Road Trip - Sunday August 8th

Favourite things that have been said to me:

1. "Yes"
When I asked Kate to marry me.

2. "It's a boy"
When George was born. Actually I'd have been just as happy if it had been a girl but you know what I mean.

3. "For an extra twenty dollars would you like to upgrade to a convertible mustang sir?"

I love you Hertz car hire man and I always will.

My hire car. Seriously.

So in my subtle, understated 3.7L V6 convertible I headed out into rural Oregon. Most visitors do "the loop" which is a 150 mile route along the Columbia river gorge and then around mount hood park before finishing with a hike in the foothills of mount Hood.

Far too beautiful to describe but I've stuck a few iPhone photos in below. Enjoy.

Columbia River Gorge viewed from Vista House

Multnomah Falls

Bridal Falls

Mount Hood viewed from the end of the Pacific Crest Trail

The Timberline Lodge - Famous for being the exterior location for one of my favourite films "The Shining"

Attempted self portrait at the end of the Pacific Crest Trail

Saturday Market - Saturday August 7th

I know that my heavily pregnant wife, currently single parenting whilst I galavant in the Pacific North West will not have much sympathy for this, but it's been a truly exhausting week here so I've been looking forward to some R&R. I've spent the week polling all the Docs and Techs for suggestions and have settled on spending today exploring Portland downtown and hiring a car to explore further afield tomorrow.

Saturday is market day in downtown Portland and the freaks (sorry, "counter-culturalists") are out in force. The area under the Burnside bridge is filled with hundreds of stalls with artists selling their own work. Good for a browse with a few gems amongst the tut. Of more interest to me, there are loads of food stalls - I broadened my gastronomical horizons with Philly Cheese Steak, Burrito salad and Cheesecake on a stick.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall - 'The Schnitz'

After hanging around the market and listening to the bands that play there I wandered back to the hotel via the cultural district. Tomorrow - road trip!

Rob Barton and the Second Ammendment - Friday August 6th

Apologies for the gap in blog entries. A busy few days here.


One interesting aspect of the time I've spent here has been the opportunity to meet people from different parts of the USA. On my previous trips to the states I've visited huge multicultural cities like Chicago and New York but spent most of my time in the company of fellow Brits. Not so here. Whilst the majority of the rad techs and nurses are native Portlanders, the IR fellows and attending physicians (equivalent of UK consultants) have been recruited from throughout America and have their own regional accents and traits.

Keller and Kaufman are from Birmingham (Alabama not the midlands) and Boston respectively. My favourite though is Rob Barton, a stereotypical Texan:

Rob Barton

Time spent with Rob is particularly enjoyable because, as well as being a superb and vastly experienced interventionalist (probably the best practical interventional radiologist here as he tends to avoid academic roles in favour of hands on teaching) he also completely lacks any political correctness.

 As soon as he got wind of my (vaguely) left wing political tendencies he started to test my convictions with a few choice digs. He is a typical republican; pro Bush, anti-immigration, anti-health reform, anti-gun control etc etc. His particularly favoured political philosophy is the 'Tytler cycle' - an interesting and initially persuasive argument against democracy if you've never heard it before (which I hadn't).

A passionate defender of the second amendment  (the right to keep and bear arms) he is a fully card-carrying member of the NRA and has an extensive collection of handguns, hunting and assault rifles. He also has a license to carry a concealed handgun (which I think he brings to work with him) so I'm not tempted to push him too far in any of our heated political debates.

A nice guy - he's lent me a bunch of maps for hiking this weekend - but I'm quietly glad that he lives 4900 miles away.