some amount of miles
PORTLAND
Kura drives me to Cascade Locks and back because the office was closed yesterday, and I needed to get my resupply packages. It's about a two hour round trip, and I'm so grateful, especially since I have three packages to pick up. I also receive a letter from my friend Jenn, and a postcard from the mother of a friend, Mary Sue. I read them in the car, and feel touched and thrilled. I get love for my injuries and news about what my friends have been up to, and a special treat from Jenn. The happiness I get from these small things is so filling--thank you, both!!
I decide I want to explore Portland a bit before I leave tomorrow, so Kura drops me off at the bus stop and I navigate my way downtown. I want to hit up Voodoo donuts, but the line is a good 40 people long, so I wander around aimlessly, heading into Chinatown for a bubble tea, and then decide to take the bus to the more trendy neighborhood of Alberta. As soon as I walk off the bus I feel like I'm in an episode of Portlandia.
I spot a cafe called Random, which boasts a Pie Bar and booze. Dream come true. I continue walking, deciding to come back during their happy hour.
I walk into a home/garden store which screams "Expensive Hipster Chic", and am asked if I want a cappuccino while I look around. Mind you, I'm wearing my hiking shorts, sleeping tank top, hiking sandals, and carrying a ziplock bag that is serving as my wallet/purse. I look recently homeless, at best. I accept the cappuccino, coolly, because for all they know, I'm wearing this outfit ironically.
The shop is filled with items far beyond my price range, and almost everywhere I look I find bird decor. It reminds me of that Portlandia episode where they coin the catchphrase "Put a bird on it!", by decorating everything with bird silhouettes. I can't tell if they're being tongue in cheek about it, or really just diggin on birds.
PUT A BIRD ON IT!
I am here at prime happy hour time, and I hit up a sushi restaurant for some delicious and cheep nigiri. Anything but trail food! Next on my list is the Salt and Straw, which numerous people have told me is the best ice cream they've ever had. The flavor menu looks like a joke, with choices like: Tomato water olive oil sorbet, Strawberry and balsamic vinegar with cracked black pepper, pear with blue cheese, and bone marrow with bourbon soaked cherries, just to name a few.
I taste test the Sea salt caramel and the bone marrow cherry flavors and decide to go with the marrow. It is rich and delicious in a very odd way, and I thoroughly enjoy it.
I meet up with the brother-in-law of my friend Jackie, who lives in the area, and we spend the rest of the night sampling local beers from different bars around town. It's almost 10:30pm when I finally decide I need to get back to my friends' house, and as I search for the quickest public transport route, I find that there isn't much running all the way out to the suburb of Milwaukie (not a typo) where they live. Jim kindly offers to drive me all the way over there, which I'm so grateful for once I realize how long it would have taken me to get back via the bus.
My Uncle, Aunt, and cousin are planning to pick me up tomorrow morning for our trip down the coast, and I feel ready for some coastal living!
****
NEWPORT, OR
Knowing that both my Uncle and cousin read my blog, and knowing that they will pay particular attention to the section in which I'm writing about them, I find this post to be particularly difficult. :)
It's a solid three hour drive from Portland to Newport, OR, and they pick me up around lunch time. We drive to Killer Burger for lunch, where it plainly says on the menu that every burger comes with bacon and fries--and it is delicious!
After a tedious drive through slow traffic, we finally get to the coast! There is something so refreshing and rejuvenating about being near the water--the slightly fishy, salty smell of the air; the crashing sound of surf; the screech of gulls. I stare out into the nothingness of blue, where water meets sky for an infinite moment, and feel grounded and unmoored all at once.
The cottage they've rented is simple and lovely, with a view straight out to sea. My cousin and I play rock/paper/scissors to see who gets the futon over the camping cot, and I with, grateful to not have to sleep with anything that has "camping" in the description. That first night we walk along the coast at dusk, enjoying the cool breeze and beautiful full moon.
The next day I join my aunt and uncle for a walk around the coast and into town. There are quite a few sand dunes to cover, and by the time we get to town my legs have started to bother me. I try to ignore it, frustrated that my body won't leave me alone to enjoy my vacation from the trail.
We walk past the pier of noisy, barking sea lions, and enjoy their playful antics. This seems to be a thriving fishing community, and we watch boats unload their catch, and workers on the deck expertly fillet the various fish.
The beach is long and wide, and once evening hits the wind picks up and whips the sand around. I comment that I'm surprised my face got sunburned, and my uncle suggests it's just windburn. Oiy. For a full day the fog blows in, completely obscuring most of the beach and the coastline. The wind is absent, and we enjoy the peaceful stillness of playing in the fine, soft sand. We watch as a family makes giant bubbles that float across the beach; magical orbs that engross us as we follow them, and startle us when they finally burst.
We spend a day driving down the coast to the sea lion caves (which are a tourist trap that we end up bypassing), and on to Florence, where we take funny pictures and enjoy a walk around town.
We decide to have dinner at the little B&B (Sylvia's Hotel) next door to the cottage. The restaurant is called "Tables of Content", and the rooms are all themed after different writers. I think about how Heather, Liz, Kayla and Kristy would get a kick out of such a place, and happen to see a group of women in their 50s laughing as they leave, and imagine the group of us here one day. The restaurant is by reservation only, and serves dishes family style around large tables. They ask us to choose our entrees, and tell us to be back precisely at 6:55.
We are seated at a table with 5 other people, and I wonder how my generally quiet Uncle and cousin are going to deal with this forced interaction with strangers. My aunt and I are fairly talkative (thank god), because most of the other people there also seems to be a bit quiet/awkward/reserved. The conversation is moving along fairly well, when the dinner host tells us to play a game to get to know the other people at our table, called "Two truths and a lie." In theory this sounds good, but in actuality it creates a situation in which everyone stops talking and awkwardly tries to think of questions, while only one person talks at a time. The point of the game, for those of you who never went to camp or had to play weird icebreakers at work, is to tell two true facts about yourself and one lie, and fool everyone so that they are unable to tell which is the lie. Each person gets to ask you three questions before they have to guess what they think the lie is, and then once everyone has gone, you reveal the actual lie. If you best everyone you get a round of applause.
We go around the table--my uncle correctly guesses everyone's lie--until finally it's my turn. I truthfully say I'm an only child and spent a year in Turkey, but lie about the fact that I am a practicing Body Psychotherapist. My relatives don't guess, and everyone else thinks I'm lying about being an only child. HA! My uncle almost fools everyone, but starts to crack up when someone asks him a pointedly difficult question about his lie. And my aunt truthfully states that founder of Amazon (Jeff Bezos) asked if she wanted to invest in his new company years ago when he was a regular at her restaurant, but she had to turn him down. All in all, it was an interesting night, with interesting people, and we leave knowing just a little bit more about each other.
Our last night in Oregon we drag ourselves down to the beach to make a fire and roast marshmallows. The wind is picking up and our newspaper tinder is damp, but my uncle gets a blaze going, and we all get lost in the flames.
My Aunt and Uncle are so generous to be hosting the both of us, and yet I feel too old to be accepting their generosity, but too young to really afford not to. It's weird being almost 30 and 'on the run'--I feel like I should be more of an adult, but I've quit my job and have no idea where I'll be living a few months from now. I spend a lot of time thinking about this, wondering what I'm actually doing with my life, and comparing myself to my friends who are well into their careers and families. And then I tell myself NOT to do this, that not everyone takes a straight path to get where they're going. And I don't necessarily need to know where I'm going, as long as I'm enjoying the path to get there. I'm just taking the scenic route, I tell myself. I repeat to myself "I will get through it. I am getting through it," and no matter what, this is true. Another lesson from the trail.
Tomorrow we head up to Seattle for a couple of days before I get back on the trail. I'm hoping my legs feel up to walking big miles by then!
****
SEATTLE, WA
I know I should be resting, but I can't resist going out and exploring Seattle, a city I have always dreamed about visiting, but have never made it out to. I drag my cousin along with me, first going to Pike's Place market, and checking out the fresh seafood and fish throwers.
I grab a donut and coffee at Top Pot (a Seattle institution that doesn't disappoint) before heading uptown to the flagship REI store. That place is 3 stories of amazingness, and I tell myself not to get sucked in. I do find my next trail tent, however. Complete with cots and a TV. "Roughing it" never even comes in to play.
At Top Pot we were tipped off to the free summer lunch concert series, and so I meet my cousin back downtown to watch The Horde and the Harem outside of the City Hall Plaza. Great band, btw.
Street Art:
My uncle is a master wood worker, and fortunately for us, was able to whip up some doors for the bedrooms before we arrived. If you can't tell, they are dutch doors, which I am now convinced I need to have in my own house one day. Brilliant!
The doggie terrors my uncle warned us about: all bark but no bite (yet).
Henry
Kit
My second to last day in Seattle I hit the waters of Lake Union with some friends from Mpls, Olivia and Ted, who recently moved up here and are getting married in a couple of weeks! They take me to their kayak place, where they are members and can rent out kayaks whenever they want. We get a three person kayak (so I don't have to pay anything) and proceed on our miles long adventure, after which I can barely move my arms. I guess that's what happens when you don't really use them for a couple of months.
All around the lake are gorgeous houseboats, and I decide that if I do ever move here, I want to live on one of them.
We kayak through slightly treacherous locks, battling boat wakes and feeling the cold drench of water on our pants; and under busy overpasses, which look like they are about to be overtaken by the water.
On my last day my uncle takes us to his shop, and I get to help (and I use the term rather loosely) him build a gate for his fence. I marvel at all the tools and gadgets, and he teaches me how to use a drill press and his fancy tenoner (to make mortise and tenons--and if you don't know what that is, google it). I realize I'm still terrible at fractions, and that I really need to bone up on these if I'm going to get myself up to snuff. He also lets us drive the shop forklift! Best. Uncle. Ever.
Tomorrow they drive me to the trail head at Snoqualmie, leaving the city comforts once again. It was a good vacation, and I'm a bit sad to leave, but also ready to get back on the trail. I'll be back Labor Day weekend for my friends' wedding, and thankfully I have my dog waiting for me, or I might never leave!
