Oregon Trailings

A few weeks ago, Fish, an unemployed architect, mentioned he was looking at ways to visit different schools in the Northwest. When he invited me, an unemployed interactive designer and web strategist, along I couldn’t say no.

Over the next few weeks, Fish planned the route and made appointments with respective school officials. He even lined up housing for our time in Portland and Seattle. (Big thanks to those hospitable few who took us in.) I bought a sleeping bag, hiking boots and learned (barely) to drive manual transmission.

This site documents our trip through notes (made in my Field Notes brand notebook, courtesy Aaron Draplin) and photographs. All photos link to larger views. I've included my original notes and transcribed them into something legible (my handwriting sometimes makes chicken scratch look like caligraphy) without correcting errors.

The planned route had us staying in the Badlands, Boysen State Park, Grand Teton National Park and Sawtooth National Forest on the way to Portland, Oregon. Then, on the way to Seattle, Washington, there were two nights planned to camp along the coast. You’ll have to read further to find out how that turned out.

If you like the site, let me know. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter or through email. I’m currently exploring options in the Chicago area so if you’re looking for an interactive designer, need a website or a redesign, find out more about me at UpTheDrain.com.

Thanks to Fish who organized and initiated this trip. Thanks to Aaron Draplin for the notebook that sparked the idea for this site and his hospitality. Thanks to Ryan and Nick who let us crash. Thanks to Scotty for the outrageous (but probably true) stories. And thanks to you for stopping by.

// Ryan