Portland

Ariel's living in Portland. She's rented a house with a friend of Chris's and the sister of Em's friend. She's already started a biology class at Portland State University. She's still got her job via internet, but plans to get another job in Portland. She has some family there, too: her uncle and a cousin on her mom's side. She is commuting to school by bicycle and says there are many, many bicyclists in Portland. No definite plans on how long she will be there. I know she has some plans to visit Chris on his R&R from Iraq sometime in the Spring, and she is applying to graduate schools for next fall.

Out of curiosity, I looked at her commute a little. I'm just guessing. It looks like Portland takes bicycling very seriously. There are lots of trails. There is even protected bicycle parking. Ariel says motorists show more respect to bicyclists, and lanes are well marked and lit. It looks to me like her commute is almost 5 miles, with a straight shot through residential neighborhoods, across the river, perhaps along a waterfront park, and if she's on the waterfront a small jog, just about where there's a marina, to the PSU campus, which appears to be on the southern side of downtown Portland. Her house looks nice on Google and right next to a park.

From just the little that I've seen and heard, Portland looks like a great place to live and to visit.