vacation 4 of 2010

It is late October and I have yet to recap vacation 4. Dragging these recaps out gives me another reason to look at summer pictures (and makes me contemplate getting a haircut). Vacation 4 was really special—it was a hang out session with old friends and cute babies, followed up with an encore trip to the OSF.

I went to Portland to meet with some rad ladies who’ve been in my life for more than 18 years (feeling so old!). It was very short, but within the span of 48 hours, I managed to: 1. eat two different fried pies, 2. go down a few depressing facebook holes, 3. witness the culminating performance of best summer camp I have ever heard of, 4. hold a really cute baby, 5. learn/play poker, 6. play pictionary, 7. hang out with Bea (!), and 8. pick blackberries.

This was a band formed during a summer session of the rock camp for girls that blew my mind wide open. Tiny, little girls were writing their own song lyrics about candy, summer and fun. Then learning to play instruments! At the end, they got to develop their own personal “stage presence” and perform their song for a ton of people. Super inspiring!


Here’s a picture of the Portland food carts—the site of my consumption of 2 different fried pies (peanut butter/chocolate and chocolate/coconut). They also sell things like fries with vegan poutine. Portland is possibly the hippest city in the US. The food carts embody this.


Then we drove down to Eugene! We stayed at Aurelia’s house and generally lay about as women of leisure. I held this baby a lot—he charms the pants off of everyone he meets with his smiling and overall pleasant nature! His name is Quentin.


After parting ways with my old friends, I took a train from Eugene down to Ashland to meet my gentleman caller. The train ride was absolutely beautiful—it’s on the Amtrak Coast Starlight route. It felt a little old-timey, and I did get slightly bored near the end, but I’d still recommend it. Trains! (The solution to many modern problems) I think I’d like to do the whole route at some point and rent a sleeping cabin. The guy sitting next to me was named Sheldon Stark Jr. and he informed me that his father was a famous TV writer. I went home to confirm this to be truth (through the imdb)! We chatted for a long time about California, natural resources, his love of trains and the quality of train food.




When I got to Ashland, I was picked up by this dude:


We saw the stage adaptation of Throne of Blood and drove home down the I-5. Here’s Mount Shasta from the window at 70 mph.