Rowing Station L

Edward took me down to his team’s boathouse this morning and I got a nice little guest row in. Perhaps somewhere in my mind I was trying to do a little spying on a team that gave us a run for our money at NW master’s championships and that I would be pleased to be part of should I have the pleasure of moving back to Portland.

The boathouse is in a larger office building and opens up onto a parking lot right under the I-5. The boathouse is quite new but they have a bit heftier walk sown to the dock than we do.

Our row took us from the I-5 down almost to the Ross Island. A series of 5 minute pieces. For a boat with throw in from another club and a few folks I understand are fairly new, it was a pretty good row. Nice bright Vespoli 8 that set itself pretty well. Oh yes, and I was in 5 seats which means I have now sat in every seat of an eight.

That was all at 5am this morning though and as it is now nearing 11:30 I’ll have to leave it there.

Portland

Sometimes I don’t know what I would do if we stayed in Portland for more than a few days. Somehow, each time I come back I repeat the same pattern. I almost always end up at the Hedge House for lunch. If we’re lucky, it’s two fifty dollar beer Tuesday. I get a PABST sandwich. This time I was surprised to find that the S in my PABST, sprouts, had been replaced with salad greens (the rest being provolone, avocado, bacon and tomato). The whole thing was something about new management- frankly, nonsense. After lunch I always seem to end up back at Reed. I’m pulled to it like a current that needs grounding. This time round we found two of my favorite profs, one of which we spent the afternoon chatting with on the grass. We visited our home of an Admission office and assured Jenny we’d be staying with her on our return trip. I had to check out the new dorms while there were no students to scare me away and. I was quite impressed but left wondering the $/sq ft. for those guys. To save me from the sense of opulence, I was happy to see that the dorms hadn’t stayed too pristine and graffiti still has some place at Reed. I checked out the “I love a…” bathroom stall in greywood. Still there, but the symphony of voices doesn’t seem to have the depth and complexity that it used to. Is it me or is it the wall? By then the day was done. With the requisite stop and Mikes Drive-in for raspberry and blackberry shakes (do I remember them having marrion berry shakes?) we returned to our lovely hosts home and found tasty food and gelato near by. Now the day is totally spent and we’re hitting the road again. If we missed you on this leg we’ll catch you on the way back up. I promise.