The Odyssey begins

Specifically in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport when a two hour layover turned into five hours of layover with 9 gate changes. I met a bunch of nice folks heading to Portland while playing musical gates.

There were the 3 young guys from Saudi Arabia (1st time to the US) coming to study English in Portland.

There was the lady coming home to Portland from TX after visiting her son and grandchildren while simultaneously arranging a move for her mother to assisted living and looking at homes in TX for a move back. Women work so hard for their families, make sure you thank them. She had traveled extensively and is considering knee replacement surgery so she can keep up with her grand babies and keep traveling.

The young family from Oregon who were vacationing in TX and considering a move there for a lower cost of living.

The charming older couple from Portland, the man was semi retired and building a replica Chris Craft out of mahogany and the woman was a retired nurse.

An elderly woman by herself that had been to 5 gates and needed to go to yet another (I helped get her on an airport transport shuttle and they told me to get on too!)

And then there was the murder mystery author who was heading to France.

I wouldn’t have gotten to have all those lovely conversations if the plane wasn’t delayed.

And the couple who I sat next to on the flight into Portland were cute as a button. They are going to fulfill a dream trip they started to dream about during the start of Covid. They are going to Ireland to walk the dingle way! Hiking between bed and breakfasts and calling on the pubs for a pint and some music in the evening. (I wasn’t spying on them watching Rick Steves episodes on Ireland)

My son and his boyfriend picked me up at the airport and I put my bike back together in the basement late into the night and rode my bike through a bit of Portland in the morning on my way to the beautiful Train station.