Today’s photo of the day is brought to you by Sierra Rocha. She took this fabulous shot with her iPhone on the plane today on our way to Portland to see Steel. These trips have been a lot of fun with her. She is (almost) as excited and anxious during Steel’s games as I am. The flying is working out well. She drives from Chico and meets us at the Sacramento airport. We did argue over who got the window seat… but I guess it was worth it for this shot.
I guess I’ve become a frequent flyer… but I sure haven’t figured out how to pack light. I’m always so envious of those who can just take 1 carry on bag and not have to wait to check their bags. (Although I really don’t like schlepping my bag to the gate… and I would never attempt it if I was traveling alone because I can’t reach the overhead bin.) I don’t consider myself high maintenance, but there are a few things that make being away from home a lot more comfortable. I’m even taking less photo equipment since I don’t plan on being down on the field for tomorrow’s game. I always take way too many clothing items. I guess the more you travel the more you pack conservatively. I am getting better, but I still have a long way to go.
This is our travel trailer. You’ve probably never seen it before, because we never use it. Well, I shouldn’t say never… we have used it before a couple of times, but not nearly as much as I would like. It’s been at John and Anne’s, (they’ve used it for the county fairs) and John just brought it back a few days ago. Here it sits, until I can clean it out and Leroy parks it in the shop.
I LOVE to camp… we have just never had enough time. Maybe that will change. Maybe that will be one of the “perks” of getting out of the dairy business. I hope so.
Oregon is beautiful. Even in the middle of August when things are a bit dry… it’s just a pretty state and the further north you go, the prettier it gets. Pacific University is 678 miles from our house and it took us about 12 hours each way… (That’s including potty and food stops.)
On our way home we stopped in the town of Brownsville to have breakfast with Leroy’s cousin Danny and his family. Brownsville is a quaint little town full of “old town” charm and community minded people. The streets were immaculate and beautiful, blooming flowers decorated the front of every building on the main street. It’s a Sunday, so there wasn’t much open. The only life on the street was the restaurant where we met for breakfast. (Which by the way was delicious.)
One of the quirky things about Oregon (at least for us Californians) is the fact that it is illegal to pump your own gas. I’m old enough to remember when the gas stations in California had Full Service sections and you paid more for the gas… but those went away many years ago and I don’t know of ANY full service stations anymore. I had to jump out and take a quick picture of this guy cleaning the window on the truck. We used to take this service for granted… and I think some stations still have the window washing stuff available, but I never do it myself.
I love to drive. Another great thing about living in California is the beautiful scenic drives. The 2nd best highway to be traveling is Highway 101. (The best highway is Highway 1, but there are some pretty curvy parts and it is not for the faint of heart.) We were headed back home when I took this shot. It is just south of Capitola, not far from where we spent the weekend. I knew we wouldn’t be feeling the effects of the marine layer for much longer and I wanted to remember the scene in hopes of remembering the feeling.
When we were leaving home for our trip, Sierra asked me why I wasn’t bringing my big camera. I told her that I was tired… and didn’t expect to pull out my camera much on this trip to do any photography. She thought it was odd, and I should have paid attention because I couldn’t have been more wrong. There are so many spectacular views from this area. I could have had a field day. Every time we pass through this area I think of what a tremendous backdrop this would be for portraits. The tracks and the tall trees are a dream come true for someone doing portrait work. This place is just down the street from the house. Not even 1/2 block away. It is what separates the street from the cliff over the ocean. I’m going to have to remember this and come back with my equipment.
We have really enjoyed our stay here. It has been very relaxing. After a day spent at the beach, we went to mass at St. Joseph’s church and then to dinner at Aldo’s. Steel is a big fan of the TV show “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives” hosted by Guy Fieri. Whenever he travels, he looks up locations and we try to find them. Guy said the Cioppino and Calamari were great so that’s what the boys had. Aldo’s is located at the Santa Cruz Harbor so we sat outside and watched the boats come in and out while we enjoyed our meal.
I love California. I love the fact that I could be in the high Sierras on Monday and at the Pacific Ocean on Friday. What a great place to live. 2 hours to the mountains and 2 hours to the coast. Perfection. I had posted on Facebook a few weeks ago that I needed to touch the ocean again. It is so healing… body and soul. Just breathing the clean air feels good.
In appreciation for some photography work that I did for the agency, the owners of Rico, Pfitzer, Pires and Associates Insurance Agency loaned us the use of their home in Capitola for the weekend. The house is located very near the beach… half way between New Brighton Beach and downtown Capitola. It is magnificent. This view is from the top of the cliff, just down the street. I can’t wait to explore.
Our last day in Oregon. Our flight didn’t leave until evening so after sleeping in, a bit of book shopping and lunch at PF Chang’s… we went to the Portland Zoo. We rented a wheel chair so Leroy really got a workout pushing Steel up and down the hills of the zoo. Steel has been talking about visiting a zoo for a long time. He’s particularly fond of the monkeys. He said that all he could think of was how each animal would taste, and how long he’d be able to survive in the cage with them.
Good flight home. It’s strange to leave sunny Oregon to return to cloudy California.
We flew to Portland, Oregon with Steel today for a college recruiting visit to Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR. We were able to board the plane early because of Steel’s crutches and cast. While on the flight, the attended started a conversation with Steel. He asked about the injury, the reason for travel and about the school. He (flight attendant) played college football so he was excited for Steel. At the end of the flight, he got on the PA and announced Steel’s intention to visit Pacific and asked for a round of applause.
We drove around Portland in search of Bunk Sandwiches. This is a restaurant that Steel had seen featured on the Food Network. We found it, only to read the sign that they were closed until Sunday. Bummer.
We stayed in Hillsboro which is about 15 minutes away from campus. It is beautiful here and the weather is perfect. We met all of the coaches and got a tour of the football facilities including the field, locker room, indoor practice field and the physical therapy rooms. The campus, facilities and town are very impressive. There were presentations by the coaches, dinner and social time for both the athletes and parents. A great day overall.
