Some prior thoughts . . .When Dan and I decided to vacation in Oregon over spring break, I managed to convince him that we should be spontaneous. A little background information - spontaneity is not one of my many virtues. I have three to-do lists - one at home, two at school - and about 5 calendars. I make up a monthly meal grid from which I draw my meticulously detailed grocery list. Every evening, I hang my clothes for the next morning on the bathroom door. This may not seem that unusual except that I also lay out my Monday morning outfit every Friday evening.
In other words, I wasn't surprised at the reactions I received when I told my family and friends that I would be taking a "Bohemian" journey through Oregon.
"If we were really Bohemians, we would be crashing on strangers' couches, and we wouldn't have spent so much money on tickets to the Shakespeare Festival or the Muse concert," Dan pointed out. "Besides, Bohemians aren't members of AAA."
So what if we had a AAA Tour Book and a couple of pre-planned events in specific cities? This was my version of a non-drug induced On the Road. The fact that we had no hotel reservations and no itinerary (at least for the coast part of our trip) made me feel creatively impulsive.
"You won't be able to handle it," my brother, Steve, said.
"You'll be in tears by the second day," my dad said.
"You will hate Dan by the end of the trip," Steve concluded.
"Oh ye of little faith!" was my response. "I'm doing this for the writing material."
A couple of evenings before we left, I found Dan in our Hybrid, reclining the driver's seat as far as it would go.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if the Hybrid is comfortable enough, in case we have to sleep in it," he replied.
The night before we left, I caught Dan acting very un-Bohemian - looking up road reports, Googling maps, checking hotel availability.
The morning of our venture, Dan decided (after spending an hour researching Oregon's weather forecasts) that we would take the 4-Runner. I felt slightly sorry for him. He had been looking so forward to taking the Hybrid on its first road trip.
He handed me several sets of road directions printed fresh off the Internet.
"I know this isn't very Bohemian," he said, "but you don't even have to look at these. Just pretend like they don't exist."
We crawled into the SUV and plugged in Dan's iPod.
"At least the 4-Runner's seats are more comfortable for sleeping," Dan observed.
Monday, March 29, 2010 - Bend, OR
We had just pulled out of our neighborhood when Dan asked me if he had shut the garage door.
"I didn't see."
"I'm pretty sure I did."
"You had better go back."
He turned around.
"We're turning into your parents," he said.
All of my family vacations began with my mother demanding that my father drive back by our house before leaving town to make sure the garage door had shut properly.
"Except you're almost as OCD as I am," I said.
After we were what seemed to be about an hour outside of Ontario, Dan asked me to pull out the maps he had Googled.
"You were supposed to take the Weiser exit," I told.
Dan pulled the 4-Runner over into a gravel pit ("See we're off-roading," he said. "Very rugged.") and glanced at the Oregon/Washington road map. He wanted to see if he could take an alternate route.
"Unpaved . . . huh."
He concluded we should turn around and head back to the Weiser exit.
"Bohemian," he muttered. "Whatever that means."
"I think we should use the maps now and not try to be that Bohemian anymore," I said.
Funny thing though. It turned out we were only 15 minutes outside of Ontario. It seemed I had miscalculated the time we had already been on the road.
Several "Lost" podcasts later (which had been eagerly downloaded by my techno-geek husband just for our road trip), we ended up in Bend, Oregon.
We walked into a cute riverside hotel for which we had no reservations; however, Dan did admit later that he had checked out room availability on the AAA website the night before. Like I said, I think he might be as OCD as I am.
"Isn't it fun to walk into a hotel and say, 'I'd like a room for the night?' " I asked.
"But then I have to talk to people. If I just make the reservations online, I can just say, 'Reservations for Duggan.' "
Day 1 Travel Details:
- Lunch on the road at Austin House Cafe and Country Store (nestled in the Blue Mountains)
- Dinner at Bend Brewing Company (Interesting fact: Humanitarian organization Rise Up International is currently displaying and selling local art on the restaurant's walls. Proceeds will help fund a Rise Up International school in Bihar, India.)
- Lodgings: The Riverhouse Hotel and Convention Center
We woke up to news reports of heavy snow on the Oregon highways.
"Make sure you are carrying chains," the perky meteorologist said. "Have a sparkling day in central Oregon!"
And almost on cue, snow began to float to the ground outside our hotel window. Dan decided to take a different road to Ashland so that we could stay on the less mountainous highway a little longer.
As it turned out, we drove through a few quick bursts of snow, nothing that was sticking to the roads, nothing that required chains or four-wheel drive.
"We probably could have taken the Hybrid through this," Dan sighed.
After lunch in Klamath Falls, Dan drove around in circles for a while, trying to figure out how to get back on the highway.
Eventually I said, "There's 6th street. That looks familiar. 6th street turned in 140, I think."
"Why didn't you tell me that?"
"I did when we came into town."
"You're supposed to be navigating."
"I'm being Bohemian. Besides, I can't read maps."
In order to pacify Dan, I pulled out the map.
"We need to find 97 South," I predicted.
"I don't know what happened to 97, but I don't want to go to Winnemucca," Dan shook his head. "I should just look at the map before we leave anywhere instead of depending on you. All I get from you is 'Find 140, 97, or 66 and flip a coin to decide which way to turn!'"
"66! Straight, no, turn!"
"Straight," corrected Dan.
"Turn."
"Straight."
"Look at the arrow!"
"Where do you see that?"
"No! Straight!"
"Ashland, 61 miles," Dan sighed with relief.
We arrived in Ashland safely in spite of my defunct navigational skills. We perused the copy of L. Ron Hubbard's The Way to Happiness next to the Bible in the dresser drawer. ("Preserve your teeth" is included as part of his moral code. He's absolutely right. I know I'm much more amiable when the dentist reports that I have no cavities.) Then we headed to dinner where we eavesdropped on the 70-something lady behind us who was predicting that the world would end in 2012 due to Earth Karma.
We ended our evening at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of Hamlet. Purists may have gone into cardiac arrest at this contemporary presentation - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were cast as women, the play within a play was set to hip-hop, sign language was used as a communication tool especially between Hamlet and his father's ghost - but by the end of the night, Hamlet was my new favorite Shakespeare production. And I consider myself to be literary purist of sorts.
Day 2 Travel Details:
- Breakfast at The Riverhouse Hotel (complimentary)
- Lunch at Nibbley's Cafe in Klamath Falls, OR (local diner, country decor, quilt hangings, creative menu with creative titles - i.e. "Charlie Tuna on an Inner Tube")
- Dinner at Larks Home Kitchen (emphasis on Pacific Northwest cuisine)
- Lodgings: Ashland Springs Hotel (nine-story historic hotel, built in 1925)
We made our way to the coast. This was our last night without a specific destination and without hotel reservations. The impromptu portion of our trip was almost over. We spent our time on the road listening to every Muse album ever released, preparing for Saturday's concert. Unable to live without my to-do lists (not very Bohemian, I know), I also jotted down a few Oregon Coast goals.
Becky's (not all that ambitious) Oregon Coast To-Do List
1) Find a blown glass float on the beach in Lincoln City.
2) Tour a lighthouse.
3) Track down a historic covered bridge.
4) Go whale watching.
5) Visit the Sea Lion Caves.
We stopped at the Dear Creek Elk Viewing Area on our way to Reedsport. A fellow elk viewer recommended we visit the Umpqua Discovery Center up the road, so we made our way there next. We hiked on a Dunes trail between Reedsport and Florence. Then we drove up 101 to the Sea Lion Caves. Check number five off my list!
We stopped at the Heceta Lighthouse, but we were too late to tour. Instead we walked to the lighthouse to view the ocean.
"This is like 'Lost,'" Dan said as we trudged up the dirt path. "I wonder if I will see my house in the lighthouse mirror." (Just a quick "Lost" reference that only fellow fans will understand.)
A little while later, when we were pulling out of the lighthouse parking lot, a truck made a sharp turn in front of us.
"Geesh," I commented.
"He's probably got a wife next to him saying, 'Turn here! Turn here!'" and I might add that Dan used his most high-pitched girlie voice on those last two exclamations.
By this time, I had started to get a little nervous about not having a place to stay and about not knowing how far we were going up the coast that night. The fact that all the quaint oceanfront inns and bed and breakfasts along 101 had signs out front that read "No vacancy" did not reassure me.
Originally, we had thought we might stay in Lincoln City so that I could search for my float first thing in the morning. But it was becoming apparent that we wouldn't make it before dinner. We decided to spend the night in Newport, and we did find a room with an ocean view.
That evening at dinner, I lamented that I was not a successful Bohemian traveler. Even without a definitive itinerary, I had managed to create a tour schedule of sorts with my Oregon Coast to-do list.
"We didn't even know we were staying in Newport tonight," Dan offered. "That's very spontaneous."
Day 3 Travel Details:
- Breakfast at Ashland Springs Hotel (complimentary)
- No lunch today. Too much snacking in the car.
- Dinner at Georgie's Beachside Grill in Newport, OR (Northwest cuisine, almost every table in the dining room has a view of the ocean)
- Lodgings: Best Western Agate Beach Inn (a little older - 70's/80's - both in decoration and structure, but has several amenities and beachfront rooms for decent rates)
Dan woke up saying, "What should I do to Becky for April Fool's?"
As we stood in line for the Yaquina Head Lighthouse tour (we had already visited the Chitwood Covered Bridge outside of Newport - check off number three - and the Cobble Beach tidepools that morning), Dan said, "I just thought of a great April Fool's joke!"
"Does it have anything to do with heights?"
Dan just laughed.
I must have been prophetic although it had nothing to do with Dan's elusive prank. I had no idea that touring a lighthouse would involve climbing a spiral staircase with 100+ holed steps. On my ascension, a nervous-looking 10-year-old passed me and said, "It's scarier coming down."
"That's what I was afraid of," I remarked as I crept on, gripping the railings on both sides.
I made it, even though I had to crawl on my hands and knees up the last four stairs. Surprisingly, I made it back down as well.
Outside the lighthouse was a whale watching viewpoint.
"Look! A gray whale!" Dan said immediately following it with, "April Fool's!"
"Was that it? Your big joke? You didn't even give me time to believe you."
We didn't see any whales, although we didn't spend a lot of time really looking for them (failed attempt at to-do list item number four). We did comb the beach in Lincoln City, but we arrived to town so late that I was pretty certain all of the floats had been discovered (failed attempt at to-do list item number one). We did find a few broken sea shells though before driving on to Portland.
Day 4 Travel Details:
- Breakfast at Starfish Grill (hotel restaurant)
- Lunch at Local Ocean Seafood in Newport, OR (fresh, local seafood on display describing how, where, and by whom the fish were caught, easy to make sustainable seafood choices)
- Snacked on Tillamook Ice Cream at Snack City in Lincoln City.
- No dinner which Dan regretted after he was reminded how cranky and sullen I get when I skip meals.
- Lodgings: The Nines in Portland (very swanky, we'll discuss this later)
Dan and I stayed at a very swanky hotel in downtown Portland called The Nines. We checked in Thursday evening and were greeted in the lobby by music that sounded like it belonged in A Night at the Roxbury. I half expected to find a head-bobbing Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell waiting for us in the elevator.
A little starstruck by the glitz of the hotel, Dan and I had to run outside and stop the valet from parking our car twice so that we could retrieve items we had forgotten to bring with us.
Finally the valet said, "If you forget anything else, just call us, and we can bring it to your room for you." He took off before we had time to stop him again.
We also rode the elevator up and down a few times before we figured out how to swipe our room key and punch our floor number.
"Are you going up?" the other guests would ask us quizzically as the elevator opened on the first floor revealing us standing there yet again with our luggage slung over our shoulders.
"We're attempting to," I muttered.
The hotel featured contemporary art throughout its corridors and on its walls, two restaurants, an atrium lobby, and an extensive fitness room with personal trainers. Our room included an HD flat screen television, a clock radio with an iPod dock and remote control, a plush window seat, a refrigerator, and a conversation area with a beaded light hanging from the ceiling. The toilet didn't flush though. I guess nothing is perfect.
We spent our first day in Portland sightseeing. We visited the Nob Hill (or "Northwest" to the locals) and Pearl Shopping Districts.
In Nob Hill, I found a cute local food co-op. I love visiting local food markets and groceries when I travel. For some reason, my husband thinks this is an odd practice.
"You walk up and down the aisles like you are window shopping," Dan said. "It's a grocery. Most people go to groceries to buy food, not browse around."
Next, we toured the Chinese Gardens where I received the following fortune - "Your natural wit will be your fortune." Hmm . . .
Dan's fortune read, "A current problem will solve itself."
"I wonder if I am the problem mentioned in the fortune," I said. Dan's response was an evil laugh.
After the Chinese Gardens, we ended up in Powell's City of Books.
"It covers an entire city block!" I had exclaimed when I first read about it in our tour book.
"Great. We'll never get you out of there."
Dan was right.
Day 5 Travel Details:
- Breakfast at The Urban Farmer (complimentary with gift card, hotel restaurant)
- Lunch at Elephant's Delicatessen in Nob Hill (features local foods and produce both on its menu and in its adjoining market)
- Dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish (Pacific Northwest seafood, eclectic clientele)
- Lodgings: The Nines in downtown Portland
Dan and I spent a rainy afternoon at the Portland Saturday Market. Three people dressed up as the Easter Bunny, a Gorilla, and a Zebra held cardboard signs asking for spare change. A hemp goods store advertised "glass pipes upstairs." A busker played bongos in front of the vendor tents. One generous shopper gave gloves to the poor folk musician who was performing in the windy downpour that had plagued Oregon off and on all week.
Saturday evening was the Muse concert - our primary reason for this Northwest journey - and it did not disappoint. It was probably the best live concert I have ever attended, complete with laser lights, live video footage, skyscrapers, interactive art, and sci-fi/political/conspiracy theory-riddled music. In fact, I would need to write a separate post in order to do justice to this particular experience. It was the perfect way to round out our journey.
Day 6 Travel Details:
- Breakfast at The Urban Farmer (complimentary with gift card, hotel restaurant)
- Lunch at the Portland Saturday Market (Chicken souvlakia pitas)
- Dinner at the Newport Grill across from the Lloyd Center (Pacific Northwest seafood)
- Lodgings: The Nines in downtown Portland
We left Portland Sunday morning still in a frenzy over the previous night's concert. We decided to head back to Boise via the Columbia Gorge. Dan was excited because he had been trying to take the perfect fern picture, and he was pretty sure there would be several patches of ferns along the Gorge. Dan had been obsessed with the ferns in Oregon. Ferns in Idaho (especially Eastern Idaho where Dan grew up) do not look as "prehistoric" (as Dan says) as the ones along the water in Oregon.
"Ferns!" I'd hear all of a sudden from the driver's seat. "Ferns on a rock! Lots of ferns!"
Dan pulled off into a scenic viewpoint and climbed out of the sunroof, camera in hand, in an attempt to get the perfect fern picture. Unfortunately, that picture didn't quite capture the lushness of the ferns that had beguiled my husband.
Multnomah Falls proved to be a fern Nirvana for Dan, and we were finally able to get a satisfactory fern picture. We also snapped a few photos of me standing on the very-high-off-the-ground Multnomah Falls (Benson) footbridge, just to prove that I had in fact ventured out onto that slab of cement.
Our last stop was at the Stonehenge replica in Maryhill, Washington.
"We can reenact the final scene from Tess of the d'Urbervilles when Tess and Angel Clare flee to Stonehenge after Tess kills Alec d'Urberville," I said much too enthusiastically. "The police find her asleep on the altar and arrest her. I'll be Tess. You be Angel."
And with that I plopped down on the "altar." Dan, slightly confused by my sudden excitement and probably hoping I would get up so as not to embarrass myself in front of the other tourists, shrugged and snapped my picture.
Feeling slightly guilty about not going to church on Easter Sunday, Dan (now with a sense of accomplishment after taking his fern picture) and I spent the last portion of our trip listening to Jesus Christ Superstar. After that album was over, we ended our vacation as we had begun it - listening to "Lost" podcasts. It seems that we had come full circle.
Day 7 Travel Details:
- Breakfast at Starbucks across the street from our hotel (avoiding the Easter buffet crowd)
- Lunch at Subway in Hood River, OR
- Dinner at Sumpter Junction Restaurant in Baker City, OR (model train that runs through the restaurant, walls filled with historical locomotive photos and memorabilia)
