So we went back to the Oregon via Mexico. People in Hawaii were telling us Mexico was really cool, so we decided to check it out, before we went home. I guess we must have considered Oregon our mainland home.
So we flew to San Diego, and then ended down into Mexico. We didn't have much money, so we made it as far as Mazatlan. We spent about two weeks there, and ended north. It was a pleasant and fun time.
We went back to Eugene, to our best friend's place. Now they had another baby, and were glad to see us. They had a bigger house, and I guess we stayed with them for a while. It is kind of a blur. I think we started selling at the Saturday Market again.
I remember we needed a car. We didn't have much money. This time we needed a 150 dollar car. It was very hot and it took a long time to find a decent car. At least a decent 150 dollar car. You need a better car on the mainland, than Hawaii. On mainland America, there is actually somewhere to drive, and mountain passes. On Kauai you need something to putter around in.
We found the car. It was so ugly, it actually came in second in an ugly car contest once. It was a Dodge 330. It didn't even have a descriptive name. But it ran good. It was a 6 cylinder, standard. The guys said if we didn't buy it, they were going to run it in the demolition derby. We found out later, from running into it's previous owner, it's name was The Great Wind. Wind for short. The Great Wind turned out to be an awesome car!!
So what I remember next, is that we moved into The Great Wind. We had lived in a Station Wagon, a pick up truck and a Galaxy 500. We also had about 3 Volkswagen vans with beds in them. Now we had a 4 door sedan. Thomas took the back seat out, and put in a piece of plywood,for a bed. Our feet went into the truck. Yup, our new home was pretty funky, but we were happy.
The nest few years were really spectacular. We spent most of our time in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. That first summer, we travelled all the watersheds, going over all the mountain passes by way of back dirt roads. We visited the entire length of the Oregon Cascades. This was all in a 150 dollar car! We saw so much incredible, untouched nature. In those days, the Cascades were yet to be discovered by the mass population. The campgrounds were all free. We spent the summer in one gorgeous spot, after another, next to the most majestic pure water, you could find. We virtually were the only ones there. Alot of these same campgrounds are now 30 dollars a night, and jammed full of RVs and noisy families. We were truly blessed, to have been able to experience all this.
After all this exploration we decide we liked the Mckenzie River Watershed the best. I would say we had a love affair with it. We started just hanging out there, going to different campgrounds and hiking trails. We camped on the main River, and then up the Northfork. We discovered the French Pete trail into the wilderness and a quiet Alpine lake. The French Pete is a rushing creek, that pours into the Northfork of the Mckenzie River.
The Mckenzie River is outside of Eugene. We would camp all week, and hike, camp, and make jewelry. Then once a week we would go down to Eugene, and go sell at the market. We would go down on Friday night, stay with our friends, go sell at the market, stay Saturday night, and then back up to the woods on Sunday. This became our pattern for a number of years.
The first winter we were back, we rented two little rooms in Eugene when it got cold. Thomas decided if we were going to be in town, he was going to find somewhere for us to make money. It was before Thanksgiving, and he took a card table and our jewelry and headed out. He came back, that evening saying that a stereo store, by the University, said he could set up in front of it, whenever he wanted. So we decided, that he would go everyday. That I would stay home and make jewelry, and he would sell. Things were going well, and now it was after Thanksgiving. He came home one day, and said that the store had another store in downtown Eugene and he could sell at it. So he started going down there for the Christmas season, and we did great! I guess Jimmy Carter was President, and the economy was ok. We made lots of money. We both worked hard but it payed off. I strung jewelry and he sold 12 hours a day, up until Christmas Eve.
So now, that was over and we were missing the woods. It isn't that cold in Oregon, so we decided to go back up, and start camping out up there. Then we thought, hey why don't we see if we can rent a place up here. We went back to Eugene , and looked in the paper. We found an ad for an affordable cabin, way up there. We were so excited, and wanted it so bad, that we drove up right then, and slept in our car in front of it all night. We got to rent it the next day. So now we had a place up the Mckenzie River.
We had plenty of money, and still had a strong spirit of adventure in us. We had gone to Mexico, but for a very short journey. So we packed our bags, and headed south. We took buses and trains from Eugene all the way to Guatemala. We were gone 2 months. We had a wonderful time, and visited many different towns. Finally we were out of the money we had allotted for the trip and came home.
We spent 3 full years up in that cabin by the Mckenzie River. We weren't right on the river, but we could walk to it. We had a quiet, simple life. I would make jewelry and go sell it every Saturday at the market, and stay with our friends. We would come home, and spend the week there, in the woods. I started crocheting wool hats, and we sold them too. Thomas started making the jewelry, and I would make the hats. Now we had two items. We got along very well. We went to Mexico a third time and it was fun. It sounds like we had an idyllic life, even to me as I write it.
copyright 2010 © Stacey Bander. Please contact for any reuse.
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