Writers' Day Out

I spent yesterday riding the rails to Portland and back with some writer friends. We secured ourselves a table both southbound and northbound, and so were able to spend the better part of 6+ hours just writing, writing, writing while the train whisked us to our destinations.

Once in Portland, first thing to do was have brunch/lunch, so we made our way to Mother's Bistro where the wait was long but the food was oh so good! When a place is jam packed with locals, you know it must be good.

No trip to the City of Roses would be complete without stopping at VooDoo Doughnut for a bacon maple bar. Fortunately, we happened to hit there between rushes, so our wait was not too long and the bacon maple bars were still ample. (They often run out as it is a particularly popular item, and rightly so!)

Then it was time for our pilgrimage to Mecca, i.e. Powell's Books. Set four avid readers/writers loose in Powell's and just get out of the way. It's the only safe choice. ;) After checking our computer bags and our donuts, we set to work scouring the city-block-sized building for all the best bookish treasures one could hope for.

Then we stopped for a pint in a quiet, lovely pub--I believe it was called The Fox and Hounds--near the train station, and back we went northbound, computers out, fingers flying over the keyboards as the train took us home once more.

Even more than being a wonderful chance to buckle down and write like a fiend with very few distractions, it was wonderful to have a day out with great friends in a fun city. It's hard to beat that sort of weekend adventure. :)

Kismet

Check it out:



Until this weekend, the last pro baskeball game I had attended was in 1977.

This past Saturday, the hubby and I were going to go to an event.

We were offered tickets to see a Storm pre-season game with friends who had extras.

We declined due to the afformentioned event.



An hour or so passed.



The hubby discovered that the event happened the previous Saturday.

I suggest seeing if the basketball tickets are still available.

By luck, they are.

We attend.

Two of the seats are courtside; two are in row 14; all are in the same section.

We girls sit down front for the first half and swap with the boys for the second half.

As we swap I hear my name shouted from farther up.

It is a good friend from college whom I've not seen in more than six years.



(Think the kismet stops there? Hang onto your hat...)



She was offered tickets by a friend, but declined due to other plans.

Those plans were cancelled/fell through/somethingorother.

She called her friend back but the tickets were no longer available.

Her friend called another friend who called her to say, "I have tickets for tonight that I'm not using. Would you like them?"

She said, "Yes!"

Those tickets were in the same section as ours.



Thirteen dozen layers of coincidence later, we hugged a lot, chatted a bit, I gave her a card and told her about my book, and I wrote my phone numbers on the back.

She will, of course, be invited to my release party in June. :-)



Oh. And the Storm won the game.

How freakin' awesome was that? :-D