T-Minus 48h

48 hours until the plane departs...and we're having to cancel last-minute goodbye breakfasts with old friends because every hour is now accounted for. Problems have arisen with the dog's "health certification," which may necessitate a (literal) eleventh-hour trip to Salem on Monday morning to procure Official Stamps and Seals. Also: packing the bikes, re-packing the four giant duffel bags, coordinating parents' final visits to town.

So: I expect the next post will be delivered from China. Goodbye favorite people, goodbye Multnomah Village, goodbye Portland, goodbye Oregon, goodbye America, goodbye Western Hemisphere, goodbye everything I've known for 35 years. We love you.

Parting shot, taken from Neakanie (sp?) mountain, facing southwest, across the Pacific toward Cathay and The Fabled Orient. Taking one day (Jenny's birthday!) off to be with ourselves and the beach proved the kindest and cruellest goodbye yet. Oregon said "goodbye" right back.