crater lake adventures

Little tent in the Big Woods

Old-growth Douglas fir

Chicken sausages, homemade pita bread, and grilled veggies with thyme. I am a camp food chef

Misty views off the Rim Road around Crater Lake

The lake: deepest in the US

Benanna

Endless forest

View from Mt. Scott

We climbed a mountain

Fire lookout. (Or watchtower of Rohan?)

Indian Paintbrush

Twisty whitebark pines

Dr. Seuss flowers

So happy

Our first official Oregon Adventure together was a raging and beautiful success. I am getting sad that fall weather is hinting more and more. Send me more endlessly sunny and warm days for camping!

This last week of August has been exciting in good and bad ways. The highlights include the death and resurrection of our fridge, and Ben snagging his first little Oregon job. An impressive feat considering the super crappy job market and economy here. Yay!

adventures in Jacksonville

Weekends are my favorite. 

I usually get a three day weekend by working four 10-hour days, but this week I worked Friday too so I can meet Ben for a mini-vacation in Austin next weekend (!!!) Fifty hours of fieldwork equals one exhausted Anna, but I still felt compelled to get outside today. I think I am addicted to hiking.

I've started a Saturday routine of taking mini-trips with myself to get to know this gorgeous part of the country I've dropped into, and also to simply kill time. {It takes serious effort to avoid feeling lonely when living by yourself in a brand new place}. Today was a visit to Jacksonville, an adorable historic town dating back to the gold mining days. Pretty trails, 19th century architecture, lush gardens, and blue skies. For the rest of my life when I think of Oregon I will think of oak and madrone woodlands and hot hot sun on the mountains.

oregon country fair

Last weekend revolved around a roadtrip to the Oregon Country Fair, where my crewmember Clem has had a booth to sell his photography and reclaimed redwood furniture for the past 28 years or so. I don't really have words to describe the experience; my friend kind of hit it with "circus meets hippie-fest meets Renaissance Fair." The fair itself is composed of a maze of pathways built into a forest, lined with double story booths selling crafts and food, pretty much everything you could think of and then more. The sensory assault is overwhelming--color, smells, music. And the most happy and friendly people that aren't strangers, but instant-family. Even though the atmosphere is crazy, I was left with a feeling of quiet calm at the end of the day, and the strange muted sense that I hadn't even touched the surface of this three day human kaleidoscope.

life on the other side of the country

[Rogue Valley--my new home for now]

I can't believe I have been in Oregon for three weeks already. Today is the day I FINALLY got internet installed in my big empty apartment ! I also can't believe it took me that long to get settled and connected to the outside world. Gah. Work is exhausting but fun and makes the days fly. I am doing field research for a big restoration project with the Nature Conservancy in beautiful forests filled with fir, pine, and Pacific madrone trees. I feel so lucky to be able to work outside, hiking for a living, and be in control of my schedule.
Slowly but surely life is coming together again after months of craziness this spring. Writing a thesis, getting engaged, graduating with my masters degree, and moving 3,000 miles across the country with only what I could stuff into my little Ford Focus has made this year the most life changing yet out of the 24 I have experienced, and it is only half over!!! I feel grownup and (almost) fearless, and I am SO happy to be done with school, at least for now. Having the time to just reflect on life and do some deep thinking on where it is headed as well as on the present day is extremely satisfying in that existential way, and I have gained a lot of confidence and optimism in the past few months. I am learning that a lot of hard work, opportunity-grabbing, and risk taking is what life is about.

Happy July!

adventures

 

I have no recent pics to share because my apartment is in packing-induced shambles and who knows where that camera is...

Yes I am packing up my little life here in PA because

I have a job

Only, it is far far away in OREGON. 

Doing field work for the Nature Conservancy for 6 months. And I need to move across the country in one week!

There are some big life changes afoot, and I expect to get back to regular postings and involvement with the little bloggyblog, as I will have many new adventures to share and will be living by myself again for some time since Ben is still job hunting out east here.

Am I crazy? Meh, not abnormally so. Is life crazy? Most definitely.