Oh the places we will go! Oh the people we will meet! Oh the adventures we can have!

We have truly enjoyed our time in Portland. We are not naive to the thought of losing some of our items is a good possibility. We have them out on the table – about 100 hand-sized, easily fit into pockets-sized items.

BUT of the ~100 of such items on our table, only TWO of them (not styles, but individual items) actually have a tracking device in them – just to show options available for those who might want that technology. Only ONE of those trackers is absolutely VISIBLE! There is ONLY ONE of the wallets/card holders that actually has a real Apple AirTag in it. We are very open that it can track. We even demonstrate it’s tracking capabilities. Amongst the sea of 2nd Amendment Rights FA&FO, Gun-carrying, Patriotic items, ONE has a way to keep up with it at all times.

While demonstrating to customers later yesterday afternoon, I reached down to grab that ONE item and it was not where it had been. I took a cursory glance across the table and realized it just wasn’t on the table. While Dave was talking with some other guys, I used his phone to attempt to find it in the building. Unfortunately, yesterday the signal for Bluetooth was a tad sketchy€¦. But, we each walked around with the phone and found that it was still in the building but we just could not get through that mass to actually get close enough to it.

When we were packing up to leave last night, the signal for the AirTag appeared to be IN PORTLAND.. like Downtown.. not at the Expo Center! We finished up our business and took off on an adventure to see where it ended up. Driving the streets of Downtown Portland (my first since the riots.. pretty sad, actually). Always about 7-10 minutes behind it. We figured whoever had it didn’t actually have an iPhone, but was close enough to someone who did that it would register at times. After about 30 minutes, we figured out that it was following the MAX public transportation train.

We thought we would probably have to give up for the evening and may lose it, if the thief figured out that he would need to destroy it to not be found. The chances of someone actually having the tiny screwdriver to get the AirTag out of the wallet are slim, but possible. We were tired and going to head back to our place for some rest.

I continued to monitor it even though we were heading the opposite direction. I noticed it was in one spot for the last few cycles. We headed back into town to try to find it.

We were directed to the American Legion in Milwaukie. The bartender had walked out and was walking back in as we were. He held the door for us. As soon as we entered, my phone lit up like a Christmas Tree. Dave was walking towards the familiar face when the bartender asked if we were looking for someone. Dave told him he’d found him. It was a nice Veteran, sitting at the edge of the bar, eating his dinner. An hour or so prior, Dave had made him a wallet and talked to him for about 10 minutes. Apparently, while Dave was busy making his wallet, he used his little Rover chair to scoot to the opposite side of the table he was at and reach to the back of the display to pocket the ONE and ONLY ITEM WITH A VISIBLE TRACKER on it!

Meanwhile back at the bar, Dave asked the man if he remembered him. The man denied it. Dave then jogged his memory with their encounter. Oh, yeah! He said. When asked about the other wallet, of course the man had no idea meanwhile the Rover scooter is very loud with the AirTag sound emitting from the front basket. I asked the man if it was his chair and he confirmed it was. I asked that he come investigate and see if, indeed the AirTag I was hearing was located around this chair. I told him I would know if it was mine because it would be making that sound AND has Dave’s initials on it, Guess What!!!! The Bartender was astounded – with eyes large and mouth hanging open. We thanked the nice Veteran for helping us with our dilemma, cautioned the bartender and other patrons to be mindful of their things and went back to our room.

We are getting more AirTags!