Phase two: Oregon and the art of being lost

What a lovely day for an adventure and a perfect day to get lost.
The day after I quit my job I went to Oregon for a few days ro rejuvenate and spend some quality time with friends and family. I even managed to adult-nap Jessi Duke and put her in my suitcase.

It was great fun. We surprised everyone with her arrival. There were laughs, hugs and quite of a few tears. Truly, there is nothing fabricated about that statement. It was refreshing to be back with familiarity and be with a handful of people that know me. I miss that.

For the weekend, there were two teams. Team 306 and Team Ritz. It's not like there was really a competition or anything of the sort, it's just easier for clarification. Team 306 consists of two of my best friends, Jessi Duke and Bethany Lomas. Jessi Duke is the map master and Bethany Lomas and I, not so much.

Adventure One: A superbowl party in Albany, Oregon with the Marks Family. 

Let's be honest. I don't care about football in the slightest. Although the Destiny's Child reunion was worth it. Guilty Pleasure.  I have a lot of adopted families that take me in as their own. The Marks' family being one of them. Team 306 and Team Ritz set out. We mapped the location and got to a place where Beth said, "I got this." Miscommunication happened. I thought she knew the rest of the route but "I got this meant" she know how the interchange worked. We ended up 20 miles out of the wrong direction. Eventually on the right track, and a few messages inquiring about our ETA, we managed to get there. Spending the afternoon eating and hottubbing and watching the concert with a football game. Then we were off.

Adventure Two: Saint Helens, Oregon.

"Sam, Are we supposed to be in Washington?" Bethany asks.
"No, but the map says we are going the right way." I say.  "I think we are going to cross back into Oregon.

Lesson learned: Always trust your instinct. Especially if you've been there before and all of a sudden going a completely different route than normal.

Normally the "map master" would have charge of the map but her phone fell down a toilet and she  was using one of those non-smartphones. About an hour later, we find ourselves driving in the middle of nowhere, surrounded my darkness.

"Do you recognize where we are going" Bethany asks.
"Oh sure, I think we are really close." I reply.

To be honest, I had no idea where we were but I continued to follow the directions.
Then began to look at the map.

If you are noticing something wrong you are absolutely right.

"Beth, don't be nervous but I would recommend driving slower. We might be running into a body of water soon. I'm sure it's just me misreading something though."

Nope, I was reading correctly. We were in fact running into a body of water. Wazemaps, There is no bridge!

We get to our final stop where we cannot go any further and I make a phone call. See the thing about that body of water is, it's the distance to where we were wanting to go, which was less than a mile. If we would have flashed our lights, my family across the water would have been able to see us.

This little mistake cost us over an hour. We were not supposed to be in Washington, we were supposed to be in Oregon. But it's the little things that keep us with an adventurous spirit. Plus, it was quality time with some of my greatest friends.

After a while, we made it. Greeted with laughs and wine with friends and family. Later graced with Team Ritz, we spent the rest of the night chatting, drinking wine and hot tubbing.

I always love going to my family's house. They have this amazing house that overlooks the water and it's the perfect retreat. We didn't get to go sailing this time around. Sadly, there was no wind but we did get to take a boat ride and enjoy the day.

I could get used to waking up to this every morning. 

Adventure three: Portland hiking. 

Another scenario of finding ourselves lost and no idea where we the actual trailhead was. Once we made it, it was lovely but we only have 40 minutes to spare. But it was nice to be in the woods with the cool air against my face. 

It was a perfect four days. Thanks to all who made the weekend a success. 




In the air. Northern California.











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a little get away

a retreat, if you will. 

The Oregon trail.  I've seen a lot of people on the way from Lindsay Jo, to Diane, the hair stylist, to Oregon Family (Marks and Mitman.) Destination Wedding. Today's Destination: Saint Helen's, Oregon. Overlooking the harbor with mountains, trees and sailboats. Last night consisted of steak, halibut cakes and fresh green beans harvested from the garden and booze. Then an hour in the hot tub with sporadic rain while watching a family of raccoon attempting to find food.

Thanks my Oregonian family, I love you. 

(I honestly should snap a few photographs but I'm just a bit lazy at the moment and that also means putting my coffee down. We all know that's not going to happen.)

///edit/// I ran out of coffee. here's a photo.

music should first be reviewed in the car

turn up the music and drive.

The other day I went to Los Angeles Amoeba Records. Amoeba is the mecca of music. I bought four CD's, badly drawn boy, hem, jesse baylin and the bridges. A couple which I had wanted for a while and almost bought them full price last time I went to Amoeba. There is this lovely section that is known as the clearance section, buy three get the fourth free. I spent $9 dollars. Knowing this you get some dud CD's every so often, but if you find one winner then it makes it completely worth it.

I knew I would love Hem because of this song called Half Acre that I used to be obsessed with. I knew I liked a song from Badly Drawn Boy and the other two were a lottery. Overall, when listening to them in my room I thought I picked mainly bad music. I was fairly disappointed.

Which leads me to what I strongly believe and encourage.

Music drives us, influences our mood, it is a powerful resource.

With that being said, some of my most memorable times can be connected back to the music I was listening to.

A couple years back, I went through this strange state of not being able to get out of bed, no desire to face the world, yet wanted to change it. The only song I could listen to was "Keep Breathing" from Ingrid Michaelson. I remember listening to it on repeat, journaling and painting. I remember it so vividly.

Another couple years back, I was on this epic roadtrip to Oregon with six friends and we were camping up the PCH. We were hiking with Sequoia trees covering us, then we found this place called Fort Ross that was this hidden fort located on a Cliff with beautiful Calla Lillies overlooking the ocean, it was bliss. As a group we were listening to "Trolleywood" from Eisley. Forever that song is ingrained in the back of my mind and makes me smile. I just remember all six of us singing it in the car over and over and over and whenever we would embark on a new location, we for sure would have to listen to the song. It still happens.

OR whenever I listen to praise and worship music, I'm more likely to speed. I always get lost or pass my exit because I'm so focused on the music rather than my driving.

I decided to give my new CD's a try driving in the car. Success. I felt so much more at peace with my purchase after listening to them in the car. I'm in my own world just soaking up the fact that I'm alone and can sing as loud as I want, do whatever. The car is where I do a lot of evaluating of my life, so it makes sense that music would be the same way. The best epiphanies happen hear

What music do you like listening to when driving?