Blog 22 Aug 2008 03:19 pm
Northwest Fresh
I was finally able to get out to Eugene, OR to visit my brother about a week ago. It was my first venture into the Northwest region of the country and I must say I was impressed by the lay of the land. Truly gorgeous up there and it smells good to boot. With cool breezes coming in off the coast and being surrounded by lush vegitation with interesting peaks and valleys, not to mention Mt Rainier and Mt Hood off in the distance, it’s easy to see why one would want to live there. Then again, I did show up in the summer and not the rainy season.
I departed on a Wednesday morning from Denver International Airport aboard a United Airlines flight destined for Portland, OR. The flight was pretty typical touching down in Portland without event. It was pretty sweet coming in through the thick clouds, of which Mt. Hood towered above, to finally see the city show up on the underside of the cloud cover. Portland’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be and the airport was quite a bit smaller than I expected as well. From there I boarded a smaller aircraft, a Brasilia modeled aircraft to be precise, that took me off to my final destination in Eugene, Oregon. The trip was a little more turbulent as smaller aircraft are but half an hour later I was there and glad to be done flying. I’d had what must’ve been a migraine (my first) on the flight in from Denver and was still a little nauseous from the whole ordeal. I only had my single carry-on bag so I scooted through the terminal and found my brother waiting for me next to a cafe near the entrance. I actually caught him purusing something at the counter so he didn’t see me descend the escalator and I snuck up behind him and pretended to stare at the escalator with him and the other folks waiting for arrivals. He caught on and at last, I was there.
We drove through the countryside and into town. He toured me around the downtown area a bit by car and then we stopped at a sandwich place for a bite. I think it was called Herb’s Subs or some such. Mostly chicken based sandwiches with ingredients literally pouring over the sides of the bread. Definitely hit the spot. From there we headed back to his pad where I unloaded and got comfortable. I met his neighbors and we just kinda sat around and caught up with each other. One of his neighbors brought over the flick Idiocracy which Eric hadn’t seen yet, a true classic, and so we watched that through in it’s entirety. That night we walked over to a true back porch restaurant, a McMenamins locale, called the High Street Brewery and Cafe which was all of about 2 blocks from Eric’s pad. We had some grub, some beer, and some laughs and headed back to his place for the night. I got cozy on the futon and ended Day 1 in Eugene.
The next day I slept in like I hadn’t slept-in in months… which was true, mostly. It felt good to be on vacation. Eric had a class to attend, the start of which I just about slept-in until, so I got up and took a walk around the area. I didn’t really know where I was per say or where I was going so I just started walking in one direction. Eventually I got a sense of the direction other people were headed so I started moving that way too. Wouldn’t ya know it that I ended up on the campus of the University of Oregon. Man, what a gorgeous campus. Giant trees of species I’ve never seen shade vast courtyards and lawns with lushly landscaped pathways leading between a host of different buildings. I really wasn’t there all that long but I walked around a section of it all and got a pretty good feeling for it I think. After that I headed back to Eric’s place as it was nearing the time he’d be out of class.
When he did get back we headed out for a little hike. Skinner’s (or some other dude) Butte was the place, the closest, highest, visible point from city. The hike was pretty sweet and tropical even. The closest I’ve ever been to trekking through a rain forest for certain. Eric informed me that in the rainy season it’s even greener, but I was more than impressed at it’s current state. All sorts of moss covered trees towering upward with a plethora of ferns and other vegetation surrounding their bases on the forest floor. It felt like a magic elf or forest nymph would pop out at any moment. We made the vertical climb to the top of the butte, which jutted out from the rain forest conditions into a rocky grassy mount, and rested while we stared out over the city, and the state for that matter. Some all-too-friendly squirrels feasted on some vittles that Eric had brought and we took in the site from all sides.
Back from the hike we thought we’d go check out the closest frisbee golf course set in a local park. Since I’m typing this like 2 weeks later I don’t quite remember the flow of everything succinctly but I do believe we went and ate at Burrito Boy first. When we got to the park it was pretty crowded and we opted not to be butted in between other frolfers chuckin’ discs so we headed out. We went atop of a place called Skinner’s lookout or something where you could get a view of the whole city. We met up with Betsy and grabbed some beers at Horse bar or something… I’m real good with names as you can tell. From there we got some vittles at Safeway, grabbed some beer, and setup to play a little beer pong. Two more of Eric’s friends joined us and I was happy to hold my own at the game. We played into the night and crashed out with visions of sandy beaches in our future.
We woke up and headed out to the coast to catch a glimpse of, and dip our toes in, the Pacific Ocean. At some point we were on the historic highway 101 and the whole drive in itself was quite a site, weaving through sections of forest and tributaries that spill into the ocean. We parked along side a coastal highway at an area next to the Hobbit Trail trail-head. It was pretty sweet little hike down to the coast and it became obvious how the Hobbit Trail got it’s name because I’m pretty sure we went right past The Shire. The last little leg took us through this completely foliage covered area where you popped out of nowhere and were right there on the beach. There were only 2 other parties there along this massive beach so it was a pretty sweet scene to have just about to yourself. We tossed a frisbee and this flying cone/cylinder shaped thing around for a while and then wandered down the beach to where the cove ended at this huge rock outcrop. We poked around and some shells and sand dollars but really only found 1 good sand dollar. After hanging out for about an hour or so we packed up and headed back up the Hobbit Trail.
Back at the car we drove down the road and bit and stopped by the Sea Lion Lookout attraction and tried to glimpse some sea lions without paying, but had no such luck. We continued on into the town of Florence where we ate at a place called the Waterside Restaurant that was a converted house right along a big river that dumped into the ocean. Great menu with great food and prices, quaint location, but terrible service. This douchebag kid that was serving us only had about 4 tables and he couldn’t keep a one of them happy. Again, good food though.
From there we hit up this new casino they got out there. The Three Rivers Casino to be precise. We started out with some slots here and there and eventually sat down at a blackjack table where we tore it up and were easily up $400. I thought I’d go try may hand at some hold-em, my game of choice, and didn’t do as well as I’d of liked. After a few hours or so we were back to what we’d originally spent, about $150 lighter overall, and so we headed back to the car to travel back Eugene. We had a couple beers at Eric’s place and called it a night.
The next day we slowly got up and got the day started with some sandwiches at Quiznos. From there we hit the Unniversity store for some reminders of the trip and went over to a roller skate store to purchase some tickets for that evenings big Roller Derby bout. Yes, chicks on skates knocking each other around in the pursuit of points on a flat track. We killed the time until the match at a sweet frisbee golf course about 15 minutes outside of town, stopping first at Eric’s work to check it out and gas up. The frisbee golf course was set in both an open area for some of the holes and a forested area, as is much of Eugene, for most of the holes. Check out the pictures for a feeling of the lay of several of the holes. We didn’t keep track but I’m pretty sure I placed (action shot!) in the top 3. Definitely a fun time.
We were off to the Roller Derby. My first time to such an event and the pre-game hype was pretty electric. It was pretty easy to catch on to the rules and flow of the game and it definitely held your interest watching various players with bad ass names circle a track playing both offense and defense simultaneously to try and best the other team. No blood was spilled but I enjoyed it none the less.
The next day was my last and I packed up and headed to the airport. I flew out on the same course I’d come in on and was refreshed overall by the trip. I’ll definitely be back someday.
-Matt
