Day Three in Portland.

I managed to set my alarm correctly for day three and was out of bed around 8:30. I stumbled downstairs to the kitchen for coffee. Everyone else was already up and we hung out in the living room chatting. We discussed the plan for the day.

First on our list. Brunch. I need to start paying better attention because I don't remember the name of the place we went for brunch. We started with coffee all around and then I ordered a breakfast scramble with eggs and broccoli. M.M. also ordered a Cinnamon French Toast for the table which was sort of like dessert at breakfast. The restaurant was packed and M.M. and L.M. knew at least half the people there. It took at least 30 minutes to leave the restaurant while they said goodbye to everyone.

Back in the car I requested that we stop at 7-11 for a Diet Coke, which annoys L.M. because she thinks I drink to much Diet Coke but she agreed to stop. We then headed north to look for Christmas ornaments. M.M. and L.M. don't have enough ornaments to decorate the tree and L.M. declared that she'd only use "used" ornaments on her tree. There was no way she was going to Target or Wal-Mart to buy boxes of glass ornaments. We drove for about 20 minutes when we found an antique store. We did a quick u-turn and began exploring. The store was my favorite kind of antique store. More junk than antiques. The kind of place that has treasures just waiting to be found. We spent about an hour in it looking for ornaments. L.M. found about 10 that she liked and then we were on to the next stop. Another two or three miles up the road we discovered another store. This one was a real find, not because of the contents but because of the man who owned it. He was a real character, with a beagle who did tricks for us the whole time we were there. Again L.M. found ornaments that she liked and we headed back to the car. It was decided that we had to get back to check on Max, L.M.'s dog so it was back to Portland.

On the way back I asked for another Diet Coke but L.M. was not being as generous this time. She drove past at least 10 fast food places without stopping making it very clear I wasn't getting one.

We dropped L.M. at home and M.M. and I ran back out to go the grocery and to the L.L. Bean store again in Portland. At L.L. Bean I found a couple of shirts and a pair of pants that fit and of course some more SmartWool socks. At the grocery store we got the makings for pasta for 8. For dinner two of M.M. and L.M.'s friends were coming over with their two small children and one of their brothers. L.M. wanted food that would be quick and easy. Back home everyone again gathered in the kitchen to watch L.M. cook and once again the beer and wine was flowing. It didn't take long for dinner to be ready and soon we were back at the dining room table.

Dinner was great. We cleaned up afterwards and everyone began winding down. On Sunday night we were all in bed by 10 p.m. It's the earliest I've been to be in ages. I'd love to say that I had trouble going to sleep that early but I didn't. I was asleep in no time and the next thing I knew it was time to get up and be off the airport.

Thus ended my trip to Portland. The only thing I didn't do was meet up with my blogger friend. I have to admit that I chickened out. I was worried about looking like an idiot or not having anything to talk about, or just being stupid, so I didn't call. If you are reading this I know I'm being foolish but it's how I was feeling. Maybe I'll do better next time.