I am continuously amazed by the reality that you can accomplish whatever you put your mind to. I am also continuously amazed that I keep losing track of this reality, and being surprised all over again when I am reminded that I can, in fact, accomplish whatever I set out to do.
Five months ago, I decided that I wanted to explore the last major region of the country I hadn't seen yet: the Pacific Northwest. I didn't think I'd actually be able to see much of it, but nonetheless, I took the leap to move into an apartment in Spokane, WA, with some old friends and see what I could make happen. I saw some of Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho, Western Montana, and spent far too many hours squirreled away in a coffee shop called Atticus job-searching and soul-searching.
Then, of course, the road trip happened. I got to see so much more of the country and share it all with my boyfriend -- an entirely different experience from my past solo travels with strangers and varying levels of transient friends. It many ways, it was so much better, but in some ways I also knew I was willingly letting go of that inexplicable part of myself I always held so close when traveling alone.
Well, after another few weeks in Spokane and some futile job interviews, we decided to head down to Oregon to visit Peter's friends and family. Little did I realize, it was all finally coming together to the fruition of my dream to see the Pacific Northwest.
Our first week was spent in Portland, the eccentric, hipster-loving, newly-gentrified liberal white mecca of America. We stayed in a big house shared by a bunch of 20-somethings, with a yard of chickens, a vegetable garden, and a hobby workshop.
Our days were spent exploring the city, sampling food from a multitude of food trucks and eateries, wandering Powell's Books (the largest bookstore I will probably ever see in my life), blues dancing, and generally experiencing all Portland had to offer.
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| The old paper mill and waterfall |
One of our days, we took a trip out to Oregon City, which boasts the country's only municipal elevator. It was literally an elevator built into the side of a cliff, which takes you from the bottom of the cliff to the top. At the top, there was a beautiful hiking trail with views of an abandoned paper mill built around a roaring, misty waterfall.
Another day, we took a short ride on a public sky tram that went from
the city level to the top of a mountain. It took all of 4 minutes to get
from one end to the other, but offered beautiful views of the city at
sunset. It should also be noted, that despite Portland's reputation for
being cloudy and rainy all the time, it was nothing but warm and sunny
the entire week we were there!
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| The sky tram |
The last touristy thing we had to do was eat at Voodoo Donuts. No matter what time of day we drove by, there was always a line out the door of people waiting to order -- and I soon found out why. Voodoo Donuts, in fact, has the best donuts I have ever tasted in my life. Everything about the place is just weird and quirky, from the people who work there, to the donuts they serve, and the decor inside, which all makes the deliciousness of their world-class pastries seem all the better.
At the end of the week we departed the magical realm of Portlandia and drove about 3 hours inland to the high desert of central Oregon. It is here that we have spent the past few weeks in a tiny, adorable town surrounded by dry pine forests and a view distant snow-capped mountains. It's incredibly beautiful and peaceful, and there are tons of trails just behind the house that wind for miles through national forest land.
Two weeks ago (geez, has it already been that long?), I took the Subaru out for a day trip to Eugene to visit one of my good friends from college. Not only was it a gorgeous drive, but Eugene itself was in a rainforest-like area blooming with wild daffodils and dripping soft green moss from the trees.
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| Wild daffodils on Spencer's Butte |
After a delicious lunch at a vegan diner, we spent the rest of the afternoon hiking up a small, but steep trail to Spencer's Butte. It felt good to be hiking in the mountains again, to be seeing new sights, and catching up with a great friend.
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| At the summit |
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| View of the valley from the summit |
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| Trail at the base |
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| Ginormous banana slug |
Back in town with Peter, we have spent our days enjoying family time, cooking, and exploring the locale with its various offerings of cutesy shops and parks.
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| An old fashioned clock shop |
One of our more unique excursions was to a local cave about 25 miles outside of town. We went with Peter's brother and some of his acquaintances, but the rest of the group quickly chickened out leaving just the three of us to explore the cave ourselves (all the better in my opinion!)
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| GoPro shot inside the cave |
There were a few other people inside the cave, but for the most part it felt like we were alone in the pitch blackness with nothing but the dim glow of our headlamps illuminating the brittle cavern walls. It was supposedly an old lava tube, and it appeared to have had recent cave-ins, which rather unsettled me. Nonetheless, I followed along behind Peter and his brother, a little too curious as to what might be around the next corner or through the next crawlspace.
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| cave crawlspace |
Surprisingly, we made it to the end of the cave, a little over a mile in and who knows how far underground. The crawlspaces got smaller and smaller until we could no longer fit through and they didn't open up into any larger caverns, so we took a short break in the last big cavern (which had a disturbingly hollow-sounding floor) before heading back.
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| At the park |
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| The local coffee shop |
With just 3 weeks to go before I head back to Alaska, I've spent the rest of my time in Oregon helping Peter with his projects, hiking in the woods, and generally making the most of my time out here. I've concluded that I like Oregon very much, and would love to see the coast next time I'm here, but for now I'm decidedly ready to get back to the Last Frontier.
I feel fulfilled in my mission to see the Pacific Northwest, and confident that I'll be back. Oregon, it's been real.
