I'm visiting my friend's apartment, and we are awakened by the noise of airplanes taking off. Looking out the window, I notice that there is runway right next to the building, running right along the side of the apartments. The tips of the airplane wings are only inches from the building. I comment to my friend that just once I'd like to see them miscalculate and drag a wing through the building. No, that would be bad. But it would be interesting to see.

I gather with my travel companions, I think four of us, including a girl I'm totally in love with, and somebody like my friend Art. I suggest we spend the day in Portland, and the girl says "just like we're tourists", and I say this is exactly what I meant.

We start walking with our packs. The girl stops at a sort of foreign store and buys something bulky that we don't want to carry all day. I suggest that the shopkeeper will probably just hold it until we can pick it up later in the day. She's a foreigner, and when I ask her how long she'll be here, she says only a few more minutes, implying that they are closing at maybe 1pm. I say oh, well I guess that's not an option. They are closing early in the afternoon?

She says no, she's just closing for an hour for lunch, then she'll be back until 8. I ask her if she can keep the item for us, and we'll be back before 8, and that's fine with everyone. But we seem to have lost our other companion, who stopped for internet or laundry somewhere along the way, and we have to double back and find him before we can continue.