Maybe a little too much of a champ, since I picked up my first ever speeding ticket on this trip—and it's so enormous that it's like retribution for managing to avoid any others in the last dozen years. I didn't know they made tickets that big.
But my brother, always wise counsel, reminded me of something our equally wise saba used to say: "If it can be solved by time or money, don't worry about it." I think I'll roll with that.
When The Semi and I reached Oregon after 11 hours en auto, we were greeted by her excellent friends K and B and some warm lentil soup, followed by many hours of rocklike sleeping.
The next day, we frolicked around what turned out to be a bigger downtown than I'd realized on previous trips. Our first stop was a steel bridge, one of about nine (I think) bridges that you can walk across and/or under in pedestrian-friendly Portland.
The best part about crossing the bridge was the vague feeling we were doing something naughty. I mean, you're not supposed to be able to see what a bridge looks like from underneath, right? But wait:
The second best part was the random traffic light about halfway across. Apparently it's a drawbridge that sometimes separates for passing boats, but since there weren't any, this was kind of hilarious:
Stop! THERE'S NO ACTUAL CROSSWALK AND NOTHING COMING! Okay, you can go.
On the other side of the bridge, we found these squat little green guys. The Semi says that's where they tie up boats, but I think they're on duty to make sure nobody runs the traffic light. It's not hard to imagine a camera in there:
There were also some scenic benches for perching:
Then we went to Chinatown. B says it's rapidly fading as a commercial district, but it still houses some restaurants, cute hipster businesses (like a bar full of video games and an all-night doughnut shop), and the beautiful Portland Chinese Garden.
An indicator of how carefully and proudly the garden is manicured: I spent a really long time looking at the floor.
K told me that the view through each interior window is of paramount importance to the garden's architect, and that's easy to believe.
Inside the garden is a small, gracious teahouse, where we warmed up for a while and adopted our new tea names: Golden Emperor, Tea Flowers (aka Blossom), Red Clover, and The Gink.
After a festive New Year's dinner that included Nikki and Gregg, plus champagne at midnight with a houseful of cheerful strangers, The Semi and I headed southward. You know what's coming, right?
Getting to the Treesort was like starring in the sequel to Deliverance, with one deserted backroad turning into another. A sign we passed along the way pretty much summed it up:
We arrived just as the sun was setting in the middle of nowhere. Melody the Treekeeper told us where to find coffee in the morning and said (when I asked for the key), "Oh, it's all open. We're mellow here." Then she pointed us to the Forestree, our 35-foot-tall home away from home:
Which we were supposed to reach via a couple of wobbly rope bridges:
Then she told us she'd be leaving, and gave us the phone number for the owner if we needed him. We were the only guests who showed up that night. Our guards included this imposing guy:
And, until her owner came by to pick her up, Ginger the Wonderdog:
In our defense, we did make it all the way to Forestree carrying our backpacks—I even tried to haul our cooler up there using the rickety pulley thing.
But after about five minutes, it became clear that 1) Cooler ain't never gonna happen, and 2) Treehouse feels like it won't stop swaying. We made a unanimous decision to chase Melody's car down the road until she gave us a less scary room.
Peacock Perch was much more civilized. Note the sturdy staircase:
Jitters neatly bypassed, we retired to the communal kitchen to make dinner and check out the exciting selection of games:
They were tempting, but we skipped them after discovering the speedy Wi-Fi. No central heating, but a killer wireless connection. It's all about priorities.
In the morning, we visited the treehorses. They were very busy eating:
Except when they paused between bites to give me the eye.
We also discovered the quaint collection of treelamps:
And treebarrows:
We even found some rules to break before we left.
The home stretch of the drive was about three hours longer than Google Maps expected, but we got our second wind at the Black Bear Diner:
All these other adventures aside, my high point of 2007 so far is reading a newspaper clipping on the wall of the Black Bear. Underneath a picture of a clean-cut high-school football team, it said:
"The Weed Varsity Cougars hope to take advantage
of their many offensive talents."
of their many offensive talents."
If you made it through this whole post, there's your reward. Happy new year.
No comments:
Post a Comment