Once a Portlander, always a Portlander

When I came south for retirement last month, I crossed the Border and drove down the thousand-mile peninsula to La Paz and west to a little town on the Pacific. Todos Santos, while tiny, has its own Portland connections, some of which my wife and I are still discovering.

First we had already met bookstore owner Janet Howey. She owns El Tecolote Libros and has carried the Seeds Of Civilization novels for her English-language patrons and visitors. She travels back to Portland once a year without fail. But then we met Bob Bentley, a geologist. He started coming to Todos Santos in the 80s and just stayed. When a geologist stays, you know you're in a safe zone. LOL. He's an ex-professor from Oregon and lived in Portland, graduating high school in the old Washington High School, no longer there.

Daily we find Oregon license plates, as well as Washington and Canadian. Most of these ex-Pats make a yearly drive up the peninsula to visit home. Todos Santos should become a Portland sister city because there are so many ties to home.

Portland, we still love you.
--R.J. and Marty