Like this:

[Okay, I'm going to try and start posting some of the stuff I've been writing these past few weeks.  For the moment, though, they'll just be text posts, since I don't have time to edit pictures; hopefully I'll be going back and illustrating the posts with pictures down the line...]

Tonight is my first night since leaving Portland and, although I’ve been doing a lot since Lava Beds, I’ve written very little.  I’m starting to wonder if that might not end up being a theme of the trip: I’ll end up doing so much that I won’t end up writing or posting all that much.  How do travel writers actually do it?

I think there’s two answers to that question, actually: 1) they stay up late and get it done and 2) they have hotel rooms, and so don’t have to spend a couple hours setting up camp and making dinner.  This may explain why travel articles are about cruises and hotels and more expensive stuff than living on the road out of a tent: there’s just more time when home for the night is already built and dinner is cooked by someone else.

I’m just ‘sayin.

I left Lava Beds and my caving adventure behind and drove up Highway 97 to Bend, the first highway I think I’ve ever been on that actually manages to be less scenic than the interstate: surrounded by logged forest on both sides, all the trees were of equal height, and nothing could be seen over them.  Better than driving through the city, to be sure, but after a while I yearned to see something else, be it a view of the Cascades to the west or the high desert to the east…

I camped near Bend, managing to find a Forest Service Campground after becoming both lost and frustrated in the city, caught up in a nightmare of traffic circles and road construction.  I’ve heard good things about Bend, and its attraction to outdoorsy-types, but it kind of reminded me of being like Lone Pine in the Eastern Sierras, only on a much larger scale.  Maybe I just didn’t give the town enough time and a fair shake, I don’t know.

Bend was merely a stop-over to the first highlight of the trip so far: getting to spend a few days in Portland and exploring around with long-time online friend SkyBlueStateOfMind (whom I shall forever refer to as “K”).

Before going into the fun things we did, I just have to point out that she is an absolutely awesome woman: smart, funny, and with a healthy sense of adventure.  Added bonus: she’s a lot better at making decisions on where to eat with I am.

She’s awful darn cute, too. 

After spending most of the first day at the hotel (online bills have to paid, after all) we met up in the evening, touring the Japanese Garden and walking around Washington Park, then heading to the Deschutes Brewery for some good beer and amazing fish & chips before a final, quick stop at Powell’s Books.  The weather was great, even though I’m told that “summer” only arrived in the PNW a couple of weeks ago.

Good beer, books, fine food, and good summer weather?  It’s amazing I didn’t stop and buy a house right then.

The next day we decided to hit the trail, heading up to Mt. Hood and hiking the Elk Meadow Loop Trail.  This was one of those perfect summer trails: walking through dense woods, open pockets with wildflowers, crossing frigid creeks, before finally arriving in a wide open meadow with views of snow-mantled Mt. Hood overhead.  After the hike, K kindly indulged me with a visit to the Timberline Lodge (I have something of a soft spot for the old railroad-era hotels in parks of the west, amongst my many interests), before capping off the evening with BBQ pizza and beer at the Ice Axe Grill in Government Camp.

For the last day, we elected to go a little more laid-back, heading up the Columbia River Gorge.  I was pretty happy about this, given that my course from here is taking me northward, rather than east, and I’ve always wanted to see the gorge.

Answering the clarion call of the tourist, we stopped at Multnomah Falls.  It’s undeniably a tourist stop, with a restaurant, a big gift shop, and a parking lot full of cars.  Still, the beauty of the falls is pretty undeniable.  In an effort to get away from the crowds, we headed up the steep, switchbacky 1-mile trail to the top, where a small platform overlooks the brink of the falls.  It was a little more of a workout than K and I expected, but felt good nonetheless.

K and I lunched in Hood River, then drove back into the city to see “Cowboys and Aliens” (enjoyable fun).  And while that may seem like the briefest description of a day ever written, what it doesn’t cover is the wonderful conversations we had throughout the day.

Last night we said our good-byes when she dropped me off at the hotel.  I’m glad that I finally got the opportunity to meet and spend time with K; it’s the first time in a long time that I’ve met with a reader and it’s always a mystery whether or not the friendship online will carry over in real life.  In this case it most certainly did, and hopefully some smart Portland boy will wise up and sweep her off her feet soon.

As for today, it’s mostly involved driving, finding a camping spot, and making a quick hike.  But I think I’ll save that for future writing…

Portland

Visited: August 10-13, 2011

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