From the East Coast to the West Coast in one day.
August 30th, 2012 we boarded a total 3 different planes
throughout the day and traveled through the air allll the way across
our country. And it only took about 12 hours.
A much different story than when I traveled from the West Coast to the East
Coast by car.
I have been here in North Carolina for a total of 1 year, 5 months and 2
birthdays. This go 'round will be the longest I'd ever been away from my
parents, and Oregon at that. I had no idea what to expect when I set out on my
road trip last year but I'm pretty sure I've found it :)
When we landed in Portland, Oregon on August 30th, 2012 and as we looked
around the airport seeing all of the "Oregon" merchandise, we just
looked at each other and sighed a huge sigh of relief. "We made it. Were
in OREGON!" We almost couldn't believe that just a mere 12 hours earlier
we were on the complete other side of the country.
So we set out to start our 2 week Oregon adventure. This time were going
home to visit together, really together, where we have a life of our own in a
different part of the country. I knew that this visit in Oregon was going to be
very interesting...
We got our rental car and started the trip to Medford, Oregon. Only 4 and a
half more hours to go until I was in my moms embrace.
On the way down to Medford both Riley and I reminisced and enjoyed the
scenery. Boy had we missed the mountains! I knew I was going to be excited to
see the mountains and hills and rivers but I had no idea that I would be this
excited. They were even more gorgeous than I remember.
Table Rock in Southern Oregon
As we pulled into my parents driveway they both came running out with Boone (their dog)
running along side, we all hugged and cried and maybe even squeeled a little
(okay maybe that was just me). I couldn't believe I was here, back here
in Medford, Oregon. Where I'd just up and left one day what seems like so long
ago. Any timidity I may have had all went out the window and down the road. I
hugged my mom like I hadn't seen her in 10 years, and my dad too. It was the
most amazing feeling, being in their arms again, seeing Boone, and walking into
their beautiful home. I felt comfortable, and immediately relaxed, and like,
"okay, this trip is gonna turn out alright"
Once we got inside Riley and I just sunk into the couch, drained from the
day of traveling. We spent the rest of the evening smiling until our cheeks
cracked, laughing, hugging some more and just generally enjoying the fact that
we were back, even just for a short time but dammit were going to enjoy it :)
Friday August 31st, 2012
We slept in. And it was glorious. And you know what else? We slept outside.
That's right, outside, under the stars, on an air mattress. It was incredible.
My parents set up this little area for us complete with a cute little lantern,
a side table, a rug on each side of the bed and a down comforter. We would melt
into the ground if we tried to do that in North Carolina so we took advantage :)
For the rest of the day we just relaxed and spent time with my parents, my
grandpa and Boone. Later that evening we went to Rileys moms house and spent
some time with her, her soon-to-be-husband, Rod and his sister Ashley. On the
way home we stopped by my grandmas house to say hi. While we were there my
uncle David, his wife Billie and her daughter Micki showed up. We had a
wonderful time with everyone, catching up that evening. Every time I spend time
with my grandma, I find that I love her more and more, she is such a strong,
beautiful and sassy person that I am proud to call my grandma, and my friend.
On our way home we knew what was coming. It was about to get
hectic. We only had 2 weeks to cover both our 26 years of memories, families,
friends, new plans, dinners, catching up, and driving around. Oh, and somewhere
inside there we needed to find time to relax. We were ready.
Saturday September 1st, 2012 - Monday September 3rd,
2012
This morning we all woke up early and started packing for
our camping trip/mini family reunion with Rileys family. This was taking place
in a town called Coquille, OR at a fish camp near the river/ocean.
This wasn't just an ordinary camping trip. This camping trip
was the whole reason we chose the dates how we did. One of the main reasons we
even came to Oregon. This camping trip was the setting where Rileys girlfriend
of a year and a half meets and makes an attempt at a good first impression on
the rest of his family, including his papa; Grandpa Roy, and his uncle Roy -
two men who Riley admires the most in this world that I have yet to spend any
real time with. I was nervous, with a side of anxiety, to say the least. This
is a BIG deal.
It ended up turning out exactly right. I would even venture
to say it was near perfect. We all had so much fun, there were some really
great moments of bonding and connecting, smore's, campfire...Rileys mom even
got married up there! My parents had just recently gotten ordained so they had
the honor of marrying them. My parents married Rileys mom. So cool :)
The whole weekend was just a hugely positive experience.
We were each able to spend the alone, quality time that we
needed with exactly who we needed it with. On Sunday my parents and I were able
to spend some alone time shopping and exploring the coast town of Bandon that
we were near:
While my parents and I were busy spoiling ourselves with
crab, clam chowder and shopping, Riley was able to spend the day fishing with
his uncle Roy:
He caught a 25-30 lb salmon!! I was so proud of him, I think
we'll be eating salmon for the next 6 months. No complaints! Just sayin'
On Monday we headed back to town. Riley and I decided to
drive along the coast line back. Taking hwy 101 all the way home. The scenic
route. And boy was it!
It was so surreal to
me that I had just come from the EAST coast and seeing/swimming the beaches
over there to the WEST coast just a few days ago. Let me tell you something, if
you like rocks and beautiful, mountainous scenery and cold, no, freezing ocean,
you'll like the Oregon Coast. But if you prefer to be able to feel the ocean
while you're enjoying its beauty of green/blue, clear, and WARM waters, you'll
prefer the East Coast. At least in North Carolina anyway. I can't speak for the
other states yet, I still have yet to vist them. Soon though!!
On the way back to Medford we also stopped by the
Oregon/West Coast Game Park. That was awesome. I had never really been to a zoo
or game park so I was like a little kid in there!
We saw:
African Serval Cats
Hamadryas Baboons
Barbados Sheep
Bears
Binturongs
Bison
Black Buck Antelope
Camels
Capybara
Caracal
Chinese Muntijac
Cougars
DeBrazza's Monkeys
Emu
Goats
Ring-tailed Lemurs
Leopards
Lions
Llamas
Lynx
Nilgai
Panthers
Peccary
Peacocks
Raccoons
Roosevelt Elk
South American Rhea
Silver Fox
Snow Leopards
Swans
Tigers
Wallaby
Apricot Skunks
and, zebras!
Tuesday September 4th, 2012
Today we slept in, yes, again :) spent the morning relaxing and spending
time with my parents, grandpa and Boone. Then we went shopping. This wasn't
just a regular ol' shopping trip. We went shopping for riiiings. Yes,
engagement rings. We have been casually looking for a handful of months now, but
this time, in light of the conversation my dad and Riley had on the first day,
it was serious.
My dad usually wakes up around 4am for work so Riley diligently
woke up at the same time with an intention. To ask my dad for his blessing to
marry me.
No proposal yet, we want to keep it a surprise and wait until the right
time.
Wednesday September 5th, 2012
Today was Ileans birthday. (that's Rileys mom if you haven't caught on by
now) so we took her to lunch, sushi to be exact. We had such a great time with
her, laughing, watching her open her present. After, we went to a little cafe'
in downtown Medford and had coffee and talked some more. I sure do enjoy the
company of that woman. I am thankful and proud to be able to call her my
mother-in-law someday :)
Afterwards Riley and I ran some errands, took care of a few loose ends, did
a little more shopping then went back to my parents and relaxed for a couple
hours before we set off again; later in the evening Riley went to spend time
with his good friend Gabe while I traversed around the valley in my parents'
Tahoe. I got to go see my good friend Kayla and my cousin Morgan and her son
Reece. Nice visits, both of them :)
Thursday September 6th, 2012
This morning my grandpa asked to take Riley, me and my mom to breakfast. We
sat outside, the weather was perfect and we had a really wonderful time. I miss
my grandpa too, while I'm over here in North Carolina so I was grateful to have
that time with him.
After breakfast Riley and I decided to go to The Oregon Vortex aka The House
of Mystery. I hadn't been there since I was younger so I was excited to get to
take Riley there. In case you have never heard of this before, heres a little
info:
The Oregon Vortex is a spherical field of force, half above the
ground and half below the ground. The word "vortex" simply means a
whirpool of force, like a whirling mass of water. Especially one in which a
force of suction operates such as a whirlpool or a whirling mass of air or one
in the form of a visible column or spiral such as a tornado. It's basically a
house/shack that was built by miners back in 1904, later on due to a force of
nature (I can't remember what) the house was knocked off it's foundation and is
now crooked, or uneven, but still stands. And now, there are these unexplained
mysteries there, back in the day of the indians, they say their horses wouldn't
go near the "affected" area...
Later that evening we all went out to dinner. I had been getting spells of
lightheadedness ever since Wednesday, the day I visited with Morgan and Kayla,
but I didn't pay any attention, I figured it was just exhaustion, or maybe just
cuz I was out of my element? But soon after we sat down at the restaraunt, I
got real light headed, dizzy and scared. I started crying, trying to contain
myself but they ended up having to take me home. My mom immediately started
doing research, and Riley and my dad ran around doing anything I needed them
to, getting me comfortable, getting me food, water etc... what we had
determined was that it was possible I had hypoglycemia. I was still scared. I
didn't like it. It really terrified me. So I just went to bed early,
prayed for health and hoped I would be back to normal the next day, especially
since we had big plans to go on the Hellgate Jetboat Excursion!
Friday September 7th, 2012
This
morning I was still scared and even a little depressed. I did not want to go do
things in public for fear that I may faint or fall or anything. We had to
reschedule our lunch jet boat trip to the dinner one. As the day progressed, I
strangely got more and more depressed and sad, it’s a weird feeling that I’m
not really sure how to explain, what I felt, and why I felt so depressed. I
certainly did NOT feel like myself and I was NOT okay with that. It took me all
morning and into the afternoon to pull it together. Riley and I even had to go
outside and scream and “shake it off” I literally had to shake off what I was
feeling, and get myself pumped for life again. I couldn't be more thankful for the way my parents and Riley handled this storm I was going through. They were absolutely amazing; supportive, positive, helpful. In fact, at one point they said, "were a family! when one goes down were there for them. Were here for you Reilly! Were not giving up! Were in this together!" I ended up pulling it together
just enough to make it to the Hellgate trip, we had an awesome time, I was
still kind of in and out, and unsure of things but I’m really glad I decided to
go. I couldn't have done it without the love and support of my parents and Riley.
Once we got home we had Ilean, Rodney and Ashley over for dinner. By then I
felt I was mostly back to normal but not quite. I made it through dinner, we
had a great time and had good food :)
Saturday September 8th, 2012
This morning I decided to go see a doctor for how I'd been feeling. It didn’t
seem to be getting any better and it was really starting to scare me. I just
wanted to be myself again. I felt like, "this can't be happening on my
vacation home!" They did some tests, ruled out any liver, kidney, gall
bladder issues, and then told me that yes it may very well be hypoglycemia
and/or this thing called polycystic ovarian syndrome. Suggested I see my
regular doctor here in North Carolina for further instructions, gave me some
anti-anxiety and ant-nausea medicine and sent me on my way. So now, onto a
whole new lifestyle of eating and living, I’m very much back to normal,
emotionally now that were back home in North Carolina so I’m excited to continue with this healthier lifestyle :)
Anyway, so I’m not about to let some little ol’ emotional, blood sugar thing
keep me down so we all (my parents and Riley and I) drove up into the mountains
and shot some of our guns! Riley had spent the night before cleaning each and
every one of them so he was pretty proud to show them off. We had an awesome
time! I LOVED doing that with them. Plus, it enabled us to be able to drive by
the house I ‘grew up’ in, the house where Riley and I had most of our memories.
Sunday September 9th, 2012
This morning we went to church. We saw all, well, most, of our old church
family, caught up with them, and Riley took our childhood pastor, Arbee, aside
and basically asked for his blessing as well, to marry me. Arbee said, “of
course! But the key word here, commitment, remember that.”
Today was also Ileans wedding reception, and as tired as I was from
everything leading up to this day, I still made it through very well, and had a
wonderful time catching up with and seeing old family and friends. We then went
to this place called Red Lily Winery and met some of my parents’ and I’s
friends up there and had a really nice time.
After the winery we went to my grandmas with a birthday cake to wish her a
happy birthday.
We stayed at Ileans house tonight. It was good that we did, we had been
spending a lot of time with my parents and family so I was glad to be able to
have that time with just Rileys mom, sister and Rodney. Rileys sister was very hospitable,
she let us stay in her room and sleep on her bed which she cleaned up very nice
for us. I’m proud to call her my “little sister” one day too :)
Monday September 10th, 2012
My mom and I went to lunch with my aunt Denise today. (my moms sister), and
we had a really nice time. Over the years I have really grown close to Denise.
Even when no one else had, she would send me a quick email here and there,
birthday cards and even called a few times after I left. Really made me feel
like she cared. She is such a good-hearted woman, she's thoughtful, and
loving...she has proven to be a joy to be around every time I'm in her company.
I love you aunt Denise!
After lunch Riley and I went and spent some time with his aunt Dorothy and
cousin Norma. Again! REALLY nice time! The first time I had met them was
yesterday at the church so It was really nice getting to know them. I felt a
connection to both of them, and I think Norma and I have a similar sense of
humor so that was refreshing. Before we left they prayed for us and our travels
and then gave Riley some of his uncle’s (who has passed away) things, that
meant so much to him. It is so nice when you see that family bond and the heart
that’s involved. When people do things not because they have to or feel
obligated but because it matters.
Tuesday September 11th, 2012
This morning my cousin Steph and I had coffee. For 2 hours. Steph and I had
been going through a rough patch these last 7 or 8 months which, if you’re a
girl, with a best friend, you’ll understand that that’s like an eternity. Steph
and I were/are the best of friends. We may not have everything in common but
damn were close. We have this bond that just cannot be broken. I appreciate and
love her so much, it just breaks my heart when were not “good” so when I
reluctantly sent that text, “hey Doob…” I was afraid of the rejection. Or
worse, if we did meet up and things didn’t go well, anything. I was just
afraid. I’d prayed and hoped for months to know what the right thing to do is,
how I should handle this rift were in, should I let go? Should I continue to
fight for our friendship? All I knew was that I wasn’t going to let this whole
2 weeks pass by and not reach out and at least try. So I did.
It couldn’t have gone better. It was like we were back. We both apologized, laid ourselves before the mercy of the
courts, verbalized what we’d each learned and how we’ve grown…like I said, we
were there for 2 hours. All I have to say is I’m glad I reached out even though
I had fear and I’m glad I have my friend back. I love you Steph.
Later on that night we had our “farewell” pizza. It was so amazing who
showed up, it was like the perfect amount of people. My childhood best friend
Rachel came, and brought a date (we all liked him by the way) Rileys parents,
my parents, my grandma, steph came…it was an all around positive, awesome
night. A great way to end our visit home.
Wednesday September 12th, 2012
We left for Portland, OR this morning where we’ll fly out from tomorrow
morning. On the way up North we stopped and had breakfast with his grandparents
and then drove a little further to say goodbye to his uncle Roy, then we
stopped off at this casino called Seven Feathers. We each had an amount of
money…Needless to say, I only came back out with some cuz I didn’t have time to
spend it all, and well, Riley did have time to spend all his. Were not
millionaires yet!
After driving a couple more hours we stopped at the Oregon Ducks Store, of
course. Stocked up on our gear and then hit the road for another hour or so
then stopped for some retail therapy at the Woodburn Outlets. We ended up
having to send 2 large boxes via USPS due to our shopping!
That night we had dinner at the Portland City Grill (and sat right behind
the couple from “Little People, Big World”), enjoyed the view from the 30th
floor, our meal and our glasses of wine. We then headed for our hotel and had a
very relaxing evening. Tonight was our last night in Oregon. We felt
bittersweet, as cliché’ as that sounds. I didn’t wanna leave but I was ready to
go home.
Thursday September 13th, 2012
Today we flew home, the flights and traveling couldn't have gone better. It was comfortable, quick and we were excited to see our apartment and throw ourselves onto the couches.
Overall the trip was a huge success! The many heart to heart talks, the bonding and reminiscing... It was such an amazing trip that I will remember forever. And now, onto the next year of our lives. Riley starts college next month, I'm still loving my job and into my many endeavors :) I will be buying a new car soon, as well as working to pay my debts off...I'm so excited to see what this next year holds for us.
Next year around September 2013, we will be moving out of North Carolina. We're not 100% sure where yet, could be Florida, could be Missississippi...could be Washington! So we shall see what the hands of God hold for us.
Stay tuned!!
Please visit this link to view all of the pictures from Oregon:
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