Getting Goonie - Part 1

After watching a friend's dog for over a week, we were ready to be home. Not that we didn't love watching the wee lab, Mara - in fact, quite the contrary. But sometimes you are just away from your little corner of the world for too long and it is time to make your return. So we said our goodbye's to the pup, fed her, locked the door, and headed back on a sunny, chilly Monday morning. By Friday, we were once again feeling cooped up so it was time to hit the pavement. The destination: Oregon! We had a big trip planned which brought us all over the state that Cara had spent many of her college years in (when she was not studying abroad in Granada, Spain or Accra, Ghana).

So Friday morning we packed up our car for its first big road trip under our care and got out of town early. The goal was to beat Seattle traffic and make it to Portland in time for lunch with Cara's brother, Josh. Unfortunately, we discovered there is no such thing as "beating Seattle traffic" and got to spend some quality pavement-time together. Luckily, we did make it to Portland in time for lunch. It was very surreal just popping in to see Josh and Jo in Portland, a place I didn't know I would ever see let alone make a casual roadside stop for Thai fried fish and beer with Cara's brother, but I was happy for the experience nonetheless.

After eating it just so happened we were about 2 blocks away from the world-famous Powell's Books which claims to be the largest independent bookstore in the world. I cannot verify that claim, but I can tell you at 1.6 acres of floorspace the daunting impact of stepping foot in the store certainly makes it feel like it could be true. One could get lost for hours in Powell's but we only had about a hour left on the meter at that point. We chose to dedicate our time to finding some children's books for Cara's friend in Scotland who is due to have a baby soon. Somehow we managed to use the entire hour to pick up Baby Shark and a couple picture books, so we will need to go back one day to live out my childhood Pagemaster dream in it's vaunted halls.

We made it back to the car with exactly 1 minute left on the meter. For the record, this type of punctuality is not usually something that characterizes either of us so if any of you reading this think we are turning a new leaf, I am sorry. We are still going to show up late to nearly every function. It's nothing against you, we are just airheads. I assure you it stresses us out more than it annoys you. All that to say that we made our exit from Portland and turned south to Corvallis, stopping only once on the drive to swing through Target for some sunglasses and something to drink.

After a few hours of listening to the Joe Rogan podcast where a vegan UFC fighter breathlessly debated a tired-sounding paleo acupuncturist (this type of quality programming can only be found on Rogan) we were there! Cara was making her grand return to the town where she spent her undergrad years and the nostalgia was palpable while she began her unscripted driving tour of the campus. It was a beautiful campus, too! Nestled in the foothills of some nearby mountains, Corvallis is almost entirely comprised of students, employees, grads, professors, and distant visitors of the secluded academic village surrounding Oregon State University. It was an experience as weird for me as it was powerful to Cara to be walking those hallowed grounds once again - I know the feeling. I never even left the 5-mile radius around my alma mater and it is still a quieting thing to hear my steps once again echo off those distantly familiar walls. And fortunately, due to our unlikely timeliness that day, we had plenty of time before sunset for Cara to show me everything she wanted to show me.

Here's a philosophical musing for you: why does academia need to be intimidating? I could learn everything I learn at a University like this one from the comforting blue-glow of my laptop, and yet somehow that learning feels less valid than if I was within walking distance of a "quad." Also, why is it called a quad? I assume it has something to do with making knowledge feel unattainable as everyone knows it is best to keep the peasantry illiterate lest they rise up.

Now the sun was going down, and after scraping our way out of the world's tightest parallel-parking spot it was time to check into the hotel. What was next on this day of debauchery? More debauchery, but with a couple of Cara's best friends from college who she shared a room with in the Co-op she lived in her first year at school, Jenna and Cynthia. Cynthia met up with us at the hotel and dropped her stuff off and we hit the sidewalk to head to downtown Corvallis for a drink. Jenna met up with us at the cocktail lounge we landed at after being denied seating at a very full but cool-looking Irish-hybrid pub down on the river. It was a joy to watch everyone catch up together, but also a point was made to include me which made me feel welcome.

After the cocktail we wandered over to a nearby brewery which, I was told, has the best fries in the world. A lofty claim which I had to investigate for myself. The conclusion: they are pretty great. And I can't say otherwise: they may be the best fries in the whole world. I am reminded of something a character, Leslie Knope, from the NBC television series Parks and Rec once said:

And yes, every town claims its diner’s waffles are the best in the world, but somewhere in some town there really are the best waffles in the world. So delicious, and rich, and golden brown that anyone who tasted them would decide never leave that town. Somewhere those waffles exist. Why can’t it be here?

So hey, why not? Yes, they are the best french fries in the world. The burger I had was pretty good too! Not to mention the vast rainbow of beer they had on tap which I of course had to sample plenteously. We drew some pictures on the chalkboard table-top, shared the world's best fries, and exchanged stories about our college years. Next on the tour down memory lane, it was about the time of the night to hit the dance floor. We were off to the premier dive-bar-club-hybrid-thing in Corvallis: The Peacock.

By this point, Cynthia had to take her leave and go back to the hotel since she had a 24 hour shift at work the next day. Jenna, Cara, and I had instead chosen to start the night at the lower level of The Peacock which is more of a classic, wood-trimmed, sticky place you may find in any college town. Lucky for me and everyone else in the bar, it was Karaoke night! To many high five, I brought down the house with a classic rendition of Have You Ever Seen the Rain by CCR - one of my favorites.

Have you ever just sat at a bar and judged the younger people around you for a while? I strongly recommend it. You don't even need to be that old to enjoy it! I would say about 5 years out of college the young folk start to make less and less sense to you. Their words, their mannerisms, gestures, clothing choices (put some clothes on, it's cold out), the awkward-stress energy that drips off them like a pheromone... It's awesome, it's like going to the zoo but it's free and everyone is there by choice! So that's what we did for about 20 minutes before heading up to the "Top of the Cock" as the locals call it (I'm sorry, Grandma). Where the music. Was. BUMPING!

The music was so loud, the floor was so sticky, and the 3 or 4 freshmen that were dancing were so uncoordinated. This is what I came for. This would be a great way to end the night if we had chosen to do so. Instead, we left and made our way to another nearby establishment to regain our footing before heading off to engage in the penultimate OSU student experience - the late night run to Riva's burritos for some of beaniest, greasiest, most delicious food you've ever had after 2am.

Well fed, now it was time for bed. We had a great time with Jenna and Cynthia, and I'm sure we will get a chance to meet up with them again while we still live on the West Coast. Maybe next time we won't need to relive the college experience, but I suppose if you're going to it's best to do it while you're young.

This was Part 1 of our adventure into Oregon, a tale too long to do proper justice to our readers and our future selves in one post. There will be more wholesome content to come in the next few days!