Tag: Portland

Moving a Dog to Peru

Meet Zoey. I have talked about her before. She is my puppers. We rescued her while living in Jordan, and though she drives me crazy from time to time, I love her to death, and would do anything for her. When I found a new job across the world in Peru, I was definitely going to take her with me, but the logistics of taking a dog from one part of the world to another is a crazy endeavor of paperwork, muscle and stress. In the end though, it is worth the effort to know that she will be with me on this new adventure in a new country.

Let’s get one thing straight, Zoey has a pretty easy life even though she might tell you differently. She was picked up on the side of the road in the dessert on the way to the Dead Sea from Amman. Afterwards, she was given a home where she had all the toys she could want, never had to hunt for her food, or look for a fluffy place to rest her head when she was tired. Despite all this, she has still only know a dessert world where there are few trees, hot sun beating down, and a city landscape. Going across the world has been an eye-opening experience for her. For the first time in her life, she has seen big bodies of water, squirrels, horses, and deer, and trees so numerous that they cover a whole area that the humans call forests.

All of these new experiences have been a little stressful for her. She does not always know what to make of them, and as soon as she starts to feel comfortable in a place, we uproot and get her on the move again. You see, we couldn’t make a direct flight from Jordan to Peru. We had about a month lay-over in the United States, and to get her into this country was a little bit of a challenge. The United States currently has ban on dogs coming from Jordan because of a couple of cases of rabies a few years back. Basically it takes about six months to collect all the paperwork necessary to fly a dog into the United States from Jordan, and then you have to schedule an appointment with the CDC to get another health check before they officially allow the dog into the country.

Airlines are also fun to work with. They each have their own requirements and weight allowance. It requires just as much wrangling to get a dog into the cargo hold and even then, it is not always a given they will get to go. They will have to be there during a certain time of the year because they will not allow the dog to fly if it is too hot or too cold outside. In each case, it might cause the dog severe discomfort while sitting on the tarmac because they will not be able to turn on the climate control until they are up in the air. Luckily this was never a problem for us as we found the perfect time to get her into the plane, and the plane into the air.

We tried to limit the amount of time that Zoey had to spend in the air, and we definitely wanted to limit the amount of layovers that she might have to endure. The best way to do this was to fly in and out of L.A. even though she would be staying in Oregon the whole time she was in the United States. In order to make this happen, we had to take the long drive between the two states twice. It wasn’t ideal, but it was easier for Zoey to understand what was going on rather than having her trapped in a dark tiny crate for many long hours without us being able to explain why she was in it.

It also gave us the added bonus of being able to see a little more of the United States on a road trip. It has been a long time since I have been on an American road trip, and I enjoy the feel of the open road. This is not necessarily the same for a dog who has to find themselves cramped in the back seat with a collection of all of our stuff that we are bringing with us to Lima on our move there. Still, I was amazed at well Zoey did on the trip. She chilled out in the back seat and got up to watch the scenery as it passed by. It helped that we did the drive through California which offers a lot to look at.

But after a couple of nights in hotels that we fancier than what we usually stayed in because we wanted to make sure that there was enough space for Zoey, it was tine to pack everything up and head to the airport. That final jump over to our new life was exciting for us, but trying to explain to Zoey how much she would love the new experience was still difficult for us to do. I always wondered what was going through her mind at this moment. Did she think that she was heading back to Jordan to her home, or was she still confused as to what actually was going on?

Whatever she was thinking, the reality is she eventually got on that flight, and made it all the way to her new life in Peru. It was stressful for her and us, and there was quite an adventure along the way, but we are safe and sound now. She has taken the last week exploring her new surroundings and getting comfortable as so have we. I can’t wait to see where it leads all of us, and I am sure that Zoey agrees.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to keeping you updated with our new adventure.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

It is strange that I spend so much time looking for the big tourist destinations around the world, but as soon as I get back to the United States, I don’t even think about looking for them. What is even more strange is that when I am back in the United States, I am usually in Colorado, and Oregon, two of the states where there are so many natural wonders to visit that people come from all over the world to check them out. Well, I made an effort to go and see one of these wonders while I was in Oregon this summer, Multnomah Falls.

Multnomah Falls is a 600 foot waterfall in the Columbia Gorge about an hour’s drive down I-84 from Portland. It is absolutely amazing, and one of the easiest sights in the world to get to. There is a quick pull out from the highway, and then a fifteen minute walk to view this impressive sight. It is a wonder that I have not stopped before this trip with all of the times I have driven by it.

The parking lot has limited space, and you do need to reserve a space before you go. This is not too difficult even during the more congested times late in the morning and early in the afternoon. The parking spot is supposed to last for only an hour, but I did not see anybody checking to make sure that you did not abuse this, so I do not know how strictly they follow this rule. And even if you take the mile hike all the way to the top of the falls, you should not need more than an hour to explore all that this sight has to offer. It costs only two dollars to park as well, and that is per car, and not person, so it is really worth the price. I also do not feel bad paying that knowing the money goes towards maintaining the path and sight to make it beautiful for everybody that comes to visit.

It is a great stop on a section of highway that is filled with amazing views and quirky little towns. I will warn you that it gets pretty busy during the peak hours, but if you plan to arrive early in the morning or later in the afternoon the crowds aren’t as big, and you have more of the feeling that the place is all yours. I am glad that I have finally made it out to this spot, and I will continue to find other great spots for you to visit.

Until next time, keep exploring, and see what is out there in the world.

I Failed My Test

I just sat down to write this blog post about getting ready to travel back to Jordan and having to get my PCR test done before I made it on to the flight when from upstairs at the house I am staying at, I heard the words I wanted to hear, “You’re negative!” It is a relief to know that I will not have to worry about that aspect of my travels right now. There are many other things I will have to think about as I try to make a couple of connections, and hope that all of the flights continue on the way that they are supposed to, but for right now the first hurdle has been cleared.

Flying across the world has always been a stressful experience because there are so many little factors and if one of them falls apart along the way, it will mess everything up in ways that could make the events a disaster. But now with Covid-19, there have been a few more wrinkles that have been thrown into the plans that add a few more factors that could make things fall apart happen more. Some countries are asking for a negative PCR test 72 hours before boarding a flight, and the United States has upped that by making the PCR test within the last 24 hours. It just means that any trip that I take internationally, I get to take a trip to a PCR testing site to get my test taken to make sure I can return back to the country where I live. I completely understand the reason why, but that does not mean that I will always enjoy the experience.

I had to actually go out twice to make sure that I had gotten my results in time. The new omicron variant complicated things as well. Because of the rise of Covid-19 right now, there are many people that are going out to get their tests done. This has created long lines not only at the testing sites, but also adding backing up the places where they processed the tests to get the results back to the people who took the test in the first place. I could also not just show up at a place to get a test done. I had to schedule an appointment and still sit in long lines before I was able to get a swab stuck up my nose. Luckily, my wife scheduled two appointments, one at a place that would get the results back in 72 hours, and rapid results place. Both of them were difficult to schedule, and we were lucky to have them.

I did go out on a rainy day two days ago to get my first test done. We were able to sit in our car as we waited to get to the place where we would get our test. This was nice because it was a rainy Oregon day, and I don’t know what that would have been like if I had to sit outside while waiting to get tested. I sat in the line for a couple of hours, and eventually got tested. As of right now, I still have not gotten the results back yet, and the lady that administered the test told us that getting the results back in 72 hours might not happen because of the amount of tests that they had been given recently.

I took my second test a couple of hours ago, and this was a completely different experience. I had to drive to downtown Portland, park the car, and stand outside to wait for my turn to get the test. Luckily, the rain had stopped while we were waiting. I could not imagine someone who was sick right now, standing in that line in order to get tested if it had been raining outside. That could not have been good for them, so I wonder what they do when that happens. This line only took about 45 minutes to get through, but you could only join it if you had an appointment. The lab where they were doing the results was at the site, and they were able to process it quickly. In fact, on the ride home, my wife was given her results. I had to wait a little longer, but it was within a couple of hours of having taken the test.

It was a little bit of an inconvenience to have to do this, but that is the kind of world we live in right now. It is nice to know that I am safe enough to fly and that the people I will be sharing the flight with will also have the same negative results. I also know that it should not be forever, and there will be a day when we can go back to taking a flight the way we always used to without having these extra hoops to jump through. I am glad I made it through that first hoop, and I know I have a few more to get through, but in the end, I should find myself back in the safety of my home with the memory of spending the holidays with family and friends to hold on to.

Run Indoors – Escaping the Heatwave

I knew that it wasn’t going to be cold when I came back to America. I knew that I was going to have to face the heat of summer. I knew that when I finally made it back to Colorado during the month of July, I would probably face a string of 90 degree days that would cause me to return to the air-conditioned environment created by the great indoors.

What I didn’t know was that I would have to face these kinds of conditions while I was in Oregon.

That is not to say that Oregon never gets hot. I have experienced some hot days during all of my time out visiting the state. There have been strings of hot days that have made me want to stay inside until the sun dipped over the horizon, but most of those days have come in late July or early August. Oregon is usually trying to work its way out of the cool spring during the month of June, and when I first got out here, that was the weather I was experiencing. But the news in Oregon has been focusing on the heat wave that is about to hit the not only the state, but all of the West. It is not just a small bump in temperatures either. What they are predicting could break records for the longest streak of 100 degree days in a row, and in the middle of it all, the hottest day ever on record in Portland. Needless to say, there is a little bit of panic going on in the state right now.

Now, it is not the kind of panic that has people running to the grocery store stocking up on toilet paper. Only a world wide pandemic can cause that kind of panic. No, this is more of a reserved apprehension about how each individual will be able to handle this extreme heat. There is talk of running down to the coast where the temperatures are always cooler and will only reach the 70s, and they are setting up shelters to pump out cool air-conditioned air during the hottest parts of the day.

It appears that many people in Oregon have already decided that it has gotten too hot out there because a lot of the places are missing the people I would normally see there. I do not think that it is that hot outside yet, but I know when it starts to hit those triple digit numbers that I will be running inside with the rest of them. It is all a sense of relativity though. Most Oregonians have spent the last couple of months shaking off the colder parts of the year, and to be thrown directly into this heat wave is a shock to the system; whereas, I have been spending the last couple of years living in one of the hottest and most humid cities in the world. It will have to be those extreme temperature that they are forecasting this weekend that will get me to start to feel the heat, and like a lot of those people who are inside right now, I am not looking forward to it either.

That brutal heat of Thailand seems to have found me. It took it awhile, because I flew half way across the world to get away from it. Flying is way over the Pacific Ocean, it kept a watchful eye for me, and I should have spent more time indoors because it spotted me and is now bringing its fury down upon the innocent people of Oregon like they have never seen before.

I am sorry for that, but it was just a joy to have a change of season and be able to walk around outside without instantly sweating. The sad thing is that it seems to know what I will be doing next. I am moving on to my home state soon which is just east of Oregon, and this heat bubble is hanging over the Pacific Northwest just long enough to make the move over the Rocky Mountains. It looks like I will have to apologize to the fine people of Colorado in advance for the heat I know will be coming their way. But hey, it is summer, and you knew this heat was coming. It will only last for a short period of time before the crisp days of autumn come your way. Until then, look for those good people you want to spend time with, and run for that cool comfort you can get from an air-conditioned inside.

Have Yourself a Rainy Little Christmas – The Holidays Day 6

I know that I spend a lot of my time bringing you pictures from around the world as I get to go to some exciting places and experience some truly amazing things. I enjoy sharing these things, and I love the pictures I am able to take with my phone. Most of the pictures I share are of the landscapes and sights from the cities or countries I am visiting, and my thoughts about what goes through me as I get to see them. I am always traveling with someone, but due to their privacy I try not to include them in my blog unless I know for a fact that they will be okay with their picture up for everybody to see. Then I come back to the Unites States, and I quit taking pictures, but still blog. It is not that I do not see amazing things when I am back home; it is more that I do not go out and hunt them down. My experiences in the States is to visit with family, and do the ordinary things that most Americans do on a regular basis. Not that I don’t find this stuff interesting anymore, and that many of my followers around the world might not want to know what life is like in the United States, but I find it so routine that I have a hard time coming up with a fresh way of looking at it.

But yesterday I was able to get out of the house for a little bit and not go to one of the malls packed with last minute shoppers. I got to experience Christmas in a way that I usually do not get to experience it, the Portland rain. I have been in Portland before for Christmas, but it has been a long time since I have been in its rain. I know that a lot of people will think that because I come from Colorado that I grew up with the cliche Christmas experience of trudging through the snow every Christmas morning and drinking hot chocolate while a blizzard raged on outside, but this was not always the case. I did get to have a few white Christmases, but there were other times that I was walking around in a t-shirt and enjoying the sun. In fact, my first post of the year talked about this exact thing.

But there are many people around the world that experience Christmas in a way that is not like the one that is usually depicted on the Hallmark Channel. They put up their Santa Clauses, lights and decorations, pretending that a big snow will come and give it that extra something that makes the holidays the holidays. But it never happens. It rarely snows in Portland. In fact, a typical Christmas here is usually covered with a rain cloud as a drizzle turns everything into a lush green. It is not the cliche, but it is not wrong. It is just the way that they enjoy the holidays in this part of the world.

It reminds me of the last couple of Christmases I have gotten to enjoy in New Zealand and Australia. There will never be a chance for them to experience snow on this day because Christmas comes in the middle of their summer. But this does not stop them from putting up the same decorations that we would see in the United States, and play the same carols over the shopping loud speaking that speak of snow. It felt out of place, but it did not take the holiday away.

I guess the thing that I took out of this recent experience is that the holiday is going to come no matter what. It might not be the same as it is pictured on postcards and television, but it is still a moment to spend the day with the people that make it special. It will take a force greater than the weather to not allow this day to come every year. So for all of you out there that celebrate this day, I wish you a Merry White One, or a Sunny Holiday or like where I get to enjoy the day this year, a Rainy Little Christmas.