Wow! What a day!

Bruce went to work today so Jimmy and I decided to look around Salem a bit. I gave him a quick visual tour of the museum I work at sometimes, then we went to the Capitol Building here and that is where our excitement began...

Since I worked at the Capitol several years ago, I know some of the ins and outs of the building that not all people are privy to. I showed Jim the lovely murals we Oregonians are so proud of and explained the history behind them. Then I wanted to show him the Governor's office because it has a lovely public reception room that is truly beautiful. We tromped up the stairs-ok, I tromped, Jim walked with great dignity-and I began to point out some of the sights: the Senate wing of the building, the hallway to the lobbyists best hideouts and then we noticed a fairly small crowd outside the Gov's office. We walked over and discovered that it was a press conference and that television stations from all over the state were there. I recognized several well-known local tv personalities. We worked our way into the back of the room and watched. It was really interesting. It was near the end so all the tv guys started finishing up. Since we were among a very small group of onlookers we found ourselves being asked our opinions on several key issues. Of course the whole time the cameras are rolling. I didn't notice that the Gov was standing nearby and one of the tv reporters asked him what he thought about Jim's comments on the issue." Wow...this is cool" was what I was thinking. In about a minute Jim and the Govenor were exchanging ideas right there! They were just having a friendly conversation it appeared. The tv guys finished up and said for us to watch the news this evening because we will surely be on it. Again I'm thinking "cooooooool"!

Well, I thought it was all over so I turned around to find my brother and there he is standing with the Gov and they are STILL talking. By this time I'm beginning to feel a little like a third wheel. It turns out our Gov is a rancher in eastern Oregon and when he found out what Jim does, he was fascinated. So they are talking and talking and I'm standing there shifting from one foot to the other. Finally the Gov asks if we'd had lunch! Well, no we hadn't had lunch - that was going to be next on our agenda - so he says "Well, come on downstairs and let me buy you lunch...I still have some things I want to talk to you about Mr. Stewart!" You could have knocked me over with a feather.

So downstairs we went to the cafeteria to eat. I had a yummy chicken salad sandwich and Jim had a chicken quiche thing. The Gov had a shrimp salad. All the while he and Jim are just chatting it up! I thought it was interesting that there were two police guards with the Gov, but they stayed discreetly away. They always had their eyes on us though. After lunch we walked back up to the office and he gave us both little coin-type tokens with the Oregon State seal on them. Pretty cool. Then he got Jim's business card and said he would be in touch because he had some more questions! How cool is that!

Tonight we are going to see Avatar. I'm not sure if today's lunch was more exciting or tonight's movie.

Oh, one more thing...

If you believe ANYTHING I wrote above I'd like to talk to you about purchasing some 'beach front' property I own in Florida. :)