Two years and a couple weeks, I wrote a post with this exact title. We were moving north from San Jose, California to Eugene, Oregon. At the time we were living with my mom after having finished Peace Corps service. Laura was working for Franklin-McKinley School District as a 2nd grade teacher and I did work for SUN Microsystems. We were coming to Eugene so I could begin graduate school at the University of Oregon and Laura could work for the local school districts.

Now we are continuing our journey two hours north to the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon. After submitting a plethora of employment resumes/cover letters/applications, I accepted a job about a week ago with a planning firm in downtown Portland. We drove up to Portland a few days later to view homes for rent, found one and will move in tomorrow. The best part about our home is that it has two baths. OH yeah! Our first home with two baths. This is a sign that we are moving up in the world folks.

Tonight is our last night in this great house on this street with wonderful neighbors. It has been a great two years in Eugene, Oregon. We would stay here if we could, but we have to go where the jobs are at or until we can start our own business and have more say about where we live. We are excited and apprehensive about this next step. But, as with all of our adventures, we always meet terrific people from the places with live and travel. We also have many friends and family in the Portland area and look forward to reconnecting with them.

We’re off to bed so our “Ethan Alarm Clock” can get us up at the crack of dawn for another day of loading boxes.

Farewell Eugene!

Last week, we packed up the Subaru and made our way to eastern Oregon where we experienced three days/two nights of wonderful eastern Oregon beauty. Personally, I find eastern Oregon to be more enriching and exciting than western Oregon. Laura is more keen to the coast and Ethan just goes with the flow.

Prior to our departure, we purchased our first family tent; the Sierra Design Bedouin Annex 4+2. This tent proved to be a great tent that allowed Ethan to roll around without getting too dirty. In addition, we bought a Coleman queen size air mattress. Oh yeah! I love my backpacking air mattress pads, but we’re car camping. If we have the room then throw it on in.

We camped at Strawberry Campground on the Malheur National Forest. The trailhead to Strawberry Lake is located here. The lake lies in the Strawberry Wilderness and is a beautiful sight. We did a 5-mile hike to the lake and base of Strawberry Falls where Laura and I enjoyed them, but Ethan slept the entire time we were there.

Overall, it was a great trip for the family. We look forward to going out again, but perhaps when Ethan is walking around. Enjoy the photos.

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