To Oregon and the North!

Ok so we didn’t have wifi in Oregon, so this post consists of several days worth of blogging.  Feel free to read it all at once, or at intervals, just know that you have been duly warned!

Well, for the first time since I started blogging, this post is NOT being sent from California.  Woah, let me repeat that:  I am no longer in California.  We have officially moved on to stage two of our road trip!  That is super exciting, but kind of bittersweet because I have totally fallen in love with California!  I think it’s my favorite state that I’ve ever been to.  (I think I’ve been to over 40 of them!)

Bekah and I boarded the train in Sacramento at 2:45am on July 6, and began the 17 hour journey to her aunt’s house in Oregon.  We were on the train until 2:30pm, and then were picked up by Bekah’s Aunt at the train station.  Next up was the 4½ hour drive from Eugene to Gold Beach. 

We slept REALLY well that night!

First full day in Oregon- July 7.

Our first day in Oregon was crammed full of exploring the beach, zip lining, and swimming in Deep Creek.  (and yes, it is exactly what it’s name implies!  I tell you, the people up here don’t waste words! ;)

Let’s start with the beach.  Bekah’s Aunt Darcy and Uncle Mike took us out there, and her uncle showed us how to open mollusks with a pocketknife—very handy stuff if you’re ever stranded on an island like Tom Hanks was in Castaway.  If he had known this skill he would have had another use for that ice skate blade besides impromptu dentistry…. Yeah anyway…  back to the beach!

The little girl that Darcy babysits, Makayla, came to the beach with us.  I loved to see her get so excited about each thing that we found.  Her favorite, and mine, was definitely the starfish.  We found two purple ones, and an orange one.  They were so cool!  Bekah put some wet seaweed on the orange starfishes little sucker things and we saw the tentacles come out and attach to the seaweed!  I tell ya, it doesn’t take much for this city girl to be impressed! 

After the beach, we went to their friend’s house and guess what?  They had a 500ft zip line in their back yard!  It was the most elaborate zip line in the history of zip lines!  Let me explain: first, they would strap you into a harness and strap that harness to the zip line.  Second, they would give you a running push and send you flying through the air.  Sounds pretty straight forward, but never fear!  The complicated part is coming oh so soon.

The third step is when things start to get complicated.  See, the mighty swing they would use to get you started didn’t generate quite enough momentum to get you all 500ft across the zip line, but it did a marvelous job at getting you through the first 300ft or so.  Then you’d find yourself dangling 30ish feet in the air just kind of taking in the scenery —which was gorgeous don’t get me wrong!  You could see cows, mountains, trees… let’s just say I could see the better part of Oregon from up there!

Just as you started to think, “Gorgeous view but umm…. I’m dangling 30 feet in the air here!”  You would hear an engine roar into life, glance down at the earth oh so very far away, and see a miniature four-wheeler zooming towards you with two men sitting on it. 

As they got under you, you would drop the towrope to them, which they would tie to the back of the four-wheeler and proceed to tow you up the hill to a tree.

Step four:  After you unhooked the towrope from your harness, one of the guys would SWING you out from under the tree, and you would be soaring through the air!!!!

The fifth and final step required the third guy to slow down your momentum once you’d reached the end of the zip line using a well-placed wooden block.  There you go.  The world’s most epically complicated zip line! ‘Twas awesome :D I got to go twice, and I took my camera with me the second time!  I have some amazing pictures for you guys!

You’d think that we’d be all done for they day after that adventure, but not so!  We headed straight for the Deep Creek and we all plunged into the 50 degree fresh water.  It was an interesting sensation to be outside in water, and not feel all salty.  I believe I could easily get used to it!!! 

We had these awesome inner tubes that we used to float down the little rapids by the creek…. Again, we’re so smart!  The only problem was that it was really shallow so I got all bruised from bumping over the rocks, but it was still totally worth it!  Did you know that if you lay on your stomach and use your arms and legs to climb up the rapids it totally feels like you’re climbing up a waterfall?!! I can totally check ‘climbing up a waterfall’ off my bucket list now! Score!

You know what I’ve learned about myself on this trip?  I absolutely LOVE being outside!  I love being active and having fun, and I think it took me so long to figure this out because I grew up mostly in the south and I certainly do not like being hot and feeling sticky.  But hey, better late than never right?! ;)

Second day in Oregon- July 8.

We woke up early this Sunday morning to head to the beach to go surfing!  I’ve never ever gone surfing in my entire life, but I’ve wanted to learn how to surf for at least the past year.   I was really excited, but thankfully not nervous at all.  I LOVE the ocean, and I was excited to get out there and catch some waves!

We met up with a 4H group and they had wetsuits, booties, and boards for us.  That wetsuit became my best friend in like half a second of being in the water!  It was 50 degrees at best!

We waded in until we were about waist deep, and then we turned our boards to the shore and waited for the opportune moment… We never had to wait long!  The waves were coming hard and fast for almost the entire four hours or so that we were out there so we had ample opportunity to get a feel for the board and the waves.  It didn’t take me long to figure out when I was to far up on the board, or when I had tried to catch a wave that was just a little bit out of my league. 

I frequently overestimated my surfing capability and found myself swirling underwater more often than actually riding the waves towards shore!  All that trial and error paid off though!  Before to long I started to pick up on how to balance (Hooray for gymnastics core training!) on the board and guide it in whatever direction I wanted to go.  That’s when things started to get interesting!  The coach told me that it was time to get off my knees and actually ride the waves in.  I was like, “Oh yeah, I’m all over it!”

Now I’m not going to say that I was an instant pro and soon had everyone gasping at my amazing skills, nor am I saying that it was super easy and I started doing flips and stuff.  It was tough, and I certainly didn’t get that fluid belly to feet motion down, but I did actually get all the way up a few times—if only for a few seconds!  I was satisfied, for now.  ;)

Once, while I was heading back out to the waves after I had ridden one in, I saw Bekah getting ready to catch a wave.  She was paddling frantically in front of this huge wave and for a few moments it didn’t seem like she was going anywhere, than it seemed like she was being sucked into the wave, and then the next thing I knew, she was on top of it riding ecstatically towards the beach.  It was awe-inspiring to witness the power of the waves, and to think that Jesus controlled them with just a word!  Woah.  I can’t ever hope to control the waves, no matter how good I get at surfing.  Realistically, I’ll always be at their mercy.  Like I said, awe-inspiring, and humbling!

Third day in Oregon-

I got to see Redwoods for the first time today!!! Aunt Darcy took Bekah and I to northern California so we could go to this park and see them.  It was awesome!!! The trees were (of course) absolutely ginormous!!!!  I took a ton of pictures and never even cared that I looked like a tourist!  Come on, like my Disneyland sweatshirt wasn’t enough of a clue ;)

It was fun to get out and marvel at God’s creation and hike around a little bit.  Bekah and I had a bit of a misadventure while we were hiking.  It involved an unmarked trail, me eating a bug, and us walking through so many plants that it was a blessing neither of us ended up with ticks or poison ivy!  But it was fun, and it ended in a gorgeous view! 

Now we’re in a hotel near the train station ready to take off way too bright and early tomorrow morning!  Seattle, here we come!

Rebekah