falling in love with Ashland

Day 105 ~ zero in Ashland, Oregon

I fell in love with Ashland, Oregon today.  An unattractive layer of smoke lie over the city from the nearby wildfires.  We caught the bus into downtown and took care of some business: shoes for Moonshine and a new, huge cookpot!  We've outgrown our old one.  A couple of nights ago was the last straw, as I was starving and exhausted, and cooking a meal that filled the pot to the brim.  As the tortellini cooked, it grew and began to rise above the top of the pot.  Every time I stirred it as gingerly as possible, and precious tortellini dropped onto the ground.  I was so frustrated, hence the new pot. 

We wandered around the city, which was bigger than any other trail town we'd been to, but yet not too big, and the public transportation and pedestrian friendly nature of Ashland made things easy.  The place was bustling; a well known Shakespeare festival takes over Ashland for a month or two every summer.  As part of the festival, we watched an incredibly talented high school Mariachi band perform in the city park.

The remainder of the day was spent sampling Ashland's beers, as we visited three different breweries. 

We spoke with many locals, all exceptionally friendly!  The brewer at Standing Stone Brewery gave Moonshine a private tour of the place, as they had a lengthy chat about careers in beer.  A couple we met gave us a voucher for breakfast at their restaurant.  The good vibe and charm of the city of Ashland and its residents was extraordinary....I really love this place!

As usual, an unrestful, but productive and fun day off.

safely to Ashland

Day 104 ~ miles 1712.5 - 1727

Somehow, we all slept through the night.  I thought I'd be tossing and turning with fear and anxiety.  We awoke early, feeling safe and without any signs of fire in the immediate vicinity.  As we climbed the ridge, we could see a large plume of smoke in the distance.  A trail angel had left a cooler of sodas at the top of our morning climb, so we stopped with Thor and Fern Toe to enjoy one.  Speedily, we hiked toward the highway, and ended up at Callahan's lodge.  We enjoyed our free beer with Thor and Fern Toe, courtesy of Callahan's, and headed out to the highway to find a ride into Ashland.  One of the first cars to pass by stopped and picked all 4 of us up and dropped us off at the Super 8, where we'd already reserved a room that all 4 of us would share.

Our hotel was a few miles outside of downtown, so we did our usual chores and planned to have a pretty laid back evening in the room. Across the street was a familiar scene:  10 or more hikers crammed into a hotel room hanging out. We all went over to see some hikers that we hadn't seen for awhile, and stayed for a couple of hours goofing off and catching up.

Our day ended with amazingly delicious pizza in bed, and a couple of hours of flipping through TV channels, and really finding nothing to watch.  Looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow!