Colorado to LA to Portland & Home!

Maggie on the move from LA to Portland & the next good thing!

WOW! What an amazing country this is. It is beautiful and diverse. We recently traveled to LA to assist our sweet daughter on her move to Portland to begin a new job as a recent Masters Grad. Saying goodbye was sad but life goes on and so begins the move to her new life in the northwest.

What an adventure we had! Knowing that I would probably not go back to LA with her gone, I was careful to take in all the wonders and beauty of her little niche in LA. Everything was blooming [an allergy nightmare] but beautiful. Actually, I don't know why all the jokes were made about the fog and smog in LA because I've never been there when it wasn't sunny and lovely. Even the crowds this time were ok and kind of fun! Then off to San Fran. After a visit with my daughter's friend and family - finally meeting the infamous Connor T, we set our sights north to Portland. Before we left, the conversation was about route 5 being "boring but wait until you get to Oregon". Boring didn't come into play at all..............it was amaaaazing! The green and rolling hills were like non I've ever seen......the entire trip was one of such great beauty and awe that my husband and I were loving every minute of the trip. Our travel buddy Ollie [what a great companion] was sitting in his little travel bag [next to his girl] looking out the window also enjoying the view. I would recommend route 5 north to anyone, not so much traffic and the countryside was truly relaxing. Of course, we love 'seeing far' and those rolling hills and farmland WOW!

We got to Portland and the green was to die for! As an artist, I have used lots of color.......but I have never seen as many shades of green as in Portland. It is lush and the lush looks happy:) It wasn't too long before we discovered 'why' the lush looked happy........the rain showers were light and it was lovely. The first few showers were lovely.......the torrential downpour on our walk back to the apt. before starting home was hysterical. There were waves of water running off my brow into my eyes. I could barely see to walk across the street. We were drenched to our undies and had to change clothes just to jump into the car to head home. I found Portlanders to be very friendly except when standing on a corner in the rain........no one moved their umbrella to help ward off the downpour, not even a little......they hogged their dry area and averted eye contact but the three of us made it back to our darling's new little nest and dried off in time to begin the next leg of our journey home.
We drove along the Columbia river through the Dalles. What the heck is a Dalle? I should have paid more attention in geology class so I could understand a little bit about the amazing terrain in my own country. The natural regional differences in this country are huge and I have to say I have never [to date] seen anything such as this........along the Columbia river.
The green continued and the rocks were amazing but different from the cliffs and giant rock outcroppings in Colorado and New Mexico. There was almost nothing familiar on this trip. It was all wonderful and new to us. Besides the outstanding landscape, we saw huge windmill farms. It was great to see how some states are utilizing the power of the wind for energy. We stopped a few times to watch and listen. I had heard that wind farms create tons of noise and it would not be desirable to live close by.......we didn't hear a thing. BUT those wind turbines are huge; about two tractor trailer lengths or better and the paddles [probably not the correct word] are taller than my house!

Next state, Idaho! Another wonder, not as green but beautiful, open and mountainous [is that an oxymoron?], similar to Colorado but different. We didn't spend too much time in Idaho but we felt lucky to have traveled through a small part of it. We must have driven around Boise because I didn't see too many people or cars or houses.........they said on the map that Boise is the largest population in Idaho but we didn't see too much except for the mountains and the sky:) It must be a hard go in the winter with all the snow. I heard at lunch that jobs were scarce:(

We entered Utah! Also beautiful; mountains and open spaces, much more familiar, more like the Colorado Rockies. Still amazing to see. It was very curvy coming through that last leg after Moab. We did make a stop south of Provo to have a cup of coffee and a piece of pie with family! It was a wonderful stop and the company was great:) But we had a long way to go so we jumped back into the car and hit the road one more time. As I write this............... the rest of our trip is becoming a bit of a blur, at this point we were beginning to feel that we wanted to be home, pet the dogs, listen to the birds, and look at our mountains out our front window.

Nice, eh?

We had a lovely time and the beauty, as I've said repeatedly was too much for real description. We hear from our sweet girl that she loves the rain and the green and the people are very friendly. She has her own umbrella and is now never without it. There are markets close by with organic foods, the library is close, and the walk to work is a joy everyday.

Life is good. Back to work, weeding, and planting. My poor plants have been in my dinning room window waiting for the wind to die down. They are going into the garden today; I believe we have Summer!

Remind yourself as you drive to work or to your friends house, enjoy your landscape, smell the rain and the roses! Embrace the beauty of where you are, it's all around us and it is amazing.

Signing out,
EC