California Dreaming

What a tumultuous day in the world and what a peaceful day for me. Once upon a time I would have been incredibly bothered by the largest ever point drop in the Dow Jones. Now I’m just enjoying the drive through the California countryside and noticing how much warmer it is since leaving Oregon. I will admit to tuning into CNBC every now and then, but really only out of curiosity. It is definitely hotter now, over 90* most of the day, compared to highs in the 60’s and 70’s in WA and OR. Tonight I’m camped in the Eureka NF, just outside Georgetown, on my way to the Rubicon Trail. It seems awfully remote to be world-renowned but I guess 4x4 enthusiasts will travel a long way for “fun”. I’ll take the bike up there tomorrow. My Tacoma, although theoretically capable, is far too loaded down with gear to make it through unscathed. For the bike though, it will be less difficult on the machine, more so on me I’m sure.

Hawaii in Oregon

After departing Tacoma for the last time I felt a need to get away further than the usual 30 or 40 miles. A few calls to existing surfing contacts landed me a place to stay in Lake Oswego, OR., a swanky neighborhood just outside Portland. Maya, Harold and their son Lucas provided a family atmosphere for a few days, allowing me the time to regenerate, update my blog and see some of the local sights. Some nice walks and a fun atmosphere were very enjoyable, even if I didn't win the game of monopoly.

Tomorrow, Saturday it is off to California and Mount Shasta.

Detours from Tacoma - Anacortes & Aberdeen

During the great Northwest pilgrimage to Tacoma, there were in fact two detours. The first, from Sept 6 thru 9 north to Anacortes and the San Juan Islands. The second, Sept 22 and 23 west to Aberdeen.

Anacortes for the weekend :

After a late night Friday, what was going to be an early morning drive up the coast ended up being a rather hurried drive up the Interstate after having spent way too much time sleeping on Saturday morning. I was due to meet up with Laura & Chris at their home for dinner. It all turned out fine as I arrived around 7pm and we settled in to preparing a grilled feast. That's also where the comedy began. You see, Laura is originally from France and of course she listens with a French accent (keep that in mind). As I was cutting vegetables for the meal, I turned to her smiling and said, by the way, I have appetizers. Now say that word with a french accent. The "a" in appetizers sounds like an "ha". She looked at me quizzically and said, "you 'ave what?" I repeated and as she looked slightly horrified I realized she thought I said, smiling of course, while cutting her food, "I have hepatitis". After eventually working out the error we spent the rest of the evening laughing about it. She never did let me finish cutting those vegetables....

Sunday morning Laura, Chris and I headed down to the nearby wharf to explore the cause of a very tall mast we could see from the house, reportedly a secret America's Cup entrant being crafted at the local hull builder. After much nosing around, we found a way down to the correct dock and low and behold, the BMWOracle racing yacht was moored right there, with a plethora of support craft and a couple of staff to protect it from prying eyes. They didn't seem too concerned about our presence. I guess the important spies already know the details. It is though a trimaran, which is not currently allowed under the rules, although catamaran's have been used recently. It was truly amazing to see the size and grandeur of it - all carbon fiber. Unfortunately no photo opp was available, although you can see the mast in one of the photos I took from Laura's deck. Sunday afternoon allowed me the time to head off to see local sights including Mt Erie. Although only 1200ft, it is by far the highest point in the area and provides a great view of many of the surrounding islands and the whole town. Anacortes is actually on Fidalgo Island, although doesn't feel that way due to its size. It's well worth the visit.

Monday morning I left the car at Laura's place and loaded up the KTM for the ferry ride to San Juan Island. Luckily I had pre-arranged a couch surfer on the island because it was hard enough to carry clothes for hiking and a sleeping bag on the bike, let alone a sleeping pad or even a tent. The line for the 8.30am ferry was already long when I arrived at 8am but thankfully motorcycles not only pay less, they get preferential treatment in the line - I was directed right to the front. The hour long ride was smooth and pleasant, cruising past a variety of other islands in the San Juan group, some large and inhabited, some very small and designated wilderness. Orcas is the largest of them all with a couple of towns. San Juan has only a single town, Friday Harbor. It happens to be the hub of activity and where the ferry docks. My first task was to find the restaurant where my host worked and say Hi. Geraldina was very friendly and funnily enough that was the only time I saw her. She had to work until late and I left early the next morning. Having received a key to her apartment, I headed off to dump my gear and go exploring. It's a smallish island, about 20 miles long and ten miles wide but has many beautiful sights, some whale watching, an old Revolutionary War encampment and a variety of wilderness areas. You could easily stay a week or more just exploring by road let alone hiking.

Many thanks to Laura, Chris and Laura's daughter Tanissa for hanging out with me in Anacortes, and to Geraldina and Henry on San Juan.

Detour 2 - Aberdeen, WA: What can I say. Another couch surfing bonanza. After a strange day spent mostly without water, I left the Tacoma area about 6pm on a Monday night with a plan to meet up with Steve from Aberdeen in Olympia. The plan was to go out for drinks and then follow him and his friends back home. We hung out in a couple of bars that were all but dead on a Monday, leaving by 10pm after a none too quick song from Steve at karaoke. An hour or so later we were chatting in his cheerily quaint apartment next door to the Aberdeen Catholic Church. A very interesting discussion that went on until about 3am. Luckily the only task for Tuesday was to look around the area so the 11am wake up was fine. A quick trip to a local lookout to see town followed by a drive out to Pacific Beach and Steve's work rounded out a fairly relaxed day. We also visited a very unusual little planned town called Seaside that reminded me of The Truman Show. I should have taken photos but suspect somebody would have jumped out from behind a bush and taken the camera. That people pay high six figures to live in a place like that is interesting. We had a nice dinner with Steve's mother at a local Italian restaurant and then headed home for some movies and chocolate to round out a great day. It was great to meet Steve, Alex and Joe and to experience some of their life in Aberdeen.

The One That Got Away

It feels like I've lived an entire lifetime since my last post. It's been almost a month and it has been so action packed it's hard to cover everything, but as always I will try.

As it turns out, the next morning, Sat Aug 30th, at Mt Adams was beautiful again. I stayed through Sunday morning, riding and hiking and generally exploring the area. I took many photos and enjoyed myself thoroughly. After leaving the area, I headed toward Randle, my decision point for heading up to Seattle or west to Portland. Arriving in early afternoon, it was a hard call but never having been over the pass to Mt Rainier, the decision was made for Seattle. Sunday night was spent in Greenwater, WA - a very small town just on the other side of the Cayuse Pass, a roughly 6000ft pass next to the 14,410ft Mt Rainier. True to its name, it is on the rain-ier side of Washington and provided a great view of fog as the rain set in. Sunday afternoon in Greenwater is very quiet and given the rain I just didn't feel like cooking so found a small bar & grill. Hanging out with locals is always interesting and thankfully WA has a no smoking law for all public establishments. After a burger and a few drinks I headed off to find a place to camp and ended up staying just off the road in a pullout.

Sending off some Couch Surfing requests has become a habit when entering a city area with limited or no camping and after a week in the Mt Adams wilderness some people contact was going to be a plus. Sunday night I sent off 6 or so as Monday was Labor Day and many people wouldn't check their email. I got a few responses and decided to contact Mike & Amanda who lived in downtown Tacoma. Everybody I meet on this trip is sent to me for some reason and these people were no exception. With just a few minutes notice, I turned up on their doorstep and entered their lives. Mike & Amanda (see photo) have to be two of the most easy-going, helpful and friendly people I have yet to meet. Not only did they take me into their home and give me a comfortable bed (yes, an actual bed) but they rearranged their parking so I could park my sadly unlockable truck and motorcycle in their garage. They also introduced me to their many friends and generally treated me as a close friend. That's when my three week life as a Pacific North West resident began, in a downtown condo of a place once known as Smelly Aroma Tacoma.

The original plan (which of course I rarely have) was to spend a day or two and then head up to Seattle (the supposedly bigger, smarter, prettier brother of Tacoma - although completely unfounded). After a quick discussion with Amanda, I decided to attend Yoga with them the following night, no big deal, still on plan. During the morning, a neighbor came by and invited them (and me) to a Labor Day BBQ down the hall. All the condos in the renovated building (previously a hospital) have awesome decks overlooking downtown. This being downtown in a liberal city, many of the buildings' residents are gay, which always makes for a fun and boisterous event, and it was definitely that. What began at about 3pm ended late in the night after much revelry and an invitation to go sailing on Wednesday night with a newly engaged couple - Marty & Aubre. Plan out the window.

If I was staying thru Wed for sailing, I may as well stay for Yoga again on Thursday and of course the party Friday night at the locally owned "Mix" bar. Trying not to impose I cooked often and tried to help out as much as possible while Mike & Amanda were at work. During the days it gave me an opportunity to see the sights of Tacoma (of which there are many) and to catch up on my admin work. Saturday the 5th was definitely going to be my departure day and so I planned to head up to Anacortes and see the far northern reaches of Washington state. I had arranged a stay with Laura, another couch surfing host up there. We did however tentatively agree I would come back for Yoga either Tuesday or Thursday the following week on my way back south - Tacoma still had me in her grasp. As a thank you for all their kindness I suggested making a dinner Friday night. Nate, Mike's friend came over, and as usual, the guys at the end of the hall were having some people over too so we all joined together for a larger group. Around 8pm Nate got a call from his friend Stephani who was in the area and was going to drop by. That was the beginning of the end. By midnight we were at the Mix playing pool, having drinks and Stephani and I were hitting it off all too well. A whirlwind romance ensued upon my return from Anacortes (detailed post to follow) which kept me in the Tacoma area another two weeks. I was actually considering staying through the winter. Without going into details, we had a great two weeks that included many late nights, some great wine and a fun weekend of camping. Needless to say, it didn't work out and I am now in Portland, sad to have left, but knowing it was the right thing for both of us. I have maintained awareness and am at Peace.