At 11:21 on Saturday, 15 June 2002, United Airlines flight 1174 landed at Portland International Airport... and a new chapter in the ongoing saga of international furrydom began. Mr. Terry Knight decided to stop by on his way back to New Zealand from his assignment in the Bahamas. (Incidentally, this was his second attempt. The first time he was scheduled to arrive on 11 September 2001. If he'd managed to get off the ground is Los Angeles only a couple hours earlier he would at least have been stranded in Portland. So near and yet so far.)
Anyway, I met him at the airport and we rode the new MAX Red Line downtown. Keeping in mind the exchange rate with New Zealand (46 American cents on the NZ dollar) I picked out some economical lodgings. Upon seeing them in person Terry observed that they looked rather dodgy, and I reluctantly had to agree. (Shows my regrettable lack of experience in such matters, I fear.) Fortunately he found a more reasonable place, and right on the MAX too. We stayed up until all hours discussing story lines and swapping furry art. The next day- Sunday- I went to Long Beach, Washington, with my dad (it being Father's Day), and Terry enjoyed a nice walking tour of Downtown Portland. On Monday we saw the Portland Metropolitan Area by riding the MAX from end to end, Hatfield Government Center in Hillsboro to Cleveland Avenue in Gresham. (The picture you see below was actually taken Saturday; by Monday the weather had turned gray and rainy.) Along the way we stopped at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park (right off the Merlo Road/158th Avenue station) and had a very nice walk in the forest while discussing SCA #03, On the Lamb, as well as a Super Collie origin story Terry's considering. We did get a teeny bit lost but it worked out okay in the end. Tuesday we had lunch at Denny's, talked about more story ideas... and all too soon, it seems, we had to head for the airport so Terry could catch his flight to Los Angeles. So this edition draws to a close... until next time, perhaps?
 | ©2002 Terry shot this and the next pic from the window of his plane as he left Portland for Los Angeles and, ultimately, Wellington NZ. Right under the plane's wing are Bybee (closest) and Smith (just beyond it) Lakes. Between the lakes and the Willamette River is North Portland. The finger of land along the near side river bank is Swan Island. |
 | ©2002 Another view of the same area, showing Swan Island, the Willamette River, and to the right the Portland Forest Park and the Tualatin Mountains. The aircraft is turning south- to the left- after taking off from PDX headed west. |
 | ©2002 A couple odd characters hanging out at the Cleveland Avenue MAX station, the easternmost end of the line. That's me on the left and Terry on the right. Incidentally, if you turn to your right and look along the platform, you can see Mt. Hood in the distance. Spectacular. |
 | ©2002 Same location, but a couple friends decided to join us. |
