What Was Once, Is Reduced To Remembrance

Sorry it's a day late. The power was out for a bit when I got home last night, and then I just didn't want to mess with this. So here's part two! Again, it's long.


Hey guys.

Another slow day at work, so here's part 2.

We woke up around 9 on Thursday and started getting our stuff packed up. It had been a late night, so we were moving rather slow. It's surprising how spread out your stuff can get in under two days. Once we had everything packed up in the Jeep, he headed out to Vic's house to get the camper. Vic wasn't there when we got there, so we just threw everything from the Jeep into the camper and hooked up. Left Vic a note saying thanks for everything, and we were off. We stopped at a gas station for gas and smokes, and then hit up another food cart for philly cheese steak sandwiches, which were amazing by the way.

Finally, we got on the highway to get out of Portland. We decided to go to the coast, so with Demian driving and Erik navigating, we tried to pass the time. We were on a main highway for a while, but then Erik sent us on a smaller county road that took us through a National park. It was slow going, climbing up steep grades with the camper, but we pushed on. We had Widespread Panic blasting and the sun was shining. Couldn't get much better. Erik decided to take us to a little place outside of Oceanside and after about 2 hours, we made it.

We weren't sure where to go, so we just drove around looking. We didn't want to go to a public beach, since they were so busy. After about 20 minutes of driving around, we passed a little guardrail on the side of the road, with a nice view of the ocean. So we pulled over on the side of the road and went to look. It was then that we found a little hidden path down to the water. I decided to take a video of it, which I posted a couple weeks ago. It was a really cool path, and I'm annoyed my cell phone video wasn't better quality. You walk into the trees and under the canopy, and there are a bunch of manmade steps, what looked like railroad ties, slowly leading you down. There were benches every so often if you got tired too. Then, the path split. One to the left, one to the right. I was following Demian and JT, who went left, so I went right. Then I was led along until I reached a fence. Looking over the fence was a drainage shoot, creating a waterfall onto the beach. I then backtracked, and continued down the steps. Every once and a while, you'd get a really cool view of the water, but a lot of it was hidden by bushes and trees. Finally I got to the beach. It was stone for awhile, and then became sand.

There was a small creek from the waterfall slowly making its way to the ocean, and big cliffs surrounding us. After planting Jerome the Gnome on the beach to watch everything (don't ask. They have a traveling gnome with them for some reason.), we walked over to some boulders against a cliff to look around. It was really cool being on the rocks and watching the tide come in. We couldn't get too close to the water on the rocks, or we'd be wet. Hung out there for a while taking pictures, and then went back to the beach.

Everyone else started looking around for cool rocks and stones, while I just walked around enjoying the beautiful scenery. We spent another 4 hours there or so, before it started to get dark, and we had to go find a place to camp for the night. We climbed back up the path and jumped in the Jeep.

We didn't want to stay at an RV park or 'traditional' campsite if we could help it, because they're so expensive. So we drove around looking at a couple different places as we came to them, but nothing what we wanted. It was getting dark, when Erik found a road that went up to Mt. Hebo. So we started the long, slow climb up the pass with camper in tow. Demian could only drive 15 miles an hour at best, so it took a long time. After an hour, it started to get really foggy, and then finally the road leveled out. So we got out to look around, and found a place big enough to park the camper. Got everything situated and started making dinner. A while later while dinner was cooking, we went outside again and the sky was crystal clear. Then we got an idea of how high we really were. What we thought was fog, was really just some clouds passing by. It was really cool, and Erik took some really cool pictures with his camera with the exposure set long. We ate dinner, and then watched a movie to fall asleep.

When I awoke, JT was already up and I could hear him talking to someone. I got a little worried that it might be a park ranger or something, since I wasn't sure if we should be camping there. I got up and went outside to go pee. As I'm peeing, a guy with dreadlocks walks up and asks if I want a beer. I just look at him and say, 'I just want to pee, and put shoes on.' He said ok, and walked away. I went back in the camper and put on some clothes and shoes. Erik and D then woke up, and I told them about the dreadlock guy. They were intrigued, so we all went outside to see what was going on.

It turns out, we parked in a little parking lot at the top of the mountain. There was a Volkswagen Jetta parked behind the camper and the guy with the dreadlocks (whose name I can't remember for the life of me) and a girl both in their mid 20's were leaning against the trunk drinking beers with JT. Again, they offered beers, but since it was about 10 AM, we declined. Erik and I went in to make breakfast, while they kept talking. I guess they were on a road trip from Illinois, and were even at the same festival in Missoula that Erik, D, and JT were at. They were just living the hippie lifestyle, I guess. All throughout the morning they kept offering beer and Sass (some weird drug thing, I don't know) Erik and D took beers, but passed on the Sass. JT started eating some though.

After breakfast, we walked around to take in the view of where we were. You could see the ocean in the distance, and some smaller mountains all around us. It was a really cool location. The night before, while we were driving up, D made the joke that he didn't want to have to drive down in the morning, in case the brakes went out in the Jeep. I said they should ride the bikes down, and I'd drive. They were kind of scared of driving, but I was excited and thought it'd be fun. Apparently, they remembered that, and were all excited to bike down. So since they had already been drinking, I had to drive down. D continued to mess with the brakes on his cruiser, since they still weren't working that well. After a bunch of tinkering, he got them to his liking, and we packed up. We said goodbye to the hippies and they left too.

The guys got on the bikes and I jumped in the Jeep. I was a little nervous since I hadn't driven the camper with the Jeep yet, but I started out with them behind me. It was slow going, keeping it in first gear and using the engine to keep the speed down. We saw a mile marker, and discovered we had come up 6 miles, so now we had to go down 6 miles. I think Erik said we were at about 3,500-4,000 feet vertical, so it was rather steep. There were a few close calls with other cars coming around blind corners too fast, but we made it down safely. JT did manage to fall off his bike twice though.

At the bottom, they threw the bikes on the rack and hopped in the Jeep. We had decided to go over to the mountains today, so we headed back towards Portland. Again, it was slow going, but we made it back in about 2 hours. Once we hit Portland though, we got stuck in traffic. I must say, trying to drive a manual with a heavy camper in stop and go traffic SUCKS. It took us about 2 hours to get from one side of the city to the other, which should have only taken about 15 minutes without traffic. Then it was about another hour and a half drive to the Multnomah Falls area. Driving through there was rather hectic because of all the people, but we finally got to a place we could park, and where we wanted to hike. We started on the path to Punch Bowl Falls, with Jerome the Gnome strapped to my pack. About 50 yards in, a sheriff pulled up next to us ( we were still on a service road) and said she just had to ask about the gnome. So Erik and D explained it, and then she let us take a picture of Jerome on the hood of her car. Erik says they have more pictures of Jerome than either of them.

The hike started out pretty easy, but there were some spots where the path was only 2 feet wide, with a pretty big drop on one side. The area was beautiful, and the weather was perfect for hiking. Not too hot, and just enough sun to poke through the trees. After an hour or so, we got to Lower Punch Bowl Falls. We hiked down to see the falls up close, and it was really cool. Lower Punch Bowl is only maybe 20 feet high, but still powerful. We were down on the riverbed above Lower, but below Upper, so it was cool to see the different perspectives. After hanging out there for a while taking pictures and enjoying everything, we went back to the main path and headed towards Upper Punch Bowl. Upper is probably 50 or 60 feet high, and we were above it, across a small canyon and to the left a bit. We could see a spot right next to the falls where people could jump (probably not supposed to, but when has that stopped anyone?) but it was too cold and too high for us to want to do it. We didn't spend as much time there, but still took some pictures and had a good time.

Then we started the hour and a half hike back out. It was really cool hiking down because the sun was starting to set, so it looked like everything was on fire. We got back to the Jeep, and Erik pulled out the map to find a place to camp. He decided on Lost Lake, somewhere in a National Forrest, but basically in the middle of nowhere. It was about 40 miles up the highway, and then another 20 miles or so on county roads. We stopped at a liquor store on the way, and then, again, started a long climb up some steep grades. It was even slower than the night before, I could only drive about 5-10 mph. I think it took us about 2 hours to get to the top and then we pulled into a National Park campsite. Erik expected to have to pay, but the sign said $25 a night, so we decided no. We didn't want to drive all the way back down, since it was 1 in the morning. We ended up pulling over on the side of the road and setting up camp. Made some more dinner, and then hung out bullshitting for a while. It was my last night there, so I was rather sad. I was having so much fun, and it was nice being with my brother again, that I didn't want to leave. Finally fell asleep at 3:30.

Woke up early to make sure we had enough time to get to the airport. Made a quick breakfast and then packed up. It was really cool being able to see everything up there that we couldn't see in the dark the night before. It took us about an hour or so to get down, and then trekked through the county roads back to the highway. It was about an hour drive back to the airport, so we headed on. When I left Minneapolis, the security lines sucked, so I wanted to get there early. I figured it was Saturday of 4th of July weekend, so it'd be crowed. But when we got there and I checked, the place was almost deserted. I said goodbye to everyone, and then walked away. It was sad, but I'd had a good time, so it was worth it. Went through security and went to my gate. Since I flew through everything, I still had 2 hours until boarding. So I grabbed some lunch and walked around. I couldn't even really people watch, because there was hardly anyone there.

It was while I was sitting around the airport that I realized what I had just done for the past 5 days, was what Erik and D's life was like now. They just drive around to whatever cool place they want and hangout for as long as they want. It made me really jealous. Now I think about what they're doing at any given moment, and there are so many possibilities I can't fathom. I think they're in Seattle right now, but I don't know for sure.

I had to fly from Portland to Salt Lake City, and then catch a connection to Minneapolis. My layover in SLC was only 30 minutes, so I was a little concerned about missing it. But worse case scenario, I have family, including my cousin Roger who I came out to, live there. The first flight was boring, and I slept the whole way. I don't even remember falling asleep. I awoke when we started our decent. I was happy to hear that we were still on time. I was pretty close to the front of the plane, so I got off fast. Then I looked at the monitor with flight information on it, and I only had to go to the gate next to the one I was at. I was worried I'd have to run halfway across the airport. So I got on the plane, and fell asleep again. I guess I was still tired from all the exercise and fresh air over the last few days. Landed in Minneapolis at 11:30 at night and called my dad to pick me up. After hours of being in airports, I finally got to go outside and smoke a cigarette, which was wonderful. What wasn't wonderful, was the humidity. I'd gotten used to there being little or no humidity and no bugs that it was a big shock. I was sweating in minutes. It shouldn't be 80 degrees and 85% humidity at midnight in Minnesota!

So that's pretty much it. It was a great time, and I wish I could do it again. Although yesterday my dad talked to Erik, and Erik said that the Jeep can't really pull the camper anymore. It's too hard on it, and they're tired of driving 40mph everywhere. So they're going to buy a pickup out there and leave the Jeep at a friend's house in Seattle. Which means my dad and I are going to fly out there and drive it back. We don't know if Erik and D will still be there, but it'll be a nice mini adventure. It's about 1600 miles, so it should be right around 24 hours of drive time. And this time we (HOPEFULLY) won't get stuck in a snow storm! I'm not sure when we'll go, but sometime within the month.

Also, I finally ordered my audio interface today before work, so that should be here in a week or two. I can finally start recording our cd, and I can record good drums for my random cover thingys that I've been doing! This is going to be so cool! It'll be like having a recording studio in my house. Now I just have to learn how to use everything. I'm getting a recording program from my guitar player, so that'll be a whole new can of worms to learn. But it'll be fun.

Hope you guys are well!

143

_Kevin

I wish I had taken more pictures in the city, but they're all on Erik's camera. But here's the best thing I saw in Portland





The view from the road where we parked the Jeep







ME!



The view from above the drainage shoot



And below





From the beach, looking up




Looking at the beach from the rocks we were climbing on



A cove we found




L to R: JT, Demian, Erik



JT and Demian, shot from the mouth of the cove



Erik, the crazy fucker was barefoot



The view from the first campsite, on Mt. Hebo



L to R: two random people with their dogs, JT, Erik, D. Upper Punch Bowl Falls is to the left, Lower to the right



Part of the cliff above their heads from the last picture



The view up river of Lower Punch Bowl



Side view of Lower Punch



The pool Lower dumped in to



Up river shot of Lower



A kind of crappy picture from down river of Upper Punch Bowl (Hey, they're all from my phone, I think I can have one bad picture :-P)



And finally, a picture from our new location of Upper Punch Bowl Falls



Damn that was a lot of pictures to upload. Hope you enjoyed them!