A tale of two cities....

There were two stops that we took on the way to Sonoma California, one was in Lincoln City Oregon. We stayed right next to a river that was fully stocked....with fisherman. The campground was a bit soggy, being so close to a river and all, but the hosts were so nice and the area was beautiful! The town was really sweet, a sleepy tourist town with excellent beach views. It was a beautiful morning and there were happy families walking along the beach, dogs chasing the waves and seabirds racing around trying to find a snack. We could have watched the happy scene for hours, in fact I think we did.

On our way back we randomly found a great BBQ place that just happened to have a big ol' grease bin sitting smack dab in the sun just waiting for us. Josh got the o.k. from the manager and we got a few gallons of nice clean grease before we had to hurry back to the campground. We were late getting back and when we went to apologize to the host she told us she certainly didn't mind and that she wished we could stay longer.

The second stop we took was in Crescent City California. When we got to the campground we found a sweet spot nestled in amongst the sequoias. We thought we were in for a peaceful, relaxing two days. The trouble started when we went to pay for our spot. The woman who owned The Village Camper Inn was not the sweetest person I have ever met. She lectured us on how bad for her business our Passport America discount was. Josh asked politely why she bothered to offer it at all, suffice to say she has some issues to work out with her mother.

We had a bunch of errands to do, fill up with grease, do a Home Depot run to buy a part to fix our shower etc. We found a place to fill up on grease pretty easily that was where our luck ran out. The grease was too cold to pump, when we tried to wrap the hose around the outside of the pump to help warm it up the hose ripped where it connected to the pump. Cursing under our breath we headed to the local auto parts store and bought a length of black rubber hose that would wrap more easily. We headed back to the campground to reconnect the hoses and then back to the grease bin for round two. When trying again we realized that the pump was just not up to it in the cold shade. We left completely exasperated and completely crabby.

By this time we were starving and I (oddly enough) wanted pizza, luckily we found a surprisingly good pizza shop and chowed down. Afterwards we headed home and set our alarm early, we knew that wine country was on our horizon and we were ready for it!

If I were to travel that same route down 101 South again I would be sure to stop for the afternoon in Lincoln City OR to walk along the beach and marvel at the ocean vistas, and be sure to skip Crescent City California all together (even though the pizza was good)!

Ode to Seattle, WA

Ode To Seattle

By Lindsay and Josh

Ugh Seattle, where it's rainy and windy,
Yay Seattle home to Cathy and Mindi.

Yikes Seattle, our neighbor is scary,
Phew Seattle Pike Place was quite merry.

Ah Seattle, with its really good shopping,
Oh Seattle why are we sopping?

Yum Seattle, Ethiopian grub
Oh no Seattle too long in the pub.

Brrr Seattle this place is darn cold,
Peace out Seattle we're hittin' the road!

We were there only for two nights but we got to catch up with our neighbors from Burning Man, Cathy and Mindi, as well as attempt to avoid our sketchy, overly friendly neighbor in the campground and enjoy a walk along Pike Place. It got cold and wet so we decided to head South...

"Living" In Portland, OR

While Josh and I were planning our trip we always knew that we wanted to spend enough time in Portland OR to feel like we are living there. So we decided to block out three weeks starting the beginning of September to "move" to Portland. The first week we were there we stayed in the town of Gresham (I wouldn't recommend choosing Gresham as a vacation destination!) After a week we moved to Jantzen Beach, which was really nice. It was more centrally located to where we wanted to be (Aiyana's house) and was less weird than Gresham. So we set up our house there for the next two weeks.

The wonderful thing about staying so long in one place is actually getting comfortable running errands. I am a home body, I always have been. I like to know where I am going and what to expect. As you can imagine NOTHING about this trip has been that way so far, to hop in the car and run to the supermarket and actually know where to find something is really nice for me. That's how I felt in Portland.

Another thing that made Portland feel so much like home was the instant friends we acquired.
There were so many wonderful things that we did in Portland that I will try to mention them all but I fear I might miss a few. If anyone wants to add any feel free.

A few days after we arrived we caught an amazing sunset from the top of Mount Tabor with our friends Chuck, Aiyana, and Wyatt which was followed by great Italian at the Italian Place with Aiyana's awesome roommate Ariana (yeah, we commented on how amusing it was that those two names lived together, especially because they can both go by Ana), and Rick a friend from Keene State College. As we mentioned before went on that amazing camping trip with Josh and Katie, and had an awesome dinner with Rick and his girlfriend Lindsey (who was Josh's roommate in college). We spent a great night out to dinner with Ariana and her boyfriend Nick (who is in Everyday Prophets with Rick), and some of their friends and their friends friends. Ana was babysitting that night so we brought five month old Ari too. Ari's mom Alison was great too! Josh and I did some child care for her while she worked and went to class. We had so much fun with Ari!

We left Portland feeling like we were leaving a great party. I will say one thing about that group, someone is always coming up with some amazing activity for everyone. Whether it be a pumpkin carving contest in the park to helping Lindsey make Junk to Funk awards out of old Barbie dolls.

If anyone is planing on visiting Portland OR, give Josh or I a call and we will put you in touch with this amazing group of people! Love to them all.

Childhood Dreams!

There's a legendary place for windsurfing near Portland, OR. It's called the Hood River Gorge. Something about the ocean air and land air creating a thermal flow, and the huge mountain ranges on either side of the river funneling it all upstream... it's windy every day. I used to watch "epic" windsurfing videos of nutcases thrashing around in the howling winds, jumping 3o feet in the air.

Windsurfing The Gorge is like a childhood dream, a mystical mountain to be conquered, a dragon to be slain. Being so close, I HAD to get out there. No excuses, no "maybe tomorrows."

Last time I was on the water, I was actually pretty good at windsurfing, and if I had kept it up, would probably have been one of those guys flying around. For me, getting back on a windsurfer is like riding a bike - you never really forget... how tiring it is, how much water you swallow, and how much it hurts! But MAN what a good time. Uncontrollable hoots of joy, and laughs (and screams for help) made more joyous by the gurgling mouthfuls of water.

All in all, the town of Hood River is now one of my favorite places in the country. It's quaint, picturesque, a lot of fun, friendly, great beer, great wine, and windsurfing every day. All this about 50 minutes from Portland. Works for me. Hey, let's all move there!

Please excuse the shaky video, I was probably just going so fast... you know!

Aiyana's Birthday!

We jumped the gun a bit...before we camped on Mount Adams we celebrated the birthday of my best friend, Aiyana Rose Maye! Josh and I rolled into town and then rolled over to Aiyana's apartment where we squealed and hugged (Ana and I, not Josh). We snacked and sipped wine and began to meet the amazing group of people who were soon to become our best buds for the next three weeks. After a few hours of schmoozing we walked to the Good Foot to hear an awesome reggae band called Everyday Prophets. Our friend Rick, from Keene State College, plays bass in the band and we hadn't seen him in years. We boogied and laughed until we shut the place down. It was a great party, and a wonderful birthday!

Mount Adams

Driving into Portland from Bend, we followed the Columbia river long enough to know there was some amazing scenery to behold. Little did we know that Ana's (Lindsays best friend) friends Katie & Josh were going to get us up close and personal.

I believe it was a Saturday. After a couple days of planning, we had the back of our truck and Josh's Civic stuffed to the brim in preparation for our sojourn to Mount Adams. It began with a drive right back out 84 along the river, passing waterfalls and fantastic views of Mount Hood. We took a left at the town of Hood River and crossed into Washington, did a quick food shop, and pointed the cars uphill.

Countless miles up a rocky, gravely, dirt road, we reached our first destination, Wind River Cellars, where, for 5 bucks, we were able to taste all of their wines (it had to be 18 or so) and enjoy a perfect view of Mount Hood from their deck. We even got to schmooze with their potbelly pig. Some of the wine was fantastic, some of it was just good, but who can keep track after the first few anyway? We bought 2 bottles (Pinot Gris & Pinot Noir).

All that wine and sun - Time to get behind the wheel again!!! Back on the dirt road, back on the bumps & curves. At 10 MPH it hardly seemed dangerous. We camped at a spot called Bird Lake. I don't know what the elevation was, but suffice to say we were freakin' high up. The lake water was crystalline and the sky was a perfect match. It was without a doubt the most scenic spot I've ever pitched a tent. Josh brought a bass, Chuck brought a banjo and I brought my guitar. Thankfully, our girlfriends all brought their patience.

Josh & Katie provided us with scrumptious, and in my case oversized, burritos for which they had clearly developed a recipe through exacting science. And those Nutella sandwiches knocked our socks off!!

We froze our little tooshies off that night, but awakened to a crisp morning and crispy bacon.

Bouncing a little further up the mountain, the gas pedal on the truck stopped responding. No one was concerned, though, because Josh, Chuck and I are Master Mechanics (we opened the hood, stuck our heads in, muttered to each other, poked a few things and then scratched our asses). Somehow or other, turning the truck off, then restarting it fixed the problem (we're MASTERS I tell you!!!)

After our conquest, we set off for a little hike on Mount Adams. I know you're tired of me saying this, but the view was indescribable. We spent a little time on a rock ledge overlooking the valley, some waterfalls and even a herd of Mountain Goat. For me, there was a little moment when I just chuckled at how lucky we were (and how big the mountains are out here).

Portland, OR

The wonderful thing about Portland is that it's surrounded by places that make it better. That and the people. We were surrounded by such wonderful people, and like Portland, I believe that those people make us better people. It wasn't just our close friends, it was their close friends, even their friends were great! It seemed everyone we met was engaging and ready to connect.

Our time in Portland was different than anywhere else we've been. Partly because we stayed three weeks, partly because we hooked right into Ana's friend network.

In spite of our dismal choice of RV park the first week we were there, our time was filled with wonderful adventures. The only way for us to talk about Portland is to talk about the adventures we had. Starting with...