Day 4, Part 2: The first two photos I took in Oregon

This post (except for these four sentences) was written before the story of the rest of the trip. I'm going to leave it intact. The first part of the day and the last part of the day can be found in parts 1 and 3. I was charmed to be welcomed by a place that was green and floral.

Kate and I had just driven across the border from Idaho, having spent the night at a hotel on the Snake River. I expect I'll put more pix up later that tell the story of my move, but for now these will do. The picture I had taken before the welcome center photo at the top was taken in Idaho. I took more as we drove across Oregon and came to rest in Astoria, still not sure if that was going to be the final destination. And of course I took many, many more after that. My picture files for this period are still pretty limited. As we know, that would change.

I don't remember that much about my first impression of the state. I remember things in the hours after this, but I don't remember a lot about how I felt on first entering the state. I feel sure I was very glad to be there. I'd been through Oregon as a child once or twice, but not as an adult. I was moving here, and I hadn't even come for a prior visit. I think I was glad to leave the flat, brown, mostly boring country of southern Idaho, and was glad to be welcomed. The cheery visitor center made me FEEL welcome. I was a little worried about the heat, because I wasn't tolerating it well at that time, but I knew the coast would be cooler. I remember how pleased I was to see the flowers in bloom - there was some color, finally. It was manicured and clean, and there were bathrooms. It was an anomaly in the midst of the untamed wilderness (or something approximating that) on all sides. We learned a little about Oregon at the center. I wanted to take advantage of it, but I didn't have the capacity that day to learn very much through reading. We wanted to move on. I knew Oregon would be diverse and wild and different, and I wanted to see it. I also wanted the trip to be over, and to know what place I'd be calling "home." I was assuming it would be Astoria, but I'd left the option open to find somewhere else. It had been a long trip, and we still had a very large state to cross to reach the ocean.

Go to Day 4, Part 3