Ardella and I met Lyn at work at 4, and since we were inside the building Lyn introduced Ardella and I to coworkers. Ardella had many admirers and she tried in vain to get someone to remove the head collar she was wearing. To be fair to Ardella, I did discover the head collar was on backwards so we put it on correctly and then went on our way to Portland. Traffic was not terribly bad and we got to Portland about 4:45, parked and arrived to the center 15 minutes or so after ceremonies began.
The building was well marked, but we knew we were there when we saw the crowds of people and dogs in green coats. People were standing around outside because it was so crowded inside.
The center is downtown in a wonderful location, right off the MAX line and close to shopping centers, restaurants, bookstores (yarn shops, though further up the street, Chelle),and the river. The center will be a central area for students who are learning to work with dogs. There will be a place for them to wait for the bus back to the Boring campus, as well as to check e-mail. The center will also serve as a place for puppy clubs to meet and as a destination for field trips with the puppies. I'm sure there will be other uses. One of the purposes of the center is to attract more people from Portland. Here is a broader view of the area where the center is located.
We went indoors, signed in and put the complimentary blue scarf for dogs on Ardella. There are 2 levels to the center and we did not spend much time downstairs as it as too crowded. I saw a greeting area, and that's all I remember. The Oregonian has some nice pictures of the downstairs area in yesterday's newspaper and are easy to find in a Google search.
Upstairs we got refreshments and talked to people who were interested in knowing more about Ardella and the puppy raising experience. We also saw dogs who had been career changed and had gone on to other service careers, talked to people who were thinking about being puppy raisers, and met puppies who were related to puppies in our puppy club.
We explored the upstairs where there was a kennel room that will be used for dogs who are training downtown.
There was also a very nice lounge/loft room with a nice view to the downstairs area and with lots of plush chairs and couches. We got 1 picture of Ardella and me in a corner chair and then the camera battery ran out.
We left soon after this as we needed to eat and go to puppy club. We had a good time and are glad we went. Tomorrow is graduation day and I'm looking forward to that.
No comments:
Post a Comment