I woke up in Oregon ready to escape the next wave of Nature's snowy wrath. After some careful arranging and leaving behind some large items, we were able to fit everything in the car. I practiced putting on the tire chains, just in case. We took one more joy ride through downtown Eugene before we hit I-5 South. The snow-covered land between Oregon and Redding, CA is some of the most beautiful I've ever saw. The highlight of the breathtaking drive was probably Mt. Shasta National Park. Mt. Shasta's elevation is 14,162 ft and one of the few places that rivals Yosemite.
[We stopped for a bite to eat in Yreka, CA at a little joint called Grandma's House. How could they do this?! They slandered Grandma with bad cooking and poor service. Then the bill came ... Grandma must be senile too.
We planned well in advance. The car was rented. Our bags where packed and ready to go. Snack food items for the long drive, check. The only thing we didn't do was consult the Weather Channel. If we had, we might have realized we planned to start our journey from Eugene to San Francisco in the middle of a snow storm. A blizzard that closed nearly 100 miles of Interstate 5 between the Oregon border and Mt. Shasta, California.
[Luckily we all have flexible schedules. We were able to enjoy the weather that I always imagined of Oregon. Of course our traveling group didn't mind staying for another day. I went sledding with my nephew and my sister. Built a snowman. Watched cynically as neighbors tried to make it up the hill in their small expensive cars. And of course, like every night, after dark we all gathered around the table for family games ... like Uno. (Our favorite!)]
Like much of my holiday, today was spent entirely with my family. When you don't see each other often enough it sure takes a long time to "catch up." In the morning we all gathered around my mom and talked. The conversation went from my 16-year-old niece's vague memories of playing in her backyard as a toddler to my mother recalling her early childhood, and growing up during WWII. I am the baby of the family by far, my closest sibling being 20 years older than me. I never even realized my mom was alive during WWII! One of her oddest wartime memories was created as a little girl in first grade. She said the students would line up in the school's hallway for rations of prunes and grapefruit juice.
[The holidays are always a great time for family games. Tonight we watched my 6-year-old nephew Hayden put on a magic show. Then we played Trivia Pursuit while Hayden kept insisting we play poker. We finally compromised with him and played a two-hour hand of Uno.]
The Shelley James' Music Box rocked Sam Bond's Garage in Eugene tonight with an outstanding collection of original material and 80s covers. Just when you thought it was safe to disregard the familiar radio plays of the 80s, the "music box" proves you wrong. The songs jolted me into halucinatory flashbacks of my early years in elementary school. This band impressed listeners with its skillful coordination and sharp, precise note making. For a small venue fan from the Mid-Atlantic my night out in Eugene was super ... thanks for asking.
[It has become a kind of tradition for me and my brother-in-law Brian to go see live music when I visit. Now that he is living in Eugene and not L.A. that tradition will also take on the sampling of local Oregon micro-brews.]
This is a Nutria at dusk near the Willimette River in Eugene, Oregon. I spent most of the day touring around town with my brother-in-law Brian and my nephew Hayden. We had a great time walking down by the Williamette River, eating cheap Mexican food, and shopping around for the best multi-purpose gloves. I found an outstanding pair of gloves that allow me full operation of my camera, like when I had to change lenses to shoot this Nutria before he moseyed through the tall grass down the river bank. I had one slight let-down today ... the Eugene Register-Guard terminated their internship program three years ago. I still enjoyed visiting what I did see of the facilities and my brief, pleasant conversation with Rob Romig, the Register-Guard's director of photography and graphics.
[Tomorrow we go to Eugene's weekly flea market. I'm betting there will be some interesting purchases made there considering half this town is retired hippies.]
This is my brother-in-law's traditional Christmas pudding. Well, actually it's the first time he's ever attempted to make it. I was eating bite by little bite thinking it was an old Welsh family recipe passed down from a long line of fog-walking tea drinkers ... but no. Even my niece Carol was cajoled into thinking he had been making it for years after a story he told about his mother's own Christmas pudding.
[Woke up this fine Christmas morning to a happy laughing family. We opened our eyes. We opened our presents. And, we opened the wrong presents. (Whoops!) I came here imagining that we would be fighting and miserable all stuck in the same house, all 10 of us. Come to think of it that doesn't sound like too many. But, this is the first time my Mom, my two sisters, my brother, and me have all been together in over ten years. I hope everyone feels as loved as the members of our family. Happy Holidays.]
We drove from San Francisco to Eugene, Oregon today. We had an ample amount of irritating stops at yokle diners. The weather was a lot better than we expected, a little rain. We left at about 10am from San Fran and arrived in Eugene at 10pm. Twelve hours in a car with my brother, sister-in-law, and my year-old nephew -- amazingly we all survived. The biggest pain-in-the-neck (literally) was trying to sleep in the sitting position.
[This is a sandwich I enjoyed off Interstate 5 in Williams, Ca. A lot of citizens in the upper half of California would like to seceed from the rest and become a seperate state. If they had their way it would be known as the state of "Jefferson." This seperation is something I can remember folks talking about in Orange County 20 years ago. It's a California myth, something that started as a wacky idea or rumor. Other examples -- earthquakes will cause California to break off into the Pacific, or that a state would actually elect a porn star as governer.]
I am now in San Francisco. My Holiday Adventure has officially begun. Tomorrow my brother Rog, my sister-in-law Liz, my handsome nephew Will, and I will put all good sense aside and start our drive through the 600-mile blizzard separating us from ice-hardened Eugene, Oregon. As of now our plans are to leave before 9am. The drive itself would take approximately 8 hours if we don't stop, according to Liz. She thinks it is possible for some people to make only three 30-minute stops on the trip. I figure we'll be there early Christmas morning.
[It's good to be around your family on the holidays, for as long as you can stand it.]
(I'm headed to San Fran, but ...) If you're out in the chilly Christmas weather and down by the White House around F St, Yannis at Maxim's Restaurant might help you ... try some nice vodka. It's fun to hear Russian spoken around the holidays, and there's usually plenty spoken there. I've been going there for over a year, on and off with injuries. The food is good and meaty and they offer the largest selection of vodka in the area, the review says 90 but the last I checked it was more like 140, MAXIM'S.
[I went to the Veterens' Hospital today for a check-up appointment. I noticed some signs in the waiting room letting Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom veterans know how to get coverage. About an hour later I noticed another sign that said the estimated waiting time was 20 minutes. When I finally saw the nurse she was the only one talking. While I was trying to tell her my problems she was half-listening, telling me about her daughter's toenail fungus. Her computer was on a stack of boxes next to her desk. She asked about my service record; and gave me the creeps like the woman in the movie Misery. "They want us to take an extra-close look at all the recent veterans," she said. And then asked me about nightmares, she brought it up! I swear she wanted me to have Post-Tramatic Stress Syndrome. Well, at least maybe they'll find my missing meningitis records. After that visit I needed a vanilla vodka and Coke.]
This is Penny the dog. Because Lord of the Rings was sold out, drinking with some friends and playing ball with Penny was the highlight of the evening.
[I've not only been taking a break from school for the past few days, but also from taking many photos. The schedule I was on for getting things finished up the last week of class made me nocturnal. I need to get out and be somewhere.]
I walked down to see the tree in front of the Capitol today. It has decorations made by children from all fifty states.
[I went to my friend Dave's house tonight. He had some friends from Richmond, Va. there. Didn't stay too late, hopefully I'll get back on a normal sleeping pattern.
