带着女儿游欧洲（16）：弹尽粮绝•波特兰落难•漫漫回家路

结束了17天的欧洲之旅，我带着女儿回家了。高兴的是就要回家，又可以见到宝贝儿子了；不舍的是旅行结束，再也没有每天一个都市的新奇了。旅行中有三件每日必行的公事：给计算机充电、给照相机充电、给手机充电，在最后一个晚上我将这些都省了。

一路上过得轻轻松松，我与女儿轮流玩着愤怒的小鸟，一直到弹尽粮绝，手机上出现了低电警告。马上就要到旧金山机场了，不知道为什么，我们的飞机停在了波特兰。我打开了手机，还好，还有一丁点儿电，通知了准备接机的老公。老公说一架韩国飞机出了事，我抓住女儿的小手，还好，至少我们是平安的。没有机会多交谈，没有机会上网察看，我得保留最后的一点电，现在一切都成了未知数。

飞机场上到处都是人，几个小时无望的等待，没有工作人员知道怎么办，我们成了波特兰的落难者。不知多少小时之后，终于跟着同伴搞到了旅馆，好歹有一个地方睡觉了，尽管没有一件干净衣服，尽管在离开欧洲时扔掉了旧牙刷。

我们应该是7月6日星期六回家，但是命运却将我们留在了波特兰。人生是很奇特的，冥冥之中有一个声音，只给愿意聆听的耳朵聆听，或者说就是那只无形的大手吧。本来旅行社没有床位了，改期7月4日出发者可以有100元的折扣，也许我们应该调整一下计划的，这是我错失的第一个机会。现在星期天回家，星期一老公就要出差去，连个相聚的时间都没有了。

第二天同伴一大早去了机场，她说她想去寻找机会，尽管机场工作人员说过上午不会有飞机。想起前一天在机场上心力交瘁的经历，我决定睡一个懒觉，恢复一下17天来身体的疲劳，享受一下一违再违的游泳池。

同伴走了，她告诉我去机场需要预定班车。终于，我只睡了半个懒觉，终于，我在去游泳池之前去预定班车。然后我才意识到事态的严重性，下一班车已经满了，每一小时才有一班车，我终于明白过来了，我又把第二个机会错过了。

又回到了机场，我登时傻了眼，这哪里是机场，这简直就是一个难民所，排队领救济的人无穷长，排队行进的速度比蜗牛还慢。不知道等待了多少小时，同伴说她已经上了下午一点半的飞机，尽管已经四点半了还没有起飞。终于等到了救济队伍的头上，工作人员当头一盆冷水浇下来，我们被排在星期三回旧金山。这怎么行呢？老公星期一要出差，女儿星期一要去夏令营，我星期一要去单位报到。求爷爷，告奶奶，到圣河西行吗？到奥克兰行吗？这些都是驾驶距离之内的机场。不行？那么到萨克拉门托行吗？开车3小时也行。没有，都没有，连到芝加哥转机的机会都没有。你知道这有多可笑吗？从波特兰到旧金山是1小时，从波特兰到芝加哥再到旧金山是10小时，知道难民们已经到何等绝望的境地。这时候有个机会让女儿先走，噢，她行吗？我犹豫了10秒钟，于是又把第三个机会丢掉了。

我们考虑过开车回旧金山，但是波特兰机场上借的车必须还到波特兰。我们考虑过乘火车回旧金山，但是火车要开十几个小时。最后我们接受了这个事实，回去后老公已经出差了，女儿也赶不上夏令营了，我必须花掉更多的休假。从积极的方面来讲，我们可以延长欧洲之旅，在波特兰继续游玩。

换了一种思维，天空不再那么阴霾，我终于看到了波特兰的蓝天。

我彻底地睡了一个懒觉，然后拿了一张波特兰地图研究。我们乘着班车去波特兰机场，准备从那里转乘有轨电车。我们已经是机场的常客了，在那里吃饭，找寻旅馆，打探消息，现在机场又成了我们出门的中转站。哈哈，这种以机场为家的生活，千载难逢吧。

班车上除了我们，还有克罗地亚来的游客。热心的司机将车子停到了电车站，告诉我们要买全日票，这样就可以随时上下车。他在地图上指点了几下，我们可以去华埠用餐，可以去河滩看景，可以去市中心逛街，也可以去森林公园踏青。

有轨电车的成人票才5元，我们决定先去最远的森林公园，然后再往回玩。电车油漆得铮亮，观光窗户大大的，我们的波特兰之旅开始了。

穿过威拉米特河，外面是朗朗的晴天，以及缓缓流动的河流。电车一站一站地停留，掠过欧洲式的建筑，其实不用越洋过海，美国也有着无限的风光。电车开过了华埠，离开了填充中国胃的机会。然后是一栋栋的大楼，没有导游的介绍，叫不上名来，但是线条流畅，造型别致，历史不悠久。

到了热闹的5街6街，克罗地亚朋友下车了，挥挥手，祝朋友在美国旅行愉快。

然后有轨电车进了隧道，变成了地铁。

出了隧道就到 了森林公园，美国市区内最大的野生公园，面积5000公顷。那里有动物园（Oregon Zoo）、世界林业中心（World Forestry Center）、霍伊特植物园（Hoyt Arboretum）、儿童博物馆（Portland Children's Museum）、国际玫瑰检验园（International Rose Test Garden）和日本庭园（Portland Japanese Garden）。

我们去哪里玩呢？动物园就在旁边，于是我们就进了动物园。

没有导游规定时间，爱上哪儿就上哪儿，结果只去了动物园，一晃一天就过去了。往回玩的计划泡汤了，不过往回坐电车又欣赏了一遍波特兰的街景。

女儿拿到了先走的机票，星期二早上7：30到达，儿子可以赶在上课前去接她。我送女儿上了飞机，服务员说我可以乘坐10点的飞机，是早上5：30延期未能开走的。

我拿出了计算机，一边吃早饭，一边查看电邮。虽然机场依然嘈杂，但是我的心是宁静的，因为知道终于可以回家了。

我的班机延期到了11点钟，又有什么关系呢？我知道女儿已经安全到家。

飞机最后是12点钟起飞的，结果在同一排位子上遇到两位有趣的朋友。一位是前罗马尼亚国家芭蕾舞演员，她准备转机去新加坡教体操。她指给我看她在波特兰的房子，一栋可以在飞机上看见的豪宅，然后她讲了从小练舞的故事，她现在的学生正准备冲刺奥运会。另一位是有着中国脸的瑞士绅士，他的父亲是夏威夷人，母亲是瑞士人，英俊，风趣，对女士尤其呵护有加。他准备转机去香港，然后到深圳的微软工作，有意思的是中国脸不会讲中文。我们聊天，我们畅谈，无拘无束，谈笑风生，那么快就到达了旧金山机场。

我们匆匆告别，然后他俩就开始跑了。由于起飞时间一拖再拖，他们只有1小时的转机时间了。

噢，终于回到家了，经过了17天的欧洲旅行，以及波特兰的3个晚上。

许多的照片，许多的回忆，友情，亲情，几多的幸运，几多的遗憾，这是一次终身难忘的旅行。

女儿日记

17 day trip – extended

Today, I was supposed to fly back to San Francisco, but the airport is closed because of an airplane crash. The flight I was on was originally from Paris to Frankfurt to San Francisco, but the plane had to go to Portland. (The pilot says that we switched final destinations 3 times before finding an open airport.) The airport handed out free hotel vouchers, since a lot of people were stranded there. The one I got was for two rooms at Red Lion Hotel (Jantzan Beach). It's a very good hotel, and it even has a swimming pool! I'm too tired to swim right now, though, and it's closed.

OREGON ZOO

I went to the Oregon Zoo today. It's a very unique zoo, in my opinion. When I entered, the first exhibit I saw was one of mountain goats. There was a lot of wool everywhere! The goats' habitat was very rocky and mountainous, and even had a small "pond!" There were multiple angles that you could view the goats from.  Many of the habitats also had multiple viewing points. Unlike some zoos, the habitats aren't just square or rectangular, but oddly shaped! Some exhibits were even connected. For example, there was a sea otter exhibit, and they could enter an exhibit containing sea urchins. Since otters eat sea urchins, I wonder if they regularly go there for a snack…

There were several restaurants spread out throughout the zoo. I ate at one of them for lunch. My family ordered hot dogs, but I decided to get a pizza slice. It was very tasty (and much bigger than the hot dogs, too). We all drank water.

Near the restaurant was a pathway of exhibits, so I explored around. It had island pigs, and multiple types of bears. One type was the sun bear. They're a bit small, but they have very long claws. The other bears I saw were grizzlies and black bears. If a grizzly bear stood up on its hind legs, then it would be taller than me by at least a foot!

One place I passed by a lot was a sort of fountain. About every 10 seconds, a "geyser" would shoot up. I stood kind of close to it, so I got a bit wet. The fountain was close to a cluster of sea animals. One of them had some seals in it. They were playing with a green bottle that contained fish inside! One managed to get some fish out, but the other seal quickly snapped it up. There were also a lot of other marine animals there, too.

In some places, there were special exhibits in which you could see animals and their "dens". There was a section where a whole family of otters (probably not sea otters, but still otters) was sleeping. After a while, they woke up, and one by one they went out of the den and into their habitat. One of them even chased another onto a strung up hammock! The moment the chasing otter got on, the other one would scamper off the hammock, only to get on again when the other otter was off.

I also saw an animal show, in which I saw three acts: ducks, a porcupine, and a kestrel. There were three ducks, in a duck pen, which were all waddling around and quacking. They're longer than regular ducks, and are domesticated. They can't fly, but one of the ducks kept on flapping its wings. The ducks were trying to make a mud hole, where they dug for worms.  I don't think they found very many, though. The kestrel was a small bird of prey. Even though it looks tiny, it's a predator! The porcupine was bigger than both a duck and a kestrel combined! When people started getting loud, it puffed out its quills. After the handler soothed the porcupine a bit, the porcupine started eating some things. It used its hind legs to stay balanced while its front legs grasped food to nibble on.

All in all, the zoo was a fun place. I didn't want to leave, but I had to go to the hotel with the rest of my family.