Poregon

So about a week ago, I was able to go out to Portland, Oregon and visit Alex and his family. The visit was wonderful; Alex has a really incredible family, and they could not have been more generous and hospitable. Besides spending time with his fam, we were also able to explore some different parts of Oregon.

There's a lot to love about Oregon; the rugged beauty, progressive ideals, the beaver as the state animal... I could go on. I do however, have two favorite things about Oregon. I love how Oregonians pronounce the word "peninsula", and I love their obsession with Lewis and Clark. On the east coast, we learn that Lewis and Clark were explorers; that they hung out with Daniel Boone and Paul Bunyan and wore raccoons as hats, and then we move on.

In Oregon, they continue to celebrate their founding fathers by naming every park, school and bridge after L&C. Every year, thousands of Oregonians put on their finest deerskin leggings and set their wagon pace to grueling so that they can come out and celebrate Lewis and Clark Day.

You can't make this stuff up

But I digress. Alex and I spent a wonderful day hiking and climbing in mountains north of Portland. We saw gorgeous waterfalls, and had a picnic next to a river fueled by glacial run off. The paths were rocky and thin, at times having no more that a two foot wide path of slippery rocks that dropped sharply off to a cliff of death. For me, this modest hike was beautiful and difficult. It really made me think about how dangerous and unpredictable life was for the early explores.

Me as an outdoors woman! Before you know it,
I'll be eating beef jerky and spam!

I'm always amazed when I think of people who leaped into the truly unknown. People packed up their entire lives, left everything they'd ever known because there was this whisper of a better life somewhere else. In my romanticized version of the past, people just like me felt an unquenchable urge for some thing different, something new. Something better. They wanted to see how far they could push themselves, and to they hoped be rewarded for their ambition and strength.

As a new college graduate, I've found myself wondering what adventure means to a twenty-something in the twenty first century. I can't exactly picture myself hiking across the U.S., living in stick huts and forging for maze. Besides, since Lewis and Clack, most of our country has been systematically charted and recorded, and then planned and developed. I'm not entirely lamenting the loss of the great unknown- I do not do portapottys, and deerskin makes my thighs looks big- yet I am looking for a way to push my self. As I stare directly into the prospect of starting a job that I could have for the next 30 years, I start to get anxious. The current economy is acting, for me, as an excuse to take unpaid internships that last a few months, rather than commit myself indefinitely to a job. I'm scared of getting stuck, of never exploring, and worst of all, of never pushing myself to what I am capable of.

Maybe the new adventure isn't about moving yourself physically. Perhaps we've evolved from pushing our physical limits, to now finding what we're capable of mentally and spiritually. Maybe now that we've explored this world, it's time to figure out how to create peace, and make this world a better place. It's time to figure out what truly makes you happy, and then to pursue it, with no alternative. Cheesy, I know, but I also think it's true.

Maybe. Or maybe it's time for me to put on my raccoon hat and hit the ground running.

Greece: Part 2 - Corinth, Epidaurus, Nafplion, Mycenae

As noted in a previous post, Jessica and I spent the first two days of our trip in Athens and then the remainder of our trip on an epic road trip through the Greek mainland. We were lucky enough to find a rental company that would rent to us at 22 and would also drive us out of Athens, because Athenian drivers are absolutely outrageous. So on our trusty Hyundai Accent, Jess and I departed for Corinth, the first stop on our Greek road trip extravaganza.

As soon as we got on the road, we found Greek driving to be both manageable, and extremely different. Almost all roadsigns were in English and Greek, which saved our lives on several occasions. The major difference in driving was that unless you were passing, it was expected that you would literally drive on the shoulder. While strange at first, it was actually kind of nice on roads with only a single lane each way to have a pseudo passing lane in the middle of the road. The Greek drivers however sometimes took this to extremes. On one instance, we were passed by a car that was simultaneously being passed by another car, putting the three of us abreast (hehe) on our single lane, while oncoming traffic raged toward us. It was pretty absurd.

Against all odds, we made it to Corinth safely and enjoyed some delicious lamb and pita. The site there was very impressive and fairly expansive. The Temple of Apollo, while having none of the grace of later sites and styles, was impressive in the shear scale of the columns and of the original site. It also brought me back to Mr King's 7th Grade class where we played City States! Represent Corinth!

On a whim, I convinced Jessica that we should drive to the Acrocorinth. I would highly recommend this site to anyone traveling in the region. However, I would advise you to attempt the slop with more than a gallon of gas in the tank. Possibly not one of my smartest decisions, but we made it to the top safely... barely. Jess would've thrown me off the mountain if not for her fear of heights. The view from the top was absolutely amazing, and the Acrocorinth itself was a favorite of mine. Not kidding. Straight out of Lord of the Rings.

Alex, I feel like you may have glossed over the death defying drive that was the acrocorinth. Let me just reiterate that we had NO gas, that there was NO RAILING or gaurdrail and it was a steep and treacherous drive to the TOP OF A MOUNTAIN and we almost died. DIED! We almost plunged to our death in the funny smelling Hyundai Accent! Thank goodness you were (seemingly) calm under pressure, because when we were driving down a 100% steep grade and were looking at the prospect of losing power steering and breaks in our car, I almost flung myself off the cliff just to get it over with. Seriously, lots of death.

But yes the top was very beautiful, straight out of LOTR.

From the Acrocorinth, we coasted the car to the nearest gas station and then proceeded for the Theatre of Epidaurus. Having seen a handful of theatres in both Greece and Italy, our expectations were somewhat low, but they were more than surpassed by the scale and preservation of the site. The legendary acoustics were as impressive as claimed. This was one of our favorite sites, and also one that definitely has to be seen in person.

From Epidaurus we drove to Nafplion, which just might be the cutest city in all of Greece. We stayed at the Hotel Aetoma and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the morning. The Greek yogurt with honey was my personal favorite. If we had an extra day in Greece it definitely would have been spent in this charming little town. This was the Greece that we were hoping to see!

From Nafplion we drove to Mycenae where Agamemnon was king. Myenae is amazing on many levels. It's importance to Homeric Greece of course adds to the site, as does its age, being from an entirely different period than the rest of the sites that we viewed. To put it in prospective, it was ancient when Jesus walked the earth. The was a very raw power and energy at the site. Needless to say, I spent the majority of the day replaying scenes from the Illiad.

After checking out the Tomb of Clytemnestra, we ate a lunch of pita, olives, humus and apricots and proceeded on the most dangerous drive of our lives to Olympia.

Greece: Part 1 - Athens

For the past two years Jess and I had been talking about some of our dream vacations: Turkey, Croatia, China, Antarctica, Mars, etc. More than any of the others though, we always talked about going to Greece. Thanks to Jess' study of Greek theatre, and my love for the classics, we were both dying to get over there and see firsthand where it all took place.

Long story short, we decided to ignore both our lack of linguistic skills and our monetary situation and to go ahead and do it. There were a lot of things that we wanted to see, so we debated the merits of seeing the islands, northern Greece, etc. but finally settled on spending two days in Athens and four days driving the following route through the Peloponnesian Peninsula.

We spent our first full day in Athens doing the obligatory exploration of the Acropolis and the National Archaeological Museum. Luckily, both sites happened to be free that day, so we saved a solid $60 in entrance fees. The views from the Acropolis were absolutely breathtaking, as was the sheer scale of the Parthenon, though we were disappointed to discover that, in typical European fashion, a large portion of the site was covered in scaffolding, though no actual repairs appeared to be taking place. As such, I found the Erechtheum (God Bless you!)with the Porch of the Caryatids to be much more impressive. Even with some construction, however, it was a gorgeous site, and one can only imagine its magnificence when it was constructed.

From there we headed to the National Archaeological Museum, which housed an absolutely incredible collection of art, sculpture, and artifacts. Being able to see the evolution of art from the archaic Kouros to works like the Epehebe was amazing. I might have been most excited about seeing the Mask of Agamemnon, because I fully accept all of Schliemann's findings to be factual. Haters can hate.

One day down! The next day we proceeded the Roman Agora, Ancient Agora, and the Temple of Hephaestus, which was incredible but doesn't get enough credit, despite its state of preservation, because of its low elevation.

From there we utilized our only marginal knowledge of the Greek script to get on a bus to Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon and to celebrate the day of my birth. While we were there, we enjoyed a breathtaking sunset and a glass of wine. Romantic indeed.

Oh no he didn't....

Ok, I'm just going to put this out there.

My name is Jessica, and I love celebrity gossip.

This is Alex, and as a neglected boyfriend, I can personally vouch for Jessica's obsession for celeb goss at the expense of all other things in life.

Oh do not even make me mention WoW.

Psh, act like I'm the only one...

I did just get a sweet new parrot companion... : )

Anyways, I spend more time on perezhilton.com than I do reading the bible, talking to my grandparents and petting my cat, combined. The debate about celebrity gossip rages on and on (Me: OMG Lindsey is scary skinny. Alex: Sorry, I can't talk right now I'm too busy reading the Economist. You should do the same). (You leave the Economist out of this.) However, the merits of celeb gossip are best left for another blog post. We've gathered today to talk about one specific piece of celeb (and I use that term loosely) gossip:

Jon "I'm not sleeping with a 23 year old" Gosselin

and his bat sh*t crazy wife Kate.

Jon Gosselin, of the popular TLC show Jon and Kate Plus Eight, has been accused of doing disreputable things. If you don't know who/what Jon and Kate Plus Eight are, let me know. I'd be happy to explain the show, current political events, and how carriages are now moving without horses. Point being, you should know.

Anyways...

There are quite a few publications out there, including the reputable likes of US Weekly, which claims thats that Jon Gosselin is having an affair with a 23 year old school teacher.

Allegedly!

Yes yes, allegedly. Anyways, this isn't the first time Jon has been accused of inappropriate behavior with women who aren't his wife. Back in February, Jon was accused of flirting with and possibly smooching college girls he met at a bar in Pennsylvania. Now there are pictures of Jon leaving a night club at 2 am with this young woman (Jon says he was showing her his car..."showing" her his "car"....) and videos of a man who looks like Jon leaving her house early in the morning.

I think he's guilty as sin. Discuss.

Alright, we can stop the slander there. As anyone who has seen the show would know, Jon is a family man. There's probably a perfectly good explanation for all of these supposedly scandalous photographs.

Oh I can think of a couple good explanation... maybe he thought she was one of his billion kids. But see that's the thing! Why is he out at a bar at 2am with another women? I know your life doesn't stop when you get married and have (8) kids, but it should change.

Oh please! She's a long term family friend! Now granted, she's 23 and you can easily question the longevity of the friendship, but I think we should give Jon the benefit of the doubt. It's the least that he deserves for putting up with that snaggletoothed banshee 24/7.

Oh SNAP. Well at least we agree about Kate. That crazy lady has serious control issues, and as someone who has had experience with control freaks..it ain't pretty. But just because Kate's out of control doesn't mean Jon can spin off the deep end too.

And as someone who has dated a crazy person person with a propensity for face slapping, I can understand why Jon might be out at the bars at 2 AM.

WHOA.

WHOA. Lies, all lies. I think we know who the abusive one is in this relationship. Ahem. If you need me, I'll be at the bars, "showing" some guy my "car". Excuse me.

Somehow I don't think the press will buy that some guy wanted to see the newest dent that you put in your Accord.

Good, because I'll be showing him the newest dent I put in your BMW.

For fear of the safety of my one true love, I'm going to change the subject....

Jon never cheated on Kate. Do you want to know how I know this? Neither of them even know that other woman. It was just some outlandish publicity stunt to get Kate's book tour moving. And it's working too! You're going to buy her book just so you can talk about how Jon is a cheater and how Kate is a money grubbing succubus!

You keep saying that! I'm not going to buy her book! I will only buy her book if the title, "8 Little Faces", refers to Jon's other girlfriends. And you know what, maybe it is a publicity stunt. It doesn't change the fact that it's just plain sad. I think the irony is I'm sure they would both tell you that the show is for the children, it's to secure the children's financial future and allow them to have 2 stay at home parents.

Fine fine fine. Maybe Jon's a cheater. Maybe he's not. All I know is Crazy Kate got a sick new giant house once she started physically abusing Jon on national television. Now she wants sympathy while at the same time planning for her new beach home. Kate wins.

Well, if you measure winning by how much money you make, then yeah, maybe she does win. But she lost her way on the path to the top, and everything that has happened between her and her husband can never be undone.

PS: I just want to let you know that I do measure winning by who has the most money. Think a publicity stunt like that will work for our blog? I'm thinking you, in your little sailor uniform, with a transvestite, at late night Elks lodge bingo. You game?

Yeah, actually I was thinking about emulating TV's other fertile family by out Duggering the Duggers. Think we can make it to 25 kids?

Oh done and done. I just hope no one questions us when we have a large influx of asian and mexican kids living with us.

This blog is going to be so good, it really isn't reasonable.

Agreed. Though, to be fair, we aren't exactly reasonable people.

Given.