10/14- Mountain or Coastal Run?

Penney left early that morning for work, so after a groggy hug of thanks and goodbye, I moved up to her bed in the loft to sleep a little longer. When I finally did get up I set to getting things in order for my departure again.

Among my pre-packed things they'd hauled for me I had put buzz clippers in my bag and had meant to see if Penney would cut my hair for me. I had forgotten about this when we got wrapped up in all the landlord talk so the task fell to me for the morning as I prepared some oatmeal for myself. This idea of cutting my own hair was not a very good one. After an hour or so buzzing away at my head I emerged looking slightly retarded. Thankfully I had my new hat and if you'll notice in the pictures I have that hat on in just about every picture until I get out toward the east coast.

By noon or so I got everything squared away, the bathroom cleaned up from the barber butchery, and headed out the door. I had looked at a map of Eugene to figure out how to get out of town but couldn't decide if I wanted to head straight west to the coast, then turn south down 101 or wander through mountain roads south of town that would eventually land me by the coast around the Northern California border where I had heard the real scenery starts anyway. I found a route that would encourage letting the rides decide. It was my theory that when indecision strikes, at the opportunity is there, just step out and The Fates will push you one way or the other. The simple trick is movement in what ever form the situation calls for.

So I made my way down to Chambers St. and from there to 11th Ave. At 11th I had marked as the deciding point. 11th was the road heading straight west and continuing down Chambers was the way to the southern routes. When I hit 11th I was inspired to turn down it, but then a block or two later was suddenly intrigued to turn south. I didn't know where those roads lead, but it was sort of a grid system so I had an idea and just walked on. Soon enough I was finding myself heading west again and had figured that it had been resolved in my head that I would be heading through the southern mountain roads. I walked for maybe another hour or so before a pick-up finally swung by and scooped me up.

Tom said he'd give me a ride about 15 miles to Veneta. I had no idea where that was but I told him that was fine. There was a little trouble in communication since I wasn't sure where I was going, only that I wanted to go either south, west, or anywhere in between. He pulled off of the road I was walking and went north onto 11th Ave. and it was then I realized I'd be heading straight to the coast first. Dropping me off just far enough out of town to not head back he wished me luck and sped off.

I spent the rest of the day walking down the side of that road. It was a busy backroad highway and a decent shoulder to walk, but not quite enough to pull over on I think. I walked until about 5pm when I decided to sit down by a bridge and take a breather. After resting for about fifteen minutes or so I black van pulled out and pulled up next to me. Matt offered me a lift just a few miles down the road, but as we drove he then offered up his 40 acres to camp on for the night if I wanted.

Matt and I hit it off quite well. He was a California guy who had moved up there with his girlfriend a few years ago only to have it not work out a week previous to meeting me. She had gone back to Hawaii where they owned a business and the distance was just not working for him. She had been gone quite a while by the time I met him and he was not liking that he was spending all this time on his own in the back woods of Oregon, so the company I offered was inviting to him. His dog was truly his best friend out there and it was apparent. We hung out in his house having dinner, watching TV, and he would continue to talk to his dog as much as me, if not more so. I thought the whole thing was adorable to watch.

As we got to talking about my travels and hitching it turned out that he had been hitching since he was 13 years old and was an avid traveler as well. In fact, he was working on an RV he had to ready it for a long road trip he was planning to set off on in a few weeks. We exchanged numbers when we found out we may be in the same areas come December if each of our plans follow the ideas we have of them now. It was a pretty laid back night of easy travel talk and it wasn't long before he offered for me to stay inside. Apparently his apple trees by the gate were very attractive to the bears in the area that were preparing for hibernation.

One of the last things he mentioned as we were readying for bed would end up being a theme I'd dwell upon often over the next three weeks. He recommended I take his suggestion and let him drive me back a mile to try hitching out of the general store parking lot. The logic being that it was the last good pull over spot down the winding logging road to the sea. If I walked it, not only would there be no room for people to pull over to pick me up, but it would be dangerous for them to do so and it would be dangerous for me to walk it due to the logging trucks careening around those sharp corners for 30 miles. I agreed to let him take me back, but it would be a long day the next day before I heard the message in it.