Everything's Turning Up Roses
With only a few hours to spend in Portland, Oregon, we retreated to an eden on the edge of the metropolis.
The absolutely gorgeous International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon.
Starting Mileage: 2800 miles
I’ve loved Portland for as long as I can remember. I think part of that is simply because of how green it is. Growing up in the desert (the coniferous forest of the Sierras was always close at hand, but it’s hardly what could be considered “lush”) I always longed for that verdant environment: leafy trees casting a natural roof overhead, the undergrowth gone wild, bright flowers.
Oregon is the definition of “lush”. And Portland is this artsy metropolis, home to art galleries and museums and music venues and festivals and shopping malls, nestled close to the mountains and not far from the ocean, a place for cosmopolitan luxuries and outdoor indulgence alike. I love that spirit of balance between city life and middle-of-nowhere activities. I love the value placed on beauty, both in nature and the arts. It’s a place that has always spoken to my spirit.
I realized on this trip, however, that I really don’t know Portland as well as I’ve always thought I remembered it. I remember the rose gardens quite well (I decided when I was ten that I was going to get married there) and I remember Powell’s Books the way one remembers a cherished childhood toy. I remember the campus of Lewis & Clark college like a perfect dream. But other than that, I really don’t know the city at all.
We visited the International Rose Test Garden (which should honestly be on everyone’s bucket list, if you ask me), hit up Powell’s City of Books (and spent more time there than we had on any other single attraction up to that point), and then drove past a few of the sights on our way out of town. Navigating the city took some doing, so even though we were only an hour and a half (I think? It was a long time ago, I can’t quite remember) from the city, we didn’t have a ton of time to explore. I also wanted to be sure we got back on the road earlier rather than later, because we were set to spend the night at Dave and Nancy’s cabin on the coast, and I was excited to see them and pick their brains about their own trip down from Alaska (for those who are just joining the party: Dave and Nancy are good friends of my parents who have bicycled around the world and completed a cycling trip from Fairbanks, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina last year).
It was an awesome day, all in all, though we didn’t see much of the city. The rose garden is beautiful and serene, the kind of place that puts my heart at ease. And inspires my inner photographer (she’s a bit of an amateur, but flowers really do it for her), so I ended up with an abundance of photos.
The drive from Portland was spectacular. The last hour or so was a winding road through a gorgeous temperate rainforest, with the sun lowering toward the horizon and casting bold shafts of orange light through the trees. It was nothing short of magical.
Arriving at Dave and Nancy’s house presented a slightly-terrifying challenge. And by “slightly-terrifying,” I mean I was fairly sure it was going to put a swift end to the trip.
The driveway is a very steep couple-hundred feet of gravel. Looking at it, I could swear it was practically vertical. I thought there was no way my van was going to get up it without tipping over, or just rolling back down and crashing into a tree.
But there wasn’t any other way to get up there, so I grit my teeth, eased on the gas, and then basically floored it.
Good news: we survived!
It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, really. Absolutely terrifying, but as long as I kept up constant momentum, there was no indication of tipping, sliding, or rolling. And there was Nancy, waving at us from the balcony.
They treated us to a delicious dinner and offered up real, actual beds, which in and of itself was amazing (I mentioned in my last post that the current sleeping arrangements in the van are not-great. Back then all the sleeping materials were split between two of us, so it was even less-great…). I accepted perhaps more quickly than is, strictly speaking, polite, but I was already getting desperate at that point.
What I cherished the most about the visit, though, was getting to talk with Dave and Nancy about some of my worries (and worries that have been brought up by my friends and relatives) about being on the road. Even just the confirmation that, no, I’m not totally crazy for wanting to do this, was really reassuring.
At that point, I’d realized how much I’d over-planned, and how under-prepared I was, and I was starting to wonder if maybe I wasn’t a little insane. I was already struggling to keep up withe the blog, let alone do any of the other work-related tasks that I’d planned on doing. How was I going to support myself? I’d barely managed the couple-hundred-foot gravel driveway, how was I going to fare on miles of gravel highways in Canada? What if I did wind up in a place or situation I couldn’t handle?
Dave has been one of my biggest cheerleaders from the beginning. I think he’s the only person who has been reading my blog posts as long as my mother has, and he’s been sending me encouragement all along. He and Nancy put a lot of my fears to rest that evening, and (although it’s a bit delayed because of my blogging issues) I really want to thank both of them for that.
We hadn’t seen the ocean, yet, but it was first on the itinerary for the next day, before we headed on to Mt. Rainier National Park. With a fresh mind and a proper night’s sleep, it was promising to be a great day.
But first: I was going to have to get back down that driveway.
Stay tuned.
Today’s Mileage: 182
So, I’m looking at my plans for the journey home (literally, I’m typing my train of thought while I look at the map and thumb through my planner). It’s going to be a bit of a balance between trying to get home quickly (so I can get back to the van build, loathe as I am to go back to my powertool-wielding, crappy-jeans-wearing days) and giving myself more time for blogging and other activities than I had on the way up.
I’m also toying with the idea of taking Labor Day weekend to participate in the 3-Day Novel Contest. I don’t think I would officially enter, but I found the challenge was a great way to pump out a rough draft of a novel when I participated a couple of years ago. It’s kind of fun, to race through the challenge, too. If I decide to do it, I’ll need to halt all driving and have somewhere to park where I have easy access to showers and a plug to charge my computer. Which probably means a campground near some kind of cafe.
It’s probably not going to happen, which is a bit of a shame. I didn’t participate last year because I was in the middle of my final semester of college. And although technically I could attempt a 3-day novel whenever I want to, there’s something about doing it as part of an organized event that adds to it. Knowing there are a bunch of other nutters out there frantically typing away, that we’re all sharing in the experience despite none of us being in the same place. I think that’s cool. And it adds some motivation to follow through.
We’ll see.
I also want to take a different route down. I’ve heard a lot about how amazing Jasper and Banff National Parks are (in Canada), so I’m thinking about taking that route and stopping at one of them for a day or two.
I’m definitely planning on swinging through Chilliwack again, and I’ll probably skip Vancouver so I can go through the border at the far-less-busy Sumas crossing.
Then it’ll be two days (if I’m rushing) or three (if I want to stop somewhere and actually breathe before I get back home.
I’m hoping to be sort-of, kind-of caught up on blogs by then? (Emphasis on the “?”.)
I’d also like to have some concrete plans for the next steps in the build before I get home. And it would be great to get something going in the realm of my fiction work. And I wouldn’t mind reading one or more of the nearly 30 books I have with me (I’ve read one so far. It’s awful). Actually using my art supplies would be nice, and I wouldn’t mind —
Shoots and ladders. I’m doing it again.
Ok, new plan. Goals for the trip home:
Write blog posts up to arrival in Fairbanks (that’s about… 11 posts?)
Edit photos for blog posts up to arrival in Fairbanks
Explore Jasper or Banff National Park
Work on plans for bed construction
Read a book
What do you think, is that achievable? I suppose we’ll find out.
