why, you might ask, was I pleased to be covered in horse feces? Well, my friends, it is because we are now a part of a positive and wonderful WWOOFing experience. More on this later, I will leave you with the thought of me covered in horse poop while I cover us getting to the farm.
After San Fran, we drove up to Ashland to see Adam's friend Kara. Neither of us has spent anytime in Ashland, and it was fun seeing it through the eyes of a "local", who attempted to steer us away from the tourist mecca that is the Shakespeare festival. We had a great time walking around and lounging in the GIANT park, and took a hike to top of this hill where you could see all of the valley. Southern Oregon is stunning. (see picture below of Kara and Oatmeal lounging). We also spent one evening listening to Kara play beautiful music and then we went to this dive bar where we saw her friend play awesome folky tunes. He is this awesome man who plays wonderful music and teaches tai chi in the park. People are incredible.
After that we drove up to Corvallis to stay with Elizabeth. We hadn't seen each other in a year, so we did a wonderful romantic run-across-the-park-into-each others-arms show for Adam. It was great to spend some time with her, and although I have heard Corvallis compared to Pullman, I couldn't quite see the connection, as I found myself loving Corvallis. I went and saw Harry Potter (so good), which really was the cherry on top of the visit with Elizabeth. OH and Adam and I found a cat that we actually like. His name was Tempest and he liked to snuggle (see picture).
We had our first of five weddings to attend so we scooted up to Portland for the wedding. It was beautiful, the couple got married under an oak tree on this farm north of Portland. We ate delicious food, danced and saw a HUGE pig. So it was a successful wedding, I do believe. We ended up crashing in Elizabeth's parents back yard that night as we were wanderers with nowhere to camp. It was nice to spend some time with Elizabeth before we checked out the next day to drive to White Salmon, WA. And here we are!
We drove up to the farm not really knowing what to expect. I gave a mental sigh of relief when we met Ben. He is a 31 year old farmer/coffee shop owner/massage therapist (I know, right?). He has a wonderful 8 month old puppy names Lily, and lives in this run down, soon to fall down house. Adam and I have a nice tent site under a tree, and spent the first day making a giant compost pile. This is where the feces comes in. Ben had a giant truck full of horse poop from a neighbor and straw bales. It was our job to layer poop, straw and worms into a giant pile. It was actually quite enjoyable. At one point, I was standing in the truck bed, horse poop was falling over my shoes and my sweat was mingling with straw, dirt, worms and feces and I exclaimed to Adam, "I think I could be a farmer." If in that moment, I saw myself being a farmer, I think I'm golden.
We spent today weeding, finishing the compost and sifting peat moss for mulching. It is so nice to have different tasks to do throughout the day. Ben is all about us seeing the area, so once we got the chores done in the morning, we are free to go explore. We went on a wonderful hike in Mt. Hood national park, to this beautiful waterfall that I can't remember the name of, but you can see the beauty in the picture below. Adam and I think that our days are going to be similar to today, work in the morning playing in the afternoon... exactly what the WWOOFing experience is supposed to be. Magical.
Wow. that was long. Until next time!
You cuddling with a cat?! A site to behold.
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