We left San Francisco on September 1st, the day after a lovely gathering of friends came to our house for a send-off luncheon. This open house event definitely made me feel that I have strong community in San Francisco that both buoys me into our adventure as well as gives me a sense of rootedness as I'm now living an uprooted life. We stopped for lunch with one of my oldest friends, Mira, and her family, on their new rural property in Herald, California. Then we spent our first night in Redding with a dear friend, Colleen, and her family. Well fed and rested, we were sent on our way with much joyfulness. And Colleen gave me a haircut, which always signals for me a fresh start.
Our second night we camped in Crater Lake National Park under fir trees and more stars than I've seen in years. Then we made our way to the Hood River area of Oregon where we have the luxury of settling in for several days with my sister in her new lovely home that overlooks the Columbia River. My sister moved to the Hood River area from Portland several years ago when she took up organic farming. Now she runs a garden program and teaches at a school for at-risk youth. It's so lovely to finally get a chance to see her bit of paradise and get a feel for her close-knit community, a community that has held her and supported her through thick and thin.
We filmed our first "Sweetie Pie on the Farm" episode and had a wonderful experience cooking in the kitchen of a local asparagus farmer, Candace Smith, who helped us make her apple crisp recipe and then took us to the Kiyokawa Orchard down the street, where they grow countless varieties of apples. We're learning a lot about using our video equipment and I'm still trying to develop the character of Sweetie Pie. Hopefully by the end of the trip, we'll have a good handle on both. Here's an outtake from the shoot:
Happy to continue to be blessed with many animals in our lives, we're sharing our time in Hood River with my sister's dog Anabelle and her housemate's dog (pictured below), Oakie. Tonight, we'll go to the local farmer's market and Friday night, I'm probably most excited about the giant Rock, Paper, Scissors contest in downtown Hood River.
Saturday, we head to Vancouver and Seattle, WA, to visit with Larry's family before heading for a night or two to the Olympic Peninsula. Thanks for being a part of our journey.
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