Roadtrip - Day 2 and 3

We passed into Oregon yesterday! I waved goodbye to dear old California and turned my eyes ahead towards the great state of Oregon.

Going north all the way!!

We pulled into Ashland fairly quickly and headed to our hotel.  We stayed in an Econolodge down the road from downtown Ashland.  After a nap, showers and a MSNBC special on teenage killers in the Midwest, we headed into town.

I've been to Ashland before and it is just as cute as I remembered! If you ever have a chance to stop by this little town, please do.  It's very artsy and adorable, filled with little stores of hand-made crafts.  We browsed a lot!  However, considering I'm about to embark upon a year of simplicity, I didn't buy anything.

Laura at our lunch-stop in Ashland.

After we were thoroughly exhausted of shopping, we headed towards the theatre! The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has something called the 19-35 club, which gives out discount tickets for people between the ages of 19 to 35.  This is rockin, because most people that age are quite poor and can't pay $80+ for a ticket to a Shakespeare show.  You have to wait until the Thursday before the show to buy the tickets though, and they only release some.  Anyways, we got lucky, and ended up getting 7th row seats to Henry IV (part 2) in the BEAUTIFUL outdoor Elizabethan Theater.  I felt like I was in the Globe! The show was fantastic (there's no way OSF can do something badly!).  Great experience.  I also saw that they are producing Julius Cesar, and had cast Cesar as a woman.  I need to come back!

In front of the theatre!

Today, we woke up and headed north on I-5 towards Portland.  It was the longest stretch we've driven so far, but my mom packed us with enough food and drinks to nourish a small army, so we were alright.  The views were beautiful! I don't have any pictures right now because I was driving the whole time, but Laura got a few - they should be uploaded soon!

Five hours later, we arrived in Portland and pulled up to this beautiful hotel! It was certainly fancier than anything we had stayed in before -- thanks, Mom the Travel Agent! She hooked us up! We were so comfortable that we didn't even want to leave....so we stayed nearby to the hotel, and went....

to IKEA!!!  We had a lovely time there.  

Finally, it was time to drop Laura off at the airport and begin the section of the journey I travel solo.  It was sad to see her go -- I've enjoyed these past few days.  I head into Camp Adams tomorrow for Orientation for JVC.  I'm calling this section of my journey my "Life Detox" - we aren't really going to have any contact with the outside world, and something tells me there's no cell phone service.  It's time to commune with nature, and all of that.  So, when you don't hear from me for a week, don't panic!  I'm still alive (I hope!) - I'm just breathing in the sacred scent of Mother Earth and scattering rose petals upon the ground in blessing.

Okay, okay, I'm being snarky.... but, I'm actually truly excited to start this.  I chose to do Jesuit Volunteer Corps for many reasons, and one of them was to have to grow as a person on my own.  I think it will be nice to unplug for a week and see what happens.  I live my life connected to my phone and the internet, so it will be good for me to just put everything away and exist on this planet.  I've got my lungs clear for deep breathing and my hands open for whatever comes my way.

Keep yourselves safe and happy in these next few days.  Oh, and, don't forget to wish Miss Lauren Lopez happy birthday on Wednesday, won't you?  (See, Lo, you're still a staple in my blog!)  She's got her own blog going these days about her travels in San Francisco and Los Angeles!  Check it out here: http://laurengoeslightly.blogspot.com/  

See you all soon.  Leave me some love in the comments!

God bless,

K