Trip to Oregon

It's been a long time since I've written in my blog, hasn't it?  To be honest, I've had my mind on other things than writing lately, and I'm just now getting to editing my photos from more than a month ago.

I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but I now have an Instagram account.  You should follow me and see the photos I upload!

Reminiscing on Old Times

It's been five years since I was last in Oregon.  Back in August of 2008, Adam, Annie, John, and I went to Oregon when Adam was planning to drive across the US on his bicycle.  That plan never turned out, but the trip was one of the best times I've had in my life.  In life we seldom have what any of us would call a perfect day, but it seemed as if the second day of that trip was just that.  The following excerpt comes from my MySpace blog back then:

First I took my car over to the Lube Express to give it an oil change.  We went to Dairy Queen while we waited.  Anna hadn't ever eaten there and really thought that this was a really cool place to have breakfast/lunch.  When we got back to the Lube Express, they told me that they had discovered a dead mouse in the air filter of the engine.  The thing looked like a piece of leather with whiskers!  Anyway, on their advice, I had my air filter replaced and area cleaned out, and since my automatic transmission fluid hadn't been flushed for about 30,000 miles, I had them flush and replace that too.  While we waited on them to do that, we walked around the park that was nearby.

Afterward, we drove to Newport, Oregon.  Once we got there, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  We met my good friend from college Jessie, who is now married.  I didn't get to meet her new husband, but it was great to see her again.  It has been more than four years since I've seen her.  Jessie had to get ready for her new husband to get home (she was going to make dinner for him! ), so we parted ways.

We drove to the bay and ate at a nice restaurant called Mo's.  It's a well-known historical restaurant.  While we were in there, I thought to myself that this would be one of the restaurants that my mom would've liked to take me to, and then I realized that she wasn't there anymore.  We all had a lot of fun there too.

Later we drove to the South Beach State Park in Newport.  We stayed there for the rest of the afternoon and all evening.  Anna and Adam went into the water, even though it was absolutely freezing.  Deuce thought about it but I think it was a bit too cold for him too.  John and I pretty much stayed on the water's edge for a little while because we didn't really want to get that cold.  After that, then John built a campfire on the beach and we stayed until about 10:00 p.m.  Then we drove back to Albany, Oregon.

John, Adam, and I played Uno until about three in the morning once we got back to where we were staying.

While we were there in 2008, I also visited some aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We had this absolutely amazing salmon barbecue at my Aunt Lolly's house.  In all I really had a good time back then.

My New Adventure

I didn't really plan my trip to Oregon.  I made last-minute preparations since I planned on surprising Adam, who lives in Albany, OR at this point in time.  I got in the car on November 2, 2013 and drove from Gardiner to Twin Falls, ID, and stayed at the Days Inn just off the Interstate at Twin Falls.  It's a pretty nice hotel, and I'd go there again.

 

The next day I drove the rest of the way to Salem, OR.  Right before I got to Portland, I almost had an accident with a two-car pile-up in the left lane of the Interstate.  It was raining, the road had a lot of curves, and everyone was driving about 65 mph.  All of a sudden, I saw these two cars stopped in the lane in front of me.  I tried to slow down, but I wasn't going to make it.  I was able to move enough into the right lane to avoid the accident on the left by mere inches.  The adrenaline was pumping pretty good by then.  Fortunately, the cars on my right let me get in a bit to avoid that mess!

I met my college friend Little Jess in Salem and stayed the night at her friend's house.  It's been a really long time since I've seen her.  She's no longer married, but she's still the same Little Jess.

So On November 4, Jess and I headed to Albany where I surprised Adam at the Starbucks.  He wasn't expecting me, so she called him to tell him that a package to him was accidentally sent to her, and she wanted to meet him in a public place to give it to him.  He circled the building in his car a couple times, and was just about ready to leave without coming inside the store when she explained that a friend of his was there.  He finally came inside, reluctantly.  Of course he was shocked to see me.  He realized after all this time that I had previously been fishing for information about his work schedule and whatnot.

Adam and I at Starbucks in Albany, Oregon (photo by Little Jess)

That night arrangements were made for me to stay at Adam's grandaunt's and granduncle's house.  By the way, they're siblings, and not married.  Anyway, that day, Jess and I found out that Adam's granduncle Hank was one of the 52 veterans who protested at the Washington Memorial in October.  It was amazing hearing his side of the story after hearing things from the media.  The guy is more than 90 years old [correction 12/21/2013 - he's 89 years old.], and is still able to travel across the country.  He truly is spry for his age!

I hung out with Adam that evening at his and his mother's house in a nearby neighborhood.  We watched a movie before I went back to his grandaunt's and granduncle's place for the night.

Tuesday November 5 was pretty mellow.  That evening, Adam came to the house, and so did his grandmother Dorothy.  Arlene, his grandaunt, made some wonderful pork chops, and after dinner, we laughed a bit and played Skip-Bo.  It was good to see my buddy laugh.
 

Adam, his grandmother Dorothy, and myself (photo by Dorothy)

Adam didn't have to work on November 7, so we went to the Oregon Zoo in Portland.  We went to the zoo with a little boy named Wyatt, and another new friend named Caitie.  The weather was drizzling for most of the day, but it was tolerable.

I hadn't been there since 1990 when I went there with my parents and brothers.  I even remember going to the the Enchanted Forest back then.
 

Wyatt takes his cotton candy seriously.

A Speke's gazelle at the Oregon Zoo

That night we ate at Five Guys in Salem.  I hadn't eaten there and I liked it a lot.

It was time for me to head back to Montana November 8, so I had lunch with my Little Friend Jess at Red Robin in Salem, and then drove to Boise for the night where I stayed at the Super 8.

 

On November 9, my mom's birthday, I drove from Boise to Gardiner and made it safely home.  If my mom was alive today, she would be 60 years old.

On my way home, I made a stop in Pocatello to visit with my cousin Kim.  I haven't seen her in about a year.  I enjoyed catching up with her, but she was the only relative I got to see on this trip.

This trip to see Adam was a bit more relaxed, but it was good to see old friends.  I hope I can see them again soon!  It was too bad that I couldn't hook up with more of my relatives in the Salem area, but maybe some other time it will work out.