4/6/2013. - Day 11 - Starin' up the Road, and Pray to God I see Headlights: More running, and more rain.

4/6/2013. - Day 11 -
Starin' up the Road, and Pray to God I see Headlights:
More running, and more rain.

The rain continues in Portland. It appears that is the specialty here. That and slugs. Lovely.

I'm wearing Nike shoes, isn't that enough?!

Of course we have to begin here again, at the Nike campus. Same location but different trail. This time we start on the Hollister Trail, which upon closer inspection appears to be designated for employees only...Oops. 

Note to self:  Be awesome when you are older to carry on the 

line of warriors that you are clearly descended from.

Addendum: Start yesterday. 

Echo is convinced that if we are wearing Nike brand  workout attire, that we may be safe from the patrolman on a Vespa. I am convinced that if we look him in the eye as he laps us and assume a serious and slightly annoyed stance, we will not have an issue. It doesn't matter because after a lap through the woods I am again winded. Severely. So another cool down lap it is, in which Echo runs basically in place while I drudge along. There is no shame like being whipped by your elders. Your fantastically in shape, barely aged, amazingly fit, and gorgeous elders. At least with any luck I've inherited those genes. I'm dragging along the last part of the trail with Echo running beside me and feeling like a  slug myself.  

After the daily Nike Campus torture routine, we enjoy a breakfast feast of crepes back in the Alphabet District at Vivace's. So far delicious food choices on this trip. Then it's a little more browsing of the stores. Echo and I enjoy the scenery and make the best of the rain. 

 By early afternoon, we are on the verge of goodbyes and more miles in the pickup. We have a brief rendezvous/photo shoot in the parking garage. I'm sure others watching were pretty pumped to be lucky enough to be merely onlookers and innocent bystanders witnessing all this talent.












Echo and I saying goodbye. In the parking garage. In style. We are totally related. Even though she likes running and I run only when being chased by bears or if I am running toward a donut shop.



It's now back to the pickup and off to Eugene to see more family. This should be a short trip, a little over and hour, but I have devised an alternate more scenic route per my aunt's advice and my own planning and use of my newly purchased atlas.

And this is where it goes wrong again- but not as wrong as Wednesday, thank goodness.

I think I have allotted enough time for this "short" detour; but I have not only gravely miscalculated, but it's still raining which just adds to the situation. My initial plan was to head to Tillamook and then wander down the scenic coastal highway towards Florence. I clearly did not fully research this route, because if I had I would have understood it was going to take way longer than the three hours I had estimated, and that was assuming good weather conditions. Which were not currently part of Mother Nature's plan.

So it rained all the way through the Tillamook forest. Or rather, it drenched the entire park. Which caused some minor flash flooding, some moderate risk in highway travel conditions, and some major anxiety in myself. When I reached Tillamook, I was not in the mood to explore, and as I began winding down the coastal highway, I realized the rain was making it nearly impossible to continue given slow speed and reduced visibility. Oh, and it had been two hours. I abandon the "scenic" plan and make for I-5. Another hour and I hit I-5 and it's pouring. My wipers are nauseating me as they have been on overdrive for over three hours now. Again, should have been an hour and a half trip. No big deal. But I had to go and complicate it. Thankfully there is a warm house and family waiting for me just a bit further down the interstate.

But of course one more heart attack has to be had. I'm struggling along in the rain and a semi decides to pass me. I move over as far as I can because let's face it, I can't see the lines on the road, so there is no way this joker can. As I'm moving over and being passed--a wave of water comes off of the semi and gushes over my pickup, causing temporary loss of sight and immediate and extreme panic. And THEN--I see a hitchhiker lurking inches from the side of my pickup in the brief flash of sight I have before the next wave of water hits from the passing traffic. I'm pretty sure I was extremely close to running over a hippie. And this is my breaking point for the greens. I'm sick of seeing hippies, I'm sick of smelling them, but this takes the cake because here's one, panhandling in the rain, inches from the lanes of the freeway, where he doesn't even have a prayer of being spotted. There is no chance he was visible to anyone who did not almost smoke him with their grille. Which was almost me. I am not ok with this.

I arrive in Eugene exhausted and hardly coherent due to my newly acquired PTSD, but I'm glad to see family. They have cold cereal to help bring me back to life. That trip took nearly 5 hours so maybe I'll get smarter in my route planning. I'm currently 0 for 2.
Tomorrow is another day.