Wow!

That is probably the best, single word to describe the past week.  Why wow?  Because we have seen a lot, met a lot of people, done a lot of things and have just been busier than ever.  Let me recap the past week for you.

Friday, June 27th (Day 47) was our last day visiting Anna and Nate in Eugene.  I worked during the day while Shayanne and Anna ran errands.  They ended up coming back to the house while singing happy birthday and carrying my very own ice cream cake, which happens to be my favorite.  Shayanne also bought me the movie, “Hot Rod.”  We first saw the movie while we were staying in Pagosa Springs and we both loved it. It’s so stupid, but it’s a good stupid. :)  So we cut up some ice cream cake and watched the DVD, it was a really nice gesture. Thanks to both Anna and Shay for a nice early birthday moment.

In the afternoon, we headed down towards Medford, Oregon to camp for the night.  We wanted to cut our drive down to Redwood in half and the KOA at Medford did just that.  It was a warm day. It was in the high-90’s, but by time the sun it went down it was quite comfortable.  We made hot dogs by the fire and just had a relaxing night around the campfire.

Saturday, June 28th (Day 48) was my 25th birthday.  Quarter of a century already, wow.  Makes me sound old.  We started the day off by driving from Medford down to the Redwood National Park.  We drove through it while in awe of the most amazing trees we’ve ever seen.  We stayed down Hwy 101 and eventually hit the northern coast of California.  It was hazy and a bit cold, but still very cool to see.  Neither of us have ever seen the Pacific ocean from the continental U.S. I saw it when I was in Hawaii, but the Pacific Ocean there is MUCH different than the Pacific Ocean you see in Northern California.

We continued down Hwy 101 until we got south of Eureka and then checked out the Avenue of the Giants.  It’s a road that stays close to Hwy 101 but runs through a bunch of small towns and LOTS of redwoods.  We stopped at a few places to marvel at the beauty of nature and take in some of the attractions in these towns.  We saw the Eternal Tree, which is basically just a hollowed out Redwood that they built a little tree fort of it. It was neat to see.  After that we continued southward and eventually hit Myers Flat, California.  Myers Flat has a redwood you can drive through, so we decided to check that out.  It was pretty cool and to be honest I was worried that I’d fit the width clearance because of our bikes.  We made it through, but by no more than a few inches. No lie there.  We also checked out a lot of the wood carvings they had at Myers Flat. Just a very cool place to see. I’d definately recommend stopping in.

After Myers Flat, we headed down Hwy 101 and then turned off on to Hwy 1 to ride down the California coastline a bit.  Very beautiful, despite it being hazy and cold.  We stopped in Fort Bragg to grab a birthday dinner.  First thing I noticed was the prices in the menu.  A regular hamburger was $13.00. Incredible, California is SO expensive!  We then headed east on Hwy 20 towards Ukiah.  Once we hit Ukiah, we found a hotel to rest our heads and decided to go to Applebees for a free birthday drinks. We had fun and it was good to share my birthday with such a good friend.  It was tough though that I couldn’t share my birthday with ALL of my family and friends, but I got plenty of phone calls, emails and text messages that made it easier to bear.

Sunday, June 29th (Day 49), we headed for Truckee. Originally we wanted to see the Napa area and try the wineries, but we decided to skip that and head to Truckee because of all the wildfires that are going on in California.   The wildfires also presented a problem with travel. Many major routes were closed because of the fires. We had to call and ask around for the best possible routes to get towards Truckee.  We had two problems: wildfires and road closures.  We figured Hwy 20 all the way from the coast to Truckee would be our best bet, so we took it.  It was a very nice drive actually, it was smoky out (in fact, it still is) but you couldn’t smell it. We hit Truckee late in the afternoon and just hung around until my friend Lucas got home.  Lucas Meyer is an old friend from high school and he was kind enough to bring us into his home for the week.

Monday, June 30th (Day 50) I spent the day working. I’ve been working all week and have been SUPER busy doing it.  I’m working as much as I can this work so that I have a good chunk of time I can take off next week to travel back home.  We spent the evening hours sipping beers with one another and catching up.  It’s been great to see old friends on this trip and just catch up. It’s always interesting to see what people have been doing with themselves since high school.

Tuesday, July 1st (Day 51) was another pretty laid back day.  I worked all day while Shay did some odds-and-ends things like go for a mini-hike with Lucas’ dog. After work we headed south to Lake Tahoe and checked that out.  That was very neat to see.  Emerald Bay was breathtaking and we made it as far as South Lake Tahoe and decided to grab a bite there.

Yesterday (Day 52) was more of an active day.  Again, Shay would go out for a walk with the dog while I worked, but we went out for the evening. We first headed to Donner Lake and hiked a bit.  We eventually hit a boulder where most of our party went to climb it while the rest of us drank beers and watched.  I decided to scale the easy side of the rock. Really, that was nothing special. I’ve climbed harder things on this trip. :)  After our bouldering session, we jumped into Donner Lake to cool off.  That was super cold and I didn’t last long.  Once we were done with the lake, we headed into town to BBQ and check out Truckee’s Wednesday Night Music in the Park.  It was pretty cool and just nice to be outside and get fresh air with everyone.

Today (Day  53), it’s been the same-old, same-old story.  I worked all day.  Shayanne went for a hike along the river and floated down the river with one of Lucas’ roommates, Bob.  They’re still gone, but I’m not sure what we’re going to do when they get back.  The thought of going to Reno has come up, but I’m not sure.  I really would like to be able to afford the trip back home.

I have pictures posted of Eugene, Medford, Redwood National Park and Ukiah up on the site.  We will post pictures of Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake and Truckee shortly!  Again, sorry for the long overdue update. We have just been SO busy!!!  Hard to believe, we’re only a week away from being back home.  Where has the time gone?

Day 47 Pictures
Day 48 Pictures

After all the hard work I have been putting in, yesterday I took the day off to relax and be able to go and do something with Shay during the day.  We started by going rollerblading along the Willamette River here in Eugene.  I believe we rollerbladed for probably 4-5 miles.  The scenery was beautiful and we kept running into these world class athletes.  You see, they’re having the US Olympic trials for track and field going on in town.  When going down these trails and you run into other people, there is a distinction between the normal people jogging and the athletes who are in town with Olympic dreams.

Hunger pangs started to set in while rollerblading. Once we got back we Googled chinese restaurants in the area and decided to get out the Fortune Inn.  The reviews were promising but once we pulled into the parking lot and saw the building, I started to have reservations.  By no means was this place the type of restaurant you’d pick off of appearance alone.  So we got in, got a table and glanced over the menu.  All the while, the one waitress who was working the whole room would stop by our table and be very curt with us.  We understood why, the poor lady had 10 tables that she alone had to handle, but still… It’s not fun having rude service.  We ordered our dishes and in a short while they came out and they were just awesome!  It was really good food and certainly not the type of food you’d expect from such a dumpy looking place with rude waitstaff.  We dug in and shared our courses with each other and had quite the filling lunch.

After lunch, we came back to Anna and Nate’s place to just relax. We put in a DVD, updated this website with a new blog and some pictures, and even caught up with some laundry.  Once the evening hours came, the four of us decided to check out a restaurant that’s situation along the Willamette River, called McMenemin’s. Anna was telling us that they’re a bit of a chain restaurant in Oregon.  What they typically do is buy an old building, fix it up and turn it into a restaurant.  I guess they’ve redone old school houses, residential houses, and other things of that nature.  The food was good and the scenery excellent (we got a table outside).

Once dinner was done, we split off into two groups.  Nate and I opted to check out the minor league baseball game while Anna and Shay went to the naked lady party. Yes, the naked lady party.  More about that in just a moment.

Eugene has a single A minor league baseball team in town. They’re called the Eugene Emeralds and they’re a San Diego Padre affiliated baseball team.  Outside of the St. Paul Saints, I never got to see a minor league baseball game before, especially a team who is affiliated with a major league club.  It was an experience because these guys are still pretty rough.  Granted, all of them have to be from ages 18-22 or so, but you got to see them make a lot of mistakes.  There was plenty of highlights too, but one thing that sticks out is the trouble some of them were having with pop flys.  They would make these super awesome catches and they really shouldn’t had to have.  They were fairly routine plays and they misplay them and then have to make up for it by diving or falling backwards.  Still, it was fun.

And then there was the naked lady party.  Let me tell you about this one… First off, it’s EXACTLY what it sounds like.  I’m just kidding, but a guy can wish, right?  So, what happens here is there is a group of woman that gather and they all bring clothes or housewares they no longer want or need.  They, of course, bring a lot of wine to drink as well.  So they’ll spend a few hours going over everyone’s items and trying on clothes and take home the things they really like.  Anna and Nate are in the midst of moving to Omaha and Anna was happy to dump a lot of the things she didn’t want to take with her.  Dumping items off at the naked lady party will always help with a move.

I have posted pictures from Portland and Eugene, so please check those out.

Day 43 Pictures - Portland
Day 44 Pictures - Portland
Day 45 Pictures - Portland
Day 46 Pictures - Eugene

Anya and Rob’s place was fabulous! They are renting a room from an artist named Remedios Rapoport. She is a very talented lady and uses words as a main focus in most of her paintings. Her most recent piece is a mobile with ways to create a better world. She was trying to shorten the width before sending it to Boston (I think that was it’s destination…). I helped her measure things and got to find out a little bit about her life. She’s always been into painting but worked as a sign painter for a number of years before becoming a professional painter.  Check her out for yourself at www.remediosrapoport.com.

Anyhow… Moving on…

Shortly after we arrived at Anya and Rob’s place on Tuesday (Day 44), Rob left for work and Anya took me biking through Portland. (Poor Mike had to be a responsible adult and work all day.) Our first stop was at a restaurant called Vege Thai. AWESOME vegetarian food! We walked down Hawthorne Street and checked out some of the interesting little shops. Then we visited Rob at work. He works at a non-profit computer recycling place called Free Geek. They provide computers for those who can’t afford them and recycle the parts that they don’t need. He’s interning there for the summer as well as fixing up bikes on the side to sell. After that, Anya showed me a park area across the bridge and then Powell’s Book Store which just so happens to be the largest book store in the world! (I love bookstores! ) We spent quite some time there. I didn’t buy any books, but Anya found two that interested her. Around 7p, we met back up with Rob at Free Geek to bike home with him. Some of his co-workers were going to Rock Bottom Brewery (I think that was the name…) for an organic beer and invited us to join. Great beer! Plus, the people were really nice. When the three of us finally got back to the house, it was getting late, so Anya, Rob, Mike, and I watched comedians on YouTube and called it a night. Remedios asked me to help her in her painting room, so I was the last the go to bed.

On Wednesday (Day 45), Rob and Anya made us apple pancakes. Mmmm…. SO GOOD! Then they both went out to work and left us home. Mike worked through the morning and then I chatted with Remedios in her studio. For lunch, I convinced Mike to leave the house and grab lunch at a French restaurant that Remedios recommended. I know he talked about it in his blog, so I won’t say much other than that the food was fantastic. Then, like he said, we walked down Hawthorne Street where Anya had taken me yesterday. There was a bedspread I wanted to check out, but it was a way out of my price range. No matter. Cool little shops.

Mike worked for a bit once when we got back to the house while I read my book in the backyard. It was a nice day and I decided it would be good to get some fresh air. We stopped by Anya’s work before leaving Portland to say goodbye. She works at a plant nursery down the road from where she lives. I love all the plants in Oregon. There is such variety! And it was great to see her, but I was sad to say goodbye. She and Rob are great people and I miss them like crazy.

Eugene has been a lot of fun so far. It’s fun to see Mike catch up with his old friend, Anna. She and Nate have been wonderful to us and we really appreciate it. Dinner was fabulous and then we went to a bar down the road for some music. The music wasn’t playing when we got there, but we drank pear cider, anyway. Neither of us had ever tried it, but it was very good.

Love and miss you all!

Shay

Hey all.  Shay and I are going to break down the past couple of days from our own perspective and our own adventures.  Here is my take on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

I have a pretty easy blog entry, actually.  I really haven’t done much other than work the past couple of days.  I’ve been working hard to keep up with things back in Minnesota so we can enjoy time off here and there without having to worry if things are falling apart in my professional world.  It’s been challenging, but successful.  So in the end, it all works out.

Yesterday, after mucho pleading and prying, Shay finally convinced me to take some time off and check out the Hawthorne and Division Streets of Eastern Portland.  We grabbed some lunch at a french place called Petite Province.  The food was fabulous and the waitstaff, although French, was actually quite friendly.  After lunch, we then went to Hawthorne street because Shay wanted to check out a bedspread she saw the day before when hanging out with Anya and Rob.  We went to check it out and although I can’t say rating bedspreads is a strength of mine, this one was very nice and unique.  You could tell it was hand-sewn and the attention to detail was superior.  But when asking the help how much is was, Shay fell less in love with it.  It was $500 for the spread and the pillow cases. She said she could knock it down to $450, but uh, no way.

Once we were done with walking around town, we headed back to the house and started to pack up and head to Eugene. I must say, the people we stayed with in Portland were super friendly people. Very hospitable and a lot of fun. And it was good to see Shay happy when being around Anya and Rob. You could tell she really missed them and was happy to be around them, if only for a short while.  So, we packed up, visited Anya at her work one last time and then headed down to Eugene to visit my friends.

We’re staying with Anna Warnes and her husband Nate Erickson.  Anna and I graduated high school together and really haven’t been in contact with one another until the past year.  Right before Shay and I headed out on this trip, I contacted Anna (knowing she was living in Oregon) and asked her about places to stay and see and all that good jazz. She was helpful with providing some information and as things turned out, we stayed in contact throughout the trip.  Right before we hit Oregon, she sent me a message on Facebook saying that if we come through Eugene, we should stop in and even crash here we’d like to. After talking with Shay and figuring out where we wanted to be and when, we thought staying in Eugene would make perfect sense and we took Anna and Nate up on their offer.

We got into town last night and spent the entire evening catching up with what we’ve all been doing since high school (which seems so long ago now…).  They made us dinner and bought some local microbrews that we sampled.  It was very delicious, all of it.  So after dinner, we walked to a bar that was nearby just to see what the Eugene atmosphere was like on a Wednesday night.  It wasn’t too crazy, but then again, we didn’t go out too late either.  We had one drink, sat around outside and then left. Nothing too crazy or wild, in fact, that seems to be the running theme when it comes to drinking and going out on the town for this trip.  Which is fine, actually, it makes the trip a lot less expensive.

Today, day 46, we’re gonna play by ear and write a blog about it when the time comes to say something.  We have unposted pictures from Portland still.  I’ll get those up sometime today.  Watch for Shay’s take on the past couple days in an upcoming blog!