The Oregon Trail

I departed Sunday night and left home for Fresno. It was not nearly as difficult a task as I imagined it might be. Arriving in Fresno I spent the night at my friend Loren's new house and was reminded of just how much things have changed in the years since we first became friends and yet in spite of that the bond between us remains as strong and as easy to resume as ever.

I left on Monday after lunch and assumed that I'd arrive in Portland shortly after midnight. As I approached Sacramento, I began to read signs notifying me of the closure of the Golden State Freeway in Sacramento. Surely this was wrong I told myself. At home when they fix the freeway, they close down a few lanes but never the entire road. But lo and behold, in Sacramento, Caltrans operates a bit differently. So as I cruised into Sacramento at 5 pm, I found myself in traffic congestion that would give Southern California a run for its money. The detour route was poorly marked and despite the best efforts of Matt Minegar and all the power of the internets I managed to turn the wrong way and head toward Reno instead of San Francisco. Several traffic-jammed miles later I began to sense that I was on the wrong road. After a short-sidetrack I found myself in Sacramento's downtown which is a really confusing place. So in addition to driving a grid I had never experienced before in a truck with a couch in the bed creating a huge blind spot. Attempting to call for help (hands free of course) I ended up driving down a one-way street the wrong way and nearly ran over a poor guy who was trying to keep me from making the wrong turn I was in the process of. Finally with the help of Mark, Kelli, David and Nat I managed to make my way back to the 5.

On the open road, it was smooth sailing but I had lost at least 2 hours on my drive and so spent the rest of the time travelling through some very beautiful country in the dead of night. Somewhere around midnight I decided to pull off the road and spend the night at a hotel. As I walked into the lobby, ready for a shower and a good night's sleep I was informed that my dream would cost me $95. In my mind, I decided driving all night wouldn't be so bad. The woman asked me if I was a AAA member. I responded that I was but left my card in my truck. Techinically true. I turned and left and the woman watched on- puzzled as I got back in my truck and drove away. In my mind, I imagined a very funny movie scene where I revved the engine, skreeched the tires and ran into something in my escape.

In reality I drove on and found a cup of coffee at a McDonald's that was still open. Through the night, my only real diversion was trying to think of funny parallels I could draw between the only computer game every child of the 80s ever played and my own journey to Oregon. As I crossed the Willamette River at 4 am I stared to my left at downtown Portland shimmering back at me. The bridges, the river, all the lights...I live here now I realized. What a surreal and beautiful feeling. Within in two hours, I found my place, parked, unpacked and fell asleep.

Not the easiest of treks to Oregon, but hey, at least, I didn't die of dysentery.