We stayed up late last night at the bon fire. It was such
great time hanging out with everyone. One of the many reasons why shooting a
wedding of a friend is awesome, you get to hang out and relax with everyone
after.
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| Foggy morning on Cannon Beach |
This morning we took a hike to the beach and then drove to
Ecola State Park, horrible name, beautiful place. It is just so lush here. I
don’t understand it. I mean, I do, but you get my drift. I’m not used to it
being from Texas. Our beautiful lush
hike led right to the beach; it was about a mile or so. We came out where sand
dunes might be, but it was a mountain instead… or a hill, however you want to
look at it- but when we got to the end we were looking straight out onto the
ocean. The beach was pretty busy for how foggy it was, but not in the way that I imagine a beach to be
packed. There are tents set up all along the edge of the mountain that we hiked
from. People are in jeans and hoodies. The only people in the water are the
surfers in wet suits. (It looked like my kind of day, little baby waves that
are perfect for a long board.) There are
a lot of Frisbees being flown and long walks up and down the shoreline. Not
quite like the beach that I am used to: hot, sunny, bikini wearing babes, sand
castles being built and screaming kids in the water. The fog is so thick here that you
can see all the particles in the air. You
can see it blow in from the ocean. It is pretty neat to watch as the visibility
in front of you get lower and lower. We also saw an Elk at the end of our hike- neato!
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| The hike to the beach in Ecola State Park |
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| Abi and Cory's Crew |
After our hike, we all headed back to our houses that we
stayed at for the weekend. I did my laundry and showered—the two key things to
do when you have the chance! After gathering my things together and packing my
car, I went to have dinner with Abi and some close friends and family. I had a
great chicken pot pie. Perfect for the chilly day. After dinner I headed to Eugene to go meet up
with my friend, Ogden, at the Oregon Country Fair. I drove for about four
hours. Not a smart move to eat a delicious huge meal and then hit the road, I
got tired for sure. Abi and her crew were all going back to the house to watch the Goonies,
since the wedding was in the same spot as where the movie was filmed. As I was
driving down to meet Ogden, I was thinking how awesome it would be to curled up
on a couch watching the Goonies.
When I finally got to the fair, I called to have Ogden come
meet me. He put his friend on the phone and told me when I got to the
checkpoint to say I’m picking up a member of a band. It supposed to be sort of
top secret to get in the country fair. It has been going on at the same spot
for some 50 years now, invite only. They guy at the checkpoint knew I was bull shitting, but
he let me in anyway. It was the last night so I’m sure that he didn’t care
at this point, he smiled and waved me through. Although it was the last night,
there was still a lot going on! There are camps everywhere. All of the booths
that are set up are built out of wood and have been specially made over the years. Ogden took me on a quick tour of the place. First stop was the campfire, which all of the
musicians from the fair gather after hours to take turns playing. Were talking
some 40+ people. I heard some beautiful songs there. It’s amazing what can come
out of instruments and voice boxes. I have always wanted to be able to sing, but it is something that I have come to terms with.
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| Oregon is so lush! |
From there, he took me to the sauna, I had no idea what to expect. It was pretty amazing,
when you walk in you undress and put your clothes in a cubbyhole. It was a little bit of an adrenaline rush
taking off my clothes, but when you look around and there are about 100 nakey
people around you, it's nothing. There were all shapes and sizes… It
was quite beautiful.
When you look to the right there are about twenty open
showers that people are showering at. From there, look to the left and take two
steps down and there is a big fire pit to warm up by- this is all open to the
night sky, mind you. Also, while all of this is going on, right in front of the
fire pit, there is a live band playing for everyone. It was a special and unique
site to see. The band was really good too- I can’t remember the name though. Ogden, yelled to the band in between songs, "If you get nervous, just imagine the crowd naked!" Laughter bust out breaking the silence. "Good one, Oggy."
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| The beach at the end of the trail<3 p=""> |
There is also a huge sauna. You have to rinse
off in the shower before you get in the sauna. It is
heated by people working in shifts who cut and throw wood into the huge stove-
I think that is the right word for it, like a huge wood burning stove. When you walk in the sauna, it is eight
tiered and four sections long. It held maybe 50 people? It was a lot. The higher you go, the
hotter. I couldn’t take the top three, too much for me! But it felt great to
sweat like I did. People were singing and laughing, some were quite, just talking
it in.
From there we got dressed and walked around the fairgrounds and made it
back to camp.
All in all I’d say it was worth the drive for the experience
although I was thinking I should have stayed, because I was tired.
