A Separate Peace

So I'm flying solo for the week.  We made an attempt to settle down in Bend but it just wasn't the place for me to stay it turns out.  It was a three week run - not bad, all in all.  Already got a temp job and steady job at Whole Foods.  Which turns out is an awesome company and thankfully they allowed me to leave in eligible status so that I might be rehired in the future.  What I learned is I am actually a pretty capable person and I can make it work where I decide to make that happen.  Frankly, that could be anywhere between Washington and Chicago at this point (and anywhere south of there!).  There is still just too much to see and I'm not gonna leave it out there to rot while I have the opportunity.  Bend just wasn't where I was digging it.  So I'm taking a week out on the road to see how I deal with being alone, simultaneously Dani gets to decide if she wants to hang out in B-town at the killer new job she got at Deschutes.  Which is awesome - whichever she decides is a new adventure either way!  I still have these fantasies of standing alone in some beautiful place in Washington and getting to ask the adorable hippy hitch-hiker who is standing nearby if she wants to get a drink...in Wyoming.  Or wherever she wants to go haha.  I'm not ready for Dallas yet but I'm not writing it off.  I still struggle with some things, vis a vis the heart of the past of my heart (nothing like a good genetive string to start the day).  But I am happy.  At least happier.  I've been in some spots that have brought me to tears at their spectacle.  This place - the country, the world - is fucking incredible.  Sorry to the family that doesn't know yet but I curse like a sailor and my book keeps getting more and more written so you might as well prepare for the inevitable reveal!  So the next few phases are Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas.  If the universe allows Chicago.  And as much as any chance allows to Colorado again for some wedding I heard about... [congrats Rachel!]  It would also be cool to hit up the munchkin from that clan in the Wyoming.  But those will all be weeks away still and I'll keep you all posted.  Hopefully with a little more regularity going forward.  I will not be outside of civilization too much this week since a) I'm alone for the first time and b) I still have to come back to Bend to check in with Dani.  If you are reading this, thanks for checking in.  It means we care about each other a great deal and in all probability I can use this phrase and mean it:  I love you.

Portland Rose Garden.  We got there, if you recall, right at the start of the Rose Festival so the timing was perfect.

View from the garden.

The Japanese Gardens in Portland.  Very cool place but it was busy - which as you know generally destroys the overall zen of a place designed to promulgate exactly that experience.

Disc golf in Portland.  It was an AWESOME course, very difficult.  It is a toss up with Bear Creek for my favorite...  If you look straight down the middle, the tiny white speck behind the left tree is the basket.  The whole thing was halfway impossible like that.

Old Maintenance shack on the course.  Only in PDX does the roof start to grow trees...

Another difficult hole.  The fairway is that 3 foot space between trees.  Epic.

Colorful PDX houses.  These are across the street from the hostel.  I think they are actually apartment units but do not know for sure.

You know this one.

And you might have seen this one...

Some old rich guy's house that's a monument now.  Good view from the backyard though.

Cool gorge/bridge system on the way back to Bend.  These are all about 300ft up.

Old Mill district in Bend.  This was the first (of many, MANY) beer festivals.  I think they have a festival every weekend haha.  Belly dancers...

We met Jen and Kevin in Seattle.  This first one is the view from our hotel room.  You could also see the Sound to the left.

The wheel.  We did get to ride it, further down.

It's Jen and Kevin.  At a brewery.  Weird!

Seahawks/Mariners stadiums.  Rainier in the background.

Bend, Cascade Lakes.  There are tons of these guys, all crystal clear and awesomely blue.

Marshy bog thingy.

Not sure, saw a young brother and sister walking through.  I think it's a pretty picture.

Another lake.

The Tam Mcarther Rim.  Great hike.  I started at lake level, I'll show you the peak I climbed up to farther down.

Oh, there it is.  slightly the left of the cliff.

That's the view from the top.

Still plenty of snow, even thought I sweat so much I changed out of my shirt and wore shorts the whole time.

That's the lake I started from.

I don't know what this place is called, but it's a lava field.  It looks like this as far as you can see.  I took a picture of the sign, which I never do, because it says that only 1,500 (yes, that's only a thousand) years ago it was still an active field.  Amazing planet.

Lava field observatory.

Inside the observatory are these windows that have labels under them.  They tell you which peak you're looking at through the window.  Simple but elegant.  I dig it.

Proxy Falls.

Oregon coast.  This is the first picture I took today.  I'm on my way to Astoria and will camp overnight somewhere in Washington.  Hopefully...