Unplanned quick trip to Oregon

I took a whirlwind trip to Oregon a couple of weeks ago. It was unplanned, and for a sad occasion. Unplanned: me, going across the country a few weeks before the theatre season starts is unheard of, although years ago I would go back in the truck for a few weeks between auditions and opening. The sad occasion was a memorial service for a cousin’s daughter. Had to fly and I’m not big on flying, not necessarily scared but I prefer driving where I can see things and stop when I want to. I haven’t flown in almost 10 years and it’s a whole new deal, with all the security and everything. Not to mention paying $25 to check a bag. Sheesh! On the way out I had to surrender bottles of water, V8 and iced tea I’d stuck in my bag to drink, not thinking about them being liquids that are not allowed. On the way back I had so much stuff crammed in my carry on bag that it had to be inspected; the woman asked about the boxes with baked goodies that I had wrapped against crushing and when I said they were cookies she said ‘I may have to E.A.T. test those’. She also had to take my big camera out of the case and look through the viewfinder – not sure why that was, but I had to show her how to do it. Thanks, all the terrorists and would-be terrorists, for making our lives just that much more complex and bothersome. Part of your purpose is achieved.
It sure is some beautiful country out there. Not that we don’t live in, as people on the road used to tell me when I told them where I was from, ‘a pretty part of the country’. And of course, because it is different, you look at it with newer eyes and see things you might miss in familiar territory. Driving from Eugene up to Sisters the Mackenzie Pass road is still closed with snow, that won’t open until maybe June or July, but the road past the waterfalls is open, as is Route 20, the same Route 20 that goes near here, with piles of snow still on the side from a storm a week or so ago. Some mountains soar above their lower neighbors, still white capped, and I took so many pictures of them that ‘you’d think I never saw snow on a mountain top before’.
Sisters is a bustling little town. The population is about the same as Chatham, but what a difference. They have several blocks of stores, with people in all of them. An eclectic mix, and geared more towards tourists than locals, but tucked among them and on the western edge of town are the more everyday places where residents can get their groceries, hardware and everyday needs. A golf tournament was going on and some of the crowds are part of it, some are no doubt day trippers, some folks stopping because they are on Route 20 going through the center of town and want a break or see something of interest. But a busy place, and I wished I could bring some of it back for the shops on our Main Street.
Mule deer came down to the field on one side of our motel in the morning, acclimated to people they just watched as I came close to take photos. The llamas in the field on the other side crowded the fence for a nibble of the feed the motel supplies for them.
The service was appropriate. Many people stood to talk about Emily, to say what a good friend she was and how they will miss her. I wonder how this equates with a person so unhappy with their life that they have to leave it as she did. We will never know her demons.
Spent time visiting with the cousins, we don’t see each other much, being on opposite sides of the country, and it’s nice to catch up a bit. We talk about getting together more often, and hug a lot, and then my sister and I go home – on different flights because we booked at different times, of course. My ‘red eye’ left SFA late so I missed the connection in DC and had to sit around several hours waiting on the next one.
Nice to be home.