Our trip out west was fairly uneventful. We left Monday morning for Portland, OR via Denver, CO. When we got to Denver, we were ready for lunch, but they were only serving breakfast, still. But, for some reason, they were serving alcohol at the adjoining bar. I guess it is OK to serve alcohol at 9:30 a.m., but you'd better not serve lunch!
The flights to Denver and to Portland were pretty bumpy at times. I don't know how these pilots keep the planes under control, but I'm sure glad they do! We arrived in Portland to, you guessed it, rain! It was pretty much overcast and rainy the whole time we were there. About 50 degrees, though, so it was bearable. The Oregon Department of Insurance (DOI) was really nice and we were pleased with the answers to most of our questions. They were quick to let us know, though, that the proper way to pronounce their state is Oregun. With the meeting taking place in Salem (one hour south of Portland) and our time being around 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. in Oregon), we decided to eat at a highly recommended, small restaurant there in Salem: Word of Mouth Neighborhood Bistro. It was in an old house and was, in fact, pretty good. We headed back to Portland for our hotel.
We had an early flight (7:15 a.m.) from Portland to Boise, ID the next morning, St. Patrick's Day. This was on Southwest. I personally love this airline and talked it up big to my traveling companions. We arrived at the airport around 5:30 a.m. to an pretty long line to get our boarding passes. The flight was great, though, as there were only 29 passengers on a flight that could easily hold 3-to-4 times that many. The crew was very nice, but they weren't funny or any different than any other airline. I still love Southwest (and hope they come to Cincinnati...perhaps to make us an eastern/mid-western hub), but my companions weren't overly impressed. The crew was decked out in St. Patrick's Day garb, though (green beads, green hats, etc.)!
The flight into Boise provided some great scenery. If you haven't been out west to see the mountains, YOU HAVE TO GO! Like a dork, I took several pictures from the plane. I could definitely see myself living out here (with acres and acres of land). The weather was pretty nice, too. The high got to about 60 degrees and the sun was shining! Our visit to the Idaho DOI was great and we then visited two of our agencies that afternoon. They all seemed like great guys (though that second agency could give us a lot more business).
We finished up around 4:00 p.m. local time and headed to Boise State University, which was close to our hotel, to try to get a glimpse of the smurf turf. In case you are not familiar, the school's football field is actually blue! We couldn't get in the stadium, but tried to take a picture anyway. We headed back to the hotel to change, then we went to a Hawaiian restaurant, Ono, which was fantastic! It was recommended by the last agency we visited and they got it right! We went back to the hotel to get some shuteye before heading back to Cincinnati (via Minneapolis) on Wednesday morning. In Boise, at the gate waiting to board the plane, we noticed three TSA agents scoping out all the folks at our gate. They eventually singled some lady out and asked to go through her carry on bag(s) again. A complete waste of resources, if you ask me. Then I saw this article in USA Today.
In leaving Minneapolis, the pilot drove the plane from the gate to the runway, like normal. However, either he got lost or the airport there is huge. It took him 15 minutes to taxi out to the runway. The guy next to me even asked if we were driving to Cincinnati! To top things off, when we arrived in Cincinnati, they couldn't get the passenger bridge (is that what you call it?) to work to connect to our plane to let people off. After about 10 minutes, they figured it out.
A good trip, but we are pretty tired from all the flying. I don't know how people can fly every day or every week for that matter! I think we are done traveling for the year, unless something comes up. OK with me!
Here are some pictures from our March business trips.
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