Onward, Pioneer! (Or, a Week Across Oregon) I
Part I
Eugene
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I flew into Portland on Friday evening, right around dinnertime. My flight was early, so I nabbed my bags and settled in with Anna Karenina to wait for Tom. Shortly he arrived, much greeting ensued, and we set off to get some high-quality Portland grub. We ate in the v. trendy Pearl district at Fratelli (that's where I had the salmon, see my food census part I from an earlier post below). We spent most of dinner catching up on gossip and various and sundry other great topics. We then crashed pretty much as soon as we got into Eugene, as the time difference (3 hours) had set in, and it felt like some godawful hour after 1 AM.
The next day I overslept! Well, only until 8:30, but we were supposed to be up at 7. Shoot. Tom's parents picked us up for a farmers' market trip at 9 for purposes of buying supplies for the night's dinner. Mostly I ogled all the really really lovely produce. And chuckled a bit at some of the more hippyish hippies. We also hit up the fishmongers' and the meat market and a natural foods store. AND the parents bought me this fantastically detailed Oregon road atlas. This is pretty much going to be my adventure guide to Oregon!
Post-massive grocery run, T and I set off on our bicycles (well, on his bicycles) and he showed me some of his Eugene haunts - the library, the CAT, the freakin' awesome bike path along the river, which was lined by loads of gorgeous wildflowers, and more. We also stopped back by the farmers' market to hit up the hippie crafts section. This was fabulous. I bought some aged green tea and the most amazing bracelet made of two spoon handles. Really, it's fantastic. I almost got a henna tattoo, but it's a pain to wait for them to dry, so instead we rolled out and kept on bikin'. We ate at the Keystone Cafe for lunch, which is all into free range eggs and hippie-grade pancakes (read: not your usual buttermilk species) and all manner of delicious foods. Spelt toast: who'da known it was so tasty?
Eventually we went back to T's place, as he's housesitting this summer, and freshened up before heading to his parents' place, where we were to help cook for dinner. We set to work on various tasks (mostly mincing vegetables for the chowder, really) and after a few hours of preparations and email-checking-breaks the guests arrived: 3 of T's architecture friends from the U of O and one of his longtime friends from high school. They were all fantastic and conversation lasted well into the night. The weather was cool and comfortable and hanging out with everyone gave me the most lovely relaxed and friendly feeling. I promised to call T's parents when I return to OR, 'cause I will so hang out with them again!
The next day we got up on time and went to the Hideaway Bakery. I had what was probably the most delicious turnover pastry ever since the creation of turnovers: bumbleberry. Perfect crispy flaky tender crust, fat juicy berry interior. Swoon. Also T had this potato donut that was improbably tender and delicious itself. We jetted off after this to Mt Pisgah, which is a great short little hike with a real big view at the top. It's ringed at its base by graceful oak prairies, consisting of wide open swathes of flaxen grass broken up by big, shaggy oaks. I also came close to hugging a poison oak. Thankfully Tom is not a very good jokester.
Hmm, I think after this we went to Goodwill. The pickins were pretty good - 2 pairs of shoes and a t-shirt to refab. T found some nice shirts. Boys are lucky; Goodwill t-shirts actually FIT them.
So the day before, I had seen these crazy tall bikes at the CAT. I'd heard of tallbikes, maybe seen some photos before, and I remarked how fun they seemed to Tom. Well, turns out his friend has one, and he took me over to try it out. You'll have to wait to see the photograph to really appreciate these things, but imagine a bike with its seat at your shoulder - that's how tall they are. With a little kind assistance I got onto the thing and took it for a spin. It. was. great. I would totally ride a tallbike to school. If there were no hills (they don't have good balance on hills, being a bit, uh, top-heavy and all).
Sadly at this point I had to catch the train to Portland for my first RARE meeting.
Also, sadly at this point I'm too tired to keep writing. Stay tuned for Part II!