Owning a house is far too strange a juxtaposition to my vagabond lifestyle, so we needed to do a second road trip to help me assimilate into adulthood. Based on my ability to use the word juxtaposition, I'd say the assimilation is working! Our second road trip began, ironically, with a flight. We set off to Los Angeles so Sarah could partake in her fantasy football draft with a bunch of her college friends, whilst also allowing us to hang out with two of my bros - Bryn and Marc, who happen to live in LA. Not a bad coincidence! Sarah wasn't the only one who got to catch up with her friends, as I was also treated to a beach day with the man they call Avalanche Sanch. I bet you're intrigued and want to know more, but you can't, because it's my blog and I call the shots!
After bumming around LA for a few days and catching up with my bros and our friends, we set out on road trip number two. Except, we weren't alone this time. As some of you know, I have a brother with a worse traveling addiction than my own. Literally the only thing that separates him from a homeless drifter is that several of my siblings take him in for a few months each year. So after driving from Kansas City to Seattle, Josh decided to fly down to Los Angeles and hitch a ride back up to Seattle with us. He has a really tedious, demanding life. The first stop on our journey was Sarah's college town of Monterey. We spent the afternoon wandering around before grabbing dinner with one of Sarah's friends. That night, we got to experience one of only two campsites of the trip that had a shower. A shower that was only used by Josh. On a seven day road trip.
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| Mt. Shasta, part of the Ring of Fire that borders the Pacific Ocean stretching across the Americas, New Zealand, and Asia |
Josh is probably the only person I've ever heard others refer to as being cheaper than me, so he taught us his ways of camping frugality. None of us had much camping gear outside of sleeping bags and tents, since we all flew in, so we made a few trips to some local Salvation Army's and the Dollar Tree to get the essentials. Cooking pot - $2. Spatula - $1. Lighter - $1. Can Opener - $1. Soap and Sponge - $1. Two-ply toilet paper - $1. And yes, outside of food and water that is basically all you need to survive in the wild.
As we made our way through California, we made a few pitstops, but ultimately decided that the majority of stuff we wanted to do was in Oregon and Washington. So with only the occasional stop to stretch our legs and check out random national parks/forests along the way, we drove to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, which is supposedly one of the most beautiful parks in the country. Now, some of you who watch the news may recall there were forest fires all over the Pacific Northwest this past year... Well it turns out that the visibility at Crater Lake was about seven feet. So we basically drove 800 miles to inhale smoke and see nothing. On the plus side, however, we made a pretty sweet campfire and the smoke overpowered the musk from our un-showered bodies.
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| The Lowe Bros have definitely pitched a tent or two... |
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| If you were the wood, I'd be the fire. If you were the love, I'd be the desire. If you were a castle I'd be your moat. And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float... |
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| The visibility at Crater Lake was incredible. It was clearly worth the journey.... |
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| If you look really hard you can se some ripples in the lake water |
Several roads out of the park were closed or temporarily shut down due to the forest fires, so we ended up taking a pretty un-scenic drive around the lake to get back out to the main roads. We were all pretty exhausted from the non-stop driving, but decided to forge ahead towards another national park that wouldn't be covered in smoke. After much debate, we settled on a place called Mt. Hood National Forest, which was about two hours outside of Portland. Luckily there were a lot of camping spots open and it was only $10 per vehicle with our National Parks pass. Have I mentioned how much I love that pass?
In my opinion, the best feature of summer is the glorious quantity of daylight. So even though we drove for what seemed like an eternity, we still had several hours of daylight to hike around the forest, gather some firewood, and set up camp before we needed to start our night time ritual of cooking dinner and drinking cheap wine... And smelling terribly.
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| Oregon and Washington have the highest rates of Sasquatch sightings in all of America. Am I a little ashamed that these are the statistics I'm familiar with? Not. At. All. |
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| Am I the only one that wishes we lived in some bad ass tree houses in the woods still? |
Josh had a friend in Portland that was interested in showing us around, so we woke up early the next morning and made our way into the city. I knew pretty much nothing about Portland, outside of it being full of hipsters and home to Voodoo Doughnuts, so we figured we'd start there. The donuts were actually reasonably priced given that it's a touristy destination, but I'd say they were just average in terms of taste.
After getting our sugary breakfast, we spent a half day exploring Portland, getting a used book from Powell's bookstore, scoping out the rose gardens in Washington Park, and viewing the city skyline from Pittock Mansion. I would definitely go back to Portland and make a second attempt at going to Crater Lake in another year when the forest fires aren't so intense, but alas, it was but a brief stopping spot on our journey. Upon departing Portland, we headed to one of the filming locations of a classic 80's movie - THE GOONIES! So we loaded back up in our rental car and drove westward to Cannon Beach.
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| If I eat a voodoo doll...does that make me a cannibal? |
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| Eerily similar to Lion Rock in Piha, New Zealand |
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| I'm pretty sure One-Eyed Willy's treasure in there... |
After hanging out and enjoying beach life, we made our way up to Olympic National Park in Washington. Wow, talk about a beautiful drive! Slightly more interesting than driving through the flat lands of Iowa and Kansas :). Now here's the thing you should know about my buddy Olson. He's a lying son of a bitch. He hails from the Pacific Northwest and told us to check out Olympic National Park before going to Seattle. Hike up to the Flapjack Lakes he said. They're made of melted glacier water he said. It can all be done in a half day he said. It's only like five miles round trip he said.
Let's just say we decided to double check with a ranger and he was like...It's over 15 miles round trip. But I was committed damn it! So we packed our lunch; A peanut butter sandwich, trail mix, and some granola bars. I personally brought seven bottles of water, knowing that we would be hiking all day. Sarah and Josh elected to take two bottles of water each. I'm not sure what they were taught in Health class, but I am pretty sure I learned staying hydrated is essential to the human body's ability to stay alive.
Our journey started off with a fork in the road. Josh claimed that, according to the map, we could take either path as they looped together further down the road. I thought we should go right; Josh led us left. After a mile or two, we concluded that maybe we should have gone right. Josh was ready to cut across a five stream split and hike upward to try and find the path, whilst Sarah and I discussed whether or not that's how people get eaten by bears. Eventually we all agreed to head back to the fork and follow the correct path.
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| I really need to live somewhere that has nature and no winter.... |
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| The bridge in the background is the path we were supposed to take...Instead we got lost as usual |
Once we got back on track, we hiked several miles up to the trailhead for the Flapjack Lakes. The signage pointed us towards the lakes, but didn't mention that it was four miles of vertical switchbacks that would decimate my desire to live. Josh's vagabond lifestyle gave him an advantage, as he had spent the prior month hiking around national forests and had built up his endurance, so he was pretty much crushing us.
We occasionally took breathers whilst en route to soak up the scenery and throw down some granola bars for energy. Surprisingly, Sarah and Josh's two bottles of water ran out relatively quickly into what was becoming a twenty mile hike, so I had to start sharing my water with them. Did they want to carry any of the water? Nope. They just wanted to drink it. The water that I lugged all the way up, those bastards. We finally reached a sign indicating that the Flapjacks were just up ahead, but it should really read: "There's still an hour left and this sign is just here to break you".
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| Oh it takes a fool to love you. It takes a fool to love you. It takes a fool to love you. Oh an I'm just the fool for you... |
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| Fool me once and it's shame on you. Twice, and it's shame on me. But fool me baby for the rest of my life and I'll be as happy as a foolish man can be... |
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| Seeing this sign was one of the greatest moments of my life, until I kept hiking and realized we were still a mile away. |
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| Is this view worth 22 miles and 50,000 steps to you? |
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| At least when I look back on life I'll be able to recall the time I hiked over 20 miles to see this place, instead of recalling a time when I gave up and turned around. |
So, was it worth it? Was I enamored by the splendor and beauty of the world around me? No. I pretty much just wanted to kick Olson in the face. After hiking so far, I had to at least take a dip in the lake, so I stripped down and let the ice-cold glacier water cool down my body. And as you all know, when my hot body enters any body of water, there's a risk it might just turn into a hot spring. It's one of the many reasons the Spanish call me 'El Caliente'. We also took the break to eat our paltry lunch. I also had to resist the temptation to drink from our dwindling water supply after having the peanut butter sandwich stick to the roof of my mouth.
In the end, we basically hiked all day to spend thirty minutes at these lakes. Luckily, going down requires a lot less energy, and my brain was too tired to accept signals from my body indicating it was in pain, so I slowly trotted on. When we finally got to the main trailhead leading back to our camp, I might have cried a little. You aren't supposed to gather firewood within a mile of the campgrounds, so we had to lug as much dry wood as our broken bodies could handle for the final mile. When we finally made it back to camp, Josh and I drove into town to get some victory beers and snacks. I purchased a bag of Doritos, which was basically the greatest thing any of us had ever eaten. My body was so dehydrated, I couldn't even drink the beer without feeling like I was going to vomit. It was a good reminder of how life can humble you. Just one day of hard work and my body was broken...Too out of shape. That night we also took fake showers by dumping river water over our shampooed heads and cleansing our body with wet wipes.
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| If a kid named Olson ever tells you to do a 5 mile hike... Go ahead and kick him in the face for me. |
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My house is safe and warm, but I was born to chase the storm. Taking the whole world on with big old empty arms...
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| Alive in the age of worry. Smile in the age of worry. Go out in the age of worry and say, "Worry, why should I care?" |
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After passing out around eight o'clock and sleeping for eleven hours, we decided to drive into Seattle for the day. After all, I technically promised Sarah I'd take her there as a Valentine's day gift. But after about three hours of exploring, Josh's hatred of cities emerged and we figured we might as well leave for the Cascades National Park and find an open campground spot if we weren't going to spend the night in the city. I figured finding a campground would be difficult since it was a holiday weekend and that assumption proved to be correct as every single campground we went to was full.
Luckily, we ended up finding a random RV campground that also had a few tent spots about thirty minutes outside the park. The prices were simple: $15 for one tent, $25 for two. I wasn't about to spend an extra $10 dollars on Josh, so I made the call that we were sleeping 3 deep in our tent that night. I got stuck with the middle spot since I was considered to be the cheap bastard that sacrificed everyone's comfort to save $10. Listen, if you want comfort, carry your own cash dudes. This campground also featured the second shower of our trip, which once again was only used by Josh. Sarah and I had embraced our stank and didn't care if Josh had to smell us.
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| Someday I'll throw all my clothes in a rucksack again and take a cheeky wander... |
We spent the next day cruising through the Cascades National Park, before driving back to Seattle so Sarah and I could fly back the next morning. Luckily, Sarah was able to leverage her Hilton points for a free hotel room, allowing us to shower for the first time in over a week! Our next big journey was a trip to Honduras for Sarah's 30th, however we didn't actually make it there.... But that's a story for another blog....
Random GoPros
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| It is the same with man as it is the tree. The more he seeks to rise, the more vigorously do his roots struggle earthward, downward...Into the dark, the deep, into evil. |
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| Here we go again, we're sick like animals, we play pretend. You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid I won't get out alive. No I won't sleep tonight. Oh-oh, I want some more. Oh-oh, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Take a bite of my heart tonight... |
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| Mama told me when I was young. Said sit beside me, my only son. And listen closely to what I say, and if you do this it'll help you some sunny day... |
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| Oh take your time, don't live too fast. Troubles will come, and they will pass. You'll find a woman, and you'll find love. And don't forget son, there is a light up above. |
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| And be a simple kind of a man. Be something you love and understand. Baby, be a simple kind of man. Oh won't you do this, for me son, if you can... |
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| Forget your lust for the rich man's gold. All that you need is your soul. And you can do this, oh baby, if you try. All that I want for you my son is to be satisfied... Boy, don't you worry, you'll find yourself. Follow your heart, and nothing else. And you can do this, oh baby, if you try. All that I want for you my son is to be satisfied... |
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| Probably the cleanest wall in all of Seattle |
Sarah and Sean's Sensational Stockpile of Snappy Snaps
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| Who needs an RV or a hotel room or an Airbnb? What could be better than camping beneath the stars and enjoying actual human interaction. |
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| Sometimes a man poops in the woods. And sometimes a man poops in his pants. |
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| I'ma get you heart racing in my skin tight things, be your teenage dream tonight. Let you put your hands on me in my skin tight things, be your teenage dream tonight. I'ma get your heart racing in my skin tight things, be your teenage dream tonight. Let you put your hands on me in my skin tight things, be your teenage dream tonight! |
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| Preparing Josh for his senior photos |
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| I feel like if Josh concentrated hard enough he could have ignited the propane tank with his mind. |
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| My heart skipped a beat and when I caught it you were out of reach. But I'm sure, I'm sure you've heard it before.. Heart skipped a beat and when I caught it you were out of reach. Yeah I'm sure, I'm sure you've heard it before... |
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| Yeah my heart skipped a beat, and when I caught it you were on the beach. And on the shore, I'm sure, I'll hold you forevermore. |
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| Goonies never say die!!!! |
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| Being a creepy weirdo runs in the family... |
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| If only these poor bastards knew the hike that they had ahead of them. |
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| I was like an ant in that forest |
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| It'd be interesting to know the average happiness of people a thousand years ago. And if people were happier back then...would today's population be willing to walk way from their possessions and cell phones for a simpler, but happier life? |
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| I love this shot. I feel like it's exactly how life is; You're vaguely aware of what's around you, but every moment is always moving too fast to hold onto... |
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| My body tells me No-oooo, but I won't quit, cus I want more. CUS I WANT MORE! My body tells me No-ooo, but I won't quit, cus I want more. CUS I WANT MORE!!!!! |
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| I don't think your ready for this jelly, I don't ready for this, my body's too bootylicious for ya babe! Move your body up and down, make that booty touch the ground! |
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| Follow through, make your dreams come true. Don't give up the fight, you will be alright. Cus there no on like you in the universe. And tonight, we can truly say, "Together, we're invincible!" |
