It’s Raining — Hard

No, I’m not in Bend, as I have no idea if it’s raining in Bend. I’m actually in Portland right now using the hotel’s WiFi, having a little trip with my wife, kids, and my bro-in-law for his birthday. We rented a car in Bend and came up yesterday, saw my sis-in-law, took everybody to the zoo, and had a nice dinner out (it’s homecoming season, so nearly every restaurant was packed). We’re staying here as it’s actually cheaper because it’ll sleep all five of us (while most hotels would require two rooms) and the full breakfast in the morning saves us a few bucks.

So why did I rent a car? My bro-in-law really, really likes trains (he’s autistic). His employer gave him a gift certificate for Amtrak, so we rented the car to get up here and then we’re going to take Amtrak from Portland down to Chemult tonight, where my father-in-law is going to pick us up in our minivan. We rented another minivan to get up here — a fancy, schmancy 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. I don’t like how the new Caravans look (they’re more boxy like the rest of the Dodge lineup), but it was a nice fit for all of us, and it was a fun car to drive. Anyway, so we plan on taking the hotel shuttle to the Beaverton Transit station and then taking the Max red or blue line to Downtown and picking up the train later. Hopefully we’ll keep dry as it’s raining pretty good right now.