Falling for fall, wanderings of my ol' ramblin spirit

Well geez! Sitting to rest, finally, no stress, with a Pliny in my glass.

The last couple weeks have been jampacked! I had to write a research paper that I saved til the last week and spent hours scouring databases and stayed up til 4:30am on two occasions with an absolutely bursting brain....I worked the weekends until the wee hours....I also crammed (whatseemedlike) hundreds of other homework projects in before 11:59 pm October 21st. Because I had a road trip to get goin' on!

By 12:30 that same eve I had my suitcase pack'd with fall outfits and lots of tights and was ready for takeoff for a little solo road trip to the east side of Oregon and Washington, an area I had never visited before.

I got up at 7:30 with my dear Arthie who prepared me some road trip snacks in his jammas and I hit the road by my lonesome at 8:15 am. On my way to Bend, Oregon.

My friend Jenny Smith Mackenzie lives in Bend with her husband Dana and their sweetie 6 year old amazing daughter, Rowan. This is the second year that Jenny had a main part in "Evil Dead The Musical", and despite my business at school I swore I wouldn't miss it! So I squeezed this weekend of rambling beautiful scenery and singing at the top of my lungs in my car into my busy little life and had an absolutely PERFECT time.

I love stopping in Mt. Shasta City. A great little secret town with a beautiful Main Street and lots of coffee shops and boutiques and herb and candle type stores. The fall colors for this entire trip were amazing. They still haven't changed in Placerville, so it was a beautiful surprise and now I get to witness two Falls!

Infamous and gorgeous Mt. Shasta, a view from Highway 97 as you head toward Klamath Falls. Below, Juniper Valley, just a couple miles up from Shasta. You can't really see from the photo, but at the bottom of the clouds there are mountains and mountains that seem to go on forever.

I had to stop and get out of the car, it was breathtaking.

The musical was hilarious and wonderful. Jenny was absolutely terrific, she seriously is an amazing actress. The photo above is me after the musical. The poster behind me displays Jenny as Cheryl-turned-zombie. I have a wee splat of blood on my chin. But there was far more on my tights and on the tshirt I was given to take shelter in (from all the blood that sprayed the audience!) It was a dang blood bath! They even pass out plastic sheets at the beginning so people can take shelter from all the blood. But it's not scary or even slightly scary. The whole musical is just plain comedy. Below, I'm with the director. What a dork I am, I forgot to get a photo of Jenny in her full Zombie makeup!




Jenny and Dana and Rowan and I went to coffee and breakfast the next day and I realized that Rowan and I are totally kindred spirits. I can only pray I have a kid like that one day. She is quirky, entertains herself, is well behaved, emotional in the best and cutest way, and knows how to recognize HOPS!!!! And she eats them!


Street in Bend.

I got a tour of Deschutes Brewery that same day. Rowan spotted hops from the road! Here she is with her (and my) beloved hops.

I left Bend that day and trekked up through some beautiful vast high desert farm country to Walla Walla. I absolutely love the landscape through there, it's very much like the east side of 395 by the Sierras, which is my favorite trek in California.

Ryann and I woke up the next morning and decided to walk to town. We headed directly to coffee and then to the Goodwill, which by the Grace of God was open on SUNDAY!!!!

We are about to enter the treasure chest that is the Good Will of Walla Walla.

The weather for my whole trip was perfect. Whenever I was inside somewhere, it rained. Whenever I was walking or driving, it was partly sunny and gorgeous. I honestly felt bits and pieces of destiny on this trip. You know when things just work out perfectly? And you know you are exactly in the right place? That was this trip. I so needed to de-stress and experience some serious inspiration, and all the stars aligned for me this time. I HIGHLY recommend disregarding fears and going on a far away solo road trip to anyone who has the notion! As long as you have a semi-reliable car that is, and a AAA card!

After spending, oh, about three hours in the thrift store, we headed on to a bookstore and views of the town. We ended the chilly eve with a delicious dinner of fish n chips and dessert of pumpkin pancakes at Clarette's Restaurant, next door to Ryann's dorm. It was SO YUMMY, especially the pumpkin pancakes with fresh cinnamon whipped cream. The veggies weren't so great, but I didn't care cause everything else WAS!

A cutie dress Ryann found.

It had to be a quick weekend, cause I had class on Tuesday morn. So Monday I got up early and headed out. On my way home I stopped in Baker City where Jenny's older brother Rustin lives, with his family. They bought me lunch at their bistro (the Baker Bistro) and I got to take a quick tour of Baker City and meet a baby cow that's living in their backyard temporarily! Coco. He was adorable.

Smith Property above, complete with wheat and cows.

Idaho is one of my new favorite sceneries as well, pictured below.

I just reread this thing and realize how cheesy my writing sounds. I stayed up really late one night writing it and posting the photos (GAWL they take forever, even just from my pitily Iphone!) anyways I don't feel like re-doing it so thar she blows! It sounds like I'm writing for 6 year olds! I HAVE always wanted to write children's books about animals, there are always so many ideas swarming my brain for such stories. Anyways, last week was awesome too and I have another post coming soon. What a lovely fall it's been. Anyone want to plan a road trip soon?