We took a jog in the rain and explored a bit of SE around us.  Then Darcie and I headed over the river to meet one of her really close classmates from BIOLA who is coincidentally here in Portland interviewing at George Fox University for acceptance into their grad program.  We mingled downtown and hit up Portland Coffee House (the first coffee house I went to back in August and fell in love with their coffee.  I’m not even sure if its considered a notable coffee house around here), and then actually found a little cupcake bakery in the Pearl.  It was fun.

We headed back over to the east side and just drove and drove all over SE.  I’m sure there is a ton of ground that went uncovered, but it felt like we saw a lot.  We were looking for places to rent.  There are a lot of houses, but just not enough that are being rented.  Pray for us.  Pray we find a house that is privately owned, that we can afford and make our own.  Pray.  A lot of that has been happening.

We met back up with Everett and Adam at the Tanker where they were watching the Blazers play (not my high school basketball team) and hanging out with some of their friends.  It was nice to finally meet people.  Sweet people.  

Andrew:  Blonde kid from Eugene who spent some time in San Luis Obispo.

Eric: A pastor in Lake Oswego who used to live in Costa Mesa and graduated from Vanguard.

Peter:  Sweet kid with a mustache, but was playing Magic (the card game) the whole time so I didn’t learn much about him.

And Other Kid Playing Magic: Who was so enamored with his game I didn’t remember his name.

Yeah.  Magic.  It made me laugh.

They all went next door to play in their Shuffle Board tournament.  Nothing special, just a grassroots organization that I believe Peter assembled, but they are all very dedicated in their craft.  Darcie and I didn’t attend, but went home instead to call it a day.

Day 2, St. Patricks Day.  Another jog maybe?  Taking Danielle, the coincidental friend, to her interview at George Fox.  Look for houses again?  Pick up Danielle?  Drink a green Beer?  Maybe 2?

Who knows.  

Something you will need to know if you are ever on Cash Cab:

Did you know that Portland was originally going to be named Boston, but was decided otherwise in a best-out-of-three coin toss?

After a night spent in Shafter in celebration of our friend Jake’s birthday (a night spent eating, conversing, and playing Dangle) we woke up this morning early and hit the rode.  We made amazing time.  Amazing!  We arrived in Portland after a 14 hour drive, including 4 stops made for food and gas.  I helmed the car for the entire drive.  Nuts!

I can’t tell you how excited I am right now.  Adam and Everett, our hosts, have made us feel so welcome in the brief few hours that we’ve been here.  We arrived to a cleaned out bedroom with an explanation from Everett that he “loves” the couch and insists that we take over his bedroom for as long as necessary.  We ordered pizza, drank a beer, and hung out in the kitchen.

Currently, Adam, Darcie and I are on lap tops tapping away looking for jobs and homes.  Well, I’m typing this.  Adam and Darcie are looking for work and a home for us.  Everett is watching the local news.  It feels like we’ve lived here for awhile.

Things are very good.  Tomorrow it seems the four of us are going to hit the streets and scour the city for jobs that Darcie and I could enjoy.

That’s all.

This blog has sat quiet since August when Darcie and I journaled our adventure up to Oregon to scope out a possible future home, and here I am today, writing the beginning of our adventure of going back.  

This is crazy!  Its never been done before.  Well– by us, at least.

So I think I’m going to start writing again.  The same thing, I suppose; just writing about the things we see, the things we do, and the people we meet.  I’ll probably use run-on sentences and poor grammar and made-up words.  Maybe we’ll throw up some pictures, though we are without our camera, and if we have the time we’ll do some video again.  That was fun.  If you’re interested you can read.  If you’re like my brother James, you’d rather not, but call instead to have a real conversation, and to suppress the ever-looming takeover of technology.  That’s ok too.

So this is it: Day 1.
Today, we head down to an Unspecified Location to enjoy an Unspecified Gathering for Unspecified Reasons.  I have to speak in code because Unspecified Person #1 could be reading this.  Keep it secret, keep it safe.

But tomorrow we leave from Said Location for Portland, and for Mr. Everett Yockey and Brother Adam’s living room floor where we will sleep, and call home while we look for jobs and our own place to live.  

Story Time:
A while back Everett was in L.A. for some work.  We spent the evening together driving around Hollywood looking for a parking space while our friends enjoyed a Cold War Kids show (no hard feelings Timmy and Nikki, we promise).  After deciding that parking was not going to happen, we sat in my car, on a red curb, and played Papijump for hours.  Literally.  Probably 2 1/2 hours.  The point to this whole story is that when I went to leave, Everett had left an unopened pack of Zig-Zags in my car, and when I went to return it, he told me just to bring it with me when Darcie and I moved to Oregon.

Yockey, I’ve still got it, and will return it to you upon our arrival.

Pray for us.

More on the journey home and the potential journey back later.

Thanks for going with us!!!

Met up with Everett Nathaniel Yockey IV (his real name) and his brother and friend for lunch at Lucky Labrador Pub in the Hawthorne District where they are now living….as of yesterday.  It was nice to see some familiar faces.

Darc and I then enjoyed the fanciest dinner we have ever had.  We went to Portland City Grill on the 30th floor of the US Bankcorp building at Burnside and Broadway, and ate a very, very nice dinner by the window.  We looked out over the Willamette and the city below us.  It was pretty special.

After dinner we actually met back up with Quatro and Adam for a late night walk along the river.  It was great!  I always love a long walk and conversation- wow…did I just say that?  I also love the smell of roses, puppy breath, and Thomas Kinkade paintings (jokes!).  But really, it was fun.  We laughed a lot, and the two of them did their best to really convince Darcie and me to move here.  I think they were sincere, but I think they also wanted to know they weren’t crazy for doing it themselves.  It is nice to know that if we did move here, they would be here, because they are two very good people. 

So we are gearing up for Seattle and time spent with Anjali, which will be fantastic!  

We are also cutting our trip slightly short, sort of.  The original plan was to head to Salem Wednesday night, and then Thursday drive all the way from Salem to Orange County.  Darcie was quick to point out how crazy that really was, and so we have decided to leave Seattle on Wednesday and try to get into California.  We’ll just stay somewhere random, and then have an easier travel load on Thursday.

Before leaving Portland we hope to hit up Powells Books, and I’m going to surprise Darcie with a trip to a cupcakery; one her favorite things in the world.  

Hoping to post some pictures later….

Just went for a quick walk up to the Pearl District.  Decided to walk back and get the car so that we could do a driving tour of Portland.  We have yet to see the whole city.  

Our Barista’s name was Matt and he was really nice.  He says Portland is a city of refugees and fugitives.  He made a really cool flower in my cup with the foam, so I figured he was someone to pay attention to.

Darcie and I are quickly seeing how needed Jesus is in the cities.

Happy Me

I am at Portland Coffee House at 600 SW Alder and Broadway, just a block down from Pioneer Square, where currently the annual Portland Indian Festival is taking place.  It was fun stepping out of our hotel and hearing the music from down the street.  I like Indian music.

Darcie is still up in the hotel room taking a quick nap.  I decided to throw my bag on and hunt for some free internet.  So here I am!

No plans yet for tonight.  We’re just going to take it as it comes- pretty much the motto of our journey thus far.  I’m excited to say that my friend Yockey is actually heading up to Portland from Sacramento as I type.  He is moving here from L.A.- well – …right now I guess.  We spoke earlier and are hoping to spend some time together tomorrow.  He knows this city better than I do, and it should be a lot of fun to share a beer together.

I wish I had more to say.  I suppose I am still taking this place in.  Small bites, Rob, small bites.  I fall in love so easily. 

-Playlist-

Death Cab For Cutie- Narrow Stairs

Thrice- Vheissu & The Red Sky ep

mewithoutYou- A to Be Life

Indian Music

Where we’ve been, Where we’re at

postscript,

Sorry to hear about the videos!  I’m really bummed about that.  For whatever reason they work on my computer.  I adjusted the setting so that the videos can be viewed publicly instead of privately, so let’s see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for reading guys, and commenting.  Darcie and I lay in bed at night  and read the comments and it makes us smile.

Know that you are loved

Our night last night was good, but HOT!  No a/c.  

Just about to leave Salem and head for Portland.  We’re going to do church today at Imago Dei in downtown Portland.  Should be fun.

It rained last night.  Darcie and I have been hoping for rain.  Although we didn’t get to experience it, it was nice to wake up to.  Anjali (in Seattle), however has cursed our wishes, and has insisted that we Californians let her have her sunshine while it lasts.

That’s it for this morning.  
Know that you are loved.

Today was a good day.

Its been so difficult to paraphrase our trip.  I feel like I could write a paragraph about the leaf that Darcie and I both saw fall off a tree while driving along the coast.  Seriously.  I could.  It was a pretty leaf.  Golden in color, and big in shape.  It just detached from the branch just as we approached it going 60 m.p.h. and it sort of just drifted softly and slowly down in front of our car, as if to say hello.  

You thought I was kidding…

Day 2 = Great!

Our morning began at the Comfort Suites in Northbend (forgive my mistake earlier) just north of Coos Bay, Oregon.  I have a love hate relationship with the Comfort Suites.  I love it because it was a bed at 11:30 at night after lots and lots of driving.  I love it because i had free wi-fi and decaf coffee in the lobby.  I love it because when we woke up it was cloudy and cold and there was a pretty courtyard outside our door.  I love it because it was from their television that they introduced me to Race Walking; a beautiful sport that is respected by few, and enjoyed by only me.  But I am bitter because they cost so much.  I feel like they knew we were coming.   It cost us more than our hotel in downtown Portland, for two nights, combined.  …Well…almost.  Nevertheless it was a good stay.

Rob shares some strongly chosen words with Comfort Suites

Darcie enjoys the moment

From our Hotel we actually headed back up the street to the Coos, where we supped at the Pancake Mill.  Friendly service.  Good food.  (Ma- They had Dutch Babys on the menu!…but they took 30 minutes so I stuck with eggs)  And from breakfast we headed up 101.

Good eatin

Oregon is amazing!  For the majority of the drive we had water on one side, train tracks on the other, and trees on both.  We drove over bridges that crossed rivers and bays and lakes.  It was beautiful!  We stopped in a little beach town called Florence.  We strolled up their main street and window shopped.  It seemed that everyone there (and there were quite a few) each had their dog, and it really made us miss our Coin Pouch.  We took some pictures, and we grabbed a coffee, and from there we headed East on 126 toward Eugene.

Off 101

Bridge Into Florence, Or

Eugene is a cool little town.  A college town with some really old homes.  We went on the U of O campus and looked at their brick buildings.  Unfortunately we were back in the heat so the walking didn’t last long.  I talked Darcie into helping me find the stadium.  I’m not even a Ducks fan, but I am a College Football fan.  So we drove over the Willamette River, and found the stadium.  I tried to do my father proud and actually get on the field, but my attempts were fruitless.  I did however find the practice field (an indoor facility) where it seemed practice was just ending(lots of guys leaving with ice on their shoulders) and we snuck on for a brief walk.  It was fun.

Proof that I played Division 1 Football

U of O Football Stadium

From Eugene we were back on Interstate 5 and heading for Salem, Or.  The drive flattened out which was a nice change in topography, and the music was good as usual.  We arrived at the YWAM base in Salem where we are staying tonight.  We have a really cute room actually!  A comfortable bed, nice furniture, and a painted accent wall.  They even made a little welcome basket and hand wrote us a welcome note.  It feels good here.  Its been fun seeing the place that my brother James spent some time at before heading to India.  Sometimes out in the trees I think I can still see the spirit of Ole James Young.  He’s become quite the myth and legend here.   *View picture of sighting below.

His favorite food is dried bananas

Tonight we drove into downtown Salem.  We grabbed a magazine out of a newspaper rack and started thumbing through the 2008′s Best Of Salem section.  We settled on Salem’s Best Brewpub called McMenamins Boons Treasury.  We both enjoyed a good burger, Darcie had a pint of Hard Apple Cider, I had their IPA, and their Terminator Stout.  All three were excellent and what I had hoped from an Oregon Microbrew.

Tomorrow we reach Portland.  It feels strange that we’ve done so much and haven’t even gotten to where we are going.  We are also looking forward to meeting with Anjali in Seattle on Tuesday!

(Darcie typing now) yes…Rob is right, today was great. I have this strange feeling every time I travel; I don’t know if it’s spiritual, psychological, physiological or what but when I’m away in a place I have never been I feel as though I’m experiencing God differently. I know it sounds weird but I think maybe God is multi-ethnic or multi-cultural…something… whether that culture be Japanese or Californian. I just feel Him differently which is nonetheless refreshing. What makes me mention this is the moon we saw tonight. It was really dark outside as if there had to be only a sliver of a moon present but the moon was full, bright and orange covered by some ominous looking gray clouds. I really wish I was as good as rob at describing the things I see but anyway it gave me the chills. It was like as if God was saying, “Here Darc, here’s a moon you’ve never seen before!” and that made me feel like I was experiencing God like haven’t experienced Him before too. sigh. I really hope this make sense because I’m starting to realize it may not and people who read this blog are going to be soon asking for rob to get back on the stage as if we’re at a show of some sort and I’m trailing robs act…anyway…I thought I would share my thoughts.

(Rob back on stage)

My wife is good.  Listen.