Hi everyone, I'm back. This year I drove to the convention. That was one long days drive but worth it. It took about 11 hours door to door, and that was with very little stopping. I took up a carload of plants--mostly sale plants plus show plants and came home with a carload of plants--my show plants, unsold sales plants and lots of new plants (!!). It was another great convention; and, I love Portland--my first visit (what a beautiful city). I hear it rains alot there but we saw only some scattered sprinkles. As usual I was totally busy from the time I arrived till the time I left. There is never enough time to do all the things one wants to do, attend all the activities of the convention and visit with all the people. I did manage to get barely enough sleep, and I managed to eat very well too! There is very good food to be found in downtown Portland. Our hotel was great--the best of all the various hotels I have stayed in over the years since I started going to AGGS conventions. The rooms were all suites with sitting rooms with a pull out sleeper sofa and a bedroom with two queen sized beds. So, three of us split the cost of the room, which came with breakfast as well as a cocktail hour each day. We made good use of both. We were right downtown with lots of interesting things to walk to, including chinatown, Powell's Books (world's largest), museums, shops, and great restaurants. The convention plant sale came off really well. I met Ming (!) there and we had a nice chat, during which I talked her into buying at least one plant she hadn't considered. Ming, I really hope you join the local chapter--you would enjoy it and they would love to have you join. They are a small chapter and yet they did an outstanding job of hosting. What we have learned over the years is that we can help local chapters that are quite small, so that they can host a convention without burning out. Many of the tough jobs were handled by people from out of town, so that the chapter members were not overwhelmed. The plant sales chairman was from my local chapter, the speakers chair from Tennessee, the show chair from Seattle, etc. Next year we are going to have the very tough job of registration handled by Bob, our wonderful and talented Membership chairman. Maggie, you did a great job doing that this year. The show was very very nice this year. We were treated to some fantastic plants that came down from Vancouver and Seattle. I wish you could all have seen it. It is both inspiring and shocking to see what others can do that I never seem to achieve. The best in show was a perfect Sinningia 'Amazade', a small growing hybrid of two species. It beat out a spectacular new hybrid Florist Gloxinia, grown by the same person and hybridized in Vancouver ('Peridot's Darth Vader'). Its been many years since a Glox won a trophy. Third place went to a huge tall Kohleria tubiflora, covered with bright orange flowers from head to toe. It was my personal favorite. All three were brought down from Vancouver (Oh, those Canadians :)). Arleen won the two top honors while Bill won the sweepstakes for most overall blue ribbons. There is also a very large section of arrangements and crafts. One craft that really stood out was a beaded necklace of a cluster of branches and flowers of columnea. It was unbelievable. It wasn't made to be worn, I think, but it as a display piece. That came from Tucson. On Friday we had our annual Awards banquet where the winners were announced. It is a great tradition as the people are called up, one by one, to hear of their wins and receive their awards. I didn't win any, but I did have a nice time, as I was the Master of Ceremonies. I started out the program with a little speech; and I surprised myself with how well it came out--it was impromptu, but with notes. Afterwards about twenty people came up and shook my hand--wow, talk about a swelled head... I basically talked about the history of the society, gesneriad growing and the banquet, putting everything into a context, contrasting how the first convention in the early 50's compared with today. I also made a point of welcoming all the first time attendees and reminding everyone that that night was really a special tradition that goes way back. After my talk the awards presentation was made and then the banquet was over--but then the show opened for everyone to see the plants once again with the winners now placed with their special ribbons. The show stayed open to nearly Mid-night. So, it was a typical 7:30 AM to Midnight convention day for me. Jen, I have wanted to have a convention in Minneapolis for many years. They did host in the 80's and still have some of the same members who worked on the convention then. They have expressed interest but are a small chapter and no local members came this year. The convention sites are basically picked when a local chapter offers. Last week we got two new offers; so, now we have convention sites for the next three years--Rochester, followed by Miami and then Denver. We would love to add Minneapolis to the list. Our new convention chairman is Paul Susi--send him an email and get him on it. Sometimes the local chapters just need a little prodding. I know that if the Twin Cities chapter hosted, that much of the work would be shared by others in the Midwest, plus all over. Meanwhile, ahem, someone needs to join the local chapter, even if visits to distant meetings might be only now and then. I am certain that the chapter would also love to come to visit you! Nikki, I am really sorry you couldn't make it. I knew you had registered and hadn't canceled, so, each day I hoped you would make it. Vincent, thanks for all your hospitality --I wish we could have talked more. John, sorry we missed you this year. We all know why you didn't make it--you devil, you changed the name on Gloxinia lindenii and some others. By the way, the program on new taxonomic discoveries in the rhizomatous gesneriads was wonderful and very well presented. (It looks like we have Seemania back again after all these years...). First thing today, I went around and changed my labels--Gloxinella lindenii, Seemania....perennis, latifolia??? um, oh well, just kidding about the relabeling, but it will happen when the dust settles and you tell us what to do. Oh yeah, I should also tell all what's new. Our new president is Carol Ann Bonner from Nashville, my friend and a great plant grower, plant collector, propagator as well as T shirt and pin designer and Society officer. And, after a mail-in vote by the society we changed the names of both the society and the journal. We are now "The Gesneriad Society" and the journal is "Gesneriads". It passed with the 2/3's requirement. So now you all know; and I need to unpack and water. Jon

Wow, thanks so much everyone! We will take up the suggestion to stay on 101 to Florence and then go to Eugene. Deanna I will call you for sure, I'd love to meet up, and a salad from your garden would be a delicious honor if it's not too much trouble. We're in San Francisco right now, and I think it will be 3 or 4 days till we get to Eugene. From there we'll probably go to Corvallis just to spend some more time in the lush part since we've seen plenty of desert on our trip. Then across to Sisters, maybe Redmond, then Bend. Sounds like we'll be missing the fruit season, but we've also been keeping a list of all the food we've seen along the way: garlic and onions in trucks on the highway, artichokes growing along the road, lettuce, cauliflower, lots of strawberries, and more. So it will be cool to see the fields and orchards along the way even if the stands aren't open. And of course we love bottled grapes...by raw I just meant that we don't have a stove to cook onions or asparagus! Jeff loves pinot noir so maybe we'll tour a winery. The lava caves sound cool, and we're hoping to go to hot springs in Oregon too, since we haven't stopped in any along the way. I think lava flows, wineries, and hot springs are a good substitute for raspberries. We'll be getting back to Virginia just in time for berry season anyway. Thanks for all the tips! Any suggestions for hot springs would be great. Looks like we'll be spending 4 or 5 nights in Oregon! That will be great. I wish we could make the Hood River fruit loop, but I think that's too far out of the way...if we had another week we would have gone all the way to visit friends in Seattle, but I have to start work June 18 and we want to stop off at Mount Rushmore and in Chicago. Bejay, for some reason I thought you were in Texas! Too bad, we could have met up. We've really enjoyed highway 1. Thanks again for all the help and I will report back as our trip progresses! Melissa

I wrote a long reply- then realized somehow my fingers had slipped, making me type a long reply on 'nothing'! To answer your question if I would buy a small house like Chapin- the answer is YES! There would have to be some modifications, though. His houses are too 'gingerbready'. I prefer less 'stuff', and due to economics an overall simpler footplan. I like flatter rooflines- more 'mid-century-modern' look. As far as the amount of footage, yes, I can live in something small! Right now I have a 2,000ft2 home for sale- this is a bad time to sell though. I just took it off the market- it will go back on in May. If a person were to build a small community of houses, I think they would sell fast, IF the seller/builder wasn't a greedy pig when selling! I have seen some houses in another state that were nice/cute- but the amount of money the builder wanted was outrageous!! They were 900-1000ft2, without yards put in. There wasn't any type of 'ammenities' as far as playgrounds, parks- that sort of thing. He wanted $150,000 for these houses and was mad that they were not selling. This is in a moderate area of the US- Missouri. I guess many people, including the city/county/ building board (whatever they were called), suggested to him that he was asking too much- especially for the amount of money he had put into the houses- they averaged $40,000-50,000 to actually build. He was pretty rude and demanding. Thought 'his houses are just as good as the xxx neighborhood- but the houses there were 1800ft average2. I bet he would have sold them all right away- so many people were interested in them until they found out the prices. These houses were much more plain than Chapin- only very average-lower quality of materials. I think many people would downsize- it is just too much work, money time. Not everyone is wanting to see how 'big is better' is- they aren't trying to prove to other people that 'I have more than you do attitude'. Are you thinking about building a smaller community? PS- Also- I think it would have to be in the right location....just me thinking out loud, but people who really want to seriously downsize, also want to be more careful how they use the earth's resources- they want to bike/walk to the grocery store/bank/library. A simple commute to work. Things like that are just as important as the house. I have a friend in Florida who just built a new home- it is 700-something ft- very simple, but with above average construction/appliances/masonrywork. She scoured some of the 'parts' locations- found an old HUGE mahogany front door for $300- it had to be refinished, which she did herself. She granit countertop that didn't work out for whoever had it made at a fraction of the cost if she had it made for her. She did buy top of the line cabinets in the kitchen. She 'shopped' for all the things that made the 'look' of the house. It cost her about $30,000 for a beautiful home, in an older/nicer part of the city. She owns 2 more lots, amd wants to do the same thing in the future, but is worried about the type of people she would sell to, as she will live right next to them. She is afraid she will get a lesser class of person- because the cost of the house is less- she doesn't want any 'trashy' kinds of people, which might be a problem. I understand what she means.Sometimes less expensive house bring undesireable type people....

Sounds like a pretty easy decision when looked at from a purely objective perspective. One option reduces the number of parties involved for improved accountability and less finger-pointing should issues arise, specializes in window installation all day everyday, has a high level of familiarity with the intricacies of the given product, and also has an established weight with the manufacturer/supplier that can get things done, again, should issues arise. It checks all of the boxes IMO to ensure to best possible installation and best service in when something is needed. The distance is a slight concern, but I'd say it is pretty well outweighed by the other points.