Oregon Coast Roadtrip 2010
Back in May of 2010, I took a trip to Oregon that impacted me in more ways than I can count. This was before the photography bug had bit, this was a proper roadtrip without any idea what was to come. Explore and get lost in the beautiful scenery. But I had no idea how it would change me.
The trip started with 2 nights in Portland, then a day trip to Mount St. Helens. After that, a ferry across the Columbia River put me back in Oregon, settling on Astoria for the night. Then it was on to the famed 101 down the entire length of the coast. There were nights in Tillamook, Pacific City, Yachats, and Port Orford. Each one memorable in their own way. Foggy rainy days, rugged coastlines, lonely beaches, and lots of fish tacos.
Then a quick visit to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in California, before spending a night in Grant's Pass. Crater Lake was next, a whirlwind out and back, before crashing from exhaustion in an interstate hotel outside of Eugene. The final stop in McMinnville for 2 nights finished the life altering trip.
The trip pulled me out of an early 40's rut I had gotten in. Get up, go to work, go home, stress about work, do it all over the next day. Collecting things, not experiences. I'd let the stresses of work and adult responsibilities rule my life. Essentially forgetting how to have fun and enjoy the world around me. I don't recognize that person now. The past 7-10 years have been full of change, none of it easy, but I have embraced the chaotic nature of change and become the person I needed to be. It reminds me of a Douglas Adams' quote: “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
Anyway, enough rambling on, here are the photos I took along the Oregon coast. It was then I became fascinated with seeing the world and documenting it.
