Annie got her gun in a packed auditorium, where the touring company of the Broadway revival entertained us with highly charged dancing and the familiar Irving Berlin songs: You Can't Get a Man With a Gun, There's No Business Like Show Business, and others. We've been lucky with our impromptu theater selections during this past year and wonder where we'll find our next opportunity. We were tickled to see among the matinee audience several small girls, some in cowgirl costume, who are clearly aiming to be Stars themselves.
Mornings in Portland have been chilly, with frost on the grass and the tops of the cars, but by noon the sun is out and the air is pleasantly warm. Sunday Elsa made a return trip to Powell's Book Store, while Bob found some recent texts on commutative algebra, homological algebra and algebraic geometry at Powell's Technical Books. Powell's also has specialty bookstores for cooks and travellers. They dominate the bookstore business in Portland, and appear to be holding Barnes and Noble and Borders at bay! We're stowing a lot of books in the truck, anticipating that our selection in small towns further north may be limited.
We drove around Portland and happened through an area of hippies, gays and lesbians, young and old (described in one of the guides as "vibrant and diverse" -- must be code words). A first rate bakery served us yummy sandwiches.
The locals say that while this sunny weather is nice for tourists, it's beginning to look like a drought for the farmers. Having lived in the desert for 18 years, we feel we have a better understanding of drought than most Americans! But the days have been crystal clear, and each time we drive back to the motel we have views of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. Both mountains are covered in white; Mount Hood is almost triangular, while Mount St. Helens clearly has its top blown off.