Olympic National Park is pretty freakin awesome

I will make this quick as laptop battery is precious. I am typing now from an rv. I kind lady at the grocery store in Port Angeles, WA overheard me telling someone else that my tent is soaked from camping in the rain forest last night. "Why dont you stay in my rv? It's parked right in front of my house." How could I pass that up? So here I sit.

Last night I ended up camping in the Hoh Rain Forest. I could hear the glacial river flowing behind me at night. I worked up enough energy to cook ramen in the rain. Pretty impressive, I know. When walking towards the facilities for the first time I saw a slug on the road. Doing a service to humanity I picked it up, poked at it just enough to make it squirm, and placed it back in the grass, saving it's precious little life. Well, little did I know these things are taking over. They are everywhere and impossible to avoid. A ton of them were on the road, and on trails. I am pretty sure they live miserable lives and must have death wishes.

I woke up this morning a little wet. Not wet all over, just my head and feet. The significant rainfall was enough to seep in along the sides of the tent. Not cool. Since I woke up wet I figured I'd keep up the trend and went for a hike around the corner from my campsite. It was amazing. Pics...many pics...to come. My knee held up well for the 6 miles too!

The good and bad news of the day is that I have a job interview next week. Clearly good because income is pretty rad. Not so good because I am just getting started here on this little journey. So, I shall return to Portland at the end of June. For now, I leave for the musty smell of the rv and a peanut butter sandwich. Oh, how I'll miss traveling cheap.

Following the sun...er, rain

Here I sit, in the Visitor's Center in Forks, WA. They advertise free wi-fi, so I walked in, and am now sitting in the ONE chair in this very small place surrounded by people asking for "Vampire Maps", "The Giant Spruce Tree", and "The Twilight Statue". Only one of which exist. Can you guess which one? I knew I should have brought my headphones inside.

I left Portland yesterday afternoon and headed to Astoria, OR. From there I went up the coast, ending up in Pacific Beach State Park, in Washington. Although the good (and expensive) camp sites were occupied, I took an adequate spot where I could still hear the ocean. I managed to sleep for almost 9 hours...in a tent...for the first time ever camping alone.

This morning was rad, I cooked up some oatmeal, and made some tea on my (Matt's) camping stove. Felt like a real live camper! Then took a walk down to the beach and began exploring, taking pictures, playing in the rain and in the ocean. Now I am waiting for the rain to pass, catching up on things and watching people. This place is filled with tourists, many children, most ridiculously annoying.

Yesterday I started talking to myself, not uncommon during solo journeys. Today, however, I started talking to myself in Spanish. I'm not sure where that came from but just going to roll with it for now.

Check picasa or facebook for photos. www.picasaweb.com/sewalker

Hoping to keep up with writing as much as possible.

Well Earned Vacation

After about 4 days of work I joined my brother's vacation time and we cruised around Oregon and camped for several days. Although we originally discussed heading down to Crater Lake, the first day we took our time and after stopping in Estacada at Fearless Brewing for a beer, pulled up to a campsite about an hour away from Portland. We camped in Mt. Hood National Forest at a site right next to the Clackamas River. Below is a picture of the setting 20 yards or so behind our site



After a delicious oatmeal and green tea breakfast, we headed South, stumbling quickly upon Breitenbush Hot Springs. We looked at each other in the car, and without hesitation, followed the signs to enlightenment. After a quick look around and a discussion with the personnel about the 7 natural hot springs pools and steam sauna, the organic vegetarian buffets, and the serene setting, we decided to stay most of the day.

I dont think I can adequately describe this place in words. It was an incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating day. To understand the power that is Breitenbush I suggest you check it out one day.

We found a sweet spot (one of the remaining few) along Detroit Lake, and camped there Thursday and Friday night. The pic is what we walked 30 feet from our campsite to indulge in early morning.



We took an amazing hike Fri in Silver Canyon State Park called The Trail of Ten Falls. And yes, it was as cool as it sounds. Below is just a glimpse of what we saw. I'll wrap it up here so you can end on pictures of beautiful waterfalls. We looped down to Eugene Saturday, checked out their Saturday Market and The University of Oregon, among other things. All of the amazing things we saw and did were within two and a half hours from Portland.







Many more sick pictures in Picassa. Thoroughly edited this time too...I promise

A Few Words On My New Job and Why It Kicks Ass

I have this new job. It's tops. Not only do I get to work with freshman...yea, get 'em while I can still influence their sponge like minds, but the principals (not administration, but beliefs) of this school are right up my alley. Back to those corn based cups I mentioned in the previous post. The superintendent told me they pay more to use those cups "so they can support the people who produce them". There isnt even a plant in this state that can compost them...they get taken up to Seattle. The school is as paper free as possible. Report cards- online, schedules- online, student reports and homework- emailed to the teacher. Have I died and gone to heaven? Even math work is frequently done...on the computer. We focus on global appreciation and value, helping students to recognize their place in the world. Wow, these Oregonians really got some neat ideas. Something must be working because 85% of the graduates of this school go to college. Now, check back with me a little into school to see if the high achieving, conservation crazed white people start to drive me insane. I'm thinking I might just get a little more hippie and eliminate paper from my life.

The end of summer

A sad, yet amazing thing happened today...my vacation was laid to rest. In just one hour, the interview was over and the offer was on the table. Perhaps it was my wit, charm, and intelligence that had the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent sold on my counseling abilities. Perhaps it was the immediate need for a counselor to begin the job- tomorrow. It's good to know I dont have to blame not getting an offer on spilling water all over myself minutes into the interview. It was ok, I changed the topic to the corn based "plastic" cups used in the office. Am I ready to give up my freedom and indecisive lifestyle, hopping from place to place at a moments notice? Not at all. Perhaps this 1/2 time position will do the trick. The perfect balance between making enough to live AND living? Is it possible?!

Today is a day of celebration and mourning. And my brother cant expect me to pay rent on HALF a real salary can he? And it's not even real, I am in education. It's cool...right? I'll keep up with the groceries and we'll call it even.

Victory!

We arrived in Portland 6 days after departing from Maryland. We were both relatively sane and still speaking to one another. Consider it a victory.

Sorry for the hasty wrap up, but this is way overdue. I have held off writing anything else about my vacation (code word for unemployment)in Portland because I wanted to finish the trip write-ups.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone is rad. I mean, just check out these pictures







We caught a glimpse of several animals...although not as many as I hoped. I decided not to post the picture I took of a bison, because, well bison are gross. It's funny that everyone in the park runs and pulls over to take pictures of animals. Now I look at this revolting picture of a bison, next to the picture of the lounging elk and wonder why I needed to snap these photos. I was content with the elk, deer, and bison spotting, still hoping to see a bear when we stopped to use the facilities. It was here that I overheard a British woman sharing the joy of spotting a wolf and THREE bears. THREE bears. All I wanted to see was one. AND a wolf? Please.

We ended this glorious day in Missoula, MT. It was great revisiting Missoula, a place I spent several days in with my good friend Maya about 5 years ago. I anticipated my arrival in the microbrew heaven that is Portland, with a couple tasty brews from Montana. We then went to sleep before the sun set completely for the second time of the trip.