Dear Rachel,
The family left yesterday afternoon, the trip is getting more peculiar with each passing day. The Country Fair is going on this weekend, it is a 3 day event, not like a regular county fair in the midwest, but similar to a Burning Man type of thing. You buy a $20 ticket at Safeway and then get bused out to the grounds, which is a scenic wooded area. KC mentioned something about not minding the nudity?! She had 3 friends drive down from Portland and they set up tents in the backyard, then went to the fair yesterday. Everyone was trying to convince me to go, that it was foolish to miss it, but having just arrived in town I am more interested in just running and walking about, exploring and learning the streets. So I did not go. Last night the three friends came back from the fair, by this time the family had left for the airport to go to France, so it was just me, the dog, goldfish, and the 3 friends. They are all laid back and nice, a bit older than me. One woman, Catherine, showed me her videos of the fair, which were pretty good, lots of hippy type stuff and arts/music. We got to talking and she said if I wanted to visit Portland after Eugene I could stay at her place. I did not think she was serious, but she gave me her card and the next morning she mentioned it again. I told her I did not want to impose, but she said I would not, so I said maybe sometime in September, and she replied she would be visiting her father so I could house sit for a week if I wanted. She lives next to a huge wooded park, according to her it is the largest urban park in the USA, dwarfing Central Park in NYC. She said trail runners love it. I asked if everyone in Oregon is this friendly, or did I just get lucky in meeting KC - haha - KC seems well loved by all. The 3 friends left this morning, so now it is just me, the dog, and 3 gold fish.
I am going to look at a guitar this afternoon.
Went running on the Amazon Trail 2 days ago, which led me to the Ridgeline Trail, which goes up into the wooded hills. I saw a sign warning of bears and cougars, the last piece of advice it gave was "if attacked, fight back" - comforting! So I wended up Spencer Butte, the douglas firs massive. Up and up, but then I made a wrong turn and ended up going in the direction of Mt. Baldy. I turned around and decided not to climb the 2 miles to the summit of Spencer because by that time I had already run 6 miles. This morning I ran Pre's Trail in Alton Baker Park, very scenic and quiet. The Willammette, (wi-lamb-it, I called it the willa-met and KC laughed) which the park is next to, is clean, fast flowing, and gorgeous.
I walked to Safeway yesterday to get some supplies. Everyone I passed was smiling and happy, and just as many people running and biking as driving. I was reminded of the Chevy Chase movie where the town is trying to sell him a house, so they all smile and are friendly and helpful, but it is all a con, haha. I did see one man who was irritated, but it was because of me, I was walking in the middle of the sidewalk, I guess in Oregon bikes can ride on sidewalks, because he said "move to the side, move to the side!".
KC brought me around town yesterday before leaving. We stopped at a bookstore and I bought 4 postcards - I found out there is no sales tax in Oregon - sweet! (just checked my receipt from Safeway, no tax, so saved about $3, which makes up for the slightly more expensive food prices). 5 blocks from the house is an organic store, similar to Strawberry Fields. Lots of good stuff there, I bought Chia seed juice drinks - yum. There are many local beers, I have tried a couple so far, very tasty. Two Indian restaurants within a mile of the house, I went to one on Friday, it was just as good as Bombay Grill.
Nights are cool, days are warm. Catherine told me not to be fooled, once summer is over it will be months and months of gray skies and rain.
Eugene's grade after 4 days - A
Included are some random pics to show you the lay of the land - even the graffiti is happy in Eugene :)
Love, Jim
Arriving in Eugene
Willamette River I
Willamette River II
Where I stopped to read a few pages of Kerouac
Suspension Bridge for Pedestrians
Graffiti
Casey
