On To Oregon, The Promised Land!

Andrew and I have cooled it on the blog-front the past week to give you guys a chance to catch up after those two huge posts. We still have some catching up to do though so here we go.

Did I mention before that we just loved California? Mind you, we stayed east and then north and were successful at avoiding most urban centers and droves of people. From Yosemite we headed to Orland, a town in northern California along Interstate-5 by Chico. In Orland we met up with Luke & Tara, Andrew's Rochester friends who just a few months prior (right around the time we departed Alaska bound for Oregon) made the move cross-country too. Tara accepted the director position at the local Farm Sanctuary, a rescue farm for abused and neglected farm animals. (Click on the link for more info.) Their other friends who had also just moved from upstate New York drove up from the San Francisco Bay area. Pretty crazy to hang out with two other couples recently transplanted from the East Coast!

Shoot, we were impressed with the farm and the gorgeous rolling hills and farmland! Daffodils and hyacinth were blooming in their garden and from their sweet cabin lookout you can see Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta in the distance. Spring in February? Oh my, what a shockingly pleasant surprise!

We spent two nights visiting and had a chance to meet some of their farm friends.

Cocoa with a severely injured leg gets a break from a crutch.

Luke & Tara at work... and Andrew thrilled to be behind the wheel of an ATV.

Orland is just about two hours south of Mt. Shasta, and we figure about 4 hours from our spot in Oregon this summer (we'll get to that piece soon!) so we're looking forward to meeting up with these guys over the next few months to explore the richness of the northwest.

Andrew and I were scheduled for an in-person interview at the farm in Oregon in just two days so we sped north and spent a night at the base of the incredible Mt. Shasta enroute. John Muir describes best the exhilaration and awe of first meeting the mountain:

 "When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since."

One of my favorite places,  Mt. Shasta is renowned as a powerful energy vortex and home to the mystical Lemurians who are said to reside in the mountain. Bet you didn't expect me to say all that, did you?

Hey Ash, remember our picnic and fun swim at this location
 south of Shasta 4 years ago?

Filling up on clean, cold mountain spring water, the headwaters
 of the Sacramento River, in Mt. Shasta park.

And so after soaking in the mountain, we were excited to continue our journey towards our final destination- Oregon!! The drive north was beautiful through rolling hills and mountain ranges to the top of snowy (and snowing) Mt. Ashland across the border into Oregon and down to the city of Ashland. It was like we were rolling into the promised land with snow and fog partially obscuring the beautiful views just enough to create a sense of awe. Or maybe the 17,000 miles leading up to this helped build all the anticipation. Ha! Either way, we were not disappointed.

Heading up to Mt. Ashland, just across the Oregon border. Oregon!

Coming down from Mt. Ashland on our way to the small city of Ashland, Oregon.

And so after a fun night in a really nice Ashland hostel and a movie out (the silent film The Artist, which we highly recommend), we woke the next morning a little nervous for our big interview at the farm! The small town of Williams, population 2,500, is about an hour west of Ashland along a country highway that winds through the idyllic Applegate Valley. Low rolling fog lingered into the late morning and so the drive was very dramatic!

Arriving at the farm was incredible. (I thought about passing the narrative off to Andrew for a while because I'm feeling a gush coming on but he'd gush too so forget it!) Most of you know that our tentative plan or perhaps a better word, intention, since planning our departure from Bethel was to make our way to southern Oregon and to work at an interesting farming internship for at least this summer. Of course the ultimate goal for us is to pick up some good knowledge about local climate and growing techniques as well as general homesteading skills so that we can create our own, simple life. Sweet, right? Well without having spent much or really any time in southern Oregon, our desire to live there was a bit theoretical. And that's partially why we checked out lots of other spots on our road trip. We didn't really know what we would find in Oregon, what the communities we had our eye on would actually feel like. Mid-journey we found by searching online this internship that just seemed perfect. So perfect actually, that it's the only one for which we applied.

Anyway, I guess the only way to truly find out whether we want to put down roots somewhere is to live there for a while. But let me tell you, it sure was a good feeling rolling into Williams and the farm. Such beauty! Especially after meeting the other farmers, I think we both had the sense that this area and this particular internship were a beautiful mix of all of the elements we want in our life! Mountains, trees, rivers, sunshine, fertile land, small conscious communities, friendly people and the space along with opportunities to learn and grow.

Our drive to Williams through the Applegate Valley in southern Oregon.

We pretty much spent the day at the farm chatting about our experience and goals, sharing lunch and then getting our hands dirty too. The farm is actually a nonprofit with two head farmers who are married (and have a baby!) and another young couple who recently moved to the farm. We really enjoyed them and our visit overall. After working and getting to know each other in the warm sun for a few hours, they invited us to stay the night at the farm. The tipis weren't erected just yet so we stayed in the guest bedroom in the main, communal house. There's a big kitchen and eating space, a spacious living room with a ping-pong table and an office too. It's a gorgeous strawbale building. In fact, here is a photo, I just couldn't resist!

The farm and land felt magical. There's a swimming pond, a cob sauna house, goats, sheep, chickens and turkeys, and an outdoor solar shower! We loved the place and knew with great certainty that this was where we wanted to spend our days this summer! Not just farming, but also working with school kids visiting the farm to learn about the land and sustainable farming practices and working on natural building projects along with various food preservation, animal husbandry and homesteading tasks. The only potential problem was that many, many people applied for the two internship positions. We were initially told that we wouldn't know until March 1st if we got the positions. And so I was preparing myself for a torturous two weeks...

And then to our great surprise, the next morning we were offered the internship positions before we even left the farm! They didn't need to interview anyone else it turns out. They liked us as much as we liked them. Awwwww, YES!! And so we're preparing to make the move to the farm around the first of April; and the internship runs through October 1st. I guess we'll find out if this is the life for us soon enough. (And hopefully in the not-so-distant-future an opportunity for me to study midwifery will open too. I haven't abandoned that goal.)

Since the interview we've been exploring Oregon (hot springs, trees!). Below are a couple maps of southern Oregon for your viewing and referencing pleasure. Williams isn't on the map but it's west of Medford (look southwest along I-5) and south of Grants Pass in the Siskiyou Mountains. It's not too far from the coast as the crow flies but there's a mountain range in the way (the Klamath) so the drive seems to be about 2-3 hours.

The map below is a little easier to read. Williams would be about where the 238 is, south of Grants Pass.

So that about wraps it up. Our next post will include some photos of our Oregon explorations. At the moment we're in Portland enjoying a warm, dry comfy place to be still! We've been renting movies (and will have some good recommendations) and obsessively checking Iditarod race updates the past few days. Go Pete, go Mike, go Aliy!

Missing everyone and especially Ruby, Moxy and little Eddy. Check out their latest photos of the little chunker here on their blog. Til next time folks. :-)