Off to Or Eh Gone

Though we spent a major portion of this year in downtown Tokyo, our official residence is in Illinois. Just say that out loud, and I'll tell you where you're from. If you said "Ill-ih-noise," you're not from anywhere near here. And I'm not upset at your faulty pronunciation, because hey, I'm not from here either.

I'm from Oregon. Did you say "Or-eh-gone"? Then you're not from there. Furthermore, I'll never be able to invite you to go along for a visit to that beautiful land of mountains, ocean, desert...you'll never lounge lazily in the drivers' seat of your car while someone pumps gas for you and you'll never shop madly and without restraint, cackling as you check out without paying sales tax. To earn access to all these wonderful benefits, the least you can do is learn to say "Or-ih-gun". That's more like it.

So traveling over to the West Coast is not quite the same trek as heading to Tokyo, but the four-hour flight is something to be reckoned with. Particularly when one's travel companion is two and a half, and the stingy airlines don't even dole out snacks without a three dollar penalty fee. But this time, I had a plan. Koji and I were scheduled on the seven p.m. flight, so I figured if I deprived him of his nap, as soon as I settled him on the plane, he'd sleep and I'd read a book.

Too bad he fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport.

And then didn't even think of sleeping again until Portland was clearly in view. Once he heard the landing gear drop, he was out. But not before! Until then it was hour after hour of drinking and eating the provisions I had shlepped on, reading, coloring, playing Narnia with the cool toys that come with Happy Meals right now. (We had Lucy and Mr. Tumnus to keep us busy, but I was busier laughing at Koji's attempts to say "Mr. Tumnus") Oh, and a few trips to the restroom to change diapers; Koji is now officially MUCH taller than the tiny little shelf airlines provide in their restrooms for diaper changing. Perhaps potty-training is a good New Year's resolution?

When I called Mom after our arrival on the PDX tarmac, I had a bit of shock: Oregon weather had gone weirdly Chicago-like; with the roads covered in black ice, Mom and Dad were still nowhere near the airport though they had been approaching slowly for more than two hours. Keep in mind that this is a one hour trip in normal weather... I felt bad asking them to keep coming, but any other transport to Salem would have suffered the same fate so it seemed best to just sit and wait for them.

Once I decided to take a seat at the Stanford's that has opened recently (recently as in since the last time I was at PDX), I felt pretty good about waiting. For one thing, Koji was OUT in his stroller. Transferring him from his car seat on the plane to the stroller was no problem; that's just how unconscious he was. Furthermore, Stanford's is where we had our wedding rehearsal dinner. So though I wasn't at the same location, the ambience was similar and I enjoyed time for nostalgia. Not to mention I was finally able to read my book in peace!

Once Mom and Dad finally arrived, they joined me at Stanford's and grabbed some dinner before we attempted the return trip. We made it to their house without incident around 1 am. Without question, the six and half hour round trip they made to PDX to pick us up was their most arduous ever.

Hopefully they found it worthwhile; I know we did!