Day One of Portland

Thursday (Travel Day)

Sometimes you get caught by surprise when you travel. Something bad happens. Something costs a lot more than you budgeted. You forget to do something you should have before you left. Welp, this time it was Frontier Airlines screwing us over.

When we had booked the trip, one of the big plusses was how cheap the flights were. All three of us were flying across the country for $600. It seemed too good to be true, AND IT WAS! As we checked in for our flights, Frontier asks if we are taking carry-ons on the flight. Well, yeah. Ok, that will be an upcharge. What about wanting to sit together? Well, we have a five year old, so yeah. That will also be an upcharge. By the time we were done finishing out the booking, we had dropped another $150. And don't get me wrong, maybe that's a completely reasonable price to pay for tickets, it was just frustrating that it felt dropped on us without warning.

So Thursday we handed our house keys and the fate of our five dogs over to Kyle, who would house sit while we were vacationing. My father-in-law gave us a ride to the airport. Once we checked in at the desk, we made our way towards TSA, which in El Paso is up an escalator. 

Maybe I'm absent-minded, but I could have sworn Billie had been on an escalator before. In retrospect, she was probably in my arms at the time. Welp, she has been on one now. I had gotten ahead of Billie and Lola and was waiting at the top of the escalator for them to ride up. We had ran into an old friend and they were still chatting as I rode up. I looked towards the TSA line and then heard a yell and looked back. Billie was tumbling at the base of the escalator while Lola tried to pull her back AND balance her luggage. By the time I got back down to the base, Lola had gotten Billie upright, but she was shaken up. I felt a bit of guilt, knowing that I should have been there. So I gathered Billie into my arms and rode up the escalator with her, while she cried. She was definitely embarrassed, which is sort of worse in its own way, and she's at an age where that stings.


After TSA, we got to our plane and boarded. It was a quick jump from El Paso to Las Vegas, filled with people headed out to party. They kept getting rowdy on the plane, so I didn't feel bad when Billie would get excited and make noise. The descent into Las Vegas had some turbulence, enough that the pilot warned the cabin that it would get bumpy. We were jostled a little, but nothing too insane. When we exited the plane, one lady loudly declared it was "the worst flight I've ever been on!" Calm down, lady. After that flight, we made our way to the next gate. Lola ran over to a Chili's in the terminal and got us some food. We spent $50 on two orders of egg rolls, an order of fries, and a tea. Piracy is alive and well. We ate quickly, as our flight was preparing to board. 

The trip to Portland from Las Vegas was more subdued and Billie and Lola took a nap during the flight. I tried to join them, but I struggle to sleep on planes. When we landed in PDX, we claimed our one luggage (it came as part of the upgrade bundle, so we might as well!) and got an Uber. Our driver was a woman who refused to speak much. When she did, she had a strong eastern European accent. Lola and I texted each other during the ride, I joked that we should bring this woman home with us as Billie was dead silent (a rare moment!). We got to our Airbnb without incident.

The neighborhood we stayed in was very reminiscent of parts of Austin. Lots of old houses surrounded by trees. Everything was green. So much green. The Airbnb was a small guest house behind a large two-story. The space was perfect with us, with two beds and a full kitchen.

We were tired from the trip and, though we like to do grocery shopping early on, we decided to order pizza. I looked for one with good ratings and ordered from Rudy's Pizza PDX. The pizza was honestly...ok. I was underwhelmed, but we were tired and hungry. Rudy's only offered soda and Billie doesn't drink it, so I walked to a local gas station and bought some water, tea, and some snacks. When I got back the pizza was there and we ate. And with full bellies and tired heads, we crashed out.

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