Travel Living in Oregon ~ Cheryl Yale-Bruedigam

My “travel living” included seven beautiful months in the incredible Pacific Northwest. Renting a small efficiency in the tiny logging town of Oakridge, Oregon, my husband and I found ourselves surrounded by a completely new and different environment, culture, day-to-day life and people.

Hunters and hippies, academics and college students, nature-lovers and business people, artists and musicians, Oregon is quite the melting pot of culture. Up to this point I had never experienced a community or state as this. Environmentalists clashed with loggers, youthful anti-war protesters gathered on city streets, apples and fruits lay by the roadside in abundance; snails were daily visitors in the bathroom and the beauty of Oregon was beyond compare. A river ran right out the door of our rental, sleeping with the window open, we could smell the piney scent of the giant trees and forest completely engulfing this small conservative mountain town.

A winding hour’s drive away through the mountains and terrain of the Willamette Valley would take us to Eugene. There we found old book stores, herb shops, unique restaurants, a buzzing university spirit, Earth shoes, free-flowing skirts, hiking attire and an alternatively intellectual population. Beautiful old homes painted in bright colors with immaculate gardens lined its streets and the town of Eugene offered the feel of a culture actively “living” while immersed in the day-to-day.

Another hour away across the amazing Cascades and we could be at the Oregon Coast watching pacific sunsets while sitting, walking or dining. Eleven miles north of Florence we visited the Sea Lion Caves walking among these dank, dark caves home to thousands of lovable sea lions and their young. One particularly charming coastal city was Coos Bay. Surrounded by the forest and the Pacific Ocean, Coos Bay is rich in the history of shipbuilding and lumber. In a way I felt like I was in a miniature San Francisco (there is even a sign that reads, Welcome to Oregon’s Bay Area) with it’s multi-story buildings, hilly streets, boardwalk and unique shops. While local dunes and surfing offer more of a California feel, fishing, camping and quiet beach-combing are relaxing activities.

Many days were spent combing Oregon’s beaches for driftwood which we fashioned into furniture or keepsakes. A redwood stump became a kitchen island. Sea shells, pine cones; nature’s bounty in Oregon is some of the most beautiful and collectable in the country, much of it right in your own yard. Ancient trees and forests loom high above, crowded with ferns and redwood, winding streams and everywhere were waterfalls. It is no wonder they call it the Cascades.

Other day trips included a visit to Crater Lake. At a depth of 1,943 feet, it is the deepest lake in the U.S. and the seventh deepest in the world. Wizard Island is a cinder cone that erupted after Crater Lake began to fill with water. It is one of two islands in Crater Lake and is as much a part of the draw as is the clear blue water, the surrounding cliffs or its volcanic past. Visiting Crater Lake is a mystical, mesmerizing experience with an other -worldly feel.

Waterfalls were on the top of the list and during one day trip we traveled to the most popularly visited water fall in the state. At 620 feet, Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States. Nearly two-million visitors a year come to see this waterfall and it is awe-inspiring to gaze at its beauty.

“Travel living” in Oregon served as a refreshing respite more than any other area. The nature and surrounding beauty coupled with the enticing aromas of the forest, fresh cut lumber, costal fishing, fields of fruits and herbs, the towering falls and trees, all brought forth not only a renewed spirit but the unending inspiration for the arts and the love of nature. I left Oregon with my creative spirit heightened and my mind opened to other ways of seeing and being.