Goodbye Oregon!

We are leaving on our return leg of the trip as I write this [we left at 9:00 Oregon time, which I thought was funny since we left Texas at 9:04 when we started]

Salem was a blast, the Shippeys were WONDERFUL [we even stayed an extra day so we could spend just a wee bit more time here] We DIDNT get to go into Salem's underground [which would have been awesome but we DID get to go to Eugene which was worth it a billion times over. Even though I got lost on pre's trail about three times and turned what was supposed to be a 5k into more like a 10k. Next time Im mapping the trail on a gps and going when the sun is right above my head instead of in my eyes.]

I got to air guitar on the 45^th parallel [Halfway between the equator and the north pole], In front of the Oregon House of Representatives AND the Senate. We got the guy that helped us with the auto glass to air guitar for us which was awesome. We also stopped by Jackson's childhood carousel and got the cashier to take some air guitar pics. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO AWESOME!

Papa Shippey told us about Salem's underground city, where the Chinese lived after they were driven underground. It isn't accessible to the public unless you do a little research. We didn't get to visit because the streets were too crowded and we were crunched for time. [but it's definitely on the list for next time.]

We visited Silver falls where I air guitared under the rock deposited by three volcanic eruptions while standing on the rock deposited by a fourth volcanic eruption all while being under a waterfall. Nifty eh? I thought so.

We went to see Jackson's old house and found a pine forest that was so thick that it was dark inside at 2pm. So I air guitared in front of it to emphasize its level of awesome.

I fell in love with Oregon from day one and would have NO problem moving here [at least no problems during the summer! Im not a big fan of cold because it makes all of my favorite outdoor activities suck.] Now that we are leaving I want to get back here as soon as I can. I can't wait!

The car got broken into and about $1000 worth of stuff was taken, which sucked, but it could have been worse, we could have been mauled by a bear who thought that I smelled pretty while we were sleeping. We could have fallen off the trail and fell 400 feet down the canyon at Zion. We could have been charged by a bigass deer because minie doesn't know when to keep her trap shut [true story] But we didn't We got the car broken into. Everything that was taken was replaceable. People aren't so replaceable.

Favorite parts of the trip:

Canada's Wine country was BEAUTIFUL [even though I didn't get many pictures of it because everyone else was sleeping.] On the bright side, we did get free coffee from a Canadian McDonalds because we were there during the Olympics [Go Team USA!]

Oregon rocked, it had everything. The beach, the mountains, the forests, the prairies, and even a little bit of desert. I learned how to make two slam desserts here too and got a TON of ideas for the etsy shop when we get back.

We visited Pre's rock and Pre's trail to pay tribute to the greatest runner of all time. Im hoping I can get some neat stuff from the trip. I took 4000 pictures [10 gigabytes of photo data] in one day, so it might be a while before anybody will see the end product.
Pre's trail was amazing even though I got lost. Next time I want to take a gps with the trail mapped out so I can run the whole thing and not worry about taking a wrong turn and ending up in the middle of springfield!

The National Parks were spectacular. Vastly untouched nature is the cat's pajamas. I love it! Its like I get to see the land as it was when America used to be. Sitting on a portable bridge with your feet in a hot spring as you watch the sun rise and the wildlife wake up is GREAT! LOVED IT! AND the next time I do this I am going to get the National Parks Pass so we can stop at EVERY AWESOME NATIONAL PARK we can get our vehicle to!

I loved crafts, handmade, and repurposed materials. Walking around and seeing all the local relics and other abandoned trash made my mind run at a million miles an hour. Im sure I texted myself a hundred times so I don't forget what I wanted to do when I got home [I couldn't bring my garage with me, so I'm taking the ideas home.]

Things I would do next time:

Pick up a national parks pass from the Department of the Interior [you can get them at any national park, they are $80 as of 2012 and are good for one year. Military discounts get you a pass for free if you have your cac card and Senior discounts get you the pass for less than $20 ] This pass will get you day access to any national park or federal lands which is PURE SWEETNESS because I LOVED the National Parks!

Underground Salem is already on the list. The idea of an underground city is all sorts of neato. Then you top it off with the fact that it has been abandoned for decades? That is a must see [If you think it's awesome too please send an email to the Salem city hall saying so, If we get enough support they will open the underground for everyone to see. As of today, one group has gotten to go down there.

The car was great, but next time I think I want to do a joint trip with Project Upcycle and drive on renewable energy. This trip was ORIGINALLY supposed to be a trip for Project Upcyle but they lost funding at the last minute and had to pull out.

If you didn't know, I am going to school for renewable energy, to say it's a passion of mine is an understatement. I designed my future house to run completely off renewable energy and be built completely from renewable resources...and be portable. Neato huh? Check out ProjectUpcycle.blogspot.com for more info if you are interested.

I'm also throwing around the idea of getting a sailboat...wind is renewable energy.

Thats it for now!
Was it worth it? A thousand times over. Get outside folks, We dont know how much longer we are going to have it.