Well I’m already on the road for OAT East, but half way to Davis, I got lost and ended up in Portland, Oregon. A quick work trip to help rally some troops with one of my favorite clients presented itself.
So my roadtrip began with a harrowing drive down the Turner Turnpike into Oklahoma City. As it turns out, none of the road paint is reflective anymore and half of it is still under construction (a permanent state for that highway, apparently). This wouldn’t be such a big deal but it was raining and misting and it was dark out. But I didn’t die and believe I have now completed the most dangerous part of the whole enterprise.
Flying out of Oklahoma City puts me closer to the start line when I get back tomorrow night and was also about $400 cheaper. It was a beautiful morning in the skies, and once we rose above the Oklahoma dreariness, we set course for the snowy expanse of Colorado in early Spring. There’s off-roading in Colorado, right? Maybe they could just meet me on layover in Denver?
I finished up work this afternoon at a coffee shop in downtown Portland just a few blocks away from the only bookstore I frequent: Powell’s Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world whose flagship Portland location houses over a million titles plus gifts and trinkets and art supplies of all kinds.
After my book tour, I headed down to the Southwest Waterfront district where I’m staying the night.
I suspect these digs are moderately fancier than what awaits us in southeast Oklahoma.
More meeting prep completed, I walked up the river to dinner at a Vietnamese place nearby. Portland has a perpetually temperate, quiet beauty that I always precipitate. I do hope our work with this client continues so I can use it as an excuse to come hang out.
After dinner I was walking back and discovered something glorious. Blue Star Donuts. I think the word “boutique” may apply, but the signage mocking social media gave me enough of an amused pause to lose all self-control. Among their varied offerings, The Mexican Hot Chocolate, replete with a dark chocolate, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper glaze over a chocolate cake donut. Send insulin.
I meandered back to the hotel through the shiny new buildings and cranes that have exploded through this relatively young district while ugly-eating my chocolaty prize.
Lots to be excited about for tomorrow. I love this client and the exciting opportunity we have with them. And when that meeting is over, I fly back to OKC and rejoin the group at the start line at the Ladybug Cabin in Davis.