Thanks, America. It's been fun.

In several hours I will get into a car to Portland. From there, I take a short flight to Seattle. (I looked into taking a train from Salem, OR, to Seattle, but it would have taken SEVEN HOURS to go the 189 miles. Way to go, Amtrak.) From Seattle, I have a 14-hour flight to Taipei, then a four-hour flight to Bangkok. I'll spend the evening with some friends, then take a three-hour bus ride and then a half-hour van trip, and then I'll be at my destination. Easy. The plane ticket was cheap, at least.

I had a good time in Portland. In addition to the Blazers game (a blowout for the home team) and the concert (quite good), we did karaoke one night (my songs: "Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer" and "Safety Dance") and went out to the ocean another evening.We caught the end of sunset at the Pacific, went for some pizza and beer, then had a bonfire on the beach. I've been away from Alaska for too long; even in the moderate climes of Oregon I've felt fairly cold. Good thing I'm heading to a hot place, where it's currently in the upper-80s.

I hope to get back here some day, but for now it's time to move onward. Goodbye America, until we meet again.