As per the usual, leaving for vacation happened in what can only be described as a cloud of hen shit. It involved a post call stupor, rapid packing, and little sleep- the rest is details but safe to say I arrived at the airport on time and had an uneventful flight to Seattle. Steven picked me up at the airport and the cloud continued as I rushed to the house, took a quick nap, and packed Lib’s bike and camping equipment in the Jolly Lib Giant and hit the road to Corvallis, Oregon.
A fog delay flying into Chicago made for a tight connection
When trip planning, googlemaps had assured me the drive from Seattle to Corvallis would take about 4 to 4.5 hours. This did not account for traffic snarls in Seattle and around Portland. The estimated time of arrival kept getting longer and longer on GPS. Somewhere about 4 podcasts of Radiolab into the drive I got a panicked call from my friend Tamara- my buddy I met while she was studying at Yale and who was supposed to be meeting me in Corvallis with camping equipment for the Cycle Oregon weekend. It turns out she grabbed the wrong poles for the tent. I was sure we could be accommodated in the dorms or, this being the pacific northwest, should encounter an REI in the next five miles. I ended up detouring to Salem, Oregon to pick up a tent from a friend of hers.
6ish hours later and a full 18 hours of travel later, I arrived in Corvallis just in time for dinner while listening to a live band. It was good to see Tamara again; I haven’t seen her in two years. Tents were pitched across the greens of the Oregon State University campus and we found the ideal spot for our tent.
My night was restless. It turns out my camping buddy has a snoring issue. It rained and my feet were hot.
