PDX Redux

Yesterday started my PDX Redux trip. This was actually supposed to be my second PNW trip of the year, but pretty much all of my shoots ended up in Portland, and with my sister no longer living in Seattle (Hello, 'frisco!) there's really no reason to go there. I mean, I can think of a million reasons to go to Seattle, but if there's no work there for me, then it's not financially responsible, unfortunately.

My day started at 4:30 am EST & ended at approximately 11:30 pm PST, when my eyes could just not hold themselves open any longer. My flight left Pittsburgh at 8am, so I picked up my friend Jay around 5:45 am & we drove to the airport. He dropped me off at the Southwest gate & I got in line to check in. I then went through security & went to wait at my departure gate. I didn't have much of a wait, so I caught up on my blog a little & checked some emails. I also realized that I had a huge gap in my work schedule, for this trip, and I had to do some thinking & re-evaluating. My last paid shoot was on Wednesday 8/24. Thursday 8/25 would need to be a travel day, but my next paid shoot wasn't until Monday 8/29, the day before I was supposed to fly home. I had some thinking to do, and plenty of time in the air to do it.

The plane took off & headed to Vegas. Weird...I thought my layover was in Reno. Oh, ha! It was in Reno, we just had to land in Vegas, let some people off of the plane, let more people get onto the plane & THEN head to Reno. Why in the world did I book a flight like that? Oh, well, too late now. The flight to Vegas was pretty smooth, and my anxiety stayed in check, thankfully. It was a really pretty & clear day, so we were able to see the mountains, lakes & desert below us, including the Grande Canyon, which was cool. A very sweet older lady was seated to my right, and she pointed to a few mountains & asked if they were the Rockies. I politely told her that I didn't think so. She then asked if we were flying over Montana. Again, I was polite, but thought to myself, "God, I hope not,".

We arrived in Vegas, did the passenger switcharoo, and then headed to Reno. The flight was short & sweet & I had about an hour to kill before my flight to Portland. Let me just say that the Reno airport is great for people watching. Anyway, I had decided to shorten my trip out here & fly home 4 days early, due to lack of bookings.  I checked on the Southwest website, and it was only going to cost me $15 to change my flight. A small price to pay considering what I'd have to pay in hotel fees, rental car fees & food, etc. I made the change & then contacted the photographer regarding the one shoot that I did have booked. He wasn't happy, but he completely understood where I was coming from & thanked me for giving him plenty of notice so that he could cancel his studio time.

I boarded the plane for my final flight of the day, and I arrived in Portland about an hour & a half later. Picked up my rental car, drove to my hotel & was finally able to relax. I checked my email, did a few more things online & decided to watch TV & then read a book. I was so tired from travel & the time change, but I pushed myself to stay awake so that I didn't wake up at 4 am wide awake. I finally fell asleep around 11:30 & I slept pretty good. Now I'm finishing this up, and then getting ready for my first shoot. Gonna be fun!