Coast to Coast

Over the last two weeks, I've traveled to both coasts, beginning with a state I've never had the chance to visit - Rhode Island.  Geoff and I flew to Providence to see our friends Holly and Kevin.

The actual purpose of the trip was a pair of presentations I gave at the University of Rhode Island.  I loved the opportunity to get back in the classroom and the students seemed to enjoy the lectures.

Holly and Kevin took us down to the beach to get clam chowder and clam fritters from Iggy's.  The clam chowder was amazingly good and dipping fried dough in them - I mean, genius.

We stayed through the weekend and got a chance to explore Kingston, which is the quintessential New England beach town with clapboard houses on every block.

The weather was cool but sunny so we got in some beach time (and a round at the nautically-themed miniature golf course) before we left.

After two days back in Texas, I flew to Portland for the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.  The first two days were mostly spent in the conference hotel.

On Saturday afternoon, I got a chance to get out of the hotel to explore some of Portland's famous food courts en route to Urban Fiber Arts which had a whole wall of locally produced yarns to choose from.  I picked out some lovely green sock yarn for my first pair of socks (I'm keeping my yarn stash updated in the tab above).

We stopped by the 24 hour Church of Elvis, an art installation which married Anne and Rohina for 75 cents (quarters only).

Obviously, no trip to Portland is complete without a trip to VooDoo Doughnuts (or, ahem, two).  The maple-bacon doughnut is no gimmick - it's really tasty.  I brought one and a classic rasberry-filled voodoo doll home for Geoff.

Since we were in the Pacific Northwest, a stop for pho was obligatory!  With my friends from both my undergraduate and graduate programs dispersed across the country, this is sometimes the only chance to see   them all year and I'm always sad when it is over.