Eugene, OR - Weekend Adventures

Who knew coastal Oregon and western Montana would have such similarities? They do - in the way they suck you in and keep you there longer than you told your gracious hosts. And when I write "you" I obviously do not mean that I would ever stay several extra days in a city, mooching off the generosity of good friends and a comfy bed;) Friday was another casual day. Met up with buddy Dan and he gave me a little tour of the nearby Hendricks (?) Park and its spectacular views of some of the surrounding buttes and city area. A crowd of us went over to California Research Institute for dinner - really funky pizza place with delicious, crazy pizzas and FOOSBALL! Talk about a walk down memory lane, playing Foosball with old friends:)

The weather in Eugene is hot. So lovely:) And so hot in fact, that on Saturday, that same crowd decided to drive over to Florence to spend the day at the ocean. Unfortunately, that kind of heat does not stick around at the edge of the Pacific. So it was much chillier (ie: sweatshirt/jeans/hat) but absolutely still worth it. The beaches in Oregon are ruggedly beautiful. Grey mist rolling in on the horizon and wind whipping through the dunes. But rugged as they are, the beaches are no competition for the ruggedness of the group that came to conquer! We stripped down and plunged into the FRIGID waters. The kind of cold that makes you gasp, makes your skin turn red, and makes the boys hold onto... well, the boys, for dear life. But exhilarating nonetheless;) We even spent enough time numbing our skin to see a seal mock us in our blubber-less state. Enough of being rugged. Time for hot coffee and showers:) And then... I became a duck. I really did. Decked out in yellow and green, I hiked on over to the University of Oregon football game with Dan. However, with no cell service, we just got a good look at the outside of the stadium and never could get a hold of the man with the tickets. So instead we watched it from a friend's place (U of O won, FYI) and then to celebrate we went to MacMenamins for beers and a game of pool:)

Not to be outdone by Bozeman's elongated stay, Eugene also sucked me in for all of Sunday. I was invited to go rafting with Dan, Kathy, Dave, and Mike:) If those four ever invite you anywhere - accept, regardless of the situation. This is a group of fantastic, hilarious, sweet individuals:) We rafted down the McKenzie River for a few hours. This is no ordinary river. It is a temperature to rival the ocean I was in the previous day (AKA: ICY) and crystal clear. So clear you think you could touch the bottom when it is in fact more like 15 or 20 feet down. Which makes it froth ice-blue and white in the rapids. One of the most beautiful rivers I have ever seen, I would not hesitate to say. Once again, thoroughly chilled, we heated back up with dinner and laughs and then a game of Settler's of Catan with Dan & friends:) But after all that generosity from everyone, I decided the kindest thing I could do was to really get out of their hair and tangle myself into the biggest trees I could find...