We left Claremont at 8:15 am and drove roughly 530 miles up California's interstate 15 through the grapevine. After going over the pass we had a long burn through "The Valley" which is vast, open and agrarian. I imagined more people in straw hats like out of W.C. Fields or Steinbeck piece, but it's more mechanized these days. Maybe we were just passing by at the wrong time of day. I ran over a tumble weed around Sacramento and I felt as if I driving a horse drawn wagon. After spending the night at an uneventful stop in Corning which bills itself as the "Olive Capital of the US" (they must have never been to Turkey) we pressed onto northern California where the landscape turned hillier and more coniferous. With every stream we passed over, I cursed how much I wanted to wade down and cast a fly into. With every hill, I searched for singletrack upon which to walk and bike as our car zipped past en route to our destination. Maybe next time.
Covallis is a college town. Farmer's market, Obama reelection campaign offices, music shops, great outdoors and beer halls. Twenty somethings displaying their disdain for corporate capitalism by proudly sporting apparel from The North Face and Mountain Hardware. These are the people that make up the town. Young and old. Red and Blue. Liberal and Conservative. Maybe slightly more of the latter as Oregon is historically a blue state. We hit the farmers market yesterday followed by the movie "Brave" the new pixar feature wherein a female heroine challenges her families betrothal to one of three bubble heads for which she has no affection. It was funny, smart and made us all want to go to Scotland.
I have long harbored a grudge against Disney in that they encourage young girls to be gold diggers. Historically, their female protagonists are middle of the road, downtrodden people that vie for the affection of a handsome, wealthy prince who lifts them out of poverty. It might be a bit far fetched, but with reality TV perpetuating negative female stereotypes through adult programming such as "Keeping up with the Kardasians, Growing up Gotti, and The Wives of the New Jersey Shore" whose to argue adult life isn't much different? Cinderalla, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and Beast, Sleeping Beauty. Case in point. There are exceptions though. Mulan was a warrior, and Pocahontas was different, but their true histories where grossly distorted. Anyway, "Brave" is a sign that Disney is changing.
We took the tootie tidepooling today. She did well, sidestepping the mussels and touching starfish. We hit downtown Newport which oozes charm and had that wonderful smell of sea breeze and fresh catch in the air. We hit "Mos" for lunch which boasted some world famous clam chowder. Curio shops, and the candy store and we were set for the ride back to Corvallis. We had a play date with one of Ali's colleagues who fell in love with Ava. Rhys was a little older than Ava but they got along well. Tomorrow, Lisa and I are cooking dinner and hitting the road for Colorado. It'll be a long burn with a 9 hour and 10 hour drive. Ugh. That's road tripping.
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