Day 216: Portland

This morning, I had to stop by a pretty popular restaurant in Oregon, Voodoo Donuts, which is known for putting crazy ingredients on their donuts. I got the Bacon Maple, sweet and salty!

I then headed off to Portland. I connected with my friend Crystal's sister, Jenna,  who is living in Portland; luckily, she is going to let me crash on her couch.

First thing I wanted to do was check out a couple of Portland's 60 microbrews. I first headed over to Hair of the Dog. I got a sandwich and a couple beer samplers to wash it down.

I then headed into downtown to do some exploring. Downtown Portland is really cool, it is definitely not a typical US city. One way roads, full wide bike lanes everywhere, and electric streetcars everywhere. Thats one thing that I found odd in California; in busy places like San Francisco and Los Angeles buses had their own designated lane. However, in the mid 20th century places like LA were riddles with electric streetcars; believe it or not, those streetcar companies were bought up by large US car companies at the time, the tracks were removed, the streetcars discarded and replaced by highways and large buses. Somehow, Portland dodged that bullet.

Portland has taken large steps to "keep Portland weird." There is a large hipster population, everyone supports local businesses, and there is a large entrepreneur culture here. There is a funny TV show called Portlandia, while is is an exaggerated comedy, it does a pretty good job at describing Portland. The Columbia River runs right through Portland. I think Portland should be nicknamed the City of Bridges because there are so many bridges connecting the city.

While I was walking around in the downtown area, I saw a lot of homeless people. There was a large food program going on, so all of them were congested in one area. All of these people looked really bad, you could definitely tell who was a drug addicts and easily pick out the guys who were still high on drugs, head bobbling talking and yelling at no one. Time to pick a new place to explore...

I ended up stumbling upon an area that was full of food carts, another thing that Portland is known for. I briefly took myself back to the Middle East and got a lamb kabab, oh so good!

I then came across the Rock Bottom microbrew and decided to pop in for a couple samplers.

Afterwards, I headed over to meet up with Jenna and her boyfriend. That night we went to the larges movie rental store in the world (yes they still exist), with over 90,000 titles and got a good movie wot watch on their projection screen back home.

Day 215: Eugene

Packed up my gear and headed back to the car. As you can tell, I am moving rather fast. It may seem as though I don't really get to enjoy everything but I really am; would one more night in the woods make me appreciate the Crater Lake National Park more? Like I have said before, I want to see all that I possibly can, and you can't do that by sticking around for a week just to take in the beauty of Crater Lake. Gots to go.

My goal was to make it to the coast and then head north to Portland tomorrow and stop in Eugene for lunch. Well I had no clue that Eugene is home to the University of Oregon; it is such a beautiful campus that looks like it was built last year. Luscious green grass and plants everywhere acompanied by new aged buildings that had plenty of glass. I decided to stay and explore the campus a little bit.

Luckily the motel I was staying in had a little kitchen in it so I was finally able to cook the pasta that I bought weeks ago. A little "home-cooked meal" to put me to sleep. 

Day 214: Crater Lake National Park

I got up early this morning and made my way to Oregon; its been great California, but I got to go.

Wow, Oregon is really beautiful. I drove hard Northeast to get to the park, straight through large cow and sheep farms with the occasional horse running around, and rolling mountains in the backdrop. Small towns; old gas stations with the old silo looking gas pumps (its also illegal to pump your own gas); the road side caution signs are of deer, cattle, snowmobile, and horse rider cautions. I am already really liking this State!

Once I got to the Ranger Station, I got my permit and headed to the lake. This lake is no ordinary lake. Over 7,000 years ago Mount Mazama volcano began to erupt and caved in on itself. Over the thousands of years that followed, a combination of rain and snow created the lake that is here today. Since there is no other source of water or runoff running into the lake, it is regarded as one of the clearest lakes in the world, setting a record clarity of 142ft!! The lake is really amazing; there is even a small volcano on Wizard Island, which sits almost on the edge of the lake.

Once I got done checking out the lake, I headed down to my campsite. Once again, in the woods with nothing but nature; it is a pretty amazing experience. I thought that I would be spoiled by camping first in the Redwoods, while the trees aren't half as tall, it is still an amazing forest. After I ate dinner, I realized a terrible thing: I forgot my rope to hang up my food bag from bears. I can either take the four mile walk back at night and get the rope or figure something out. Next thing I know I'm halfway up a tree trying to tie up my food bag while not breaking my neck. With my food secured up a tree, I got a peaceful night sleep.

California Wrap Up

Spending the past couple weeks in California was great, catching up with both new and old friends was even better. Being in California, I might as well be in another country; the culture is so different from South Carolina, and California itself is very diverse. You have surfers, beach volleyballers, and the rich and famous in the south; tech savvy, wine lovers, and hipsters in the middle; and rural, green, and outdoor driven in the north. Northern California did remind me a lot of the south. The towns were often small, spread out, and poor; big trucks, farms, and a "yes sir" where everywhere you looked. The only thing Northern California is missing is "y'all" and the confederate flag.

The south of San Francisco, California is like a hot desert. The plants look like those in a dry desert and the air is also dry to go along with it. It can get really hot during the day and then be very cold at night. In northern California, you have constant fog mixed with rain and some of the greenest trees I have ever seen; not to mention my favorite, the Redwoods!!

I definitely did not spend enough time in California. I would have wanted to spend at least a week and a half alone exploring all the Redwoods! If you truly wanted to do this trip right: rent a car, bring a friend who you have done a long road trip with before, hook up bikes to the back of the car, and strap two canoes to the top of the car. Boom.. now you have yourself a West Coast Road Trip Machine.

Day 213: Crescent City

Birds chirping is the best alarm clock. I cooked up some breakfast and then headed off into the woods again to do some hiking. I didn't pack up all my stuff because time is of the escense and, unfortunately, I have to move on. 

After an afternoon of hiking, I broke camp and headed north. I entered the close by Cresent City, found a motel, showered, and crashed. All of the wood from the motel was made out of one Redwood tree; cool!

Day 212: Redwood National Park

I decided to leave the KOA campsite and do some real camping. One thing that I forgot about the US is that this country is covered with National Parks and you can sleep in all of the for free. Theres got to be someone out there who just goes from National Park to National Park living in the woods for free.

So, I have never really camped before and definitely not by myself and never in bear areas; I don't really know what to expect at all. I headed to the ranger station, got a permit, stocked up on supplies, and headed out.

I wasn't sure how much to pack, what to pack, and what not to pack; definitely a learning experience. With my bags packed, I headed in. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Endless forests of the oldest trees in the world and NO ONE around. I picked out a spot a couple our before sundown, unpacked all my gear, and gathered firewood. I can't even describe how amazing it is to be in this park; I definitely think that I have spoiled myself by camping for the first time in the Redwoods, I don't think anything can compare. I walked around in the rocked creekbed so that I could truly appreciate the height of these trees. The creek is lined with normal trees, behind those are the Redwoods. At first I was thrown off, thinking that the Redwoods were just on a hill, but no... they are about two and a half times the size of a normal tree.

Walking through the Redwoods, I am only interrupted by a scurrying chipmunk, or the piercing screech of a hawk as it swoops down to its prey; ahh the great outdoors. That night I built a small fire, enjoyed my dinner and silence, and relaxed in my tent as the thunder and lightning rumbled me to sleep.

Day 211: Eureka

As great as the wine country was, I had to move on, waving Catherine and the grapes goodbye. I booked a night at a KOA campsite further north in Eureka, California. I was told by some people in Cambria that Eureka is a great spot to camp and explore. Again, I chose to take Highway 1 so I could continue to follow the beautiful coast. 

Eventually Highway 1 and Highway 101 come together for form a road that is known as the Redwood Highway, I started to pass some Redwood Trees. Wow, these trees are magnificent. I stopped off at the famous drive through tree; unfortunately, the hole is much smaller than I thought and I was unable to fit through the tree. However, it is still magnificent that a tree can be so big that a car can fit through it. 

Once I got to Humbodlt Redwoods State Park, a large park filled with massive Redwood trees. I came across an exit sign on Redwood Highway (HWY 101) is The Avenue of Giants. Even though I was running late, I didn't care where this road led me I was taking it. It turns out the road runs next to HWY 101 but really takes you through the Redwoods on a slow one laned road. These trees are MASSIVE! Some of them are even bulging into the road. If I ran head into one of these trees a branch probably wouldn't even fall off. I just had to stop a couple times and explore parts of the park.

Well I was pretty upset once I arrived at the KOA campsite. The campsite is in a town, there really isn't anything to see in the area, and the "campsite" has a pool and showers. Not what I had in mind.