Where Does the Time Go?

I can't believe it's been this long since I've updated this. I really don't know where the time goes. Just so you know, this is a little bit of work to organize and link all of these pictures...it's not all fun and games out here on the road :)

I finally got to sleep last Thursday night after I shut the computer off. I've really never heard anything that loud before. I guess I just got used to it, they were there my entire stay. Friday was a good day, I finally got to golf again. Peter had never golfed before and he wanted to try it out. This was quite the experience, very comical. It was a nice course, not too hard, but hard enough...especially when you've only played about 4 times in the last month and a half. We only played nine holes. Trust me, that was long enough. We were a little slow. I think Peter had as much fun driving the golf cart as he did playing golf. About the 8th hole, I finally started to find my swing and Peter improved quickly too. It was a great time being on the course. Of course we had to stop at the 19th hole after the round. It was a semi-private club, so naturally it was all regulars there. They were all very friendly, it was in a small town about 25 minutes outside of Portland. I think our story got told at least 5 times, they don't get too many travellers at their course. It's very easy to meet people when you have a story like ours.

That evening, we made it back to the hostel. I let Peter drive, he was as excited as a little kid on Christmas. We started up the grill and made a nice salad. Stephanie joined us for dinner and we also met Elisa, she's from Milan, Italy. Elisa did a semester at Eastern Carolina University and is now travelling for the next 6 months. After dinner, we made our way to the pub down the street for a night cap.

Portland has a downtown market on the weekends. On Saturday, we decided to go check it out. They had a section for fruits and vegetables and they also had a part for artists of all sorts. They had music and a lot of food from across the globe. It had a festive atmosphere, just nothing I needed to buy. Surprisingly, I don't have much room for anything else. The backseat of my truck is packed. Stephanie had to leave that evening, so we went back to the hostel to see her off. For dinner, I had the best cannelloni I have ever had, it was delicious. I wanted pizza that evening, so I asked around for recommendations. I talked to these people that were in town for a wedding and they recommended Pizzateco. They couldn't have recommended a better place. They even had Doughboy Red Ale on tap. I guess someone beat me to the Doughboy Brewing Co.

Sunday, Peter and this girl we met Nadia took a Sunday drive on the Columbia River Gorge scenic highway and then around Mt. Hood and back to Portland. It was very nice, the scenery is amazing. There are many many waterfalls along the Gorge to stop and look at. The tallest is Multnomah Falls at 620 ft. Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round waterfall in the nation. The views of Mt Hood from the east were great. That evening we just hung out and retired early.

Monday, we got up and made our way to Seaside, OR, a small little seaside resort community. We stopped at Target along the way so Peter could get an ipod. Oregon has NO sales tax, pretty nice. Another interesting tidbit about Oregon, you can not pump your own gas. Every station has attendants. I was quickly informed the first time that it's illegal to pump your own gas. Crazy yes, but I could get used to it. When we got here, we checked out our surroundings and the beach area. Again, very beautiful. The weather isn't really cooperating, it's been overcast and chilly since we been here. Last night we ran into Stephanie, the French girl, and Adam, an Aussie that was in my room in Portland. It's pretty crazy how many are travelling about the same path. The hostel is along the river here in Seaside. We made a fire in the pit last night and introduced the Europeans to smores. Of course our chocolate is not as good and they had never seen a "biscuit" (graham cracker) like that before. Overall, I think they liked them. Around the fire, we also met Don. Don is probably in his 50's and is travelling around for 6 mos. He's from Daytona, Fl. He's been in the Navy and has travelled the world. He said he'll never settle down. I wish we had more time with him, I'm sure he has many more stories to tell. He got up this morning and headed further down the coast. This afternoon, I think we're going to rent a kayak and kayak up the river to the ocean. We leave tomorrow for Olympic National Park. We're going to camp in the rain forest for a couple days before catching a ferry on Friday to Vancouver.

Have a great week!

Ciao,
Dough