Summer has been busy in many ways this year and I am happy to say I celebrated my second Oregonniversary in late June. I like to commemorate the anniversary of the day of my arrival in Oregon each year and the joy living in this magnificent state brings me. Mostly because I love Oregon and the Pacific Northwest but I also like to recognize the accomplishment of moving here. I tend to underplay the work it took to get here. The courage it took to leave everyone I loved behind in pursuit of the unknown. To explore the possibilities of a life that could be lived here. A life that I had faith would be more rewarding than one lived anywhere else. A move that I felt was a step in the right direction to finding lasting happiness. A step that, at times, has been lonelier than I could have ever imagined possible.
The second year of calling the Pacific Northwest home was filled with many adventures: road trips, hiking, camping, dating, school, work and more. I experienced great highs and a few dramatic lows and then of course everything in between. I explored new-to-me areas of Oregon, Washington and California. I kayaked for the very first time. I photographed new subjects, fell deeply in love with black and white photography and even explored portrait work. I dabbled in film and graphic design thanks to my schooling at PCC and began the long process of branding myself as a photographer with the generous help of a coworker. I sold two pieces of art at auction to support a friends non-profit organization. I received formal recognition in photography competitions.
I had my heart broken but kept my head high as I moved on. I found solitude on the roads in Eastern Oregon as Cole and I explored the desert and mountain landscape. I was pleasantly surprised with the connection I found while photographing strangers as they participated in a charity bike ride. I saw the stark reality of poverty in one Indian tribe on the coast. I had a close call on the treacherous side roads of Mt. Hood that easily could have been the end for my car and my dog, Cole, but I also saw the magnificent beauty of a fresh snowfall in the Coastal mountains on Christmas day and celebrated my 36th birthday at my favorite place on earth: the Oregon coast.
My second year has been full of adventure, rich in experiences and full of growth. It has been a year that has sparked great ideas, challenged me to grow both personally and professionally in ways that weren't always easy, that forced me to look inward. As I begin my third year as an Oregonian, I look forward to what this next year will bring. The people I will meet. The places I will go. Something tells me that it will be a year filled with change and growth and I cannot wait to see where life will take me. Thank you for following my journey along this far or, if you are new to my journey, I hope you'll stick around awhile and see what this incredible place has in store for me and Cole.
Spring has indeed sprung here in Oregon, earlier than usual I'm told. It is always beautiful here, but especially this time of year. It seems as if every tree, bush and plant is blooming at every turn. Until just recently, I was too busy to even stop and take some pictures of it. My full time work load on top of my full time class load at school did not leave much time for anything else. That being said, I still managed to get out a bit and pursue some photographic endeavors.
Eternal
Trinity
Just a Dream
This spring term at Portland Community College, I enrolled in my first ever photography class. My instructor there provided me with some very positive and encouraging feedback which gave me just the extra boost of confidence I needed. Several months ago, I applied to join an artist's coop here in Portland that I learned about while walking around downtown. Unfortunately, at that time, they had too many photographers in the group but encouraged me to check back in six months. Then one day out of the blue, I received notice that a photography spot opened and was invited to jury my work the very next day at the store downtown. I only had about half a day to prepare five prints for matting and framing as well as put together a physical portfolio of my other work including my artist's statement and documenting my creative process. Thanks to the help of a couple of friends and working inter the early morning hours, I managed to pull everything together and presented my work the next day (pictured above). If was an amazing opportunity to meet other local artists, learn more about the coop and share the inspiration for my work with the jury panel. The whole process was an invaluable learning experience.
My two prints at the art auction
A few months ago, a friend of mine now living in Eugene asked if I would consider participating in an art auction for ShelterCare where all proceeds from the event support their homelessness prevention programs in Linn County. Of course I agreed and a couple of weeks ago, made the drive to Eugene to deliver the two framed prints while we caught up over dinner. This week, a friend and I drove back to Eugene for the auction at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus. It was a lovely and well-organized event complete with tasty wine, delicious food and live music. Both of my pieces sold and I briefly had the opportunity to meet the man who purchased both prints. I'm not sure who was more excited about the sale, him or me? It was a truly wonderful moment indeed.
Over the past few months, I've added a few new pieces of equipment to my photography/videography arsenal: a Sony 100mm f2.8 macro lens, a 4K Sony Action Cam and a Cheerson CX-33W droid for shooting aerial video and photos. I'm looking forward to exploring a magnified version of Oregon's plant life as well as strapping the video camera to a variety of items and making some videos of Oregon's beaches, roadways and bridges. Learning to fly my droid will be a bit of a challenge but I'm sure once I get the hang of it, I'll be capturing and sharing some very beautiful birds-eye-view scenery from all over the Pacific Northwest.
I've been trying my hand at a few newer areas of photography and did my first engagement photo shoot for a couple of friends. We visited several locations one rainy Sunday about a month ago including Union Station, the Eastbank Esplanade, Cathedral Park, and the St. John's Bridge as well as a record store and restaurant. It was a great learning experience and a fun way to get to know my friends better. Thanks to one of my school projects, I also shot some portraits for a friend in and around my neighborhood. I definitely have respect for the work and talent it takes to do portrait photography well. I'm not sure I'll be adding it to my available services anytime soon but I will continue to work on developing the skill set and see where I want to go from there. Also in the realm of new-to-me endeavors, I'm considering a street photography project where I'd like to explore each neighborhood of Portland by foot. I'm not sure what I hope to convey with that project yet so more contemplation is needed before I get underway.
For some time now, I've wanted to make a short film to share the magic encapsulated along the roadways between Portland and the northern Oregon coast. The other weekend, Cole and a friend of mine took a trip to Ecola State Park and it was the perfect time to try out my new Sony Action Cam. I attached the camera to the sunroof opening of my car and recorded the drive along highway 26 through the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests. Once we all arrived at the park, I moved the camera to a special dog harness and Cole shot his first ever video along Indian Beach. The footage is a bit shakey but adorable nonetheless. Unfortunately, since my computer is not quite equipped to handle 4K video, editing either footage into a film will have to wait until I'm able to upgrade to a newer/faster/better computer later this year. I was able though to make a decent short clip from the beach below.
In early April I carved out some time from my busy schedule to attend the special acoustic Jackie Greene concert at Mississippi Studios with a friend. As some of you may be aware, Jackie Greene is one of my all-time favorite musicians and I see him every time he comes through the city I happen to be living in at that time. After grabbing a bite at the always-delicious LeBistro Montage, my friend and I managed to get to the show earlier than expected which helped secure us a front row seat in the balcony area that offered us an unobstructed view of the stage. As usual, Jackie gave a spectacular performance that made the lack of sleep that night well worth it. The opening musician, The Suitcase Junket, who I hadn't heard of before, was also very good. I recommend checking both of them out if you are unfamiliar.
Jackie Greene at Mississippi Studios
A dear Wisconsin-friend was in town recently and we were lucky to have two back-to-back evenings together to catch up and explore Portland. On the first night, we met up at my apartment, and true to our midwestern roots, had a Bourbon Old Fashioned while we began the process of catching up on life-stuff before heading over to Papa Haydn on NW 23rd for a scrumptious dinner and decadent dessert. Afterward, we walked to the Pope House Bourbon Lounge and each enjoyed a flight of four bourbons among the low-key and quiet setting. On the second night, joined by a co-worker of hers, we met up at Portland City Grill to enjoy a happy hour cocktail while the sun set in the horizon, illuminating the majestic Cascade mountain range and Willamette River Valley below. Afterward, we walked over to Huber's Cafe where we enjoyed the always entertaining Spanish coffee prepared table-side and yet another delicious meal. After we had our fill of both there, we headed to A Roadside Attraction for a beer on the unique patio before arriving at the Alibi for a fun evening of tropical cocktails and talented karaoke singers.
The Pope House
The Alibi
Last weekend, Cole and I met up with another one of my friends I hadn't seen in awhile to catch up while we perused the art at the Portland Saturday Market. There I decided to finally purchase several pieces of art I had been contemplating ever since I moved to Portland in 2014. My friend affectionately referred to this event as an "art-attack" which seems quite fitting since I walked away with three paintings by J.R. Slattum and two porcelain pieces by Shapiro Porcelain. And just like a good enabler, she helped me carry my stash home and even lent a hand with the hanging of it. Perhaps what I love most about the Saturday Market is having direct access to the talented artists who make all the lovely art. I was able to talk to J.R., the painter of my three new pieces, about his inspiration behind each one of the surrealistic paintings.
Paintings of J.R. Slattum
From Left to Right:
Root of Good Intentions
It's about acting from the heart, the center, not to be confused with emotion/ego. Hatching from the center, flying above. To act of love and for others.
Erosion Revelation
You are not the rock. The tides of life, the ebb and flows, ups and downs... wearing away the stone- revealing between the layers- artifacts, fossils, gems of wisdom. We are all on the same journey but at different places along the path. View life from the heart.
Forest Thinking
The feeling of being in nature. The nowness that it provides. Losing your sense of self while becoming one with nature... the birds, the flora and fauna, the faces in the trees. There is no yesterday or tomorrow... just the forest.
With summer just around the corner, there will be a lot of camping, hiking and road trips to write about so I hope you'll continue to follow along my journey.
Rewind to the week before spring break. I get sick on Sunday night with a fever, aches, and just plain miserableness which leads to me missing Monday and Tuesday of work. I push through a rough Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at work, and make it through Friday night of school. Saturday starts with me in urgent care for an eye infection on top of being sick, on top of allergies, on top of finals. I get to class Saturday morning with just moments to spare but make it through to the end, even using my lunch break to pick up my eye drops for my very irritated, scratchy eyes. After school, I run a multitude of errands including going to Fred Meyer, Pets on Broadway, Petco, home to get my camera, Pro Photo Supply (while my camera stayed put, forgotten at home), and then finally back home to clean up and get ready for my birthday party in just under an hour. Everyone showed up that I was expecting and we spent the night in my tightly packed apartment talking, laughing, telling stories, eating and drinking while Cole and Emma played and made friends with the group. After the last person left, the next hour or so was spent cleaning up and then soon thereafter I was in bed, ready to get an early start the next day.
A great group of friends turned out to help celebrate my birthday!
Sunday morning, with school and work officially on hold for a week, after loading up the car, Kris and I hit the road amidst the rain. I drive for awhile, then Kris drives for a while. We stop in Reedsport for lunch at Harbor Light Family Restaurant. I drive the rest of the way to Gold Beach but make a quick detour in Bandon at Face Rock which was quite windy so we didn't stay long. Once in Gold Beach, we checked into our hotel room at the Inn of the Beachcomber and at first the sketchy folks hanging around outside made me weary of what was to be expected of the hotel room on the inside but luckily they turned out to not be connected. The room was very nice; there was a clear view of the ocean, a hot tub on the balcony, and gas fireplace inside. All in all, it was what I expected. After lounging for a bit, the guests next door let their children loose and all sorts of loud noises permeated the peace and quiet I drove all the way to the coast to find. Using that as a cue, we decided it was a good time to head out for my birthday dinner at Spinners Seafood and Steak Chophouse. Once we had our fill of food and drink, we went back to the hotel room, put a bottle of wine on ice and got into the hot tub to enjoy the sound of the ocean and wind sans children screaming while our bodies relaxed from a long day of travel.
Hotel room at Inn of the Beachcomber, Gold Beach, Oregon
The weather didn't seem to care that I was on vacation and decided to rain off and on quite frequently the first day on the coast. That did not stop me from taking Cole for a walk on the beach in the morning with hotel coffee in hand. Sure, I got a little wet but time spent on the beach is always good. With the outdoor plans I had made on hold, we decided to drive into Brookings and check out what treasures we could find at the Goodwill store there. I ended up walking away with a Brookings t-shirt, a pair of comfy lounge pants and another pair of stretchy work out pants, perfect for hiking! I also took some time to sit down and look through all of the records in the corner of the store and decided to add Elvis Presley, Carole King, JJ Cale, Jackson Browne, The O'Jays, Chi Coltrane, and Tommy James and the Shondells records to my collection. Once we were done thoroughly scouring the store, we headed out for some ice cream at Dairy Queen and then drove around a bit to explore the town. When the time came, we decided to have dinner at Pacific Sushi & Grill which unfortunately did not sit well in my stomach. After we were done eating, we drove back to the hotel to call it a day while my stomach made strange noises.
We slept in a bit on Tuesday but headed over to the Port Hole Cafe in Gold Beach for a delicious lunch followed up with some shopping at Jerry's Rogue River Museum and Gift Shop next door where I found a couple of t-shirts, a sweatshirt, and a sticker and magnet decal for my on-going collection on my car bumper. I even managed to find a couple pair of earrings I liked as well which is rare for me. Lucky for me, they were having a sale so everything was 17% off plus they were adding on the bonus of being able to use store receipts to claim glass floats at the Visitor Center. After picking up my new glass floats (which look lovely now on my bathroom wall), we decided to head toward the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor and check out some of the beaches since the weather had cleared for a bit and the sun was shining. First, we stopped at Myers Creek, then a viewpoint on Highway 101 followed by a stop at Whaleshead Beach where after some time of exploring, it began to rain again. At that point we decided to head back to Gold's Beach for dinner riverside at the Silver Hook Restaurant & Lounge.
Myers Creek Beach, Gold Beach, Oregon
I used Wednesday to catch up on sleep and spent most of the day in bed with the patio door open and the sound of the ocean in the background while the warmth of the fire kept the room a comfortable temperature. Eventually though, hunger caught up with us and we headed out to Black Trumpet Bistro in Brookings for dinner. Afterward, we stopped at Harris Beach State Park to enjoy the deep purples and blues in the sky while the sun went down. There I ran into a couple from Colorado on a bucket list RV coastal vacation who asked me to take their picture after making fast friends with Cole. I also enjoyed photographing the large, rainbow colored rocks that darted up from the beach sand and was even surprised to come across a couple of Canadian geese floating among the seagulls in the ocean tide, something I have never seen before in all of my visits to the Oregon coast.
Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, Oregon
Thursday morning came quick and it was time to load up the car, say goodbye to our cozy hotel room and head out. We stopped in Coos Bay for a German lunch at the Blue Heron Bistro which was delicious but word of wise to fellow travelers: do not attempt to pay with a credit card, you will not be well-received and possibly quite overcharged for your meal. After a filling lunch, we continued on our way back to Portland but first stopped in Reedsport to check out a thrift store where I picked up a few more records for my collection: Bob Dylan, Connie Francis, Dinah Washington, Ray Charles and Leonard Cohen. We stopped across the street at Mindpower Gallery where I fell in love with the trade sculptures of George Johnson. Having exhausted my allocated funds for shopping, I had to forego adding one to my collection but I hope to stop in another time. Several hours later, we found ourselves stuck in Portland rush hour traffic and soon thereafter, parted ways.
Once home, I quickly got unpacked, started a load of laundry, watered my plants and relaxed on the couch with Cole and some reheated leftover food from the day before. Home, sweet home! Despite the overabundance of rowdy kids at the hotel (and most restaurants) and the unexpected rain and sickness, my spring break vacation had some pleasant moments. I'm using what remains of the weekend to rest and gear up to head back to work and start the spring term on Monday. It will be another 2 1/2 months before I can come up for air again, I suspect I will be in need of another break at that point as well.
Three months into the New Year and, as usual, life is busy. I started the Multimedia program at Portland Community College in January and am about to finish my first term next week with a 4.0 GPA. I've been loving everything about the program so far and have already found multiple ways to use what I've learned for my photography website and even at work. A video editing project in one of my classes sparked an interest in aerial photography and videography so I consulted with someone at work who is knowledgable about video drones and am happy to report I've purchased one for myself. I'm looking forward to exploring that in more depth and sharing some videos of magnificent Oregon soon.
At the beginning of this year I signed up to do a 52 Hike Challenge but so far the weather has been less than cooperative and with my busy work and school schedule, I'm officially 8 hikes behind schedule. I feel fairly certain that I'll be able to catch up this summer and fall though when the weather is more predictable. So far though I have managed to do a hike at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, at Beacon Rock State Park and at Eagle Creek.
Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge
It was a windy day and parking was a bit hard to come by but Cole and I managed to meet up with a friend at the trailhead only a few minutes behind schedule. At first there was not much wildlife to be seen but about halfway through the hike, we came across a body of water that attracted lots of ducks, geese and other types of birds. We saw a beautiful Red Tail hawk perched high above on the top of a tree and even a brave SUP-er in the Willamette River.
Beacon Rock State Park
This hike almost didn't happen. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, a friend and I drove along highway 14 on the Washington side of the Gorge toward Beacon Rock State Park. The first parking area we stopped at showed us that we actually wanted to be at a different spot to access the trailhead. We drove to what we thought was the correct parking lot only to find out it was not the one we wanted either. We then drove to the correct trailhead and found that it was closed due to storm damage. We gave the park one last try by driving to yet another parking area and accessing a different trail. Alas, that one was a success, albeit a bit muddy. We slowly worked our way up the elevation gain and took in some beautiful views of the gorge far below. Soon we came across several waterfalls that took some treacherous navigation through extremely slick, muddy paths. Once we had our fill of that trail, we headed back to the parking area and then over the Bridge of the Gods to the Oregon side of the Gorge to make a quick stop at Crown Point to capture some sunset photos.
Eagle Creek
With another friend, Cole and I hiked the Eagle Creek trail. This is a popular trail so we had to share it with many other people. It soon become clear why it was so popular though. It runs along the side of a cliff, parallel to the creek below. Although somewhat dangerous at points due to the steep drop off on one side of the trail, it was well worth it for the views. Small waterfalls dot the hike, larger ones across the creek. After several miles, we came to the popular Punchbowl Falls before turning back toward the trailhead to make sure we made it back before sunset. I'm happy we did that hike when we did for I recently saw that the trail is now closed for a year for repairs due to a bridge that was damaged by a falling tree.
My pet photography page is finally up and running on my website and I am using what I've learned in my classes this winter to build a virtual room application for the site as well. In other photography news, one of my photos made the top 25 in the Coast Weekend Annual Photo Contest and another one won an honorable mention for the adult division, Judges Choice category in the Wallowa County Chieftan photo contest. Even more good news, I was recently approached to submit a couple of prints to ShelterCare's annual art auction, which of course I am more than happy to do.
Spring has arrived in Portland and among many other trees, the cherry blossom trees along the waterfront as well as the tulip magnolia that I love so much by Union Station are in full bloom. I ventured out last weekend to capture some shots before checking out the eagerly anticipated reopening of the Saturday Market.
"The greatest adventure is what lies ahead" - J.R.R. Tolkien
This has been quite the year filled with many adventures, lots of photography and so much more. I've taken several road trips throughout Washington, Oregon and California. I've camped on mountains and next to rivers. I've hiked everywhere from the lakes and rivers of the Cascade Mountain range to the waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge to Portland's parks and gardens to Oregon's coastal beaches and sand dunes. With my visits to the Painted Hills, Smith Rock, and the Wallowas, this year marked the completion of visiting all of Oregon's Seven Wonders. Mt. Hood, the Coast, the Columbia River Gorge and Crater Lake were all visited, often several times over, between 2011 and 2014.
In addition to all of my nature adventures, I've seen several concerts this year including my first Dave Matthews Band experience at the mecca of venues, the Gorge Amphitheater. I also saw one my favorite musicians again, Jackie Greene, at the Wonder Ballroom, and went to my first Modest Mouse show at the Crystal Ballroom.
A couple of visitors from back home in Wisconsin came to visit me this year and I thoroughly enjoyed playing tour guide extraordinaire while simultaneously managing to exhaust them with Oregon's amazing restaurants and food carts, attractions and natural beauty.
I earned a promotion just recently at work and have also been on several trips to our Seattle office throughout the year. For some extra cash and an opportunity to further explore Portland, I signed up to be a driver for both Lyft and Uber this past fall although I still haven't given any rides, as of yet. I'm sure that will change very soon though.
I celebrated my first "Oregonniversary" in June. I feel my first year as a resident of the beautiful state of Oregon is definitely worthy of creating a tradition to celebrate each year going forward. Speaking of celebrations, Cole enjoyed his seventh birthday in September, this year on the coast with his new pug-friend Emma. Cole and I together spent my 35th birthday in March on the coast with a friend.
My photography has grown considerably this past year. I created a website in March which may sound like a simple task but it meant many hours sifting through nearly 60,000 photos that I have taken over the past few years, and then deciding which ones were the best. I entered my work in a couple more photo contests this year and even sold some of my prints. I'm continually gaining more followers on a variety of social media platforms and some of my work is even getting picked up by local travel publications. This year also marks the first of what will now become an annual tradition of creating photo calendars for my family in Wisconsin. Not much in this world makes me happier than to share the beauty of the Pacific Northwest through photography with those that I care about.
As always in life, it isn't all good, all the time. This is a blog about my misadventures after all, isn't it? I had an unfortunate car incident on Mt. Hood Thanksgiving weekend which cost me a whopping $1,000 insurance deductible to make my car good as new again. The silver lining of that experience though is that I made a new friend, the tow truck driver, so it wasn't all bad. A simple procedure to remove a benign growth on my leg late this summer caused quite the issue during my recovery which ended up with me in urgent care. This year I've also joined the ranks of many other Oregonians who suffer from seasonal allergies so my "nature junkie" brand has a little bit more truth to it now that nature literally makes me sick and yet I continue to expose myself to it; nothing can keep me from spending time in nature.
After a breakup earlier this year, I ventured back into the wonderful, and sometimes downright strange, world of online dating which yielded some very interesting experiences, a new relationship and yet another breakup. What I found most fascinating about the heartache that came with that failed endeavor though is knowing that I'm still capable of truly caring for someone. At times, I feel like I'm somewhat broken when it comes to this part of my life but my resilience, or possibly just my stubbornness, will continue to keep me open to the possibilities that come with daring to risk being vulnerable with someone. The journey continues into 2016!
There have been some weather oddities this year starting with a mild winter, then a very hot and long summer which sparked widespread wildfires throughout the Pacific Northwest. Then, this fall we got slammed with torrential downpours that created landslides, sinkholes and considerable flooding. To top it off, we even got some snow in Portland right after Christmas. Despite all of this, the Pacific Northwest is still a stunningly beautiful place to live and explore. I'm truly blessed to call this place home.
So, what have I taken away from my experiences this year? First, that our time here is too short to spend it being unhappy. If you don't like something about your life, change it. It may not be easy and it probably won't come without sacrifices and hard work but if it's important to you and it's something that makes your soul sing, I can assure you, it will be worth it. Second, be sure to spend lots of time in the places and with the people that make you feel happy to be alive. Third, and possibly most important, do not underestimate how important spending time alone is. That time by yourself is essential for reflecting upon your life. It allows you the space in an all too busy world to check-in with yourself, to ask important questions such as: Am I happy? Am I doing what I want to do? Is there anything that doesn't feel right in the grand scheme of my life? These questions and others can help make sure you are headed in the right direction and living a life of purpose.
I'm looking forward to many more adventures in 2016 and to opportunities to explore, learn, grow and create. I hope you'll continue to follow along with my journey and I wish you all the best in the New Year!
To view more of the photography from my nature-adventures, visit:
Christmas is different in Oregon. Where I live now, in Portland, there is no snow. Now this year that doesn't seem to really set it apart seeing as most parts of the country haven't seen much snow but nonetheless, it doesn't feel like Christmas to me. Add to that, due to my Thanksgiving Ditch Trip, I opted to forego a Christmas tree this year in the spirit of saving money and as I write this, a pumpkin candle I received from a friend on Halloween stares at me from my desktop as it castes a soft glow. Maybe this year also feels different because I haven't seen my family in over a year. This is the first time in my life that that has ever happened. I miss them a lot, which is also a first time experience for me seeing as most of my life, I never went more than a couple months without seeing them. I especially miss them now since several people I know have recently lost loved ones. It makes me worry that something horrible will happen to them before I can see them again. I know I don't have any control over that so there's no sense in worrying too much.
This year is the first I'm not spending Christmas with my family. This has even more of an impact as historically, Christmas is the only holiday we ever gathered for to celebrate. I'm finally understanding what it means to get those "holiday blues" and hope that in coming years, I'll be able to make a trip home to be with them. I can't imagine how much harder this will all be once my parents have passed on. I guess this is the price I pay though for following my dreams, of starting a new life in Oregon and leaving everyone I care about behind. The draw of Oregon is so much bigger though than missing my parents and my friends.
Ecola State Park
To be clear, I have absolutely no regrets about leaving Wisconsin. I love Oregon. I love living in Portland. I even love the rain! I love writing at my desk and hearing the rain patter against the window and watch it stream downward while I listen to music. Sometimes Cole joins me and sits on my lap, other times he hangs out in his bed on the floor near my feet. How incredibly lucky am I to be able to pursue my dreams? To have a job? To have both my parents still alive? To have a best and life-long friend? To have Cole? To be healthy and mobile? To be able to be creative through photography and writing? To learn new things? To be able to visit the coast and mountains whenever I want? To be surrounded by so much beauty in all directions?
Cole and I decided to spend Christmas on the coast, my souls true companion. The drive on highway 26 over the coastal range mountains was unusually snowy. Even though it was a bit nerve wracking, the beauty more than made up for it. The trees that line the roadsides were draped in thick snow and all of their branches hung low. It was truly like a winter wonderland. Now this felt like Christmas!!
Hug Point
We visited Ecola State Park first. There we discovered two things. One: Indian Beach was "closed", I imagine due to storm damage. Two: The viewpoint looking toward Haystack Rock was "permanently closed" because the ocean had literally reclaimed it. It is gone, forever, thanks to erosion. Cole played a bit with a dog we met there and I got lots of pictures, as usual.
After we were done at Ecola State Park, we headed south to Hug Point. The high tide didn't leave much sand to walk on but we managed just fine nonetheless. Due to a dog off-leash that "didn't play well with small dogs" according to it's owner, I left Cole on his leash while we walked along the beach. He wasn't too happy about that and frankly, neither was I. I can't imagine bringing an unsocial dog to the beach and then letting them off their leash to possibly cause problems with other dogs. Since the high tide made it impossible to get around Hug Point to visit the caves and waterfall, we didn't stay long before heading back north, toward Astoria.
View from Astoria Column
Once in Astoria, we stopped at the Astoria Column, which sits 600 feet above sea level and is 125 feet tall. Cole patiently waited in the car while I climbed the 164 steps to the top of the column. Once I took that last step and came to a door, I opened it and found it was a direct entry onto the narrow walkway that surrounded the column. My legs shook a bit and my heart raced but I wasn't going to let my fear of heights stop me from taking photos. I hugged the column with my back and slowly made an entire loop around the column to get the 360 degree view of Astoria, the Columbia River, Saddle Mountain, Youngs Bay, Youngs River and the Lewis and Clark River. Once I completed my loop and reached the door, I took one last look to appreciate the view and then began my decent down the spiral staircase to greet Cole, eagerly awaiting my return to the car.
Seeing as I've never taken highway 30 home from the the coast, I decided this would be a good day to see what that drive along the Columbia River was like. The drive was a lot less stressful than the drive earlier on highway 26 seeing as there was no snow to contend with. I even found a nice overlook where I got to pull over and see some very cool fog hover and slowly make its way over the hills and trees far below.
All in all, it was a good Christmas despite not having my family around. Exploring Oregon with my sidekick, Cole, is always a good time. Even when things go wrong. Luckily for us, today it was relatively smooth sailing and a very merry Christmas through my camera lens.
To view more of my photography from my nature-adventures, visit:
My goal: Trillium Lake (Photo by Mitch Schreiber Photography)
On Thanksgiving day, I planned to go for a short 172 mile road trip from Portland, to Trillium Lake on Mt. Hood, to Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks, and then back to Portland on Hwy 14 to explore the Washington side of the Gorge, stopping at any places along the way that looked good for photos. Once back in the city, I planned to meet up with a neighbor and then go out for Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant.
Cole and I got on the road around 10:00 AM and after grabbing a quick drive-through breakfast and filling up on gas, headed toward Mt. Hood on Hwy 26. I was hoping to stop at Mirror Lake first but quickly realized that there were not any roads to the lake, only hiking trails. Since I wasn't prepared for a winter hike, I continued on toward Trillium Lake. The gate for the forest road was open and although it was a bit snowy, it seemed relatively safe. As I headed down hill on the road, I soon came upon an SUV stopped in the middle of the narrow road, motioning for me to stop. I did so and then sat there for a bit, not knowing what was going on up ahead beyond the curve in the road. Since the guy ahead in the SUV wasn't coming over to me to fill me in, I threw my car in park, turned off the engine and got out, leaving Cole in the car, and walked up ahead to see what was happening.
Once I got a little farther down the road, I saw that there was a car that had spun out on an icy curve at the bottom of the hill, blocking traffic. Everyone appeared to be alright though and since there was nothing I could do to help, I turned around to head back to my car to wait for things to clear up. As I walked back toward my car, I saw that my car was sliding down the road, toward another car that was backing up and me! Fortunately, I was able to motion to the car backing up to get out of the way and my car gently slid off the road and stopped in some brush, getting hung up on a stump before going all the way over the edge and down a steep embankment. I quickly ran over to check on Cole and get him out of the car. I breathed a deep sigh of relief when I discovered he was perfectly fine, although clearly confused and a bit shaken. I got him and my cell phone out of the car and luckily had enough signal on my phone to look up a tow truck company and call for help.
The person I spoke with on the phone said that someone had already called ahead of me and that a tow truck driver was on the way. In the meantime, more cars began to arrive on the scene and quickly started to get stuck on the icy road when they had to also come to a stop on the hill. Luckily, there was a woman among the group with a wonderful thing called "snow socks". She let all the stuck cars use them to get up the hill and had my car stayed put, I would have been one of those lucky people. An hour later when Brian, the tow truck driver from Clackamas River Towing, showed up, there were only two cars to assist, me and the girl who had spun out down the hill causing all the chaos.
Brian proceeded to help get the car that had spun out up ahead, out of the way first since she had called for help first. He offered for me and Cole to sit in the tow truck to keep warm and suggested I call my insurance company to see if I had roadside assistance on my policy and if so, he could simply direct-bill my insurance. So, while he positioned the truck to tow the other car out, I navigated through a series of phone prompts and a couple different people at Allstate about my policy. Unfortunately, that's when two more unfortunate things happened. First, I discovered I did not have roadside assistance on my insurance plan and second, the tow truck winch was malfunctioning and Brian would not be able to get my car out without going back into town for a different truck. He was able to hook up the first car to the tow truck and simply drag it up the hill while someone sat in there and steered. After the first car was un-tethered at the top of the hill, I rode along with Brian back to the shop to get a different, fully functioning truck, to retrieve my car out of the ditch.
While in town, after switching vehicles, we made a quick stop for gatorade and snacks, which Brian treated me to as well seeing as my wallet was still in my car, and then headed back to the mountain to retrieve my car. While loading up my car, some more cars began to arrive. I stood on the roadside a bit farther up the road to try to alert traffic that the road was blocked up ahead but the first car to arrive had troubles stopping and proceeded to skid toward me on the ice, clearly out of control. I quickly ran to the other side of the road to avoid being run over and the car proceeded to crash stop on top of a small boulder on the side of the road. More cars quickly began to arrive behind that one and skidded to stops but were unable to turn around and get back up the hill due to the ice and were now stuck as well.
Once my car was pulled out of the embankment, we began to assess the damage. The stump that I was thankful for keeping my car from going over the edge of the embankment also wreaked a little havoc while my car was being dragged out. My front bumper was barely hanging on. My radiator was hanging a little low. My back bumper was also hanging on by a thread. Uncertain on whether my car would be able to make the hour and fifteen minute drive back to Portland, I opted to file a claim on my insurance policy and have my car towed back to Portland for repairs.
Meanwhile, the other cars that had gotten stuck in both directions of us called the same local towing company that was helping me at the time. Being a holiday, Brian was the only driver working that day, and his company was the only towing company for quite some distance who could help. Not wanting everyone to have to wait two and a half hours in the cold on the side of a mountain with the sun quickly going down, I opted to forego the immediate ride back to Portland, and let him take my car to the top of the road, drop it off, and go back to get everyone else out, one by one.
Thanksgiving dinner in the tow truck
While Cole and I hung out in the passenger seat of the truck, Brian went back one by one, rescuing all of the stranded drivers. One of the last cars he pulled out gave him some fruit, snacks and a bottle of wine as a tip. To show his appreciation for my patience, he offered the bottle of wine to me, which I graciously accepted after learning it was one of my favorite types of Riesling. Once everyone was gone and safely back on the road, we loaded up my car onto the flatbed and headed back to Portland but not before stopping at his neighbors house along the way who had two plates of their Thanksgiving dinner wrapped up and waiting for us to eat. I shared mine with Cole who seemed to appreciate the meal as much as Brian and I did. Once in Portland, we unloaded my car at the Toyota dealership and, not having a way home, Brian offered to drop me off at my apartment. Once home, I poured a big glass of bourbon and sat on the couch with Cole, thankful that he and I were both OK and reflected on the days events.
My parting gift
The next morning when I woke up, I had a voicemail from the dealership saying that they didn't do auto body work and that they recommended another place, J&M Collision, where they send all of their body work to. I called over to that body shop but there was no answer. I called back to the dealership and they said they'd call over to the manager at J&M and have someone get in touch with me. Long story short, it turns out the body shop was closed that day but lucky for me, the manager came in special to get my paperwork going and get me a loaner car through Enterprise. Unfortunately though, all of Enterprise's locations were sold out of cars because of the holiday weekend and they wouldn't be able to get me a car until the following day, Saturday, at noon. That wasn't going to be helpful though in getting me to the Southern Oregon coast on Friday afternoon where I had a non-refundable room reserved for a two day, one night photography trip.
So, what did I learn from this latest misadventure? First, don't go driving down mountain roads in late November in Oregon without tire traction (chains, snow socks or something else). Also, don't get out of your car if you can help it. Had I stayed put in my car, I would have been able to control it better when it started to slide down the road and likely would have avoided going off the road as far as it did. Most importantly though, I saw how wonderful people can be in times of need. People like the lady who was loaning out her snow socks to all the cars so they wouldn't have to pay for a tow. The other woman who gave away the snacks and wine in appreciation of Brian's help. The auto body manager who came in on his day off to try to get me a loaner car so I could make my next trip to the coast. Brian's neighbor who brought us Thanksgiving dinner in the truck. Maybe most inspiring though was Brian the tow truck driver. For not only giving me, the customer, his wine tip for my patience while he helped out the other people who were stuck but mostly for his positive attitude through the whole seven hour ordeal, despite being hungry and missing spending the holiday with his three year old daughter, just to work on Thanksgiving, helping people in need avoid freezing to death on a side of a mountain. It wasn't the Thanksgiving I was expecting but in the end, I think it was better than anything I could have ever planned.
For a fun little photographic and musical slideshow of my journey that day, check out this video:
To view more of my photography from my nature-adventures, visit:
