  Up at 6:30am. Got Kate off to school, showered and had coffee and e-mail (not in that order). Bussed off to get my rental car, picked Kate up early from school, picked up her things at the house.
Drove to Oregon in tremendous traffic and periodic freeway-obscuring downpours. It was crazy weather and frustrating to drive in. Turns out the weather was spawning urlLink funnel clouds and other severe and dangerous conditions! Yikes. Passed the urlLink Uncle Sam Billboard , maintained by a crank near Chehalis (which is "balanced" by the equally wacky but more sensitive urlLink Gospodor Monuments just a little further down the road). More on that tomorrow. Crossed into Oregon and hit bumper-to-bumper traffic at a standstill in all lanes. Joy. Eventually cut off through the city and met my mom at work (only an hour late). More traffic and finally dropped her and Kate off for a weekend camping trip that's become something of a tradition for them. Stopped back in Canby for a quick dinner with my brother, had pesto chicken breasts at urlLink Jarboe's .
No great shakes, but far better than fast food on the freeway. Drove back home, this time with far less traffic (I was actually able to use the rental car's cruise control! ) and periodic but not freeway-obscuring rainfall. Listened to Kid A on the last leg, perfect driving music. Drove a total of 415 miles today, and I'm beat. 
