spent the whole day in the Red Lion Hotel at the River, but I definitely learned things I did not already know. I've developed some cool ideas for improving the presentations I give for scholarships and now have a few more talks that will allow me to expand my presentations.

The highlight tonight though was going to the Blazers vs. Wizards game. I was supposed to go with my buddy but unfortunately he couldn't make it due to his school work. Bummer. My other friend hooked me up with two tickets though, and I ended up going with my mentor/advisor. We were in section 213 and even got all-inclusive food service/all you can eat!

The game was pretty much as perfect as any Blazer game gets. They scored exactly 100 points which means...free chalupas at Taco Bell! Man, it'd been at least five years since my last Blazers game, so this was really awesome to go back. Check out these pictures:

Now I'm back in bed and getting ready for another busy day tomorrow and then a long drive home, buy groceries, and then gear up for another busy week. There is a lot going on this week, so I will need all the help I can get. Time to sleep now!