Home again, home again

Hey there all of you blog followers! We have been doing a terrible job of updates. Why? Because we were too busy out experiencing everything! And now we have landed safely back on the east coast and are re-charging at casa Paulson in Falls Church. Don't fret, we are going to continue to upload all sorts of good stories and such for you guys and gals, but in the meantime, check out our trip photos over on the Picasa page. We have a few hundred photos documenting our trip there, and a few more that have not been posted because we ran out of room on the account! So, enjoy the photos and look forward to more stories!

The Gwanderson Adventure

Portlandia, day 2

We started day two of our Portlandia adventure off with a bit of a slow start and a nice saunter through Beaverton. While checking out downtown, the library, and a park, we found Ananda, a yoga and meditation temple/community that advertises a Sunday service. We decided that might be a nice way to wind things down and get re-centered before leaving town and made ourselves a personal date to check it out on Sunday. Our next leg of the adventure was to scope things out in Hillsboro, which resulted in a rambling car journey through Hillsboro. All in all, Hillsoboro did not have too much to offer. It was kind of a mash up between weird funky neighborhoods from the 1950s and more modern planned communities that were totally cookie cutter and lifeless. By the time we were ready to leave Hillsboro, we were also hungry, so we checked out the Winco . . . Okay so we almost did not stop here because Anderson thought it just looked like some kind of Costco type place, and it is a good thing that Gwen talked us into it. Winco = great circus of a grocery store full of bulk items. This was crucial because while we wanted some bread and good cheese to accompany our apple for lunch, we also found a way to satiate our growing need for candy and sweets! Gummi bears, sour gummi worms, and some of sort of mix called a "Mt. Hood mix" got us good and sugared up for the next little while! With our stomached aching from carbohydrates, dairy, and sugary goodness, we headed back to Beaverton to kill time and prepare for our evening of culinary heavenliness. We paused for a quick look into how the Max works and for Gwen to call Work Source (an intercept point for job seekers and Oregon employers to make sure that applicants meet the application requirements for posted positions). This was a little defeating because if you don't have an Oregon drivers license, which duh, we don't, then you don't even get to have the chance to apply, regardless of your intentions to relocate to the state. So moving on from this bummer, we parked the car . . . Kind of illegally, hopped on the Max, and took it to the easy side of town, where we then hopped on a bus headed to the south east, Division St to be exact. Why all of the public transit fun, you might ask? Our journey was all in the name of locating and experiencing Pok Pok, one of the premier Thai restaurants in the nation, according to food critics. That's right, we were about to experience exquisite food that we could not even anticipate, and we were about to do it for a fraction of the cost. What!? Who does that?! We do, all courtesy of Jim Gould and Emily Karr, affectionately known as "Jimily." Their gracious gift of a gift card to the restaurant set us up or this total highlight of our trip. Our good fortune continued as what we expected to be a three hour wait turned out to be less than 10 minutes. We were pumped!

Pok Pok was insanely special and we were unprepared for the sheer amazingness of the food. Already surprised at how quickly we were seated, we were also impressed with the level of service. Our waiter was on point and very polite, and the smells of the restaurant . . Oh the SMELLS! Spices, fishiness, freshness - it was to die for. We wish we could capture the memory of the smells here for you via scratch and sniff, but our descriptions will have to do. To sum up the scents, let us just say that it was very authentic.

Never before had either of us been completely stumped looking over a menu. The chef at this world winning restaurant lived in different areas of Thailand, mostly Chiang Mai, and each dish also included some descriptions of Thai authenticity which we enjoyed, such as common foods found in markets, Northern Thai specialties, typical Thai drinking food-the spicy boar dish, which we ordered, which was orgasmic. And other such personal menu touches that really completed the experience. With the spicy boar dish we also ordered a catfish laab, which is minced catfish meat with greens and yummy spices as well. We ordered some sticky rice to complement the spiciness of our dishes. We wanted to top off our meals with some authentic brews as well and Pok Pok just happens to have specially delivered beers from Thailand. We ordered beer Lao and beer Lao dark, from Laos of course. Anderson's choice of beer Lao dark won the beer battle. It was unlike anything we had ever tasted. Deliciousness. Who woulda thunk that our favorite beer of the trip thus far would come from Laos?! We savored our dinners and sipped our beers, contemplating all the while about ordering a third dish because, yes, it's that good. We opted out of the third dish in favor of a walk around the area since it also seemed pretty excellent. Before leaving, we ordered the signature dish to take home to our hosts, Dan and Amanda, feeling it was unfair to experience such a great meal all for ourselves. We left the restaurant knowing that, until we go to Thailand, we will never again be able to eat Thai food with any true satisfaction . . . Anyone willing to get us to Thailand (or to get us - Gwen - Thai cooking lessons) feel free to speak up now.

We took a stroll through the neighborhood, enjoying the general vibe and style of the homes. We even stopped into a corner store and chatted with the clerk so we could learn more about the area. It's called Brooklyn, for all you curious types out there, and it was really mellow, eclectic, and hip. We decided to hit a bar in Goose Hollow on the way home, so hopped on a bus to get back to the Max. However, we then realized we had failed to get a photo in front of Pok Pok! Knowing this was unacceptable, we got off the bus and went back in for the photo . . . and dessert . . . and a few more Beer Lao Darks! That's right, we decided that it was too good to leave, so we went for round two. We ended our night of culinary extravagance with an ice cream sandwich of sorts - jack fruit ice cream with coconut and chocolate syrup on a folded piece of honey sweet cake-like bread topped with peanuts. Mmmm mmmm mmmm. Is your mouth watering? It should be - ours are . . . just had to clean off the iPad screen! With a few more Beer Lao darks, we were all set for an easy ride back to Beaverton, though Anderson's bladder was less patient! Our car didn't even get a ticket or towed, making day 2 of Portlandia a total success!

Portlandia, day 1

Now that we have a few extra minutes in Lithia Park, of Ashland, we'd like to give you more Portlandia details. We got in and after a day in a cold, dark and damp cave, that was totally badass, we wanted some big burgers and beer, we stopped at a McMeniman's close to Dan and Amanda's. We played paper football, which Gwen discovered she is totally a pro at, and headed to Dan and Amanda's with chocolate shakes. We were so warmly greeted by them and it was so special for Anderson to have the time to spend with close friends and for Gwen to meet some amazing people so important to Anderson. We took the time to catch up and get to know one another for the evening while slurping our shakes.

The next morning Anderson had an interview with Intercept in the morning in Oswego, a very fine to do neighborhood and Gwen used the agency internet while Anderson won over the interviewers. Afterwards, Anderson was excited to show Gwen the famous voodoo doughnuts shop in downtown Portland. Gwen, a huge sucker for doughnuts, had heard stories of a maple bacon doughnut and expectations were high. We drove into the city and quickly found the donut shop. Luckily the ridiculus line that Anderson experienced the last time he was in town was absent, so after a quick stroll in the city we went back and got some doughnuts! We got a maple bacon flavored one of course, a Memphis Mafia- peanut butter, banana chunks, and chocolate, a Mango Tango (Anderson: "Delicious heaven of doughnut")- a tangy mango jelly filled doughnut with a smooth and tangy marshmallow top, and a vegan VooDoo Doughnut- vegan just for fun, a chocolate covered doughnut with rasberry jelly filling and a pretzel stake through the heart, very artistic, Anderson insisted we get this classic. After finally obtaining these tasty treats we realized that we hadn't had a lunch yet that day and so many sweets would probably be a bad idea... So we decided to seek a more fulfilling meal before diving into the doughnuts. The quest for a lunch food cart was of course following a complete devouring of the bacon maple doughnut, quite shameless without the shame, and completely delicious. Doughnuts should absolutely involve more bacon. Anyway, we set off to find a yummy looking food cart menu and Gwen remembered seeing one for Pho which sounded yummy, and we found it pretty quickly. We decided to split the meal and thank goodness for that because chicken pho, a $6.50 meal took about 15 minutes to prepare and included a tub of broth with broccoli, a large container of chicken pieces, and a bag of sprouts, basils and lettuce. We couldn't wait to break into this meal but we wanted to enjoy it at a spot with a view so we set out for the test rose garden in Washington Park. From a bench with a view of the city, surrounded by crossbreed roses, we took our time to enjoy our late lunch. We decided we should explore some city suburban areas and decided to check out Mississippi, a Northeast district. We loved the quirky vibe and the colorful flavor of the Mississippi area and found ourselves feeling like we could see ourselves in a place like this.

From Mississippi, we hit the highway for a little rush-hour madness to scramble on back to Dan and Amanda's for dinner. We were adamant about making dinner for our oh-so-awesome hosts, but were slightly concerned how we would fare on time in our race against the rush hour. We figure that "normal" people eat around 6 or so in the evening. Now I know what you folks are thinking - "Gwen and Anderson are NOT normal, and they are always late." Well, while those two sentiments are mostly accurate, we managed to buy food at the grocery store and make dinner at a time that was acceptable to our not-so-normal hosts. Gwen impressed with a lemon chicken alfredo pasta and delicious asparagus. Dessert was the piece de la resistance: the rest of the voodoo doughnuts selections! We closed out the night with fond conversation and tasty beers before hitting the hay.

A quickie update!

Hey there, all you blog following friends/fiends! We are currently in Ashland, OR under warm sunny skies! We have 9 minutes to get a quick post out here at the public library, so hold onto your hats! Here are a few quick highlights from our past week or so:

Portland: Dan, Amanda, and Emmaline are amazing hosts and friends! We so much appreciated getting to stay with them, laugh, relax, and spend some time catching up and getting to know one another. Emmaline is cute as a button and a total sweet heart! Finally getting our doughnut fix at Voodoo Doughnuts was delicious: maple bacon bar - 'nough said! We dig the East side of town - Mississippi St. and Brooklyn were great. POK POK - holy crap we won't ever be able to fully enjoy thai food again . . . until we go back there! The gorge is gorgeous . . . yeah I just said that! Multnomah Falls and Horsetail falls in the sunshine were most excellent. Carnival rides at the Rose Festival, also sweet. Not to be forgotten, the Saturday Market was stellar. Not cool = Hillsboro. Really happy to not be considering there as a future living place. Although, they do have a Winco grocery store which was awesome with tons of bulk stuff!

Fast forward through Albany, sweet little town, lovely historic homes, we will post pics when we get a chance.

Eugene: Most excellent. Funky funky blend of homes and people - hippy grand central with a sophisticated athleticism lended by University of Oregon. (4 minutes to go on the computer here!) There are tons of outdoor opportunities, incredible park with Steve Prefontaine inspired running trails, and really cool nightlife and edibles.

Onward to Ashland: home of incredible Shakespeare Festival and other theatre and arts, this place is so far amazing. Near the Rogue River, not too far from Crater, and the weather is amazing! We are digging on this mountain side town and definitely interested to check it out further, so here we go to Lithia Park! Alright - 2 minutes to go!

We love you all and will write with better info and more details soon!

Mount St. Helens

And so onward we drove from Olympia in the afternoon drizzle, straight on to the Mt. St. Helens visitor center. Unfortunately, the cloud ceiling was far too low for us to get a look at the mountain, but that didn't stop us from having an awesome time exploring the area! From the visitor center, it was an incredible drive that topped out at a snow drifted 3,800', the highest elevation yet on our trip. Though the drive took us through a good deal of rain, by the time we reached our first hike around Coldwater Lake, it was overcast but without rain. It was amazing to consider the fact that within only 30 years, the lake has an ecosystem much like other lakes that are 1000's of years old. The lake was formed when the eruption damned up an end of a river. Other than the park service cutting a channel through the lake to prevent the flooding of thousands of homes further down the mountain, the lake has been allowed to flourish on its own, and it is now teaming with life and surrounded by mountains that are doing the same. Charred stumps dot the hillsides, remnants of an old forest that used to thrive. We wondered whether the trees that once belonged to those stumps had been burned following the eruption or washed into the lakes and rivers, leaving their stumps as grave markers. Compared to the forests that we had previously explored, the mountain forests around Mt. St. Helens are young and full of vibrant green energy. Saplings abound, taking root and pushing upwards. Beautiful birds flit here and there, hiding as we neared. There were no other hikers out on this lovely Memorial Day. We had the entire lake to ourselves, well, ourselves and several bald eagles that we watched soaring majestically above the lake and ridge lines. Gwen's sharp eye even caught a glimpse of a beautiful little northwestern salamander, saving him from imminent death by way of being trampled under my boot! The hike would have been a little over ten miles, but because it was already late in the day and we still had to find a campground and set up camp, we opted to cut it short. We did however make time for one more short hike before heading back to camp. Our next hike was a 2.5 mile hike through a hummocks field. Hummocks are the debris that a volcano throws out when it erupts, which have been found up to 30 MILES away from some blast sites! The hummocks field that we explored was roughly 7 miles out from the center of the mountain. The landscape was characterized by lots of uneven mounds of dirt and volcanic rock. Many of these mounds had recently sheared away, as evidenced by newly exposed dirt. As it rains and rivers flow past, the hummocks break down. Pools of water in the craters between them turn into unstable ponds where new life takes hold. Over time, weather will smooth the landscape and soften the jagged edges of the hummocks. As we hiked the trail, we saw many signs of elk (poop and lots of hoof prints traversing our trails) but no elk. The weather was on and off rain and sun. We kept hoping to see a glimpse of the mighty mountain, but no opportunity presented itself, and a steady rain set in by the end of the hike. At times, it seemed like we were in Ireland. We even got lucky with the weather as a rainbow unfolded right before our eyes. Sadly there was no pot of gold at the end . . . nor was there any jiffy pop! It truly was an incredible hike. Getting to see a landscape that is in such a state of constant change was really exciting and gave an up close look at how nature takes its course following an eruption.

We drove back through the snowy mountains in heavy fog and rain, hoping for clearer skies when we got to camp. Our hopes were realized when we pulled into Seaquest State Park just across the road from the visitor center. We found a great campsite and got the tent set up under a canopy that wasn't so different from the rainforest that we had called home just a few nights before. We churned out a post draft that we saved for future uploading to the blog. Yes, we realize that sounds crazy - we were sitting in a tent in a pseudo (pronounced "sway-dough" or "sue-dough," you decide) rainforest writing a blog post on an iPad . . . we are dedicated, people! Make our craziness worth it by continuing to follow us! By the time we were ready to eat dinner at our status quo dinner time: 9:00PM, it had started to drizzle. By the time dinner was ready, that drizzle had turned into a steady rain, so we had dinner in bed, which was quite cozy in the light of Anderson's headlamp and the sound of rain on the tent fly. The rain was no big deal, save for the fact that it meant we would have to forego our newly discovered dessert delicacy of apples roasted on a stick over the fire - mmm mmm mmm. Sleeping in the rain was lovely - having to leave the tent to go to the bathroom (multiple times, in Anderson's case) was not. No, momma Gould, in case you were wondering, we did not use an old coffee can as a urinal in the tent for the night!

The next morning did not bring with it a return to sunny skies. The rain definitely deterred our exit from the tent, but we eventually got ourselves moving and quickly stuffed our wet items into the trunk and opted to get ready for the day and cook breakfast under the dry shelter of the area outside the volcano visitor center. With not even a hint of shame, we cooked our oatmeal and hot tea as visitors shuffled past to see the exhibit inside, and Gwen even gave herself a little birdbath in the ladies room. Gwen is a master at cleanliness on the road. She might be the best smelling camper traveller out there! We decided to use our last day at Mt. St. Helens to explore Ape Cave, a 2 mile long 2,000 year old basalt lava tube that was first explored and named by a boy scout troop. This seemed like a good option for the day, as it was not weather dependent, and the rain did not seem to be going anywhere fast. From the visitor center it is roughly a 90 minute drive through twists and turns up through the mountains to get to Ape Cave.

Ape Cave has two sections: a .8 mile easy lower section, and a 1.2 mile upper more difficult section. It is recommended that you take three light sources and wear sturdy boots. We had one light source (Anderson's headlamp) and Gwen was wearing her hiking sandals. We quickly realized upon entering the lower section of the cave that it was going to be wetter than anticipated, with lots of puddles, and that one headlamp was going to be a worthy test of team Gwanderson's teamwork! A quick return to the car to put on Gwen's (waterproof) hiking boots and grab a cellphone as a second light source should the trusty headlamp fail us (it's ok, you can laugh here, but don't worry, we make it out alive) and we were on our way into the cave. The cave is literally pitch black, and it maintains a cool damp 42 degrees year round. The walk through is a gradual downgrade going in, and the tunnel is wide and tall, roughly 25' at its highest point. We encountered three other hikers on our walk, and a ranger. There are constants drips from the ceiling of the cave, and walls are lined with a slimy white fungus, which we later learned is a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and bacteria that is invisible at temperatures above 42 degrees and exists in dirt and is recognizable only by its smell (earthy and rich, like dirt). At the furthest end of the cave, it narrows down to about 2'. We stopped at this point; going further would necessitate crawling through mud, and we weren't really feeling that. The cave closes to such a narrow opening at that point because of the mud flow that filled the lava tube when Mt. St. Helens erupted in the 1980's. The tube was originally 4 miles long and had a lake at one end. The rest of the tube can be accessed past the constriction, but is off-limits to civilians and is one of the only places in the US Park System that is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, so unless you can find the skylight into the cave, which is on protected land, you're not getting in there without some heavy credentials! The reason for the secrecy surrounding the cave is that it is a protected habitat for bats.

On our return trip to the entrance of the cave, we ran into the other three hikers and the ranger, who was giving them a spiel about the cave. He was a younger ranger and very interested and informed about cave life. He told us that within the next month, the cave would be crawling with hundreds and thousands of visitors, and that it would echo with a deafening cacophony. We were grateful to realize what a special opportunity we had in getting to experience the cave in its true serenity. The ranger also told us about how to read the flow and lines in the cave, citing erosion and deposits left by lava flows, places where smaller lava flow tubes had formed and collapsed within the larger tube, and how to notice grooves cut into the ground from drips that blow in the shifting wind in the cave. As temperatures outside the cave rise and fall, the winds in the tube shift from blowing into and out of the cave (into the cave when outside is warmer and out of the cave when outside is colder), which are most noticeable in the narrow sections of the cave as the air flow is constricted, much like water flowing from a wide section of river being calm and turning into a torrent as they squeeze through a narrow section. Over the course of just a few months, the drips carve grooves into the muddy deposits on the floor that were left by the Mt. St. Helens eruption some 30 years ago. During the months when tourists are more popular, these grooves will disappear under heavy foot traffic, only to be recut again over the less popular winter months. Another major part of the ranger's talk was about white nose syndrome, which is a condition that is killing millions of bats in caves all across the eastern half of the United States. Bats go into caves to hibernate, and while they are asleep a fungus grows on the sleeping bats that eventually kills them as they awake too often from temporary hibernation, depleting their fat and energy stores and depriving them of the necessary energy to seek out food when they awake from hibernation. Scientists are still researching this condition in an attempt to understand just where this condition came from and what the long term implications could be. In order to stop the spread, which occurs from bat to bat contact and from humans brushing up against surfaces in caves where the fungus lives and then brushing against surfaces in uninflected caves, caves all across the eastern half of the country are being shut down to visitors. The ranger seemed pretty nervous when he learned that we are from Virginia, but neither of us have been in any caves in Virginia recently, so we are pretty sure we are all clear. If you have been in caves in the eastern half of the country, don't freak out - white nose syndrome is harmless to humans and you simply need to disinfect any clothes, boots, or gear that you were using in the cave. Fish and Wildlife Departments have a disinfecting process that you can access, or you can wash your clothing, etc. at a temperature above 120 degrees, which kills the fungus. So, if you didn't know, now you know! Running into the ranger definitely enriched the experience for us, and the hike out was even more exciting as we were armed with so much extra knowledge.

Given our limited lighting and the lateness of the afternoon, we opted to not risk it in the upper cave, and relished in our excitement about how amazing caves are. While Ape Cave really has zero to do with the Mt. St. Helens eruption, it is an incredible piece of the National Volcanic Monument that we were glad to experience. During the long and winding drive down the mountain, the sun broke through, sending shafts of light through the glistening trees and steam rising from the road. We even caught a fleeting glimpse of another rainbow over the river below us. A quick stop near Starbucks for some internet access got us set on our directions and had us en route to Beaverton, OR, which would become home base for 5 nights.