10-03-23 Day 2 First injury
Up just after 6 argh… read my book and when Mike got up he made me good coffee. Colleen was studying for an exam at the university later today so once I was ready Mike took me down to the park where there meteor was found in the area that had actually come from far east and north of here, thought to have travelled by ice flow. The park smelled amazing, if the colour green had a smell, that was it. All my senses were so happy to be there.
We meandered back, and stopped to see an interesting house two doors down from the Halloween house.
Once Colleen was ready we drove into Portland to drop her at school then found a place to park and went to Powell’s Books for a little while. I was hoping to find a travel mug from there but they were out so I got a couple books and a puzzle.
Next we found a parking space near the Segway Tour company and Colleen walked down to meet us when she was done. Jared was our guide and after training and practice, off we followed like ducks in a row. About an hour in, a car ran through the crosswalk as we were all going to cross. Colleen was startled and stopped dead in front of me. I was following fairly close so as to not hold up traffic or get separated and I tried to swerve to miss her but crashed right in the middle of the road. I landed hard on my right elbow and then my head snapped back into the pavement. It must have looked really bad as a woman who had stopped to let us cross jumped out and asked if she should call an ambulance. I am not going to kid you, the pain was real and I was grateful for the helmet on my head and the ice pack for my elbow. I walked it off enough to be sure my head was clear and we headed off again. Jerod was very engaging and I learned a lot about downtown Portland. I was mostly impressed by the green spaces and stunned at how deserted it was. Crossing the bridges was lovely and I was glad to be so comfortable on the Segway that I could take photos and video as we went along.
I did better once the shock wore off, but I was starting to hurt more. We went to a Lebanese restaurant for dinner and it was delicious but I really just needed to get home as I could feel the whiplash injury setting in and needed painkillers. My neck and elbow are very sore and I am very tired. Mike and Colleen are doing their thing upstairs on their computers so I think I am just going to tuck in as I will have a long day tomorrow. I do think it was a great day, and a wonderful way to see the city, would highly recommend it.
triumphgal 