Tuesday, July 19, 2011

in which she wonders to the edge of the world.



I'm leaving on a jet-plane early tomorrow morning for a vacation with my bro. I am so far past excited that I'm annoying myself. I am ecstatic. I am exhilarated. I am also ... finally packed.

I'm not sure if I've ever told you how hard I procrastinate when it comes to packing, but dagnabit I DO. Quick trip. Long trip. It doesn't seem to matter.

While I was packing, Biscuit kept dropping toys into my open suitcase. My dog knows how to lay on the guilt. It is truly pitiful. While I'll miss my sweet furball, I'm leaving her in capable hands. My parents will be loving on Biscuit while I'm gone and they are experts at spoiling my dog rotten. My mom even makes homemade dog treats for her. Biscuit is pretty much Queen of the World at this point. ;)

I cannot even articulate how grateful I am for this adventure.

My brother, Chase {whom I commonly refer to as The Rogue Accountant} and I have talked about seeing the Pacific Northwest for as long as I can remember. Our infatuation with this region began with the movie Goonies. We're real classy and cultured that way.

Are you a Goonie too? I loved Goonies for the adventure and the funnies (and it is still so very funny). But I also thought Astoria was gorgeous. The view from the Walsh porch gives me shivers. Also, the Goonies also had a pirate ship within bike-riding distance.

You better believe our trip includes Astoria. (Pause for Quote: "Walsh. You're looking at the richest people in Astoria.") Someone actually lives in the Goonie House though, so I'm guessing sitting on the porch would be awkward. But maybe they won't throw things at me if I just take a picture?

(If I do the truffle shuffle will they let me in, you think?)

(How many people do you think stand outside this house and do the truffle shuffle every year?)

Besides the Goonie House, we're checking out Portland and Seattle and a few fun little towns by the sea. The Rogue Accountant is also obsessed with National Parks and the Oregon/Washington Coast has more than a few he's been aching to explore. We'll be driving and hiking(ish) and road-tripping for several days. Lots to see. Lots.

And I'm so excited. Jumpy-claps-excited. Squealy-excited.

I need the ocean and the rainclouds. I need a road that I don't know; a road that leads to places I've never been before. There are at least 50 things on my Road Trip List but they're just ideas. I'm determined not to spend this trip looking down at a list or a guidebook. I'm not even taking my Mac which oh my word may drive me insane.

"How am I supposed to write?!" I said to Chase, when he suggested it would be dumb to lug around the laptop.

"How about ... with a pen?" was his response.

So I'm going old school with a pen and my Moleskine journal. I got a new one just for this trip.

Empty journals make my heart spin. No lines. No limits.

I feel like my heart set out a day early; like it's already there telling me to hurry up.

To step westward. I've been thinking of that poem since we started planning this trip (admission: I totally had to look up the author). William Wordsworth wrote it:

Stepping westward seems to be
a kind of heavenly destiny.

He writes about adventure like it's a constant thing, not just a planned thing. He writes about glowing skies and chance and shelter. He ends by talking about an "endless way." I think that's some good perspective.

This week my endless way includes stepping westward. And my heavenly destiny? The GoonieHouse! ;) And the Cascades and Cannon Beach and Forks (...more on that) and a million other moments. The best moments are always the unplanned ones, right? I want a billion of those. For now, there are four I'm hoping for:

I want to drink my weight in coffee.
I want to walk beside the ocean, because whenever I do that my heart pounds as loud as the waves. I love that feeling.
I want to take a thousand pictures that I can never explain the same as I saw them.
I want make one perfect memory; something so good that all I have to do is think about it, and my heart feels full.

I'm grateful for a chance to fly away for awhile. And I must admit I'm excited about flying with my brother. He's a pretty incredible guy. Nefarious. Somewhat villainous. But awesome. :)

I wish I could take you all with me. Like, rent a giant bus and off we go. Wouldn't that be fun? We could name it Doris, like they did in Almost Famous.

Since I can't rent a bus, I have another idea. If you feel like flying with us ....

Chase and I have set up a tumblr just for road-tripping purposes.

The initial idea was to keep our parents informed of our whereabouts and (most of our) shenanigans. We'll be uploading pictures and quotes and musings and so on. I'll also keep you informed as to what we're listening to, because nobody can put a soundtrack together like my brother. (Though I still say my iPod is more adventurous. Today's shuffle included Bon Iver, a song from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and N'SYNC.)

If you feel like following along, you can find us at Sibling Revelry.

I almost called it Stepping Westward, like the poem. But that would have given it in air of artsy- smart. It will not be that. Which leads me to this: ...

Disclaimers:
1.) Chase is posting, not just me. The kid is hilarious. He is also very much a brother. So the tumblr will have a PG rating. At least.
2.) I will hopefully be updating the tumblr via my phone and Ye Olde iPad but sometimes technology gets the better of me. So updates may not come as often as I'd like.

I'm not sure if any of you are in Portland or Seattle but if you are, or if you've ever been, I would love to hear about some must-do stuffs in your neck of the woods!

Here's my question to you: if you could fly away right now, to absolutely anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Step lively, my lovelies :) See you next week!

16 comments:

  1. Oooh, have fun on your trip! I'd love to go there. It's beautiful!

    If I could fly away, right now, to anywhere in the world...hmm. That's hard. I really want to visit England, because it rains a lot there, they have awesome accents, and Harry Potter. Ahem. So that's probably where I'd go. There are so many other wondrous places I want to travel to, though.

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  2. I was JUST thinking about this before I read the post. My heart has been missing India a lot lately, but I also wanna see the moors of Englad. And then of course I can always fly to Wisconsin to see my sister. :) Have fun!

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  3. i'd go to london. i always want to go to london, or actually at the current moment i'm watching anne, so PEI. i LOVE the Goonies. And i would totally do the truffle shuffle with you. Can't wait to keep up with you on your trip, have fun.
    LF

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  4. I would love to get back to the Northwest coast! Quite a few years ago I visited a friend in Spokane and we drove down to Salem, OR to visit my aunt and uncle then traveled back up the Oregon coast. We ate excellent clam chowder from Moe's, toured lighthouses, spent time at a beach, and took in all the Spokane sights. It was absolutely lovely.

    I have so many places on my To Explore list! Next on the list may be a trip to Austin, TX. Next on the Save Up Lots of Money list will hopefully be to France and Italy or maybe a Mediterranean cruise.

    Have a blast! Love the tumblr name:)

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  5. I would go to England. That's the place where all of my favorite authors lived and wrote, where all of my favorite stories were created. Where most of my favorite movies were filmed. It seems like such a beautiful place. :)

    I hope you have a lovely trip! And I love that you're going with a pen and Moleskine journal. I'm longing for a road trip, too, but it'll be at least October before we can go anywhere (if then). But the next time I take a trip, I'm also taking a travel journal with me. And I'm going to be brave enough to journal in public (something I've never done before).

    I've never seen the Goonies! But I have heard so much about it that I feel like I'll have to sometime very soon. But I've been told by a couple (she's from northern California and he's from Oregon) that you have to watch it on a rainy, cool day. :)

    P.S. I'm dying to hear your thoughts on Harry Potter!

    ~Kristin

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  6. I would fly away to New York City because it's only the busiest most exciting beautiful place on the planet. For a person like me, anyway.

    Have fun on your trip!

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  7. "Trick question. Marshall's never been to the Pacific Northwest because he's afraid of Sasquatch."

    I'm so excited about your trip!! My family and I went to Seattle over Christmas break and LOVED it. I would totally live there. You have to go to Vital Tea Leaf and have a tea tasting. And take pictures of it. And see if they'll let you taste the Blue People tea (it's DELICIOUS). Also, you should go to Stumptown Coffee. If you're doing Seattle, that is. I'm super excited about keeping up with your adventures!

    Also, I love Almost Famous. Cameron Crowe movies have the greatest soundtracks, don't they?

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  8. I would fly home. But if I wasn't in transition mode of a new area I would probably fly to England or Ireland... maybe Australia if Hugh Jackman was back home :)

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  9. I'd fly right back to Fimpulu, Zambia. I've been home for all of 2days and I miss it like crazy. Besides, I'd have to fly there by way of London (it seems to be a popular destination). A 24 hour layover is much too short a time to see everything important.

    p.s. You should stop and visit in Spokane!! :)

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  10. If I could be anywhere in the world right now, I would be in London. I want to go there so bad it hurts. I get all jealous-like when I see that people have gone or are going. I have wanted to go since I was about 8 or so and cannot stop thinking about the place. :) Your posts are cracking me up on Tumblr. And I am so excited that you went to Powells! Portland is on my list of places to see :)

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  11. I'd head to Vancouver. Beautiful, progressive, and 55 degrees. :-)

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  12. Oh, you're so cruel! Only ONE place? AHHHHH!!!
    Anyway, um....Moscow. I've been a smidgen Russian obsessed lately. :-)
    I hope you had fun! It's Saturday, so i don't know if your trip is over yet. Aren't brothers the best? That is, when they arent irritating the stew wads out of you! Ha ha ha!!!

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  13. I'm really loving the Tumblr. it makes me want to pack up my bags and roadtrip with my brother.

    but. I think that you need to turn on your ask box so I can message you. kay? kay. :)

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  14. I have loved reading about your trip on Tumblr. And I absolutely loved this line from one of your posts:

    "I bet some giant uses it for a moonbroom every night; knocks galaxy cobwebs from the corners of the night. Sweeps up all the stardust."

    That's perfect. It needs to be a children's book. :)

    ~Kristin

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  15. If I could go anywhere right now, I would go to Haiti. I went a few years ago and miss it SO much!
    Hope you and Chase have fun!!

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  16. I don't know if I'm too late, but if you're in Portland, you have to go to the Pearl District to Sisters Coffee and Company. It has the best coffee and is so beautiful and cozy! So oregonian...but mountain Oregon. :) In seattle, if you got to the chance to go to Mars Hill Church (the original one, don't remember which district it's in!), it's a really solid, good church with an amazing pastor- Mark Driscoll. His sermons are the best!

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