Ashland

This weekend, Suzi, freelancer Anna Grace and I escaped Eugene to review new plays opening at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. A quick scorecard should appear on the blog soon, but I thought I'd share a pic I snapped that epitomizes Ashland today.

This tiny, tiny wetland is going to be literally surrounded on all sides by development. So long as the tiny, tiny wetland is preserved, any and all development is A-OK in Ashland. And I don't mean this in a snarky way. I lived for five years in Ashland. This is the way things are done there.

Big box stores = not OK. Strip malls = A-OK.

Fast food restaurants = not OK. Banks = A-OK.

Public transportation = not OK. Everyone Drives a Prius = A-OK.

OK. So I haven't been blogging. I've been outta town (again). I took a friend from Iowa City on a whirlwind trip around Oregon.
Here's a pic of Iowa City:

That's the Iowa River and, shockingly, the University of Iowa. I used to work (teaching first-year and transfer students composition and speech and research and How To Be Good People, or something) in the building on the right. Ass ugly building, but great people, those first-year students. And that river was beautiful, especially frozen. Though the -60 degree windchill thing was what convinced me to get my butt to this much warmer state.

Anyway, on my first visit to Oregon from Iowa (10 years ago this week!), a different friend and I went all the hell over the state, and I fell in luuuuuuuuuuv with everything from PDX to Crater Lake. OK, and I liked the mulch-smelling UO campus too. After much consultation with her, I decided to recreate that trip in miniature with my Iowa buddy.

We went to Crater Lake first and camped there. I remember when I saw Crater Lake the first time. Well, first of all, it was August and there was snow! And then we got to the rim. Holy sweet mother of...

The next day, we drove dooooooown the mountains and into Ashland for a stay at the Ashland Hostel and a night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I heart the OSF even when I am not a big fan of some of the plays or the choices made by the directors. I surprised myself by not buying too many things at the Tudor Gift Shop; I mean, I'm a total and complete sucker for little knight statues, postcards, dragon paraphenalia, books (the usual purchase) or, I don't know, one of those book-art combos like the super-cool DK A Port Through Time. I admit, I did buy some English history cards for my England-residing mom and some literature-quiz cards for those rainy trips to the coast this winter, but still. Coulda been worse.

I had a great time at the OSF's Backstage Tour, which, for my money (OK, for my press pass), is one of the most exciting things around. I've taken it 3 times, and I never fail to learn exciting new things about the OSF and how a huge repertory theater company works. Is exciting stuff. A fourth time is in the works for mid-August. Sucker for the OSF info.

My friend surprised me by saying that she had never read or seen any versions of Romeo and Juliet. I had no idea that anyone could get through high school anywhere in the U.S. without having to read it out loud, agonizingly, in sophomore English, or perhaps at the least having a (lazy) teacher simply show one of the many movies. (Note: I had an excellent teacher who keeps on winning fellowships to Oxford to study Shakespeare. Don't know why she ever taught high school, but she was super brilliant.)

I long to put a photo from the Ashland production in here, but we don't have that capability just yet (long story), but soon, soon, I will pepper you with OSF photos. Review to come in print and online in September after Chuck and I have seen all of the plays. I'm sad there's no history play this year, but I am into As You Like It and of course The Tempest

From Ashland, where we had very nice food in general and once, while sitting on the bank at a restaurant not-to-be-named, watched a sad raccoon drag another raccoon, this one dead, off a rock and down the creek (the whole waitstaff eventually came out to watch as well), I drove to Bandon. Ah, Bandon:

I love Bandon. Ate the "famous crab sandwich" at Tony's Crab Shack. Was not impressed by the sandwich, but the crab was good. (I'm not much of a bread person.) Stayed at the Sea Star (in the hostel room, a bit, er, snug, but also incredibly affordable at $19 per person — on the coast! In high season!) and met a biker dude (from Australia, I think) who was heading down the coast to SF. He left me a copy of Neal Stephenson's The Confusion, which I'll get started on after I have a moment to read the first book in that cycle (Quicksilver).

Next up: Newport! But on the way...

Heceta Head Lighthouse tour. My second time. I love this tour! OMG, I'm such an Oregon booster. Woot, love Oregon. Woot, love the tales of the lighthouse keepers and, in this case, the one-room schoolhouse for the keepers' kids.

Once outta the lighthouse, drove directly to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. I know, I know, everyone has been there already, and it's a bit spendy (though $13.25 doesn't seem that bad, actually), but come on.

The otters are worth it! Not to mention the creepy Japanese spider crabs, the stripey tiger sharks swimming all over the place, etc. etc. etc. Also, say your blood sugar is low when you get there and you grab some strawberry ice cream from the lobby? You'll be even happier.

We checked into the Sylvia Beach Hotel, where we were staying in the dorm room (note to self: bring earplugs next time; the older ladies who tend to frequent the Sylvia Beach dorm room can be quite, quite loud in their snoring), and I dragged my friend to Yaquina Head Lighthouse and the tidepools. The low tide was a +3.3, so it was hardly low. But still, it was fun ... except for the dead animals (to be explained below).

We ate at the Whale's Tail on the bayfront after discovering that the owners of the Canyon Cafe have decided not to open on Sundays for some godforsaken reason. Newport survives on tourism, people. Open the frik up on Sundays! In any case, I enjoyed my locally brewed Lovin' Lager and my locally caught Dungeness crab, so pfffft to Canyon Cafe and Bookstore.

Discovered Tuesday morning that the reason for the many dead animals we saw (a sea lion, a seal, more common murres and seagulls than I wanted to count) on the beaches was that we have another huge dead zone (that's last year's dead zone, but please--same thing) in the ocean. And that was a terrifyingly sad end to a beautiful trip.

I don't exactly know how my friend liked the whole shebang, but I loved getting out and seeing the state for a grand total of like $400 (that's mostly for gifts, gas and the several times we ate out; the total price for camping, a private room in the Ashland and Bandon hostels and the dorm room at Sylvia Beach was around $118, and that's only because I paid the entire cost of the Ashland room and the National Parks permit into Crater Lake). I know why Oregonians don't usually vacation out of state ... except for the cities, of course ... why would you?