025 Port Townsend, WA

October 31, 2008 – Friday
Port Townsend, WA

I arrived in Port Townsend yesterday and drove directly to the hostel to find out where it was. The office din’t open until 5pm and it was only about 2, so I found a café which had internet access and hung out for a little while, grabbing some lunch while I was there. I had half of a BLAST sandwich which is a fancy BLT with herbed mayo and slices of avocado. Absolutely delicious! Courtyard Café, was very cute and had delicious coffee. Around 4pm when I finished with lunch, I decided to find a place to have a glass of wine since I had about an hour left until the hostel office opened and I wanted to check out more of the town anyway. With the recommendation from the people Courtyard Café (which closes at 5pm every day), I went to The Fountain which didn’t open until 5pm. After stopping into The Upstage and finding
that they didn’t open until 5 either, I finally found myself at The Public House which was lively and operating! Just like the Courtyard Café, The Public House was very cute with a lot of character. I brought my journal in with me to do some writing and had a wonderful glass of white wine. After writing for a while, it was finally after 5pm so I left to check into the hostel.

I have to admit that I have really enjoyed having a GPS with me to help find my way around the US. When I got into my car to find my way back to the hostel, I came to find that my GPS wasn’t functioning. I turned it off and on a couple of times to no avail and then had the “smart” idea of hitting the reset button. Now what I have is a GPS that will turn on, want me to set all of my preferences, but is unable to load any maps of the US. It’s a really good thing that I pay close attention nowadays when I drive around; I was able to find my way back to the hostel without any trouble. The GPS still isn’t working now and I can’t find my cable to attach it to my computer to see if there’s anything I can do to fix it. Well, this will definitely make everything more of an adventure!

Chris was at the hostel when I arrived and provided me with info on the area, and I met Charlie who has been staying there for a while and will probably stay there a while longer, until he gets bored and wants to move on. I love meeting people like
me! I was the only girl staying there for the evening so I had the womens dorm all to myself. Since I had looked into the area to see what was happening that evening and found some live jazz, I changed into some less ragged clothing, heels and light leather jacket. I rarely get the chance to dress up these days. As soon as I was changed, I went upstairs in the hostel and paid for another evening; I decided I would like to stay in town for a couple of nights before moving on. Also, I found an event that I think I’ll enjoy attending for Halloween! Something about a masquerade ball in a castle?


Anyway, I took off and found my way to the Upstage where I grabbed a spot at the bar (often the best way to meet other people when traveling alone). Next to me was a nice guy named Dean who I started chatting with. Turns out he has been traveling much like myself; he dropped off his son in Chicago, coming from Maine, and then
decided to just keep driving. He took the ferry from Seattle to Port Townsend and found himself in this very cute town at a spectacular hotel named the Palace Hotel. The jazz was very enjoyable, with the theme of Miles Davis music. When it was finished, Dean and I decided to split a spinach and gorgonzola pizza, yummy.

I’ve been finding that I am having a hard time pressing on right now, I really enjoy being in these small cities and exploring; actually I enjoy exploring these more than large cities right now. I think the thing that’s going to get me moving again is the cloudy skies and cold weather. It’s raining today, too; cold and wet. Bleh. Not even good for sight seeing in the national park (however still gorgeous in a way)! Sometimes I wonder if I will get lonely and miss my friends and communities of which I have been a part of. Most of the time what I have found is that I just try to create a bit of a community wherever I am, through the new people who I meet along the way. It requires an interested mind, a curious spirit, to meet people and share yourself as well. A spirit that tells you to find out who these people are, what their stories are; how they ended up in the same place where I find myself. It’s often quite interesting, or can be if you want it to be. The more that I’m on my own, the better I tend to do, meeting people and putting myself out there; and it occurs to me that what I really need to do next is work up to asking people to join me in whatever I’m doing. I should have asked the people at the Courtyard Café to join me for a drink when they were finished with work; who knows what might have happened, maybe they would have said yes and I could probably have learned quite a lot. The other thing that I want to do is create some traveling cards – like business cards, but I’m not really in business right now… So they’ll have my blog on there in case anyone wants to keep in touch after I leave their area.


Apparently, this blog is one of rambling thoughts. I think I have discovered partially what I want to do during my travels. I want to fall in love – with an area, with a place. I want to discover the many different kinds of places there are in the US and then find which works best with who I am and what I want to do. It’s amazing to me how many people don’t do that, check out different areas of the world to find one that gels best with themselves. But I suppose, not everyone is like me. And what is me? Me is finding that out and enjoying the journey quite a bit. What I have been able to admit so far is that I definitely like living at a slower pace, allowing me to truly experience life, observe life around me and see things much more fully for what they really are. I feel as though I have squandered a lot of time away, rushing from place to place and hurrying from event to event. Even in my spare time, I have done very little. I may want to stay in a smaller town for a time, or in a place that is hardly a town which would allow me to do so many more things with my creative self. I need time and space to feel comfortable doing that; being around people and buildings and cities simply distracts me constantly. I’m good at being social, sometimes a bit of a butterfly, but I can’t hold back the other side of me, the side that doesn’t want people around all the time, but instead more earth, nature.

Ok, enough of that for now… The final event of last evening was when I was finally back to the hostel and went back out to my car for my water bottle which I had forgotten. After I found it, I turned around to go back inside and stopped dead in my tracks. A beautiful deer was standing about 15 feet away from me, staring at me. I said “Hey, how’s it goin’?” and continued inside. The deer watched me as I passed, then I did the same with it. When I passed it, before I was back inside, I turned around and watched it meander off across the yard. It was a spectacular end to a great day.

024 Halloween, Flowers, and Washington

October 29, 2008 – Wednesday
Bremerton, WA

Last Monday I finally got around to figuring out what to do for Halloween and bought some materials to construct my costume. Since I decided that I was going to be a flower, I needed to pick up some “flowery” items so that I could create a hat. The thrift stores didn’t have as much as I would have liked in the way of fake flowers, so I ended up at Michael’s where they had some gorgeous red prettiness waiting for me. On the way back home I stopped for happy hour at my local hangout, the Red Dog Depot. I have claimed this as “my spot” and I believe I know most everyone who works there now. It’s nice to be able to have a place where “everyone knows your name…” when you don’t know many people in the area.

Back at the ranch, I spent a couple of hours constructing my costume. With wire, an underhat, some butterflies and the flowers and leaves from Michael’s, I created a lovely headpiece for Halloween. Somehow I ended up not getting a head to toe body shot of the costume, from the stem (trusty brown boots), on up (green dress) to the flower hat, which is not to be forgiven, but the headshot that I ended up with was really pretty darn sweet. Thanks Dennis!

Speaking of Dennis, Tuesday night, after packing my car nicely full of camping gear and everything else I own right now, I drove up to Portland and stayed with my friend Dennis for the night. When I got there, we took some time to catch up, then I changed into costume and had a documented (Dennis and his photos…) makeup application session with bright red lipstick makeup, shimmer and all. Luckily, the weekly Tuesday Blues dance was Halloween themed that week and we attended, in costume. Before the dance, we went to Crush for some dinner and drinks with Karissa and Joshua; they also brought Dennis his costume for the night… Which he changed into (after some prodding) in the photobooth that was right next to us. It isn’t every day that someone gets to pull a superman move!


It was great fun at the dance, since I hadn’t been dancing in months before this time. Cid was up from San Fran and had a great DJ set; it was lovely seeing him again, it’s been too long. I danced my buns off, loved dressing up (Halloween is my favorite holiday) and had a wonderful evening. In the morning before I left town, Dennis and I had brunch at the Tin Shed; a fabulous restaurant in Portland. I highly recommend it.

Finally, it was time to take off for Seattle where I met an old friend, Sara, for dinner at the Coastal Kitchen. They had a new themed menu that evening, based on Brittany, France. It was pretty delicious, but we would have preferred if it had come out in courses rather than on one large platter. Some of the food got cold before we could get to it! Of course, I think that had something to do with the fact that we hadn’t seen each other in something like 5 years and had a ton of juicy stuff to catch up on. After a 3 hour dinner and great company, I took off and drove to the other side of Puget Sound where I found myself a hotel room for the evening. I had wanted to stay at the hostel in Puget Sound, but it was too late in the evening by the time I got there. So, I cheated. The good thing was that I was nice and rested for the rest of my time in WA.

023 Digging Trenches

October 24, 2008 – Friday

Redmond, OR

Still learning about things around the ranch; I have so many questions and am always asking why.  Why do you have those Alpacas over there?  Why are those separated from the others?  Why are the kids (young Alpacas) kept all together, separate from the Girls (the girl alpacas)?  Etc, etc…  This time, I’m preparing because they’re going to leave me in charge for the weekend while they’re away.  It’s test time!

Today we used the bobcat to dig a trench for a pipeline to get water that drains from the roof away from the building where it tends to gather in large puddles making everything quite messy.  There is a large amount of very solid lava rock in the ground here and some of the chunks are quite huge.  We ended up having to dig three different lines of trench before we had one that was without rock the entire way to the new water hole.  When we finally got the pipe down, we covered it all up and then I used the quad with a palette and some wires attached to drag behind and smooth out the ground.  Basically, I drove quickly in circles for about 10 minutes or so.  Entertaining, I guess!  And afterward, you couldn’t even tell we had just dug up the ground all over the place.  Like magic…

In the afternoon, we decided to have some playtime and hopped on our bikes to visit Grandpa and Mary in Bend.  Just a short visit, but one that was appreciated nonetheless.  When we came back to the ranch just after dark, I helped put “the girls” into the barn for the evening, to complete the chores for the day.  Finally, it was time for a big, delicious dinner and some wine.  You know, it’s simply a healthy thing to do to have 3 glasses of wine a day…  I like the sound of that.

022 Settling in a bit...

October 23, 2008 – Thursday

Redmond, OR

I’ve been settling in just a bit here at the ranch lately.  The last few days have been spent without too much adventure but with much relaxed enjoyment.  Thumbing through thrift stores for treasures and finding deals at the grocery outlet (later known kindly as the used food store) have been keeping my mom, aunt and I busy.  I have found many empty frames from the thrift stores to fill with paintings, in the hopes that it keeps me painting anyway!  It’s been fun hanging out with my aunt, getting to know her a bit more than I have been able to so far.  Yesterday us girls stopped for happy hour at the Red Dog Depot after shopping, had a yummy hummus and pita sort of appetizer and a drink.  As you will possibly find out, it was the first of many stops for me at the Red Dog Depot.  A very cute place on the outside, it was an old rail station that was relocated and redone.  Now, it’s a restaurant/bar with photos of dogs in red frames all over the walls.  Hundreds of them.  And a goat.

I finally have been feeling better, so it’s been time to learn how to do the “chores”.  I really dislike the word chores and prefer to say “feed the animals” or “take care of the animals…”   But people understand the word chores and it’s shorter to say, so I guess I use it sometimes as well.  Anyway, there’s a whole lot to learn about around the ranch.  Especially for me, since it’s a completely different kind of life than I am used to.  So far, I love it; it’s wonderful learning so much about something new, especially hands on.  So, in the morning I hopped on the four wheeler (quad), loaded up the back of it with hay and delivered the delicious stuff to the Llamas & Alpacas, Mini Horses & Ladybug (the big horse).  Patty showed me how she feeds the chickens & doves, cats, dogs, fish & bird.  I took pretty good notes on it all so that if I forget, I can run down the list and figure things out.

Overall, it’s been a nice time.  A bit of a slower pace from running around the country (to say the least) and kinda nice now and then.

021 Riding along the coast...

October 19, 2008 – Sunday

Florence, OR

Another incredible way to start out a day is riding a motorcycle along the coast while the sun is shining down on everything around you.  Even though I didn’t ride my bike to Yachats yesterday, I made up for it today.  Uncle Lyle, my Mom & Dad and I took our bikes along the coast, one of the most incredibly beautiful rides yet, but I’m a sucker for the ocean.  We had coffee in Yachats at the Adobe Resort and Restaurant, at a table overlooking the crashing ocean waves.  

We didn’t spend too much time in the town since we planned on heading back to Redmond when we finished our ride, but I showed everyone where I had spent my time yesterday.  On the way back to Florence, my parents and I decided to stop at the sea lion caves; supposedly the largest Sea Lion Cave in the world.  Since it was a gorgeous day, however, all of the sea lions were out sunning themselves on rocks a couple of clicks down the road instead of hanging out in the cave.  I know I would be if I were them!  We found them there when I stopped to take a couple of coastal photos at an overlook.  There were hundreds of sea lions, swimming, sunning & playing around.  After we left the cave, we finished our ride back to Florence to meet Aunt Patty & Lyle again.

We packed up our things and headed back home to Redmond, stopping on the way at the small restaurant previously mentioned in yesterdays post.  I picked up some literature on the place and took a few photos of it myself.  What a fabulous spot.

And now, we’ll be back in Redmond for a while but my parents swear that they’re really heading back to Minnesota this time…   So, we’ll see!

019 We’re all here cause we’re not all there...

October 18, 2008 – Saturday

Oregon Coast/Yachats, OR

A great way to start out the day is a hike down to visit the ocean.  Even though it was cold and windy, it is most certainly wonderful and beautiful.  After getting back from the hike, I drove my car up to Yachats for the mushroom festival.  I actually turned back once while I was on my way there, to get my bike instead…  But then I turned around again and continued along the road since I knew I’d want to drink some wine while I was there.  It was a gorgeous day, however, and it would have been an incredible ride along the coast.

Once I arrived in Yachats, I found the city hall where they had signs up promoting the mushroom event.  There was a farmers market with some creative goods, canned foods & mushrooms for sale and inside was a setup for the Mycological Society with tons of different kinds of mushrooms on display with detailed info.  While I was there, I decided it was time to pick up a book on mushrooms.  I figured that the people working there would be a good source for helping me figure out which book to start with.  I had a good laugh at one of the signs in the room, “Who says you can’t eat poisonous mushrooms?  You can eat any of them once…”

Before I left the City Hall, I decided to buy a basketful of fresh Chanterelles from one of the vendors who had picked them by hand earlier that day; they looked spectacular.  Also, I asked around to find out where I should go for some dinner, a glass of wine and a special mushroom dish.  On the way to the next venue, I passed by a thin, small guy with a leather jacket on, big grey beard & huge knife sheath who was leaning against a phone booth.  I didn’t make eye contact.  I did make eye contact with some people in the Yachats River House where I went for a glass of wine.  It was a very cute little place with a gorgeous deck and amazing view of the ocean and some city countryside.  While I was there I visited with a couple of people who were also there for some food & wine as well as a couple of people who worked there.  It was quite enjoyable meeting them and sharing stories of where we’re from, where we’re going, and what everyone knows about the town…  Again and again, I love meeting new random people in the different places I travel.

After I finished my wine, I decided to see what else the town had to offer, so I went across the street to the Drift Inn which had been recommended to me for dinner.  The only seat open at the bar was right next to the phone booth guy who was quite excited that I was going to sit by him.  I guess he was smitten from when I passed by him earlier and was happy to have the chance to chat with me.  It was probably the motorcycle jacket that I had on, as well as the big sunglasses, polka dot scarf in my hair and heels that got him.  I was looking pretty styling actually…  He mentioned that he had seen me earlier when I passed him but I probably hadn’t wanted anything to do with him because I saw the big knife.  I wonder if that happens to him often?  We did end up chatting for a while and it was entertaining; Beau was his name and he lives in the mountains, hence the big knife.  Living in the middle of the mountains, he keeps the knife for protection, instead of a gun.  Overall, his life is yet another that is quite different from what I’m used to and it was really interesting talking with him for a while.

When he left, I went back to my car to grab my notebook so that I could catch up on some writing and note-taking.  As I waited for a pick-up to pass by, the driver stopped for me to cross.  When I arrived at my car, I found out that the pick-up driver happened to be parked right behind me.  I smiled at him on my way back to the restaurant and he smiled brightly and got out to say hi to the girl he just let pass in front of him on the road.  I told him his dogs were beautiful and he asked me if I wanted to meet them.  Of course I had to say yes!  Mark’s dogs were Misty and T-Bone, both rescued and now loved.  Mark, with a large reddish colored beard, wearing beige overalls and a plaid shirt, was just starting his own business in the area and calling it Stonewood Creations.  He’s a welder and makes creative stone sculptures.  He didn’t have any cards on him but I’d love to see some of his work!

Back at the Drift Inn, I ordered the special, a mushroom crepe with a spicy pepper sauce which came with a salad that had the most incredible ginger dressing, and I ordered a fabulous glass of white wine with the recommendation from the bartender.  A couple of new guys come in and sit on my right, Matt & Geoff.  They had been out hunting mushrooms earlier, Geoff teaching Matt about them.  Matt ended up giving me a large amount of Chanterelles and told me how to cook them for the best results.  Geoff and I talked a lot about traveling, he was excited about what I was doing and happy for me to be taking notes and writing about it so that I could consider writing a book some day.  He’s taken trips on freighters which excited me since it’s something I want to do.  I wish I had some business cards with my blog site so that I can share it with strangers who I meet along the way.  I chatted with another couple at the bar for a while as well who were also out of town.  Overall, there are very friendly folk in this area and I’ve been quite comfortable!

A band played later that night, led by a young fiddler player with lots of curly gorgeous hair and tons of talent.  His backup was a trio of older, white-haired men who were fantastic.  I guess most of the locals in Yachats were hiding away during the mushroom festival weekend; I can’t wait to go back again sometime when they’re out and about as well.  Besides Beau, I met only people who didn’t actually live in Yachats.

Finally, it was time to move on.  I had heard that the nighttime venue was the Landmark,  so I finished out my night there.  Another live band, this time some great blues & rock, in a dark dive bar atmosphere.  There, I ended up chatting with Matt from Fresno, CA who has traveled a lot, also has a motorcycle, and was there for the festival.  We danced with some other folk in the place to some of the music, though nobody there was partner dancing and it drove me crazy on the great blues songs.  After a while, I decided that it was time to head back and call it a night, so I drove back to Florence on the dark twisty, curvy coastal roads very carefully.

The Unofficial Slogan of Yachats: We’re all here cause we’re not all there.”

018 Finally, The Coast.

October 17, 2008 – Friday

Florence, OR

This last week has been a slow one; I am just recovering from a cold.  It’s been nice, having some time to relax and recuperate in a beautiful spot without many responsibilities to worry about while being sick.  Mainly my days have been filled with having coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, then doing some painting in the evening and occasionally at other times during the day.  My dad has been helping with the chores around the ranch, my brother left last Monday but he was quite a ranch hand as well.  It was really fun having him out here, even though it was really cold a lot of the time.  We did get in a few rides, but at some point I had enough of my fingers falling off and I skipped out on a couple.  When my brother got back from one of them, he said that his glasses had salt tears frozen to them from his eyes watering and getting onto them.  Yes, it was cold.  Yesterday when it was finally warmer and we were heading to visit Grandpa & Mary again, I stopped to buy new gloves for cold weather.  I’m excited to wear them, they look spectacular!

Speaking of my bike, a few days ago, my Uncle asked me if I had a name for my bike.  I don’t, so I told him that.  He and my Dad had a lot of fun trying to come up with something clever, offering me suggestions all the time.  My Uncle thinks I should just call it “Bitch”.  My Dad, however, came up with “Independence.”  I suggested that I combine the two and call it “Independent Bitch.”  What do you think?  Actually, the latest that Uncle Lyle came up with was iBitch.  I kinda like that one, too.  It’s entertaining, and nice to know where some of my behaviors, actions and thoughts come from.  I’m definitely my Father’s daughter.

By the way, the snow did go away; it didn’t stick around for too long, but I didn’t care at all for it while it was here.  The mountains really look beautiful layered in fresh snow, but it’s not enough for me to want to be too close to it.  While I’ve been staying at the ranch, it has been wonderful to have some time to paint.  I made a larger version of a concept that I worked on at my time in the yurt and finished the other one that I started there which I don’t care for much.  However, I painted one more that I actually do like quite a bit.  I may post it here, as well as its inspiration so people understand a bit more.

There are some kittens at the ranch that are growing up quickly; they’re leaving their basket just barely at this point.  Well, I’ve made friends with them and I just know that one of them wants to come with me and be my car cat.  He/she is adorable, black with bright blue eyes that look directly into mine.  He/she usually comes to greet me when I come to visit, scampering up to say hi.  I adore it.

This weekend I found a mushroom festival in Yachats, on the coast.  I was determined to attend some of it, and was trying to get well all week so that I was ready for the jaunt over to the coast.  By the time today arrived, my Aunt Patty, Uncle Lyle, Mom & Dad decided that they wanted to come with as well.  Originally, or at one point anyway, my parents had decided they were going to go back to MN today but my Mom really decided that she wanted to see the coast before leaving.  So, we packed everything up and headed out this morning.  My Mom, Dad, Uncle & Aunt took the motorhome, trailering my Dad’s scooter and my Uncle’s Harley Sportster.  I, of course, have my car with my bike trailered as well.  I packed everything up before we left in case I didn’t return.

What an incredible drive.  It was nice having a reminder of why I fell in love with Oregon years ago.  It’s gorgeous here and it feels like home.  I may possibly consider living here, away from things, people, life.  My Uncle Lyle knows this land pretty well, the people in it and the places also.  While we were driving through some small sort of village place my Uncle pulled over ahead of me, and I followed of course.  He told me that the restaurant right next to us, now closed, used to be one of the best places to stop for pie & burgers.  I blurted out, “I want it” and he said, “well, let’s put together a business plan…”  So, we’ll see.  I wouldn’t mind running that for a few months out of the year and closing down when it got cold again, actually setting up shop for a long period of time in one place…  Quite the concept for me!  I have already designed a bit of it in my head, and right now it’s called Reese’s Treehouse Café.  I’m sure that will change as the concept grows.

Eventually we made it to the coast, just in time to unpack our bikes and go for a short ride.  It’s nice to be next to the ocean again; I think I prefer the Pacific to the Atlantic but either is better than neither.  When I first laid eyes on it this time, I said, “I can’t live in Minnesota.”  Everyone laughed, but they know how serious I really am.

Tonight is nice and laid back; sounds of the ocean from only a quarter of a mile away, a movie in the RV with my Dad & Uncle while my Mom & Aunt went somewhere to play bingo.  I think I’ll try to get sleepy, maybe have another beer, then get to bed so that I can fully enjoy my day here tomorrow.  

Thanks for coming with me!

017 Ammo Boxes & More...

October 10, 2008 – Friday

Redmond, OR

Ammo boxes, Model T’s, Painting & Napoleon Dynamite…  That’s some of what today held.  My Uncle Lyle was looking at my trailer and saw potential for more…  So, he commenced with the modifications.  My new trailer is now quite spectacular; mostly the same, but so much cooler.  I now have an ammo box attached to the side of it where I can store all of my straps and bungees, or whatever else I want.  Also, with the extra side step on one side, my feet no longer dangle in thin air when I’m loading my bike.  The side step has a pin in it for me to attach my ramp directly to it and use it for storage while going down the road.  With a couple of bungees, I can attach quite a few things and free up lots of room in my car.  Very convenient!  As well, using some zip ties and just drilling a few holes, we attached the cord for the lights to the side of the trailer, running them down the line of it.  Very slick.  No more having to worry about running it around the bike and having it flap in the wind!  Just hook it up and go.

Later in the day, my Uncle Lyle, Buster and I went for a little ride in the model T.  That was great fun since I hadn’t ridden in it yet.  Even though it was a bit of a chilly day, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It’s not every day that a person gets to ride in a model T!

And finally, I painted some more.  I really enjoyed the little prototype that I created during my time in the yurt outside of Glacier, so I ran with that on a larger scale.  Though it could use a bit of work yet, I like the concept overall.  It feels good to paint.

To finish off the day, we had some dinner and settled in to watch Napoleon Dynamite.  Believe it or not, my Aunt & Uncle have seen that movie almost 30 times…  Crazy!  

I guess there’s not a whole lot for me to report today, just a few items of interest to me…  And maybe some other crazy out there!

016 An old Model T

October 9, 2008 – Thursday

Redmond, OR

Biking is really quite enjoyable.  Warm, sunny days are perfect for getting in a nice long ride.  Now, for a little something different, you can choose to be a bit more ridiculous about it and get in a bike ride whenever you want, despite the conditions…  This is what my Dad & brother and I did yesterday, in our ride to Prineville and back.  Prineville is only about 10 minutes away from the ranch so it is a short ride there.  When the weather is less than desirable, though, it seems much longer than it really is.  The day was cold and it looked like there were storms ready to collide right over the whole area.  Of course, we still went.  It was cold and I hadn’t gotten new gloves yet so I just about froze my fingers off completely, again.  Despite how the weather appeared, we managed to escape most of the really bad conditions.  After we had some coffee and Heath & Dad had a sundae from Dairy Queen, the rain started.  Luckily it wasn’t coming down too hard, but it was still coming down.  And did I mention that it was cold?  We made it back alright, despite the rain, and just in time for dinner which really helped to warm us up.

Last night, it snowed.  Yes, it snowed.  It’s only October 9th and I’m in Oregon and it snowed.  I was none so happy about that, as it's also a large part of why I'm not in Minnesota right now... To escape the snow...

Today, luckily, the snow from last night disappeared though it was still quite cold and winter jackets were necessary.  First things first, we all helped out with polishing up the Model T from 1916 so that it looked loved & cared for.  Many people probably don't know, but I totally have a thing for old cars.  It took a while to crank it up and get it running, but after a while it sputtered to life!  The headlights on the old car work like a lantern, covered by glass and lit with fire, they’re mostly for other people to see the car coming toward you in the dark; not for lighting up the road or anything else.  
My Uncle Lyle bought the Model T with the ranch and once a year the man who worked on it in his younger years visits the car again.  This was the day.  Living in Portland, his daughter comes to get him once a year so that he can spend some time with the car.  Funny, he’s not coming to see his daughter, but his car instead.  His cars and his work were his life, his passion.  As soon as the car was out, ready for him to have a ride and see it, he moved quite quickly.  Did I mention that he’s 96 years old?  My Uncle helped him into the car, they took it for a spin, then sat in it for quite some time while we all listened to him tell stories of the old car, learning quite a bit more about it.  Quite a fascinating experience over all!

Later that evening, after going for yet another freezing cold ride – you would have thought that by now I had learned my lesson – we made it back to have dinner and then finish up the night with a couple of movies, Hot Rod & RV.  They were both pretty funny and it was a great end to the day.

015 Limos & Bikes

October 8 2008 – Wednesday

Redmond, OR

I woke up far too early today, around 730 am but it felt like it was at least 10!  It was, however, nice to wake up to the mountains right outside the window, in the distance, even if they were snow-covered.  My brother and I had some time to visit for a bit before I decided it was time to get showered & clean.  My Aunt Patty made a wonderful breakfast of sausage & cheese biscuits and an egg, so I had a fabulous start to the day.

My mom and I went shopping in Redmond to pick up a few things.  We stopped at a liquor store for some rum and then, bless the states where they have wine & beer in the grocery store, picked up some groceries, wine & 3 different six packs of local beer.  While out, I got a call from the guys (Uncle Lyle, Heath & Dad) who were anxious for us to return to the ranch so that we could go for a ride.  Since my brother flew out for a few days, Uncle Lyle let him borrow his Harley Sportster while Lyle rented a Harley for a few days.  My Mom & I hurried back to get geared up for the fairly cold-weather ride to the Dee Wright Observatory in Willamette National Forest.  
That was really pretty cool, with broken up lava beds everywhere, and the mountains, again…  And really, it was pretty cool; by the time we got there, I thought my fingers were going to fall off!  It’s time for new winter bike gloves, I guess.  To make it back home, I had to borrow a pair of thin leather gloves from my Uncle to put over my own regular bike gloves; at least they were a wind breaker!  The ride was beautiful, through the forest and around the area.  I fully admit that I love being around mountains.

When we got back from our super cool and very cold ride, we hopped into my Uncle’s limo to pick up my Grandpa & Mary for dinner.  Yup, they have a limo which they rent out for parties now and then.  So, my Mom, brother & I grabbed some beer and hung out together in the back of the limo while my Dad & Uncle rode up front.  After picking up Grandpa & Mary from Bend, we decided to stop at a Safeway to find my mom some popcorn that she wanted.  
And we thought it would be entertaining to stop at a Safeway for popcorn while we were in a limo…  Heath & I ended up getting two different kinds of popcorn, flowers for Aunt Patty, one large local beer and a six pack of hard cider for mom, since she kept insisting that she didn’t want more beer but yet seemed very protective over the one that was left from the first six pack.  It was humorous and we enjoyed ourselves.

When we got back to the ranch, everyone sat around and told stories for a while.  I learned quite a bit about some of my relatives!  Uncle Lyle used to be in the military, just as my Dad was.  He told of a time when he was actually mixing bombs with his bare hands, which is crazy.  I have a couple of other Uncles on my Dads side, one of them is named Lowell.  Apparently, he once egged Patty’s car without her knowing.  The next day when she found out, she brought it to the gas station where Lowell was working and told him that someone egged her car, would he please help her clean it…  Nice.  That’s what I call karma.

Then, on my Mom & Dad’s wedding day, a bunch of people were swimming right up until the ceremony.  Ok, that’s not too big of a deal; however, after the ceremony people were dropped off in random places, left to their own devices.  It was because of this that my Uncle Lyle, in his tuxedo, met some people with a boat and went water skiing with them, in his tux.  I wonder less and less about myself, the more I learn about the rest of my family and relatives.  I think we’re all just a little bit of crazy.

Anyway, dinner was great.  I helped clean up a bit while Lyle & Papa brought Grandpa & Mary back home.  Patty & Heath and I visited for a while and my Mom went to bed slightly snockered.  Overall, it was quite a day; exhausting but fabulous.

014 Oregon!

October 8 2008 – Wednesday

Spokane, WA to Redmond, OR

This morning, everyone got up early and met at Don & Barb’s for photo-taking.  Unfortunately, Chad got there just a couple of minutes too late and Don had to leave for work.  We managed, however, to take some fun photos of the whole bunch of us without Don but including my cousin Joe who flew in the previous night at about 11pm.  Joe has been training in the army and will soon be going over seas.  It was great to have the opportunity to see him even though it was for a very short time.  After taking some photos (which I still need to get from someone!), the kids left for breakfast together.  I like local places when I’m in new towns, so they took me to a place called Hogans.  The décor of Hogans was absolutely fabulous; I thoroughly enjoyed the food, atmosphere and the company of my cousins one last time before I took off.

Finally, I was on my way again driving to Oregon.  My brother was flying in the same evening so I wanted to get there as well.  It was a decent drive, but it seemed to take forever somehow!  I’ve come to decide that I believe I really care more for the coastal, lush side of Oregon than I do the other part of the state.  It’s gorgeous everywhere of course, but a lot of the east & central parts are actually high desert; very dry and not very much color.  On the drive to Redmond, a large part of the trip (it seemed, at least) was going through the Columbia River Gorge which was really quite interesting.  If you’re into wind surfing or kite surfing, I guess that’s the place to be; there were tons of people out on the water.  The wind in the gorge never lets up, supposedly, and it’s intense.  Even though I only watched from a distance, it was incredible seeing the people fly through the air, a number of feet above the water, zipping from side to side they had to be going at least 30 mph.  I bet in cases it’s even faster, maybe I should look it up.  I’m not very good at judging things like that myself.

Other interesting places along the drive down were somewhat unremarkable but quite entertaining to me.  At one point, I saw one of most frightening looking runaway truck ramps I’ve ever seen.  Driving up to it, it really looked like a truck driver who had to use it would run straight into the mountain, not go up the hill.  Crazy, I wouldn’t want to have to use that.  Another place seemed to be in the middle of nowhere alongside the road.  Of course I had to stop to find out what it was all about.  It turned out, it was a mountain identifier and it pointed to all the mountains in the area, explaining which each one was.  I quite enjoyed that!  Just before arriving in Redmond, I stopped at the Crooked River area where there were a couple of great bridges and a gorgeous 300 ft. gorge with a river at the bottom.  Those walls went straight down; anyone afraid of heights should beware.  Apparently, dogs should as well; according to the signs in the area, many die there.  I spent a bit of time there, stretching my legs and taking photos before calling my Uncle Lyle to let him know I was close to the ranch.  

After about 8 hours in the car, I was ready to enter Redmond; my Uncle Lyle and Papa drove to meet me; when I passed them on the road, they pulled out and had me follow them back to the ranch; there’s no way I would have found it without them, even with my GPS.  Many roads in the area are under construction right now, being moved, changed and created.  I was road weary when I pulled in and didn’t fully absorb what I was driving into, but gradually the weariness wore off and I noticed more and more what an incredible place they have.  Their ranch house is beautiful with a waterfall/pond area right outside one of the floor to ceiling windowed walls, mountain tops and ranch area outside another.  We weren’t sleeping in the ranch house, however; we were staying in the guest house in the barn.  The guest house is a two story lofted 3 bedroom, kitchen & bath apartment/house that’s gorgeous.  The view of the mountain tops from here is even better, in my opinion, than from the house.  My Uncle Lyle & Aunt Patty love having people here to use it, too.  I grabbed the second bedroom upstairs down the hallway from my parents who decided they’re staying for a little while longer, and my brother will have the downstairs bedroom off the kitchen.

When I walk outside, I am greeted by Llamas, Alpacas, a horse, something like 10 mini horses, doves, chickens, dogs, cats, chickens & new baby kittens…  There's a bird in the house named Kiwi.  I’ll have to find out if there’s another name for the mini horses.  It’s quite enjoyable exploring the ranch and seeing what they have here.  The view alone is incredible and I don’t get tired of seeing the mountains in the distance.

Anyway, it was an exhausting day and I couldn’t stay awake to pick up Heath from the airport, I was just too tired so I called it a night.  My time here will be pleasurable, of that I’m sure!

013 Mushroom Hiking

October 7 2008 – Tuesday (2 Weeks)

Spokane, WA

Yesterday was a spectacular day, getting a taste of the outskirt mountain areas around Spokane.  The word got out that I have wanted to go hiking recently, and everyone knows by now, that I love biking around.  Chad apparently goes hiking quite often and knows a few routes with different levels of difficulty.  I’m not a regular hiker by any means (which most of you know) but I’m not in horrible shape since I dance.  Out of the three options of Difficult, Medium & Easy that Chad provided, we ended up hiking the medium trail.  I was a bit anxious when we got there and found out that the trail was 7.2 miles long and would take us about 4 hours, but I took it in stride and decided that it would be just fine.  It was definitely challenging and completely beautiful.  Besides Chad & I, Chris, Ivan (I’m not sure how to spell that), and Micah came with us!  The trail, around the Liberty Creek Watershed area, was quite difficult in parts, quite humorous in others, and relaxing in a few.  To understand fully, you’ll just have to see the photos that I have posted.  The trail twisted, turned and mostly disappeared, climbed around roots and fallen trees, started at about 2200 elevation and at the top (I have provided a photo for proof) we had climbed to about 3800 elevation.  Impressive!  You may wonder why I said that some of the trail was humorous, so I should probably explain.  Along the way, there were helpful signs showing us where we were, warning us about washouts & telling us about cedar groves, but there were also some signs that read, “More Hiking,” “Waterfall,” and “Scenic Trail.”  I had a good laugh at those but also appreciated their simplicity.  Nobody had to name the waterfall a complicated name claiming it as their own or attempting to describe it, all they needed was to tell people that it was, in fact, a waterfall.  Fabulous.  

As many of my friends and family know, I like mushrooms.  In school, I had many projects based on mushrooms and it became a bit of a theme during my time there.  It just so happens that it’s fall mushroom season right now and they were everywhere along that trail!  One of the first that we spotted was, in fact, the mushroom that I based many of my projects around.  It was nice to see it live in the forest.  Once my fellow hikers found out about my passion for mushrooms, everyone was helping to find more for photos.  When we made it to the end of the trail, I had sure built up an appetite.  A bit amazed that I had made it the whole way and kept a fairly good pace, I felt great about the hike.  Originally, we had wanted to go hiking and then biking in the evening; Chad has a scooter and Chris has a motorcycle.  The weather, however, was very cloudy, partially rainy & somewhat unpleasant during the day so we nixed the biking that evening.

Instead, we made plans to have everyone back for dinner again at Don & Barb’s but first I was able to see where both Chris & Chad lived.  They both have great homes and I’m happy to see that they seem to be quite happy in their lives.  Dinner was nice, especially since I was energized from the day instead of dead tired from driving like the day before.  After making plans for breakfast & group photos the next day before I took off, everyone left and I had a chance to visit with just my Aunt & Uncle again.  Rarely do I have the chance to verify any stories that my mom has told me through the years, so I jumped at it and listened, entertained, as Don told me his versions of many stories from growing up.

One of my favorite stories is the one about how my Grandpa bought their house in Pelican Rapids.  My mom has told me this story numerous times and I asked for Don’s version as well.  Long story short, my Grandpa walked up to the guy who then owned the house and asked him if he would sell it.  The guy said yes.  We now have the greatest location in the town and I never want to let it go.  In that house, the downstairs bedroom has stars covering most of its ceiling.  Usually, the reason for this would simply be that kids like putting stars on the ceiling of their rooms…  This time, it’s because my Uncle Don shot his bee bee gun at the ceiling and created holes everywhere.  My Grandma Esther used gold stars to cover the holes.  I like the effect!

Overall, it was a wonderful day; even though I’ll probably be in pain from the hike in a couple of days, it was definitely worth it, for the beauty and the chance to spend time with my cousins.

012 The Triplets

October 5 2008 – Sunday

Traveling from Glacier to Spokane, WA

I had a nice morning today while I cleaned up my Yurt, took a shower and then started driving again.  There were still clouds in the sky and a bit of rain falling here and there but it was actually kinda pretty.  I drove through Kalispell again and decided to stop for lunch before continuing on, and to plan my route.  There was a place called Montana Wheat that looked like it had character and a sign that said Wi-Fi which is always nice.  While having a fabulous bowl of potato & bacon soup and a mango smoothie, I caught up on some more emails and stuff, and figured out what route I was going to take to Spokane.

Once I was finished with lunch, I headed out and took hwy 2 through Bonner’s Ferry and then went down to Coeur d’Alene which is on the border of Idaho/Washington.  I have heard that the Coeur d’Alene area is gorgeous and I was looking forward to seeing it, but I guess I drove into the wrong side since I drove into the west.  It’s the east that’s really pretty; I guess I’ll have to go back sometime.

I’m not sure exactly where I was when I transitioned into in Pacific time, but I finally entered into it, earning another hour in my day.  When I finally drove into Spokane, I was greeted by a houseful; I guess I should say yardful, of relatives.  Every Sunday, my Aunt & Uncle in Spokane get together with their three sons & their families (two of them are married, one has a son and one has a girlfriend).  I made it just in time to join them all for dinner and it was really nice to see everyone.  A couple of friends of the family came over as well, but my youngest cousin Joe wasn’t in town due to army training somewhere else.  

Now for a story.  Almost 30 years ago, my grandma made headlines for becoming a grandmother 3 times in one day.  My aunt & uncle were in Spain at the time and they had twins who were named Chris & Chad.  My mom gave birth to me a few hours later, she called me Sherrise (obviously…).  Chris & Chad & I call ourselves the triplets.  

The last time we saw each other was about 10 years ago and we didn’t take any pictures of us together at that time.  Before that it had been about another 10-15 years since we had been together, when we were about 5.  We did have photos of us, then.  Anyway, this time we made sure that we had a couple of photos of us taken, since we are the triplets and all.

Well, that night we had dinner with everyone and then gradually everyone called it a night.  I was almost useless since I was so exhausted; the drive was beautiful but tiring!  Well, everyone else left since Chris & Chad worked nights at the nearby prison and it was late.  I stayed up and visited with my Uncle Don & Aunt Barb and talked mainly about guns…  Yes, I said guns.  Uncle Don likes guns and knows quite a bit about them.  I’m not a huge supporter of guns at this point, but I do also understand how sometimes they’re not such a bad thing.  So, he showed me around some of his guns, explaining what the differences were, etc.

A nice bedtime story…  Then, finally, I went to bed and spent a few minutes updating my blog a bit for the benefit of all of you!