Bend/Crater Lake/Ashland, OR

On sunday I drove from Eugene to Bend. The drive took took me from the lush, green Willamette Valley to the arid high desert of Central Oregon. The Deschutes River gave me the chance to try something I'd seen in a few places on my trip, stand-up paddleboarding. This sport which has been gaining in popularity requires you to stand on a board, similar to a surfboard, and padde in an upright position. It took me about 30 minutes and some advice from a few local paddlers on the river to get the hang of it. Paddleboarding was a lot of fun and something I'll do again in the future. After paddleboarding I did some hiking around Tumalo Falls.


Sunday night I headed to a neighboring town called Sisters to camp in their Municipal Park. I found a good spot at the campsite and started to unload the camping gear when I small problem came up. My tent was missing. I'm not sure if it was lost or stolen but it wasn't there so I didn't have a tent to sleep in. Since I already had a good spot at the campground picked out and it was late at night my solution was simple, sleep in the car. This turned out to be more comfortable than expected and I manged to get a decent night of sleep.
The next night I was in luck as I had a friend of a friend lined up to spend the night with. I stayed with Tannus & Heather Quatre and their 3 kids. Tannus and I did a 2 1/2 hour hike up Mt. Tumalo. The view of the buttes, forests, and surrounding mountains was spectacular. After car camping the night before I was especially grateful for a home cooked meal, warm shower, comfortable bed, and generous hospitality.


Heading south from Bend I stopped at Crater Lake National Park. I squeezed in a hike up to the top of Garfield Peak for a great view of the lake. Crater Lake was a wonder to see with its almost indescribable shade of blue water.



From Crater Lake I headed down to Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I stayed at the Ashland Hostel which was conveniently within walking distance of the festival, Lithia Park, the Ashland Co-Op, and everything else in downtown Ashland. Wednesday afternoon I biked the Bear Creek Greenway up to Medford and back. In the evening I checked out a free concert given by the Portland Cello Project and saw an exciting presentation of Macbeth in the Angus Bowmer Theater.

Eugene, OR & Oregon Dunes

Eugene was a lot like Portland only much smaller and more emphasis on the local school, the University of Oregon. T-shirts, hats, and flags could be seen everywhere supporting the Oregon Ducks. I stayed at the Whiteaker Hostel which is located in a artsy neighborhood about 10 minutes from campus. Similar to other places I've visisted I took to my bike to explore the city and surrounding areas. Once again bike lanes and bike paths made getting around very easy especially along the scenic McKenzie River and U of O. Here's a hidden urban garden I found on the U of O campus.


Something I've wanted to do on the trip but hadn't gotten around to was to see a minor league baseball game. Eugene presented the perfect opportunity to see a game for the low price of $5.50, cheaper than a movie. I saw the hometown Emeralds take on the Vancouver Canadians and score a 4-2 victory in front of 2,900 fans. Eugene plays their home games in Civic Stadium which was built in 1938. Seeing a game in an old-time ballpark added to the experience for me.


Friday afternoon I took a trip to the Pacific Coast to check out the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. This area stretches about 40 miles along the Pacific Coast south from the town of Florence. I took a hike through Carter Dunes that took me to a path leading right to the beach along the Pacific Ocean. I got lucky and had a beautiful sunny day to walk the beach, breathe the fresh ocean air, and enjoy a bit of solitude.




The big weekly event in town is the Eugene Saturday Market. This is more than just fresh produce from local farms, it's local crafts, food & drink vendors, and live music. I met my friend Dion who I met while staying at the Port Angeles hostel at the market for lunch and travel disucssion. We enjoyed a good conversation, excellent lunch, and some live music which included several kid rock bands. These kids had gone to summer rock camp and were now performing the top songs they learned while at camp. The crowd got bigger when the kids started playing and for good reason.


On the way back from the market I passed a building wall with a good message to remember courtesy of Bob Marley and the artist who painted this.

Portland, OR

After several cool days in the 60's in Port Angels and the San Juan Islands I was looking forward to getting back to summertime temperatures in the 70's and 80's. Portland provided sunshine, a vibrant city with distinct neighborhoods, and great opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. I got a spot in the centrally located Northwest Hostel. My first day there I took in the Portland State University saturday farmer's market. It was the biggest farmers market I'd seen yet filled with tons of local produce. The area specializes in various berries so I bought a bunch to eat during my stay in Portland. From there I walked 45 minutes to Washington Park. Washington Park is huge with many attractions the most famous of which is their Internationally acclaimed
Rose Test Garden. It was not only impressive because of it's size but also the variety of colors and types of roses it had.


Sunday was a day I'd been working towards for several weeks. The main event for sunday was the Portland Century Bike Ride. I'd completed a few 100-mile rides before but this one posed something a little different than what I've experienced in the past, climbing. This ride had plenty of rollings hills and a couple of 700 ft. climbs which made the food/rest stops even more enjoyable than usual.


The course took us from Portland out into the country and then along the scenic Columbia River Gorge. The last leg brought us back through the city for an energized final 10 miles. Here I am on the Broadway Bridge with less than 5 miles left. It was a great ride and a really enjoyable way to see the area.


While in Portland I got together with a friend of a friend, Chris Rennie, who's spent the last 14 years in Oregon after growing up in Michigan. We hit an art/music festival in one of Portland Northeast neighborhoods on saturday afternoon and then I joined Chris and his wife Jen for an enjoyable dinner on their balcony one night during the week.


On tuesday afternoon I drove out to Multnomah Falls, about 40 minutes east of Portland. The Falls, Columbia River Gorge, and surrounding area provided one of the most scenic hikes I'd taken on the entire trip. I did the Multnomah-Wahkeena Loop which had about 10 different waterfalls along the way. Some of the Falls were tucked back between mountain sides providing about a 15 degree temperature drop. On a hot day like tuesday it provided a few short "air conditioning" breaks.




I found Portland to be a vegetarian's heaven. The city had great farmers markets, several grocery co-ops, and a couple dozen vegetarian restaurants. I didn't have time to try them all but I really enjoyed Bye and Bye, Blossoming Lotus, Black & Red Cafe, and Papa G's Vegan Organic Deli. While the only time I rode a bike in Portland was the century ride I do have to say Portland is a super bike friendly city. Wide, well-marked bike lanes can be found everywhere and I ran into several people who do not own a car and use their bike as their primary means of transportation. All in all Portland was a great stop with friendly people, great food, beautiful scenery, abundant sunshine, and lots things to do outdoors.

Olympic National Park

Before leaving the Seattle area I visited Safeco Field for the first time. It's always a treat visiting a new ballpark and Safeco didn't dissapoint even though it was a closed roof game due to some rain. I attended the game with 3 longtime Mariner fans and one new one including my Aunt Glo, Uncle Frank, cousin Adam, and his daughter Sophie. The Mariners defeated the White Sox 6-4 in a game that featured a couple of Home Runs from the home team.


The next day I left Seattle and headed for Port Angeles, WA which put me in close proximity to some of the prime areas of Olympic National Park. I stayed in the Thor Town International Hostel, a work in progress hostel with a lot of friendly travelers, several of which were from Europe. I was able to check out a few sections on the north side of the park including Hurricane Ridge, Elwha, and Storm King. Hurricane Ride was a bit foggy but that just added to the mysteriousness of the mountains.


A short hike through a rain forest brought me to Marymere Falls.


A longer 2.5 mile hike through more rain forests and I found the natural hot springs pools. There were 7 different pools all with warm water approximately 100 degrees. Laying in the pool was pretty similar to a regular hot tub temperature wise but the thick forest and surrounding scenery really made it a unique experience.

San Juan Islands, WA

On tuesday night I took a Washington State Ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, the largest town among the San Juan Islands. Driving a car onto a ferry and enjoying the sights while we traveled to the Islands was a new and exciting experience in itself. Upon arrival, I headed to the 5-acre farm of Ken and Deb Davis, a few miles from downtown Friday Harbor for another couchsurfing stop. Within minutes of my arrival I was drinking one of Ken's delicious home brewed beers made with sourdough hops and learning all the ins and outs of his farm and the islands. Ken & Deb had a couple of friendly WWOOFers staying on the farm for the summer, Jeff and Andrea. The farm featured goats, chickens, tomatoes, beans, apples, plums, strawberries, golden raspberries, and wild blackberries.


On wednesday afternoon I explored the main island by biking all over. Amongst the rolling hills there were plenty of interesting things to see including deer, cows, alpacas, sheep, blue heron, sea otters, farms, harbors, passing ferries, islands in the distance, wildflowers, wild berries, and an assortment of other plant life.



On thursday I planned out another biking excursion, this ride would require a 45-minute ferry ride to Orcas Island. The goal of this ride was to explore a different island, ride to the top of Mt. Constitution, and return to the ferry terminal in time to take the 7:40 back to Friday Harbor. I was successful exploring another island and climbing to the top of the Mountain. It took about an hour and 15 minutes of climbing to cover the 5 miles from the base of the mountain to the top. Needless to say I was spent... but the view from the top was amazing.


I had one remaining goal, to get back to the ferry terminal by 7:40. It wasn't mant to be. I rode back to the ferry terminal but missed the last ferry of the day back to friday harbor by a good 30 mnutes. I headed across the steet to the Orcas Hotel. The owner was out of rooms and placed several calls to other nearby hotels. Nothing available. About the time I started picturing myself sleeping on a dock or park bench a Canadian traveler walked in. Amy was traveling from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Friday Harbor, WA all in one day. She was in the same boat as me having missed the last ferry of the day. "Captain Doug" the owner of the hotel had a solution for both of us. He'd take his on his motor boat back to Friday Harbor. All we had to do was meet him down at the dock and he'd take care of the rest enjoying an evening ride for himself in the process.


Friday I did a short mountain bike ride with Andrea, said goodbye to my friends on the farm, and then took the car on the ferry back to Orcas Island. I headed to Doe Bay Resort to spend a night at their hostel and enjoy their hot tubs overlooking the water. I had the 8-person hostel building all to myself for a quiet night of sleep. Saturday I arranged for boat transportation to Sucia Island State Park for kayaking, hiking, and a night of camping. I took the kayak from Fox Cove were I camped up to Shallow Bay. This path along the shore gave me great views of the incredible sandstone rock formations that are found on many parts of the island. I also did a couple of short hikes and kayaked the other direction to Ewing Cove. On this route I saw 30-35 sea otters. Some popped their heads up in the water while others layed on rocks. The San Juans Islands were a beautiful place to visit and offered lots of opportunities for outdoor adventure. the third picture below is a small rock island covered with sea otters. The fourth picture is Fossil Bay where I camped.

Seattle, WA

Following the Mt. Rainer stop I headed to Allyn, WA to meet up with several realtives I hadn't seen in many years and some I hand't even met yet. We spent a couple of days resting and relaxing at my aunt & uncle's beach house. It was great catching up and enjoying some rest and relaxation on the North Bay of Puget Sound. Here are my Aunt Gloria and Uncle Frank.


Here's my cousin Jane and her two daughters Kylee and Ellie. Ellie showed a great curiosity to see pictures of family memebers she's never met. I showed her as many family pictures as i could find on my laptop and then we turned to facebook for a few more. I also got to meet Jane's husband Mark who I'll hopefully see again next week for a Mariners-White sox game.


After a couple days in Allyn I headed to Issaquah to spend a few more days with my cousin Adam, his wife Sara, and kids Brady and Sophie. The highlights included several sessions of playing cars & trucks with Brady and a hike with Adam and Sophie to Snoqualmie Falls.



On monday I carpooled with Adam into Seattle to "the office". On monday my office was the 10th floor of the Seattle Public Library, a uniquely designed state of the art facility. I met Adam for lunch at Cyber-Dogs and walked through Pike Place Market after work. After much time spent at campgrounds and out in the wilderness it was great to feel that big city vibe again.