Home sweet home away from home

Over the holiday season, we rented a little log cabin near Packwood, Washington (with cable and Internet access, of course!) and have been spending most of the weekends up here. Cooking, hiking, drinking, hot-tubbing — it’s not a bad life.

This morning, I got an up-close encounter with some of the four-legged locals when I went to take out the trash. At least a dozen elk were roaming along the street and through the neighbors’ front yards, nibbling at grass and plants… until I rudely interrupted them. At that point, they raised their heads and stared me down. Naturally, as a good city slicker, my first instinct was: get the camera. Then the second instinct: get the dog inside! I could just picture goofy Oscar, our golden retriever, galloping over to meet his new friends. Something tells me the elk wouldn’t have shared his enthusiasm.

Of course, after I had whisked Oscar safely away into the house, I did grab my camera and returned to snap a few photos of the elk… who did not seem thrilled by my presence. It was a disconcerting way to start the morning, but now I know why the local grocery store sells coffee mugs emblazoned with the logo “Packwood: Elk Happens”.

Happy golden retrievers roaming the vineyard

I just came across some forgotten photos from a not-too-distant trip to the Willamette Valley that were too sweet not to share. A few weeks ago, we took a drive to my friend Eden’s family farm near Silverton, Oregon for a short visit. The farm primarily grows grass seed, but we were most excited to see their rows and rows of grapes being produced for a local winery.

Strolling through the vines, tasting the first delicious nibbles of a future Oregon pinot noir… not a bad way to spend a sunny, late autumn day. Oscar even had a playmate for the day in Tygh, the lucky ten-year-old golden retriever who has the run of the family farm.

Driving through the valley reminded me again just why I love it here in the Northwest so much. Within an hour from downtown Portland, we drove past hazelnut orchards, fruit trees, recently harvested hop yards, and plenty of grapevines. You know, Oregon has the most delicious scenery.

It makes me reflect on why I am living here. Why Portland? For the second time in my life, I am having to answer that question. The first occasion was five years ago, when my boyfriend Marty and I left behind the endless cornfields and rampant conservatism of Indiana for the greener pastures of Portland. The answer then was a simple, “We visited, and we liked it.” Nowadays, the question frequently comes up again. Marty and I (along with Oscar, our golden retriever) left Portland last December to set out on an indefinite road trip across the US. Although we loved Oregon, we wanted to live somewhere new, and planned to settle down in a new city when we were done with our cross-country circuit.

Funny how things work out. Here we are, two weeks after concluding our trip, settled back down in Portland. Now, partly, that’s because I’m finishing up my degree at Portland State, and it just makes sense to stay here rather than transfer to another school for my final year and a half. But another part is that we found through our travels that we truly love the Pacific Northwest. The gray, moody Pacific coast beats the overcrowded, sunny, Southern Californian beaches any day. Its people are friendly but intelligent, generally over-educated yet down-to-earth. And the Northwest has an independent streak, even a sense of the untamed, that you just don’t find east of the Mississippi. Plus, the beer here is just the best.

So why Portland? Because it makes sense in my life, and after almost a year of traveling the country, I can say with certainty that the Pacific Northwest is the best part of the country… at least for me. Keep your breakneck pace, New York; and your high cost of living, Boston; and don’t even get me started on the South. It’s Portland for me.