time warp: summer bike trip with Dad

In August my dad and I took a weekend trip to the Oregon coast on his 1996 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail.

We started in Salem and headed west, stopping at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Cape Meares on the way up to Astoria. Had never been to any of those places before, so was awesome for me.

Tillamook Cheese Factory was crowded and the store at the end of the self-guided tour made me feel claustrophobic and panicky, but watching them make the cheese in the vats, and watching the machines poop out enormous bricks of yellow cheese, and seeing how the huge bricks of cheese come out of the aging coolers onto the conveyor belt & get chopped down into 1-lb. loaves and packaged...man, that was cool!

Cape Meares was on our agenda because my friend Cheryl told me about the Octopus Tree, which sounded interesting, and it was, but not as interesting as the fat banana slug we found partially smooshed nearby.

To the left is the Octopus Tree, which is really just a deformed Sitka Spruce. Some people think Native Americans rested burial canoes in the branches when the tree was young, which is why the tree ended up that way.

To the right is the banana slug. Gross, eh? =*)

We got to Astoria after dark and stayed with a friend of my dad's who reminded me quite a lot of Grandma Mary. The impression was strengthened by the fact that she treated me like one of her own grandkids. We ate dinner at a fancy seafood restaurant on the pier (very good food), and the next day we went to see the Astoria monument and the Goonies house. We also went down to the docks, where we saw dozens of fat, ornery sea lions lined up along the docks, alternately napping and barking for no apparent reason. They were hilarious, but I could see why the local fishermen don't appreciate them blocking the passage to the boats.

Riding on the back of the Harley is always something of a challenge. I think I do a pretty good job of going with the flow and not trying to counter-balance the turns, but since I'm not hanging onto my dad and the backrest only comes about halfway up my back, it's a challenge to stay comfortably upright while we're zooming down the highway at 55mph with the wind pushing at my torso (or accelerating or going up a hill). I guess my back must be bendier than most people's. It gives my stomach a killer workout though. And I love being in the open air, smelling the breeze and the smoke from the campfires, feeling the mist on my face and the wind against my clothes. I don't even mind getting rained on a little bit.

For more photos of this trip, click here.

Indianapolis--part 2

Place: downtown is pretty much what I expected, though I did see a public square last night that reminded me quite a bit of Madrid in that a memorial column thingy was in the center, people and bikes parked on its steps, and all around the square were restaurants with outdoor patios & people actually sitting outside enjoying the last of the warm (i.e. 60 degree) weather. There is a Hard Rock Cafe here, which I didn't expect at all, as well as a couple "Irish" pubs and some very nice restaurants downtown, one of which is in my hotel--called Shula's--and is horribly overpriced but the food tastes good. The hotel itself--the Westin--has a magnificent lobby but room doors that don't open on the first try and drains that don't drain properly and bath towels as rough as sandpaper and a 12-oz bottle of water that would cost me $3 to touch. Speaking of water, the water that comes out of the tap here is positively undrinkable (yucky yuck yuck!). Ah well. At least there's free HBO and a very comfy bed.

People: at the conference I met a couple colleagues from South Texas College and one from a community college in Western Pennsylvania. Had dinner last night with the STC peeps: it was very nice of them to invite me out and I was not completely neglected, bu they did spend quite a bit of time on their Crackberries and reminiscing to each other about past trips to other places with other people. Hmph. The guy from Western PA was a PhD in Higher Ed, married, originally from Rhode Island (where I lived for a short time when I was younger), not completely satisfied with his job and trying to figure out what would make both him and his wife happy ever after. At the pub next door to the hotel tonight (where I went for dinner, thank you very much) I met four fine gentlemen between the ages of 26 and 70 who kept me entertained until I no longer had the will to finish grading papers. One of said gentlemen is a bartender at Shula's, two are bartenders at pub-next-door, and one is a Vietnam vet who is a regular at pub-next-door and who complimented me several times on my cleavage. Hmm.

Indianapolis--part 1

I am off to Indianapolis for a professional conference. Am far more excited about the conference than I am about Indianapolis. I've never been there, but I've never heard anything about the city that would cause me to be curious about it either. And the tourism photos I've seen feature downtown modern glass skyscrapers, which doesn't particularly appeal to my imagination.

Then again, a lot of the Portland tourism photos feature our downtown skyscrapers, with or without the river and bridges included either in the foreground or background, and while it's a nice view, it's not representative of the Portland I've come to know and love.

So here I am at PDX, having arrived at the gate a couple hours before departure time, taking advantage of the free Internet and trying to imagine what Indianapolis will be like while knowing full well that I won't have time to explore more than a few downtown blocks around my hotel. At least I'll be staying in a nice hotel.

I realized shortly after arriving at the airport that I hadn't even thought to bring my camera, which might be an indication either of how rarely I take photos or of my assumption that there won't be anything worth taking photos of. We shall see.

photos posted on Facebook

If you're interested in seeing the photos from our trip, click these links (separately):

Album 1: Manchester & Wales

Album 2: The Cumbria Way

have reached Carlisle alive

We did it! And actually walked the whole way, despite entertaining thoughts of taking a bus or train from time to time.

Yesterday was the longest & hardest day for us, 15 or 16 miles made more difficult by sheer exhaustion. Main lesson learned on this trek: we were not as in shape as we thought we were.

Celebrated our arrival in Carlisle last night by hobbling a few blocks to a lovely Italian restaurant, where we ate 4 courses and drank lots of wine. Delish!

At the moment is pouring buckets outside while we finish up our time on the Internet in the Central Library. Don't have much on the agenda today except Starbucks and getting back to Manchester. Is so refreshing to not have to walk across poop-littered fields and through mud and over miles and miles of uneven, stone-covered paths. No steep climbs for us today. Whoopee!

A brief sketch of our Lake District walk: dripping sweat, beating sun, aching feet and legs, lots of sheep and cows, even more sheep and cow shit, losing the trail every day and walking at least a mile out of the way, hating the stupid guidebook, learning to read the map (sort of), clear streams, wildflowers galore, dramatic hills, mountains and valleys, long blue lakes, wading across fields of tall grass, a grand sense of accomplishment.

Still in Conwy

Turns out that we love Conwy so much and there's so much to do from here that we've decided to spend the rest of our Wales time here. Hooray!

The scene: Conwy lies at the mouth of an estuary, its medieval castle perched on a rock above the river. It was a walled city back in the day, and much of the wall has been restored and is still walkable today. To the west along the coastline lies the ocean. To the south lies the rolling hills and mountains. The colors are deep blue, vibrant green, and intense purple.

The first day we were here we walked along the town walls and all around the little town, along the promenade, onto the grounds of the cricket club.

The second day we walked along the river/coast to Llandudno (pronounced Cthlan-DID-noh), around that town and back again.

Day three took us along the Conwy side of the estuary/coast walk to the Conwy marina and beyond to a rocky shore.

Day four we hiked up Conwy Mountain on turfed paths among the sheep and rabbit dung, the foxgloves and some other beatiful purple flowers growing out of low bushes. The sea was on our right, the mountains on our left, the sky was cloudless and bright blue, the colors of the grasses, flowers and water were unreal. We couldn't imagine a more idyllic walk in Wales than this.

Day five, yesterday, we took the bus to Trefiw (pronounced TREH-view), checked out the Woolen Mill store, walked across a field to Llanrwst (CTHLAN-roost), walked along a creek to a tea house that had been recommended to us, ate a homemade currant scone with strawberry jam and whipped cream and butter, caught another bus to Betws-y-Coed (too complicated to explain pronunciation) where we took a walk along a river across a field dotted with sheep and through a wood. Was also a good food day, as the placed we lunched at in Betws-y-Coed and our dinner place here in Conwy cooked us probably the best meals we've had so far.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Mom and I joke to each other that it's a good thing we experience Rhyl first so we could really appreciate where we are now.

I admit I'm getting tired of the sunshine and of having to slather on the 50 SPF every day, but the good news came this morning that we're supposed to get a thunderstorm this afternoon. Woohoo!

Tomorrow or Sunday we'll head to Ulverston, where our Lake District walk begins. If it's anything like our Conwy Mountain walk, it'll be gorgeous and perfect.

alive & well

We did in fact arrive in England more or less on time, and we are well (some sunburn aside).

Evidently public libraries are the places to get Internet access, but we only figured this out a day or two ago. But here we are!

Since we only have a few minutes for free on the computer, I'll just stick to the highlights:

Manchester is gritty, gritty, gritty. Not super pedestrian-friendly, though now that I think of it so far everywhere we've gone people have been driving like maniacs. Had some good food and some not so good food in MAN. Friend P. picked us up from the airport, showed us around, nice time had but wouldn't recommend MAN to the masses. Lyme Park nearby, however, is definitely a must-see.

Then there was Prestatyn and Rhyl. Oh. My. God. Miles of arcades and kiddie rides and tacky. Nice walk by the ocean between though.

We're in Conwy now, which is PERFECT. Exactly what I imagined our trip to be: quaint, picturesque, lots of nice walks, history to see, beautiful rolling hills on one side and the ocean on the other. Lovely scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream yesterday helped too.

Walked to Llandudno, which is where we're using the library. When we started out this morning it was raining lightly and looked cloudy for miles, but about halfway around the estuary the sun came out and burned my face. Again. Only on the days when I'm not wearing sunscreen, of course. Boo.

But to sum up, we're now having a brilliant time and loving it...though based on our energy levels after two days of walking we are worried about our ability to walk the Cumbria Way without collapsing from exhaustion at the end of each day.

More when I can. Pictures will be posted when we get back to the States.

Next Up: England & Wales

The last time I went to England was two autumns ago. I went to Nottingham to visit my friend Sam. The immigration officer who gave me the third degree as I came into the country was quite rude (as usual); 2 tall mochas at Starbucks cost $10; the Robin Hood exhibit at Nottingham castle was disappointing in the extreme as it was based on a new TV show airing in England at the time; I attended a real English pub quiz (at a church) and multiple people of various ages let me video them saying "she's a ho, fo' sho'" in their English accents; and I generally had a fantastic time bumming around.

The time before that my mother and I spent two weeks on what I called "The English Major's Geek Tour." The trip was a present when I graduated from LC with a B.A. in English. We started in London and drove in a big circle, hitting things like Jane Austen's grave, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, a few parts of the Lake District, Edinburgh, York. On that trip Mom and I discovered that we travel remarkably well together...except when driving is involved.

This trip there will be no driving, just a lot of walking, some train-riding, and perhaps even a little busing and ferrying. We intend to spend about 8 days, with no schedule or reservations, meandering along the north coast of Wales (bore da!) and then another 8 days (with schedule and reservations) hiking the Cumbria Way, from Ulverston to Carlisle. I am very much looking forward to coming back with a new body. =*)

trip to Montreal, part 2

Montreal looks just like Paris! Oh wait, that is Paris. Oh yes, I remember now.

Only ever got as far as Seattle. When I got there, the plane that was supposed to take us to Washington/Dulles, and its crew, were...guess where! That's right: San Francisco. Awesome.

Got them to send me back to Portland on the 11pm Horizon flight (which the United person had to fight for because U.S. Airways doesn't have a relationship with Horizon & they didn't want to do it even though I'd sunk a sh*tload of money into this stupid ticket) and went home to bed.

Next day, slept in until 12:30pm (woohoo!) and later drove down to my mom's house for the weekend. Got to see much of the family for lunch on Sunday, spent the rest of the weekend lying around, watching TV, looking on the Internet for houses with Mom. Lovely!

Yes, I could've spent the whole weekend moping and making myself unhappy about my aborted trip, but I would rather enjoy myself. So I did.

trip to Montreal, part 1

Am taking my first trip abroad since I got back from Madrid last July. Is good to be back in the saddle!

My trip to Montreal has begun with a delayed flight and then a rerouting altogether. Was supposed to leave PDX at 6:27pm tonight on my first of three flights (even left work early to be sure to be here in plenty of time), but the bad weather there has delayed all flight in & out of SFO indefinitely. Poop. Now am scheduled to leave at 8:45pm for Seattle.

If everything goes according to (the new) plan, I will arrive in Montreal not much more than an hour later than originally planned, so will still have two full days there.

All day I've been experiencing mild anxiety for some unknown reason. When I finally examined this tonight, over a beer at the airport, I decided it was not because I am doomed to die (as my paranoia would have me believe), but because I am stepping out of my comfort zone for the first time in over nine months. I change depending on my environment, and because I have never been to Montreal before, I don't know who I'll be when I get there. Is thrilling and frightening at the same time.

And then there is always the risk of mechanical failure. But worrying will not change what is to be. And if science is to be believed, the fact that I've flown many times without dying suggests that I will again not die this time. Comforting, no? =*)

So I will sit here drinking my overpriced bottled water and munching on my overpriced King Sized Twix for the next hour or so, until they decide it's time to board.

Bon Voyage!