I haven't checked my email since Nebraska, so I don't know if my mailbox is full of flames from alt.fan.Idaho or something, but I'll already admit I was a little unfair to the place yesterday. The mountains of Wyoming are a hard act to follow, and popular opinion is that the highlight of Idaho is off the highway: spas, canyons, rapids. Sure, the tourist materials in Twin Falls mostly pointed to Wyoming, and the highway billboards mostly advertised Nevada, but can you blame the place for wanting tourists to go away?

I'm not so sure about that "Fight terrorism - get US out of the United Nations" billboards I kept seeing, though.

This morning's drive out of Idaho was also notable for the extreme winds and enormous tumbleweeds attacking the car. Some of them looked like they could have been waist-high. Help.

The Oregon Trail finally takes us to, well, Oregon

And there we were in Oregon, the state on our itinerary that made everyone say, "Isn't that the LONG way to L.A.?" We were originally going to spend a day and a half in Eugene, OR this weekend to attend a beer festival, but (long story involving much beer politics deleted) it got postponed and we decided to stick a Portland stop in there instead and hang out with Jessica (the sister of Josh, our friend who runs the Beer Summit in Boston) and her boyfriend Kyle.

Oregon is a full-service state, so they pump your gas for you and, at the place we gassed up, meticulously clean every inch of your windshield and other glass surfaces, even in the rain. Eastern Oregonians seem to m-ooo-v-e v-e-rrrr-y sl-oooo-w-ly. Maybe this is the west coast pace we've been hearing so much about. The wind continued, and I drove in it. I also happened to take the wheel right before a 6% grade down the Blue Mountains.

Highlights of I-84 across Oregon (other than the frustrating novelty of full-service gas) included a Louisiana license place (now we only need Mississippi to have seen all 50), a really giant dam at the oddly-named town of The Dalles, and the really excellent mountain/forest/river/gorge scenery.

I've heard both good and bad things about Portland. It's divided in two parts by the Williamette River, and some of the east bit (where the hotels are) apparently includes a giant mall and an icky gentrified sprawl, so maybe that's why some people don't like it. Portland became our friend immediately due to the excellent sushi we had with Jessica, Kyle, and Kyle's mom, Julianne. I don't know what you'd have to pay to get sushi this good in Boston. Free plug for the web search engines: The Takahashi, 10324 S.E. Holgate, Portland, OR. Do it. As a bonus to the dinner, when Kyle's mom (who we'd never met before and was in Portland on business) heard our travel plans involved Eugene, she told us we should cancel our motel reservation and stay in her guestroom 16 miles south of Eugene instead, even with the cat. Oregon hospitality rocks.

We went back to Jessica and Kyle's place to relax, and so Jessica (who does seamstress work) could measure Julianne to make her a swimsuit. (Kyle rightly points out that people who know how to sew and bake bread are the ones you'll want around when the apocalypse comes.) Their dog had accidentally injured itself in the yard earlier Friday, so he had one of those cones around its neck so he couldn't pull his stitches out, the poor guy -- he kept banging the cone into things when he walked. We got a good tour of the garden -- a vegetable/flower garden, within the limits of a major city! -- and their glassblowing studio, a shed sort of building behind the house. We got to put on protective eyewear a la chemistry lab and watch Kyle and their friend Jillian blow some glass, a really cool-looking process involving lots of breakable items and huge open flames. Glassblowing is really fascinating to watch and if you ever have a chance to watch a glassblower at work, we highly recommend it.

We got so caught up in hanging out with the Portland glassblowing posse that we never did make it into downtown Portland or to one of the city's famous brewpubs. Next time!

Tomorrow: Eugene, OR and beer.