October family trip Days 1-3 - Sunday October 10th , Wild Iris Ridge Loop, Eugene Oregon, 1.6 miles, 250 feet elevation gain

Friday I headed out from Rochester on a Delta airlines flight to Atlanta.  Brian had an appointment at work which necessitated me being at the airport at about 9 am for my 12:30 pm flight.  I actually napped a bit on some of the seats in the atrium area before the concourses but it was kind of a long time to hang out.  The boarding for the flight was tense and took a long time.  Somehow the clown car eventually got loaded all the way.  It was a replacement A321.  I'm not sure what was originally scheduled, probably a 737.  My layover in Atlanta was 4 hours.  I spent some time eating at Friday's and enjoyed a big glass of wine.  It took a while but I eventually found a food court with tall counter top like tables with power outlets.  I spent most of the remainder of my time there since I could do whatever on the computer and be connected.

The 2nd flight was, very surprisingly to me, on a Boeing 767.  I've only been on a few wide body flights in my life, mostly just the flights to and from Europe a few times years ago.  The seating layout in premium economy (and economy I think) was 2 + 3 + 2.  That is 7 seats across instead of 7 in a 757, 737 or any of a handful of other 3 + 3 narrow bodies.  Maybe the wide body pays of in first class but for coach it didn't seem very efficient.  It did provide tons of overhead cabin space and the boarding for that flights was very smooth.  The flight itself seemed endless.  It was dark shortly after takeoff and our reading lights didn't seem to work so I spent a LOT of time trying to paw around in the dark for my headphone cord or fighting with my metal water bottle that was a tough fit in the seat pocket etc.  Overall, despite not having any screaming kids and not being in a middle sear, it was a very very tedious 5 hours and I was quite uncomfortable.

 Upon landing I quickly made my way to baggage claim and the rental car counter.  If it had been earlier in the day or I wasn't super tired I would have gone and done something in Portland but I was exhausted and made a straight shot down I-205 to Oregon City and my hotel.

 I slept really well and got up quite early since I'm on NY time still.  I got to my parent's house well before 9 am.  I visited my elderly grandmother briefly and enjoyed the day with my family.

I woke up pretty early this morning too.  This was a walk in the hills above Southwest Eugene.  The views were very nice and the trail had, for such a short walk, a good amount of elevation ups and downs. We took the more vigorous of my parent's two dogs. It was a nice loop with some options to extend the hike if desired.  It was a part of town my parents had never been to and there were some multi million dollar houses up there.

 

 

 Now I'm off to visit Grandma a again briefly then a quick lunch with Dad before heading over the Cascades to overnight with Mom and step-dad before Mom and I head to Portland to board the train.