Home ·· News Room ·· Prints ·· Licensing ·· Gallery ·· About Us ·· Contact Us ·· Articles ·· Services Fall Road Trip, September 26 to October 11, 2007 Updated November 6, 2007 Page 5 of 5 Previous page
	Road trip continued... Once I got the group laughing, I began learning about these island folks. They shared that the planned yacht race had been cancelled due to the arriving weather, likely 60 mile per hour winds blasting across the harbor. That crushed my chances of bumming a ride on a sailboat. But, as I learned, there's plenty else to see on the island. I took leave of the cracking jokes and headed off across the island. Deer Cove, West Sound and their connecting roads are all very country looking. Thick sheets of rain driven by blasting winds buffeted my truck, precluding much foot exploration. Once I hit East Sound, the weather subsided a bit and made it possible to get out and look around. Lunch at Vern's was expensive at $20 for a Dagwood sandwich and a hot toddy. The view over East Sound made up for the cost, though. The town was small enough to park and walk everywhere. That is, if you are not a hydrophobic San Diegan. The drive up Mt. Constitution was slow and winding, meandering through the Northwest rain forest. It allowed for the chance to slow down and really see things. The whole mountain was covered in a delicate jade green moss. With gray skies abounding, the cool blue light did not do justice to the possible vibrancy in my mind's eye. The tower on top of the peak has a commanding view of a hundred miles around the bi-national area. That is, if I could see farther than a few feet. But, the winds and clouds pummeling the mountain added to the drama of the experience. On the way down, the storm finally broke and gave me the great views that I had been teased with in the visitor brochures. Some stills and time lapse video later, I tore off to the southeast arm of Orcas Island for the subtly beautiful sunset. Back in East Sound, the Lower Tavern served up a decent dinner. The place was slow, but it was Sunday. The tavern was big enough to have a riotous party and could likely hold all the people on the island with room to spare. Done by 9pm and not wanting to sleep in my truck again, I rolled the dice and booked a room at the Outlook Inn. Though the Euro-style shared bathroom rooms were tempting for the low price, I upgraded to a regular room for $129. Wow, that was one of the nicest places I've stayed at in a long time. There was a wash basin in the room, a bay window with sitting area, well built amenities and a capable heater. Monday, October 8, 2007 Today was clear skies with a large storm expected to roll in tonight. I took advantage of the clearing and enjoyed the gorgeous landscape. A pastry breakfast at Orcas Hotel and a wander around the town of Orcas filled out my morning waiting for the ferry. My idea agent will be well paid for this little gem. It was fun to ride the ferry back to Anacortes and be able to see the surroundings, feeling the biting wind. I met Tim and Kathy Pratt, an entertaining couple who kept me company, sharing stories about living in the San Juan Islands area. After spending an hour with them, I concluded that life and the speed of things is very different here than back home. I debated returning to Idaho or heading south, but at the must-make-a-decision point in Seattle at the I-94 and I-5 interchange, the south bound route ended up being the way to go. Oregon I arrived at my good friends' Ray and Esther's place in Portland at 5pm. They treated me to a generous dinner at Sayler's Steak Restaurant and we chatted the night away. Really, I made fun of my parents doing this and here I am. Nothing like eating tasty crow. Tuesday, October 9, 2007 Ray left for work very early and Esther fixed up a big batch of biscuits and gravy sized for a lumber jack. Being an engineer desk jockey, it was tough to put the whole meal down but I did my even best. Looking for ideas of things to hit in Oregon, my international idea agent came through with a text message suggesting visiting wineries. With Esther's help, we found a couple of promising options in southern Oregon. Driving down Oregon was an uneventful experience. After passing a couple of wineries, I settled on visiting the Willamette Valley Wineries. A general tasting beyond the normal few glasses was served up while I swapped travel stories with whoever would fill my wine glass. Afterward, I wandered around the vineyard and made a few images in the Strobist.com style. These shots were the best I've come up with yet in a vineyard. It was satisfying to start hitting the mark in something that has vexed me for some time. After missing the exit to the winery suggested restaurant in Ashford, I ended up at Denny's on a random exit along Interstate 5. Down in Medford, I found a Super 8 motel with an 80 foot water slide to play on for the evening. It was fun. However, splashing around in a cold pool with kids running around all night earned me a very sore throat in the morning. Wednesday, October 10, 2007 This sore throat is the second time on this trip that I've had to deal with sniffles. I must be stressed about starting the new job on Monday. I've had plenty of sleep and haven't run things too hard since the backpack, so that was the only conclusion. The continental breakfast of pastries, juice and fruit at the motel was perfect. I miss sitting in a little bookstore café in Paris and Krakow. Sitting in a motel lobby just doesn't have the same feeling. Rain began coming down outside, just as it was time to depart. California Driving through the Siskiyou mountains was scenic, with patchy fog and dramatic rain showers along the way. I stopped in Yreka for a man breakfast at Black Bear Diner, one of the best restaurant chains in the American West. A quick text message to Google gave me the phone and address, making finding Black Bear a snap. A stop at Lake Shasta found me in an annoying internal all too adult debate. It was 11am and taking the tour of Shasta Caverns would put me at home well past my stupidly arbitrary return time of 10pm. Why in the world I got that time stuck in my head is impossible to pinpoint. Growing up, I remember questioning adults where these times came from and never received an acceptable explanation. Now, being an adult and just going through it, I realize that these times are arbitrarily made up and there really was no reason, especially as I did not have to be up for anything in the morning. I hated myself for falling into that stupid thinking I despised all those years ago. Finishing my introspective analysis, I retooled my personality while sitting in my truck for the moment, arguing out loud with myself and then, satisfied, went and bought a ticket to see the caverns. Really, when was I going to be back here to "see it later." There is no later. A cat that had eaten the canary smile passed over my face as I purchased the ticket. Even if the tour turned out poorly, the pure satisfaction of resisting that idiotic impulse was well worth every moment of the experience. Shasta Caverns was well worth stopping at. I could taste the enjoyment of the experience. Unfortunately, my Achilles and sinuses still bothered me. Still, I couldn't get the stupid smug smile off my face. I didn't want to. The next 11 hours slipped by quickly, my mind absorbed with audio books and listening to Willie Nelson belt out "On the Road Again" in my mind. The funny jittery feeling came rushing to me as I finally rolled home, making me feel as though I had been away from the house far longer than I actually had. Driving to those far away destinations is just different than flying. I arrived home at 12:45am on October 11, 2007, after 2 weeks, 2 days, 3,845 miles and two wonderful visits enriched by understanding and tolerant family members. Thursday, October 11, 2007 Epilogue It felt strange to drive to places I normally fly to. It tacitly felt as though I'd literally just swung by Jackson and just drove across the bridge from Washington to visit Grandpa in Lewiston. It was as though I had not gone on a trek, and yet I had. This was different. Perhaps my travel soul had no problem keeping up with a truck compared to a jet? I'm not sure, but such a short trip never felt to wonderfully long. If you found this information helpful, please make a donation to keep this information available: Previous page
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