Spent the morning shopping in Portland. Michelle needed new running shoes and Portland has no sales tax. Of course we made the obligatory trip to Powell's. I also picked up a spare battery for the camera, since the old battery seems to need charging rather too frequently.
We had breakfast and lunch at the Farmer's market. The crepes at the Trout Lake market are much better, though the ones in Portland were OK. The Portland market overall is much bigger than the Vancouver market, but not that different in terms of the range or quality of things on offer.
It seemed like half the city of Portland accompanied us down the I5 as far as Eugene, apparently to watch the Oregon Ducks play the USC Trojans. It boggles the mind that so many people are willing to drive six hours (three there and three back home) to watch a college football game. All the extra traffic added at least an hour to the trip. Density waves in the traffic stream caused intermittent stop and go traffic along the entire trip.
We had supper in Medford, then hit the road again. The weather had been relatively clear all day, but it started snowing almost as soon as we left Medford. None of the snow stuck on the road, but driving through a snowstorm in the dark is hard work. The forecast around Mount Shasta was for snow overnight and more snow tomorrow; we wanted to get past that section of highway today in case they close it tomorrow. We made it, but it took an extra hour to get from Medford to Redding. We rolled into town around 9:15pm and checked into the first hotel we found. What with the rain, I won't get to try the new telescope out tonight.
Tomorrow we're heading down toward Death Valley. We can't get to the park before dark, so we'll likely stop short of the park and drive through in the morning. That's probably just as well, since accommodations in the park itself are very limited. Still, it would have been nice to spend the night there and to get my telescope out: viewing conditions in Death Valley are supposed to be spectacular and there is no moon until the early morning hours tomorrow night.
As I walked my dog this evening I thought, "What might I contribute to this effort you are making? It should be both diverting (during road delays) and distinctive."
ReplyDeleteIt occurred to me that one thing you might not be getting a lot of during this trip is.... Cryptanalysis!
Let me know if this is too easy, and I'll try to take it up a notch. ;-)
fr fq klr aibsp rl jb fc my aljjbkrq ylt spb illhfkd clp fkqfdercti aljjbkrq lk yltp jlqr pbabkr mild nlqr aljjs lp lkiy fkskb aljjbkrq cplj jb aljjs reb aljjbkrsrlp aljjs lk vesr fq esnnbkfkd fk jy ifcb qrln qfkab f sj jtae mbrrbp sr reb isrrbp resk reb clpjbp aljjs f vfii nplufxb s qsjnib clp yltp bkglyjbkr qrln
reby qsy reb vbsrebp rlkfder fq sipbsxy sr zbpl sq lc bfder l'ailah aljjs skx vfii xpln ctprebp qrln qklv fq bwnbarbx rl csii bspiy jlkxsy jlpkfkd ql f cbsp jy aljjtrb vfii mb svhvspx qrln skx reb clpbasqrbpq siql npbxfar sii reb qklv rl mb dlkb aljjs lp sr ibsqr repltdeiy srrsahbx my psfk aljjs my isrb scrbpkllk jlkxsy qrln
ufqflk uskaltubp rllh reb jsylp aljjs reb altkafi aljjs reb nsphq mlspx skx reb qaelli mlspx fk reb bibarflk lk qsrtpxsy qrln f sj reskhcti clp resr mbastqb f msahbx nsrrf msaaetq qrln refq fq reb cfpqr rfjb f esub nisabx s qfdk clp skylkb lk jy isvk qrln
f aljjbkx ylt lk yltp smfifry rl jsfkrsfk skx dpllj yltp mbspx qrln f sj bwrpbjbiy cptqrpsrbx vfre elv fraey jfkb esq mbaljb qrln f cbsp fr vfii klr jshb fr rl rtbqxsy jlpkfkd qrln f bwnbar rl vbsp fr lkiy rl reb mlspx jbbrfkd jlkxsy bubkfkd aljjs skx rebk xbjlkqrpsrb rl jy qlk reb kbwr jlpkfkd vey f qesub ql cpbotbkriy qrln
Thank you for taking the time to write, David. Your comments, inane or otherwise, are always welcome.
ReplyDeleteI confess to extreme laziness. Looking at your crypto text, I decided it was probably a simple substitution cypher. Google brought me to
http://www.blisstonia.com/software/WebDecrypto/index.php which confirmed my guess that it was a substitution cipher.
I guess my secret to maintaining a beard is that mine doesn't itch, or at least, not moreso than the rest of my skin. I'm glad that your preferred candidates did well in the municipal elections. I confess that I didn't vote for any school board candidates, because I didn't feel I understood any of the candidates positions well enough and ran out of time to do more research.
Marvellous! Yes, indeed, a substitution cipher. I put the utility together as a programming exercise a while ago. So much for long hours of distraction for the passenger during road delays. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy beard is now gone. So has the itch it created.
Michelle's posts and your posts (but not these comments) show up as updates on my RSS feed, which is great. Consider yourselves peers of the BBC :-)
I'm honoured!
ReplyDelete