Progress

Well, we made it to town yesterday evening. My seat partner on the bus was on her way to Bend to visit her brother, and we wound up splitting a cab to the restaurant he works at. Had some delicious local beer, a pretty solid black bean burger, and good times.

Then our couchsurfing host came by to pick us up, brought us to her pad where we dropped our stuff. We went out to 10 Barrels Brewing Co. (one down, eight to go), sat on a patio with a big fire pit, enjoyed a couple libations and talked mainly about travel. Our host is way cool, so energetic and outgoing.

Then today Ryan and I went out to look at apartments. The first one was really nice but not ready for another month, so the property manager directed us across town to another place. Wow. The neighborhood is great. The apartment is surrounded by two local grocers, a coffee house and roaster, a Mediterranean restaurant... and it's a 5 minute walk from downtown. Keep your fingers crossed that we get it!

Oh, also grabbed a pint at the Deschutes Brewery (!!!!) for lunch. Seven more to go...

The Dream of the Nineties is Alive in Portland

Whew! We arrived in Portland. That was one long train ride. Left late Friday night, arrived at 10:00 Monday morning. As long as it took, it was a much better experience than flying. We had leg room, we could walk to "The Dome" car, where the windows curved up into the ceiling for expansive views. We slowly chugged through the rockies. And we met a whole bunch of interesting folks. (Two of them took too long at a stop and got left behind! One guy paid $150 for a ride to the next station, and got a speeding ticket on the way.)

Listening to Helplessness Blues while rolling through the Cascade Mountains nearly brought this nature lover to tears. Really feels like we're in the promised land. I still have trouble wrapping my head around the one-way ticket idea. And being from the Pacific Northwest, I've longed to get back for such a long time--to the point of idealizing the region, maybe setting myself up for disappointment (though I doubt that).

Mt. Hood

We were going to go straight to Bend, but decided last minute to hang out in the Rose City for the day. Walked over to a Whole Foods for lunch with our new friend Jackson (he was on layover en route to a ski trip). He had his skate board so we walked across town to the Burnside Skate Park.

Jackson at Burnside Skatepark

Now we're back at Union Station waiting on Donnie, a helicopter mechanic we met on the train, to pick us up with his rental car and drive over to a hostel on Hawthorne.

So far so good!

En route!

Ryan at Union Station, with the Cincinnati skyline behind

Ryan and I embarked last night! Finding wifi has been a little, eh, 20th century. But we're in Chicago right now, waiting to board the Empire Builder.

Sitting in a cafe, sending out last minute couchsurfing requests. (fingers crossed, ya'll). If all else fails, we might be able to lock up some things at Whole Foods (Ryan transfered stores) and camp for a couple days. Apparently the whole city is surrounded by camp-worthy areas.

Just saw Grace

Made a quick trip up to Columbus to see Grace. She's getting a ton of attention from nurses and a lot of therapy, so she's pretty worn out. She stood up with some help and a little pain. Right before I got there she ate the first food she's had all week!

When I left she was just about to get an MRI. Depending on what that shows, she'll probably get to move to a rehab facility in Cleveland--maybe as close as 10 minutes from her home in Chardon, which will be really nice for her family.

Her sister is keeping an online journal called CaringBridge, which I've been checking almost nonstop. It's so nice to have a so many updates throughout the day.

"I'm surrounded by people people that love me," she said.

Grace

Beautiful time on the road; frightening ending.

I am just about to finish up my midwest / east coast tour. I made it all around Ohio, to Pittsburgh, took a greyhound to New York City, where I spent a beautiful weekend with friends. I've spent the past 5 days hanging out in Athens, and am leaving today.

But my mind is on Grace. My buddy, who was kind enough to put me up this week, was in a bicycle accident last night. She hit her head pretty hard and was life flighted to Grant Medical Center in Columbus.

She was in a coma for hours, suffered bleeding inside her head. But no neck or back injuries, and she's able to open her eyes and wiggle her toes at this point. Grant is one of the best hospitals in Ohio. She's got a long battle ahead of her, but Grace is one strong woman who can take anything that lies in her path.

I'll write more about travels later, when I can think about them. For now, I'm headed to Columbus to see my friend.