DAY 13: PORTLAND --> EUGENE

After a third night on the hammock cot, I'm sold. There are people who sleep in hammocks while camping instead of using a traditional tent, and I've always been a skeptic. How could that slight banana shape be comfortable? This morning, with a cozy fog outside, I wasn't ready to get out of bed...it was time. I could never run out of things to do in Portland, and I will never have enough time to fit them all in on one visit. That is the fun of having a favorite place to return to and explore, and in a town like Portland, you could never get bored.

Today, I had options and ideas, a few hours left before making my way toward Eugene to reunite with Liz and her family, who I had grown up with in Pittsburgh. First, it was time to finalize yesterday's post, to say goodbye to my great host and friend, Zack, and do some dishes to help out before I got on with my packing. I had another Toaster Strudel for an easy breakfast and used the end of a bag of coffee; with no time to replace it. As I worked on my computer, I found humor in the message on my mug, "damn it feels good to be a gangsta." In my case, someone that finishes the coffee and drinks it out of the perfect mug.

I was out of the house by 9:30am, taking Portland for a short walk up the block and admiring all of the cute "Portland houses," smaller sized houses that are something between a bungalow and a cottage. I decided to drive around the corner to The Grotto, just in the interest of time. I left Portland in the car and walked toward the walking paths in the garden under tall pines that towered over and shaded the site. It was very calm and quiet, except for some noise from the gardening work that was going on.

Admission to the Grotto and lower level of the religious attraction was free, but there was an upper garden that I didn't visit that costs $8 to enter. I walked along the path, through the garden, and past the visitor center to the chapel, and went inside. The design of the church was pretty simple, but with beautiful murals with angels painted on the dome behind the altar and along the walls beside the pews. I've visited many churches and chapels in my travels with Dad and family, and they're not usually a highlight of my experience. I'm more spiritual than religious, but losing my Dad has made me appreciate his faith and the comfort offered through prayer.

The outside courtyard had rows of pews set and roped off, facing the Grotto that was set into the tall stone wall, carved out with a display of statues and flower arrangements in the domed inset in the rock. It was beautiful -- the altar built into the natural stone. High above, another golden statue stood on the edge of the cliff, visible more closely from the upper garden. On either side of the Grotto altar, there were rows of candles lit by other visitors to the site. I decided to light one for Dad, walking back to the gift shop to purchase one and having trouble deciding which one to choose. In the end, I chose one I could write his name on in memorial and sat a few moments back at the Grotto to inscribe it before lighting. I had not anticipated how touching my visit to this place would be, and although I've known about it for years, I don't think it would have been as meaningful if I would have visited at any other time.

I ended up looping back to the Grotto a third time in search of restrooms, and it was then that I found the mosaic mural of St. Peregrine, a saint of healing, often called on to aid in alleviating pain for those fighting cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. The side of the Grotto that I had placed Dad's candle was the one closest to this Saint.

I returned to the car where Portland was napping, and made a final decision to drive out to the Columbia River Gorge to Cascade Locks and The Bridge of the Gods. It was out of the way, but I'd never been and I thought it would be a personally significant and special place to visit on my current cross country journey. It was about forty minutes away, and the bit of fog and haze in the morning air cleared as I got closer to the gorge.

I parked in the lot under The Bridge of the Gods, a toll bridge crossing the Columbia River into Washington, but also part of the route of the Pacific Crest Trail. Readers of Cheryl Strayed's book Wild, an account of her hike on the PCT, will recognize this place as the endpoint of her long distance hike and journey of atonement, renewal, and self discovery. The popular book is brutally honest, sometimes crude, and an inspiration to so many female hikers, adventurers, and so many others. I've always wanted to see this place and hike on the PCT (achieved, yesterday), but walking on the trail here I thought about my own journey of traveling cross country, and what personal discoveries I might come out of it with.

The late morning hike was beautiful, beyond the highway and more developed area, slipping further and further away from the noise of traffic and back into nature. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for a long hike but enough for Portland and I to stretch our legs and to get to see some of the damage from the Eagle Creek wildfire that burned swaths of forest along the Columbia River Gorge a few years ago. Surviving trees with blackened, charred bark, and other trees that had burned and fallen. I didn't get to hike through the worst of it where a sign at the trailhead warned that the route may be indistinguishable. Each year, wildfires damage so many beautiful places and amenities in Oregon and other states, and it is always sad to hear how places that we have hiked or enjoyed time in have been damaged by fire or even destroyed.

We walked just over a mile to the power line, a break in the woods, before turning back. We only saw four other hikers along our route. I was tempted to walk out onto The Bridge of the Gods upon arriving back at the toll booth area, but we returned to the car instead. In the parking lot, there were fish vendors with pop up tents selling smoked salmon and other locally caught seafood. I considered looking at some, but had a drive ahead and didn't want to worry about keeping the fish cold.

It was under two and a half hours to Eugene, and the drive went smoothly, even though I-5 was busy and crowded with cars and trucks. I had finished the rest of the old sriracha buffaloed cauliflower from last Sunday in Bend, along with some Triscuits and goat cheese for a snack, but I was hungry. I was holding out for a specific slice of pizza, routing myself to Sizzle Pie in downtown Eugene, but when I got there they had a limited selection at their walk up window. It would have to wait for another day. Instead, I picked up a Cafe Yumm, yum bowl and drove over to Kendall Subaru to have my car checked out before the road back across the country.

I expected to be there an hour or so, and checked in with the service coordinator, and was surprised how different my experience was there than at the dealership I'd visited before in Pittsburgh. I had asked if they had a picnic table outside and they did not, but welcomed Portland inside, saying that they love pets.

I relaxed in the waiting room to eat my late lunch and gave Portland a rawhide, and even got some coffee to wake up a little. I'd expected to use their WIFI to get started on today's blog and work on social media, but before I knew it my car was ready. Half an hour or less. The service coordinator had treats to feed Portland while I payed and signed papers.

We were on our way then, final stop Liz's parents house! I was so excited to see them since it has been a few years, and I have such great memories of growing up between their house and my Dad's. As young children, Liz and I were almost inseparable.

Within moments of me getting there, Liz's Dad, Robert, whisked Portland and I off to go on the "poop loop" around the neighborhood, including a walk on a part of a paved trail along a creek behind their house. Then, he helped me unload a few things from the car and within minutes Liz's brother Nathaniel arrived, followed by Liz. The whole family was here, minus the usual round of hugs in the changed world of Covid.

Dinner was served quickly, now. Homemade chicken tortilla soup with all of the fixings. Build your own soup bar. I topped mine with a little of everything, cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, and avocado. We ate in the family room, with a fire in the fireplace, thanking Liz's mom, Christine, for making the soup. We all got caught up over dinner and listened to some soft music on Pandora, and Nathaniel gave me recommendations on songs to add to my playlist for the route back. Liz sent me her playlist to download.

The fire in the wood burning fireplace really added to the ambiance of the night and I always find it so cozy in that family room whenever I visit. Dessert was a delicious combination of chocolate pudding, with coffee liqueur floating on top, finished off with whipped cream and served in a martini glass. Christine's creation, such a delicious easy dessert idea that I'll have to try at home.

A little later on, I drove down from the hills to have a beer with my friend Allan at the Bier Stein. I met Allan in 2009, a friend of Liz's that joined us on a camping trip to Newberry Crater. That is camping trip we've always tried to repeat, but like I told him tonight, it probably would never be as perfect or magical as it was the first time around.

It was so great to see Allan, and to get a big hug. He's one of the people that can put the biggest smile on my face, and I realized that I wished I had more time to spend in Eugene catching up. The Bier Stein had a contactless ordering system using an account on your phone to order and pay. Allan treated me to beers, which was so nice of him, and we did two rounds of .25L beers, both of mine from pFriem, the Dank IPA, and the Pumpkin Bier and both were very good.

Allan and I caught up sharing updates and past memories, some good laughs, and tried to figure out how to fit the most out of my limited time here in town. We think we came up with a good plan. The Bier Stein was closing at 10pm, so we had to say goodnight, and I headed back up into the hills to Liz's parents' house. Liz and I talked for a long while, figuring out plans for our weekend at the coast, and I got caught up adding some trip videos to the Wildly Sarah Facebook.

It was much later than I thought by the time I went downstairs for a quick yoga practice, and when I came back upstairs, Liz had the TV on so I tried to type and not get districted by The Crown. This weekend we're headed to the Oregon Coast for girls' weekend part two!

As always, feel free to send any questions you have for me (or Portland!). If you prefer email instead of social media or here in the blog comments, you can always email me at wildlysarah@gmail.com.