John Wayne Airport (SNA)

We have always been very happy passing through John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Orange County.

Every time we have been there has been for Disneyland. I'm sure they get other business, but you will see a lot of Disney bags and mouse ears while you are there, and that's kind of fun. Given that the primary other point of air access is Los Angeles, it makes sense to compare the two.

Airfare between Portland and Los Angeles versus Santa Ana is fairly comparable. Santa Ana is closer to Anaheim, though the geographical distance is unlikely to have as much of an impact as traffic. Both airports are serviced by Super Shuttle and the Gray Line Resort Express. At LAX, there won't be that same assurance that so many of your fellow travelers are also going to Disneyland, though your odds of seeing someone famous increase. Of course, it is easy to miss famous people in that crowd.

A lot of what I like about John Wayne is how they handle the size. When you are out waiting for ground transportation it is not obvious that it is a small airport; everything is there. At the same time, when you are looking for your gate the airport seems smaller than it is. This appears to be effective design, but it makes things feel cozy.

I appreciate the seating designs. I admit the seats at the actual gates are due for reupholstering, but that is a part of regular maintenance and I am sure they will get to it. Inviting seating that feels open and airy all along the concourse, and makes good use of both natural and built-in lighting - that is not a requirement but I appreciate it.

Power outlets are available and advertised. Wifi is free and usually reliable, though I did have issues on this last trip.

Well, I don't expect them to be perfect, but I like them to be good, and they are.

At this point the biggest area for improvement is security, which tries to make things easier, but sometimes in a confusing manner. You still end up getting through much more quickly than you would at many other airports.

http://www.ocair.com/

Portland Auto Show

I am not really into cars, but my sisters are. They have always wanted to go to the Portland Auto Show, and when one was able to get free tickets through work, she went for it. As she got three tickets, but one person could not attend, and I was already going to be in the area for the March and Rally for Justice and Equality, I ended up going too.

So these are the observations of someone who does not know a lot about cars but was nonetheless at the car show.

If you want to see a lot of cars at once, this is the way to go. There are multiple auto makers featured, with multiple car lines, and anything that is not on display can still be shown.

Obviously it is a place to get realistic expectations about price, but some dealers also offer specials, like $500 off on purchases within the next three months. If you aren't ready to purchase it's not a big incentive, but if you are, that more than covers the cost of your admission.

In some cases there are some very expensive cars that may get a little extra guarding, but generally you can look, touch, and even slip inside. (There were also options for test drives.)

One immediate advantage I saw to this is checking accessibility. Maybe the driver can be comfortable in a variety of cars, but having an aging parent has made me more aware of how some models are much easier to get in and out of than others, based on height and depth and how the door opens. If that's going to be an issue for you, this is an incredible option for testing it out.

You can also take a look under the hood.

I felt like Volkswagen made the best use of technology, having seating (welcome in a show of that size) with panels where you could choose and customize a model, and an interesting setup for exploring color options.

Toyota showed the most local spirit, with models decorated for local teams, including the Blazers, Hops, Ducks, and Beavers.

I really appreciated the excellent organization. The guides had clear maps that were reinforced by prominent signage, making our navigation easy.

There were also fun activities for those too  young to drive. On the more extreme end, kids could bike down a ramp and take a leap onto a giant bouncy pad, and even smaller children had a course they could ride with a little less leaping.

I know I am not the target audience, but they do a good job with what they do.

http://portlandautoshow.com/

Hotel toiletries

Having recently stayed in two different hotels, I wanted to spend some time on the toiletries.

This may seem minor, but there are two issues that are important. One is a trend toward more environmental concern. It has been common for a while now for hotels to automatically leave instructions on how to get your sheets changed, which is no longer automatically done daily. There are also instructions for how to reuse your towels. This may have started in drought-stricken places, but it is a good thing, and good that it has spread.

Perhaps that led to more attention being paid to how toiletries are delivered. The tiny bottles can be a huge source of plastic in land fills or the ocean. Still, there are sanitary issues for consideration.

All of this matters more with travel restrictions on what you can bring on the plane, and airlines charging for all checked baggage. I used to take my own condition and face wash and everything and think nothing of it. Now I need to have small bottles fitting in one plastic bag, or pay $25 to check the bag. This makes me more interested in what hotels offer.

The Paramount Hotel in Portland, Oregon, using Gilchrist and Soames: http://www.gilchristsoames.com/

On the counter there was a regular soap bar, as well as a skin care bar, mouth wash, body lotion, a shower cap, and bath salts (a nice addition since they had a soaking tub with jets). Also, in addition to tissue, which is pretty common, they also had a container of cotton swabs, which was a nice touch to have in the room, though I have been in hotels where you could get them at the desk.

One thing that seemed odd was that despite these being small bottles and individual packages, they said you could get individual packages and shower caps at the front desk. I suspect that really means you can get more shower caps there, and maybe individual packets of bath salts.

I did not use the bath salts or the face bar. I did use the mouth rinse, and it was strong! This is more like Scope than Act or Plax, basically. The regular soap and the shower cap were fine, but I could not get the lotion out of the bottle. I think it just needed a touch more viscosity, but that was frustrating. I guess you could use the cotton swabs for digging the lotion out, but that would be messy.

The shower had dispensers  of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash from Gilchrist and Soames' Bee Kind line. These were great. I only used the body wash and conditioner, but they felt good, had good scents, and you can totally see how these bottles are refilled, and thus do prevent waste. The holder they are in seems well equipped to prevent theft or tampering, though I didn't test that particular issue.

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa in Anaheim, California, using H20+: https://www.h2oplus.com/

On the counter there were tissues, facial soap, a shoe mitt and shower cap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and body lotion. There was also a Softened Mint Foot Rub and Solar Relief Gel, which I thought was a nice touch for a place where vacationers will be walking and in the sun a lot.

There was then body soap in the shower. I did not notice a huge difference between the body and facial soap, but neither had that dryness that would be the main concern with using hotel soap. In addition, it was cool that the castle logo was not only on the packages but also imprinted on the soap.

For the other products, the lotion flow was great, which I appreciated, but the conditioner bottle only let out half of the conditioner. This meant that I needed a new bottle each day, even though there was enough in the bottle for another day. That cemented my appreciation for the dispensers the Paramount used.

The other issue was that the lotion scent was overdone, where even after the lotion was absorbed the smell was clinging to my hands. It's not that washing your hands is bad, but feeling a need to do it right after putting on lotion is not great.

In no case would any of these weaknesses have ruined the trip, but there are things that can be improved, and there are good processes in place that can be adopted. I question how valuable the liquids restrictions are, and I know I think that being charged for your first checked bag is stingy, but we're there. It can be an opportunity to be more efficient, to plan better, and to balance the needs of the earth and ourselves.

I promise you, we need the earth.

Swank & Swine

Swank Restaurant and Swine Bar face each other across the lobby of the Paramount Hotel.

Their separate names indicate their difference in focus, and yet the similarities are still easy to glimpse.

Swine has a stark ruggedness. The exposed pipes and ducts could be seen as reminiscent of brewing, but there is similar exposure on the Swank side. It just feels different based on the rest of the decor.

The light fixtures are a good example. In both cases metal bands create a globe that encases the light. For Swine, those bands are more like the hoops of a barrel, encasing something like a candle. At Swank, the bands are rounded and more decorative, and the inner light has chandelier drops dangling.

Everything is wood and leather and metal on both sides, with a very masculine energy. It's not quite a hunting lodge. There are similarities, but a hunting lodge would be too stuffy. I did like the street views on both sides, and there were nice seating options for groups of various sizes at Swine.

Another distinguishing feature of Swine is the wall of lockers where patrons can store their own whiskey. I am not sure if access to them is contingent on membership in the Whole Hog Whiskey Club, but that is a thing that they have.

While I had planned on eating one meal in the hotel anyway, the weather made venturing out much less attractive. I had dinner at Swine's happy hour, and then breakfast the next morning at Swank.

This is where I feel compelled to point out that different people have different palates, and so my opinion of the food will not match everyone's opinion, and it doesn't make the chef a bad chef, but I didn't love the food. The patty on that burger was not flavorful, and that was a lot of meat to get through with it not being flavorful, so I didn't, though I liked the pretzel bun.

The texture of the French fries was great, though again the flavor was a little off. (To see if our palates match, I also do not like the fries at In N Out Burger.)

The hot wings were probably the most successful. First of all, I was kind of amused to see the two slivers of celery and the dab of bleu cheese, because I don't think those are the best accompaniments for hot wings anyway, so it was like they were acknowledging the tradition and then dismissing it.

Then there is the presentation: three whole wings - drumette, wingette, and tip - with no separation, balanced together like acrobats with some greens thrown on. This may be the best example of that masculine energy I referenced - energy that could afford to be refined and elegant but doesn't want to. (Though the large hunk of meat that needed more seasoning does fit in there too.) Oddly, there were sweet accents to the glaze on the wings.

Breakfast went better. First of all they brought me a bonus pastry, a warm and delicious doughnut that could only have been made better by the subtraction of citrus-y drizzle.

The waffle and cream was very good. My only mistake was in ordering the chicken and waffle, because the previous night should have taught me that the chicken was going to be a large hunk of meat without much flavor. I should have ordered just the waffle.

And that is a lot of criticism, but nothing was horrible; it just wasn't a good fit for me and your mileage may vary. I still have no regrets about trying something new.

http://www.swankandswine.com/