Our Breathtaking World: Explore It!

"A great deal of what we know, we know only through our imagination -- and that knowledge is crucial to our lives."  -Peter Turchi, Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer 

Yellowstone photos Part 1 are up on Flickr.

Looking back over photos I am reminded how incredible our world is. Erin and I agreed that being among so many incredible natural wonders served to remind us of how amazing our God is to have created such an explorable and intricate planet. Our trip was, if nothing else, breathtaking.

Rain: A Northwest Original

Rain. They were right, they being anyone who says to you, "It's rainy there," when you say, "I'm moving to Portland." I wasn't sure before moving here how the constant rain would feel to me: bitter? gray? wet? ugly? mystical? cold? depressing? rejuvenating? inspiring? calming?.

For the past week a pale gray haze descended upon us and the few deciduous trees, mostly intentionally planted by people along parking lots and public roads, lost leaves in an array of colors. I found myself, more than once, standing at the drive-thru window (not happy about being there) looking outside. I would lean over when no cars were nearby and look out across the target parking lot and around 7am the most beautiful glow would appear. The orange street lights would reflect off the wet pavement and the orange and red leaves scattered about and the gray hazy fog created a mystical silence.

The leaves are slowly being washed away by the rain and a soft wind that occasionally blows but the colors do not (and I imagine will not) disappear. This morning I stood out on my balcony, drinking my cup of coffee, and watched as a light rain fell and the wind pushed the evergreens from side to side. I have a most beautiful view of a small forest from my window and the balcony below it. The scene whispers calm. Even the sound of car wheels sloshing down the pavement does not disturb the peace of the pitter-patter of raindrops now falling on the roof above me.

So far, I'm okay with the rain, and once I get a more proper (and warmer) rain jacket I'll be ready for more.

The Daily Grind (that should totally be the name of a coffee shop if it isn't already.)

A routine has slowly made its way into my daily life. I'm working early - almost always early, which is new, but surprisingly nice. I have begun to go to bed early almost every night and wake up fairly early in the morning even when I'm off. Opening here means being at work at 4:15 which shouldn't feel so much earlier than 4:30, but it does. However, I find it's slowly getting easier, and I absolutely LOVE having a more consistent schedule.

The afternoon routine is the harder one to figure out. I've been trying to work on getting a writing schedule down, but it's harder than I imagined to sit down to my computer or a notebook and not be distracted. I get lonely; I miss Ben. And then I end up watching reruns online - which, by the way, is not a good pattern.

I have, however, been walking/jogging for about a week now. Nothing to get too excited about, but I've established a decent working-out routine which should eventually feed into the writing routine by giving me energy in the afternoons. If only I wasn't hungry all the time and didn't have such time-consuming cooking habits.

I do enjoy being in the kitchen, though, and Jena has a gas stove! I've only been making vegetable pastas and simple rice dishes, but it feels so nice to come home and cook and sit down to a book (or a rerun). My hope is to spend an afternoon and make some soup to freeze for quicker meals in the afternoons when I have more writing to do so I won't spend so much time cooking and cleaning my dishes. We'll see. If anyone has any good "freezable" soup recipes, I'm all ears. I can only eat white chicken chili so many times before I begin to need a little variety.

Oh, and I'm still working on getting more photos up, but I have uploaded South Dakota which includes the Badlands!

Photos are Up!

I finally have uploaded the first batch of photos from the trip with more to follow very soon. I want to title each photo order them by day so I'll be able to keep them organized online and on my computer. Enjoy and keep checking back for more. Maybe I'll try to blog some highlight "stories" in the coming weeks too!

Photos

I Finally Made it to Oregon... A Week Ago

Thank you for being patient with my delay in posting! We arrived last Monday evening after a last day of driving through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Erin and I both adored Coeur D'Alene, ID. The people were so friendly and these two kind ladies at the visitor center gave us Idaho pins, which we agreed were one of the best souvenirs (up there with the Yellowstone mug which I've since used and will enjoy through the winter). We made a quick stop in Spokane for another round of Clubfoot Sandwiches from the last Staggering Ox we would meet unless either of us ever decides to return to Montana. Then we set in for a long haul through Eastern Oregon along the Columbia River and into Portland.

So far everything is going well. I'm slowly acquiring the necessary furniture and putting my room together. I have successfully removed all of my suitcases and piles and bags of belongings from both the living room and the hallway. They are all in place in my room (it feels nice not to have too many "things"), but not everything will have a home until I have a bed and, therefore, an under the bed. I do have a set of beautiful bookcases that are home to both books and clothing that I've stealthily hid behind attachable doors. (I love Ikea!) And I am the proud owner of a very comfortable mattress which will soon have a bed to live upon.

I also enjoyed my first day of work today. The people all seemed nice and the cafe isn't too busy. Apparently they do 90% of their business out the drive-thru window. I'm not really looking forward to working drive-thru, but maybe I'll feel differently after I've given it a shot. The roughest part today was in the small stuff. The milk jug labels here are opposite colors (light blue for 2% and dark blue for Non-fat) which makes grabbing the right kind of milk more difficult than you'd think. Also, the bar flows in the opposite direction from the register so I was a little turned around all day and the bars are the older version which I've used before, but not in a while. Mostly though, it was a normal day of work! Tomorrow will likely be a little more stressful.

Pictures galore from the Road Trip are coming! Hopefully in the next few days. So check back if you're interested.

Peace.

Don't Cause a Bear Jam in Glacier

Today was glacier. We hiked for a solid 4 hours to Avalanche Lake. The trail was beautiful with snow drifting down around us, but it was not too cold.

By the time we came back to our car we were exhuasted and since the middle of the road was closed and the drove to the other entrance would have taken over an hour we decided to begin our final leg to Oregon. We should be there tomorrow afternoon, a little earlier than originally planned. My car is MORE than ready to be unpacked, and I know I will be happy to finally have arrived.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

More Missoula, Montana

Today we enjoyed a little more Missoula. We had the staggering ox clubfoot sandwiches. Delicious.

We also did some hiking too and then found soup at the Good Food Store, this amazing grocery store. Now we're watching a movie and enjoying not being blown over by the crazy wind outside.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Small Town Mosey

Yesterday we drove only 3-4 hours and arrived in the smallish Montana town of Missoula, home of the University of Montana. We decided a day of rest was in order and so parked our car and moseyed for a few hours, found a very local deli, drank some tea at a very local coffee shop, took a short (but very steep) hike to the M, and found a hotel just off the main drag so we could walk from there and see the town at night.

This place is local! I love it! I think we're going to walk to the Saturday farmers market this morning and possibly find some hiking. Then Glacier National Park, somewhere in Idaho, and our final destination.

You Know You're on an Adventure When an Elk Saunters by Your Car

Yesterday was all Yellowstone. We woke up early and drove down from our hostel in Bozeman, MT. There is no possible way I could tell you about the amazing and unique things we saw in the space I'm allowed when typing this from my phone. I'll suffice to say it was snowy, there were mountains, and steam came out of the ground in spots all over the park. Every view was worth a picture. (I'll post my lengthy assortment after we arrive on Portland!) Here's a small taste of the photos to come.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone