The Perpetual Tourist

It’s hard to believe that Election Day is finally almost here, after what seems like decades of campaigning. If you’re heavily invested in the outcome of any of the races next Tuesday (how can you not be?!), you should plan to get together with other like-minded individuals. That way you have people to clink glasses with when your candidates win, or people to drown your sorrows with if the election goes badly.

My college always hosted a “Politics & Popcorn” party to watch the returns, but that was jointly hosted by College Republicans and Young Democrats, and it was always a pretty tense atmosphere. I highly recommend sticking with just your own political party on election night. The likelihood of a fist fight is much lower that way.

There will be huge rallies for each presidential nominee in each of their home states. Barack Obama, known for his ability to draw enormous crowds, is hosting his party in Chicago’s Grant Park. You can sign up for the ticket waiting list here. John McCain’s party will be held at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, but his campaign has said that due to space limitations, the Republican candidate will address reporters on the hotel lawn, and will not likely be present for much of his own party. Your age is showing, Senator….

If you’re not nearby or can’t get tickets to these A-list events, that doesn’t mean your party hopes are dashed. There will be hundreds if not thousands of election watch parties on November 4. Nearly every candidate for every office being contested next week will be hosting a shindig somewhere. Most of these events are free and open to the public. Call your local political party headquarters for information about election night events. With the notable exception of John McCain, most politicians plan to show up at their election parties — this could be your chance to schmooze with your representatives and influence policy in the coming term.

If you want to stay home on election night, you can always throw your own party. Here’s an article with good recipes and ideas for your election night party, and this MSNBC article is a good guide for what you’ll want to know when the returns start coming in. Be prepared for a long night, though — ever since that awful mess with Florida in 2000, analysts have been very slow to call any close races one way or the other. Don’t expect guests to clear out before all the important races have been decided, and many of those are very, very tight.

Forgive me for all this focus on Portland lately, but I’ve been spending a lot of time here. We only flew back to Virginia a little over a week ago, but now we’re back for a previously unplanned 9-day stay. When we landed at PDX at noon on Saturday, lunch was our first priority. My in-laws picked us up, and I remembered my mother-in-law saying there was a restaurant called Nick’s she loved in Portland for its tabouli, so I suggested going there.

Had I known that it wasn’t Nick’s (a sandwich-shop sounding name), but Nicholas Restaurant, a Lebanese diner, I may not have suggested the place. I’m a very picky eater, and don’t like to try new things when it comes to food. I’d never had Lebanese before, and I wasn’t in a particularly adventurous mood. My mother-in-law kept saying how wonderful the tabouli would be, but that did little to improve my outlook. I’m not a tabouli fan.

A look at the menu perked me up. There were lots of choices, many vegetarian and vegan (I’m a strict vegetarian and love it when a restaurant offers more than one option for me), and while most were things I’d never heard of before, a look around at the other tables got my mouth watering. Everything looked and smelled very good.

My father-in-law told me that he first discovered Nicholas Restaurant years ago when a Lebanese friend of his brought him there, saying that it was the best Lebanese in Oregon. I don’t know how many Lebanese dining options there are in the state, but it’s good to know I was starting at the top.

When the food came, it didn’t take long for me to drop the last of my reservations. I’d ordered the Spinach Pie with feta, which was described as a traditional Lebanese pizza. When it arrived, it looked more like a calzone and tasted nothing like pizza, really, but the first bite won me over. Delicious, four stars, can we come back tomorrow, please?

The portions are enormous, and combos come with a huge (I estimated about 20″ in diameter) pita and some of the yummiest hummus I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t love the tabouli, but liked it at least as well as any other tabouli I’ve ever had, and we all felt very satisfied with our meals. There were enough leftovers to feed us all for dinner, too, while the prices were lower than most meals half this size anywhere else.

My only criticism of the restaurant is that everyone’s meals came out at different times. The soup I’d ordered for an appetizer came several minutes after my entree, and my father-in-law and I had finished our meals before my husband and mother-in-law got their entrees. That was annoying, but the meal was so good that it’s easy to overlook this problem. The enormous pita that came out at the beginning was enough to keep everyone happy while waiting for the last of their meals. The entire small dining space was crammed full of customers while we were there; perhaps at a less busy time, the kitchen would keep up with orders better.

Nicholas Restaurant is located at 318 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97214; phone: (503) 235-5123. Open Mon-Sat 10-9pm; Sun 12-9pm. This picky eater gives it her highest recommendations. Bon apetit!

Now that almost all major airlines are charging for checked luggage, passengers are trying harder to fit all their travel gear into their two allotted carry-on bags. Supposedly, there are size and dimension limits for these bags, but I have never seen anyone actually enforce these. About half the passengers on any given flight will have carry-ons the size of a baby elephant, the overhead bins will fill up about two thirds of the way through boarding, and then there will be a long holdup while flight attendants scramble to make more space.

On one of my flights earlier this year, so many passengers had oversized carry-ons that I missed my connecting flight due to the delay of all the last-minute baggage checking at the gate. Yet none of these rule breakers were charged for their luggage, and I was left to fend for myself to find a new flight. With this experience in my memory, I harbor a deep loathing for anyone who thinks they are above the rules. And it also annoys the bejesus out of me that airlines don’t enforce their own rules, and that these spacehogs keep getting away with this crap.

That’s why I’m cautiously optimistic about new carry-on size requirements that many airlines have adopted. It remains to be seen if the airlines will actually enforce their new rules, but I think it’s a good idea, in theory. Continental Airlines is the latest in a string of carriers to reduce the maximum carry-on size from 51 linear inches (width + height + length in inches) to just 45 linear inches. The new rules will apply to all travelers regardless of when the tickets were purchased.

30 x 14 x 13 = Don't even TRY it!

No airlines are charging for carry-ons just yet, but the new guidelines are designed to push more bags over the limit and force travelers to check bags that they may have thought they could carry on. Then checked luggage fees would apply. Continental announced that new luggage sizing boxes will be available at most check-in counters so that travelers can make sure their bags will fit — but by the time you’re at the check-in desk, it’s a bit late to switch your luggage if you find yours is too big.

Some of my fellow travel bloggers are cheesed off at the new regulations, which stink of yet another money grab. I don’t really see it that way, though. Even though fuel prices are dropping and airlines are generating good revenue from luggage fees already in place, most airlines are still really struggling. I can understand their need to drum up more cash, and while I admit it’s annoying for me as a frequent flier, it’s much less annoying than not having a flight available, which is what happens when struggling airlines are forced to cut costs.

Maybe it is a money grab, but this shouldn’t be a problem for savvy travelers, who would know the rules before showing up at the check-in desk for a flight. Some critics argue that six linear inches of space won’t be enough to make a difference in space problems or fuel costs, but I disagree. If airlines actually enforce their new rules, those six inches per bag will add up dramatically, especially considering the number of people who have been flipping off the rules for so long with their monster carry-on bags.

I’m flying cross-country again tomorrow, so I’ll be able to report back shortly as to whether or not United Airlines is enforcing the 45″ rule. Check back soon and I’ll let you know.

For a comprehensive list of luggage size requirements by airline, check here.

Edited 10/25:  I landed in Portland this afternoon and I can definitely say that nothing’s changed.  People are still bringing giant bags on board and gate agents and flight attendants are still letting them.  My flight was full, so I suspect that if they were going to enforce the rules, this would have been the time, but so far it’s business as usual in the air.

I’m typing to you right now from the very tiny keyboard on my very tiny new computer, an Asus Eee PC 900 Series. I’m by no means a technology wizard, but I do want to review this computer from the point of view of a frequent traveler who has internet dependency issues.

I started shopping for a new computer a few weeks ago. There’s nothing terribly wrong with my existing laptop, which is a regular-sized (15″ screen) 2-year-old Compaq. The real problems were all mine, really, being that I’m a big klutz and I’ve dropped the thing a few too many times.

I definitely wanted something sturdier, but I also wanted something smaller. I’d been coveting all the tiny laptops I’ve seen other people using, especially at airports, thinking MAN, that would be so much more convenient! But when I went shopping for my new 12″ laptop, I had a rude awakening. Those machines were generally about twice as expensive as the bigger ones, and I just couldn’t make myself spend that kind of money. Then I saw the Eee. The one I eventually bought has an 8.9-inch screen and weighs less than the contents of the smallest pocket in my purse. And it was much, much cheaper than those enormous 12″ computers!

I had reservations at first. There are definitely some cons with this computer:

• It’s REALLY small. Its size makes it super convenient for travel, but it’s not the easiest keyboard to use. My hands are small and I still fumble with these keys much more than on a full sized laptop.
• There’s no CD/DVD drive. That means I can’t use it as a DVD player, which is one of the primary functions of my old laptop.
• It’s got a Linux operating system. I’ve only ever used Windows, and I wasn’t sure I could handle learning a new system.

I weighed these doubts against the pros:

• It’s so cute!
• It’s under $300.
• It does what I need it to do. I only really use my computer for surfing the internet and blogging, so I don’t need a bunch of fancy extras.
• It will be very easy to travel with.

Then I got rational with the cons.

• There are people in the world who can text on a cell phone as fast as they type. I’ll get used to the tiny keyboard.
• With the money I save by not buying a $1000+ laptop, I can totally afford a portable DVD player, or at least an external drive.
• Everyone says Linux is better than Windows anyway.

So I bought it. I’ve had it for about a week now, and here’s my honest opinion, so far:

• The setup was a little bit confusing, but didn’t take very long and everything seems to be in working order now.
• I’m still not entirely comfortable with the keyboard, but I’m adapting, and I’m sure I’ll get there. If not, I can always buy a larger keyboard that I can connect to one of the three USB ports (which is one more than my old laptop has). There are some funky things about this keyboard that bug me, though. Some of the keys are moved around for space purposes, and if you hit [SHIFT]+[SPACE], which I often do inadvertently, ｉｔ changes the font to look as if you’re using a 1980’s word processor， 　and it took me a long time to figure out what was making that happen and how to make it stop.
• The mouse touchpad isn’t very precise, so sometimes that is a bit frustrating. Again, though, I could always buy another mouse to use with the computer if I don’t get used to this.
• The battery life is excellent. I get close to three hours of battery power.
• Linux is pretty easy to use.

All told, the flaws and inconveniences of this machine are really no big deal. I’ll definitely get my money’s worth out of the Eee PC, and I’m not sure the same would be true had I invested in a more expensive, larger machine. In my carry on luggage, this computer will take up about as much space as a book. It will definitely make computing on the go much easier for me.

Have you ever gone digging through the pocket in front of you on an airplane? You’ll find the barf bag, the safety instructions, and usually two magazines. The first is whatever periodical the airline prints. The articles are sometimes sort of interesting, but the crosswords are always already done. The second magazine is the SkyMall catalog. Now that’s good reading.

Most entertaining is the thought that people actually buy these things. I’ll admit, some items are tempting — but almost everything in there is way overpriced, not to mention almost entirely useless. Yet the SkyMall wouldn’t exist if people didn’t buy its products, and I like to amuse myself by imagining a house filled with SkyMall goodies.

You don’t have to be in the air to browse the SkyMall selection — it’s available online, too. Here are some of my favorite SkyMall finds, just in time for the upcoming holiday season:

The Dough-Nu-Matic, $129.99 at SkyMall

The Dough-Nu-Matic: Just add dough! This handy contraption “automatically forms, fries and drains delectable mini-doughnuts in just 50 seconds!” Haven’t you always wanted a mini-doughnut factory in your kitchen?

SkyMall says it’s great for entertaining (I always wish I could serve doughnuts at my dinner parties), but also fund raisers, because it can make a dozen easy-to-sell mini-doughnuts in just a few minutes. At $0.25 apiece, sell just 520 of the little guys and this thing has paid for itself. (Dough not included.)

It's vintage!

16th Century Italian Armor: From the who-the-hell-buys-this-stuff files, aka the Home Decor section of the catalog, we have a life-sized medieval suit of armor on a museum mount. Yours for $975, the catalog boasts that it is “so realistic that it even features faux chain mail, faux leather strapping and a hinged helmet that opens.” Whoa — for almost a thousand bucks, they can’t throw in real chain mail? Lame! But I bet you could keep candy in that hinged helmet that opens.

Good luck finding a matching shower curtain.

Sticking with the ridiculous historical decorations theme, next up we have a pun that goes too far: Richard The Lionheart Throne. I can picture this toilet seat nowhere else but a fraternity house. I’ll take this moment to warn readers of the dangers of shopping the SkyMall while intoxicated. While under the influence, you may find that this is a must-have conversation piece for your home, but when you’ve sobered up, you might regret spending $69.95 on a ridiculous toilet seat that you can’t return.

Let’s not forget about the kids, now. SkyMall has a huge selection of toys, like the Children’s ATM Bank, designed to teach kids about banking while they deposit and withdraw real money and keep up with their account balance on the ATM screen. Less enterprising children will probably enjoy the Marshmallow Shooter, a pump-action rifle that shoots real marshmallows across the room, sure to make a giant, squishy mess.

SkyMall has pet products, too! For instance, if you have an arthritic golden retriever, don’t make him jump on and off your bed — you can buy him this helpful ramp instead. It’s only $119 — isn’t Fido worth it?

Before you buy anything from SkyMall, check the As Seen on TV store first — it might be cheaper there.

Have you ever ordered anything from SkyMall? If so, I want to hear about it. How is that Voice Activated R2-d2 working out for you?

Every girl I know has at least one outfit that she loves, but just can’t go out in public actually wearing — except on Halloween. You may be past the age of trick-or-treating, but you’re never too old to get into the spirit of the holiday by giving your most outrageous outfits a night on the town.

If you’re looking for the best of the best Halloween parties all over the United States, Tripwolf has put together a nice list for you. Some featured events include:

New York’s Village Halloween Parade: Starting at 7pm on Friday, October 31, a parade of puppets, performers, and costumed revelers will march up 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 21st St. All those in costume are welcome to join the parade, now celebrating its 35th year. At the end of the parade, keep marching to Webster Hall for a huge costume party.

Attended by over 2 million people, this parade is listed as one of the 100 Things to do Before You Die, and was named The Greatest Event on Earth by Festivals International for October 31. The parade has a theme every year, and this year, they’re going back to basics. The 2008 theme is simply Ghost!

Salem, Massachusetts, the Witch Capital of America: Halloween in Salem is actually a month-long celebration. There’s simply too much history to fit into one haunted night. Centuries ago, Salem became famous for its witch trials, where citizens were arrested, tortured, tried, and executed for witchcraft. The city’s obsession with witches lives on today, and though the history is gruesome, the occult is much more celebrated these days. If you’re going to Salem this Halloween, don’t miss The Terror Trail, a spooky tour of haunted houses and supernatural history.

Midnight at the Movies for the Rocky Horror Picture Show: This cult classic will no doubt be playing somewhere near you, probably midnight on Halloween. Tripwolf recommends catching the show at Clay Theatre in San Francisco. Dress as your favorite character, scream at the screen, and go crazy with all the other fans. If you only see Rocky Horror Picture Show once this year, Halloween is definitely the time to see it! If you’re a virgin (one who’s never seen the film), don’t be shy — here’s a useful guide to help you fit in with all the other crazies.

Rocky Horror Picture Show Audience

If you know of any great Halloween shindigs to add to the list, let us know in the comments here. Enjoy your opportunity to go wild and wear the things that only come out of your closet once a year. Happy Fright Night!

Multnomah Falls, like Mount Hood, is just a short drive from Portland, Oregon. You could visit both in the same day if you really wanted to, but I don’t recommend it. In fact, we visited Mount Hood and Multnomah Falls on back to back days, and I don’t recommend that, either. That’s a lot of walking uphill.

The falls are actually visible from the parking lot at the bottom, so of course, you don’t have to do any walking if you don’t want to — but when there’s a hiking trail to the top of the falls, why not take it?

My friends and I visited Multnomah Falls late on a Saturday morning. In my mind, waterfalls are secluded, peaceful places you have to walk through the woods to find. Not Multnomah Falls. On a nice weekend day, this place was Tourist Central. Why wouldn’t it be? The falls are easily accessible (hiking to the top is optional, of course) and right in the middle of the larger tourist attraction that is the Columbia River Gorge.

Near the parking lot, there’s a gift shop, restaurant, and a bridge over Multnomah Creek, where everyone stops to take pictures of the 620-foot waterfall. I felt like I couldn’t possibly walk across the bridge without interrupting or ruining someone’s photograph — it was that crowded. So the hike up to the top was a welcome way to escape the masses, or so I thought.

It’s a one-mile hike to the lookout point at the top of the falls. That’s not a long walk, but it’s a lot of hill climbing. In fact, it felt like one of the more difficult miles I’ve ever walked, but that’s probably mostly because we’d hiked at Mount Hood the day before. Judging by the number of senior citizens we met on the trail, it’s probably not too bad for someone in reasonable shape and not already sore all over. Unfortunately, the crowds didn’t get much smaller on the way to the top.

View of the Columbia River Gorge from the Multnomah Falls trail

The view of the gorge from points on the trail and from the top is absolutely breathtaking, but I’d warn against this hike if you are afraid of heights. Most of the edges don’t have guard rails of any kind blocking the very steep drop over the side, and there were several points on the walk that made me pretty nervous (but okay, I am a wimp). If you take kids, I really recommend one of those humiliating leashes to keep them away from the sides.

Multnomah Falls in Winter

If you’re not going to do the hike, Multnomah Falls can be a quick stop on a driving tour of the Columbia River Gorge. If you do decide to walk to the top, plan for a couple of hours at the falls. If you can go on a weekday, all the better — you’ll avoid the massive crowds. If you go in the winter, you might find the falls frozen over. I’ve never seen them like this, but judging from postcard pictures, it’s a spectacular sight.

On my latest visit to Portland, Mount Hood was my favorite day trip, but Multnomah Falls was a worthy destination as well. I definitely recommend visits to both, just use more sense than I did and space out your trips a little better if you can. It took a long time for my legs to recover from that weekend.

I am not a political blogger.  I have opinions — strong ones — about the upcoming election, and I will be casting my ballot on October 15th to make sure that my opinions get the weight they are constitutionally entitled to.

Yes, October 15th.  I’m not going to be home on Election Day, November 4th, so I’ll be casting an absentee-in-person ballot at my local voter registration office a little bit early.  If this is available where you live, I recommend it.  It’s much less hassle than a mail-in absentee ballot, in my opinion.  I’ve done this several times now.

If you do require an absentee ballot, most states have application deadlines.  Do a Google search for “absentee voting + [your city or county]” to find application guidelines and deadlines.  They are fast approaching, so don’t hesitate.  Remember also that Monday, October 6, is the deadline to register to vote, so please get moving if you’re not registered yet!

If you are overseas currently or will be out of the country on Election Day, the Overseas Vote Foundation is a great resource for you.

If you think that voting is too much hassle, and you don’t feel like your vote will count, think again.  I’ve been following the polls closely, and there are still lots of swing states up for grabs.  The numbers change daily, and several states have shifted from blue to red and back again over just the last few days.  Every vote matters.  In my home state of Virginia, the 2006 Senate election was of huge consequence, and it all came down to a handful of votes.  When Jim Webb unseated incumbent Senator George Allen, this seat gave the Senate majority to the Democrats with a one seat lead.  That race was so close that a winner couldn’t be officially declared for a full 24 hours after the polls closed.

Given the current far-reaching financial crisis, what happens in Washington will have a direct impact on ALL Americans.  You have a right to help choose our leaders, so make sure that you’re registered to vote by Monday and that you apply for an absentee ballot now if you’re going to need one.

Can you believe the election is just a month away?