Category Archives: Adventures

Stories of some of my adventures, either indoors or outside

Jan15

Thanksgiving, 2023

Posted on January 15, 2024 by perfectusvarrus

Friday, 17-Nov-2023 through Sunday, 26-Nov-2023

A few years back, I started up a rotation for Thanksgiving – Massachusetts, Arizona, Friends, repeat. 2020 was “Massachusetts”, in a virtual sense… 2021 was a flight down to Arizona for a lovely high-desert turkey dinner, and then 2022 found me driving down to Sacramento for a dinner that couldn’t be beat. This year, I flew out East for an equally unbeatable meal… combined well with a week of family and friends!

It’s hard to summarize an entire week in a blog, without rambling on too long or simplifying it to the point of missed joy… but I’ll try, keeping it short and sweet so as to not steal time and energy from the other posts and photos that deserve posting and attention.

So let’s see…

I flew out early – taking the full week to visit with everyone in Medway. I worked remotely, with many thanks to my sister for loaning me her work from home setup while she was in the office. It was lovely – and I definitely understand why so many people are so protective of their freedom to work remotely. On top of the joy of just relaxing and working all under the same roof… My friend Bri flew out to join us! This was her first year joining us, and it was awesome to be able to bring her along and share some of the Eigner family Thanksgiving fun with her!

I got to meet up with friends! Dillon and Liz, getting to have a lovely mid-workday lunch, and see their awesome new home, along with hitting my first climbing gym ever with Daniel and Bri! Turns out, the grades there are surprisingly similar to those in Portland… which is neat, since a few years back they were radically different. Advantage of a more interconnected world, maybe?

My Mom, Bri, Hannah, and I had a spa night! It was excellent, and led to some… slightly horrifying… group photos. No regrets, and they’ll make excellent Halloween decorations for next year.

Thanksgiving itself was in Amherst, at my Aunt and Uncle’s house. I got to spend some excellent time with my cousin and her kids, and even let him fly the drone around a bit! Amazing food, excellent times… It really was a gift to be able to see everyone in person and spend time just relaxing and catching up.

Second Thanksgiving in Medway was, also unsurprisingly, glorious! My sister cooked up a storm, with assistance of course, making a stellar second meal along with dangerously decadent desserts.

We took a hike to the Stoney Brook, the Audubon society camp where I spent summers for ages and ages. It’s just as lovely as I remember it being, and was a great walk (literally) down memory lane.

I brought the drone along! As mentioned, my cousin’s son has a blast flying it around… and it did a pretty good job of getting a few aerial photos of everyone!

Jan11

An afternoon and evening on Cannon Beach

Posted on January 11, 2024 by perfectusvarrus

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Saturday, 11-Nov-2023

After a day hiking out in the Snow on Mt. Hood, I felt the need to switch it up, and embrace one of the many excellent attributes of Oregon. I felt the need to go to the beach.

The morning found me brunching at a new spot in town, which has the best BLTs I’ve had in years, sipping a latte and getting myself ready for the adventure. I wasn’t running; instead, I was aiming for a later start than normal with a goal of finishing my walk after dark had fallen on the beach.

Not quite sure why I had this goal, but… you know what, we embrace the gut feelings that we’ve got, and sometimes we find some excellent adventures along the ride.

This time was one of those times.

I got to Cannon around… 2:00, maybe? With approximately three hours left before sunset. I mean, less… but three hours of light, at least. My goal was to use all that light up walking outbound – then, I’d turn around once the sun was down, trekking my way back in the dark.

The plan went smoothly. The tide was out (not a surprise, that was why I went on Saturday, vs. Friday or Sunday), so I had an endless beach surrounding me to walk on. The sand was well-packed, the views were beautiful, and I even flew the drone a bit to get some pictures of myself.

The sun dipped down, then fully sank below the horizon, and I turned back to town and warmth.

The hike back was glorious. I’ve spoken about hiking after dark before, how your whole world condenses and focuses down to a small pool of warm light, shining from a headlamp into the darkness… this was absolutely one of those times. The endless beach surrounding me, the light fog rising up from the warm sand into the cold night air, the immense distance between surf and full shore… I legitimately couldn’t tell where the sand ended and the sky began.

My world wasn’t just focused into the thin ray of my headlamp… it devolved and unfocused into a well of grey. The sand, the horizon, the sky… I couldn’t tell the difference. I had to check my GPS every so often to make sure I was still moving, still heading toward my destination… still on Earth, even.

It gave me space to think, to disconnect, and to let my thoughts wander.

I could have strayed further toward the surf, or to the shoreline, to get a handrail for my senses… but I chose not to. I was enjoying this sense of limbo, of slowly walking through the infinite plains of purgatory. It lasted long enough for me – The lights of town started shining through the fog just as my mind was starting to miss the stimulation of the world.

It was lovely.

Jan10

Seeing the sunset at Elk Meadows

Posted on January 10, 2024 by perfectusvarrus

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Friday, 10-Nov-2023

As it should, our story begins with breakfast. Pine State Biscuits, fried chicken, and coffee.

We proceed to the trailhead, where once again it’s a Mustang… and a couple of huge, lifted, offroad doom-machines. I mean, sure. If you need a doom machine to drive in the snow… us New Englanders just drive. Not to brag or judge, of course…

Then, I dove into the woods.

It’d been a while since I’d gotten out into the snow, and this was just what I needed. Cold air, cutting crisply into my lungs, with that unique type of deep silence that only snowfields bring.

While there were the two other vehicles at the parking lot, the trail held tradition and I didn’t see either group while I was hiking. I had the mountain all to myself, it seemed, and I took full advantage of that to soak in the quiet, take two quick drone-flights, and simply let my mind wander as long and as far afield as it felt the need.

I hiked back in the dark – night fell quickly, so close to the Solstice, but I didn’t mind. I had my headlamp, my warm clothes, and the emergency gear to see me home (or to stay safely on the mountain) if needed. I lived in my warm little puddle of light, illuminating from my headlamp, and forged my way back to the car.