First of all, I better update you on my Friday. At my rotation, I spent most of the day in the lab encapsulating and preparing powders for encapsulation. I also spent a couple of hours working on my first project - an overview of testosterone use in women (mainly its dosing and formulations). I'm learning that I really don't enjoy doing research, but I know I'll be really good at it by the time this rotation is complete (since half of my day is usually spent reading through drug studies and journal articles...exciting stuff). While I was working in the lab after lunch, I got to thinking how it was almost sad that my first rotation week was just about over - it means that I only have four weeks left here in Portland, and I'm loving this city so much that I don't think I'll be ready to leave in just four weeks! But then I thought, if I love it so much, I can just come back...I don't have to move away forever in four weeks...I could move back in a year if I wanted to. And that thought made me really excited for the future. Who knows where I'll end up one year from now?! I'm not sure yet, but I know where ever I pick will need to be awesome (and OR is definitely awesome). But, I do still have a lot of other rotations left, and another neat state to check out (CO is just five short weeks away!), so we'll have to wait and see what happens :)
Friday night, I was exhausted from my busy week, so I decided to be a bum. I snacked on sweet potato chips and spicy hummus with crackers for supper (I didn't feel like cooking). I watched television for awhile. I enjoyed my nice quiet evening.
This morning (Saturday) I slept in until 9:30am, which was a very nice change from my normal 5:30am alarm. Had a quick breakfast and shower, and then headed on my way to Sandy, OR. One of my good friends and fellow pharmacy classmate, Steve, is also doing a rotation in Oregon right now, and we had decided to hang out for a bit this weekend. It took me about an hour and twenty minutes to get to Sandy, where I met Steve outside the Walgreen's he's working at. I then followed him to his uncle's house, so that I could see this amazing place where he's staying out in the wilderness. It's a good thing he let me follow him, because there was absolutely no way I'd ever have found his uncle's place on my own! We drove along a windy road with many turns and dips (it was so fun to drive on!), then on an unpaved narrow road with lots of trees and ferns and such. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that it's part of the old Oregon Trail. Neat, huh? I think so. His uncle's place is fantastic. Out in the remote wilderness (or so it seemed, even though it's really only a few miles out of town), with a river and waterfall right in the bac
kyard. Steve likes to go fishing there, but you have to basically repel down the steep embankment to get down to the river, and it's too dangerous for me (or so I was told, and I would agree).The first stop on our Saturday drive was a place in Sandy called Joe's Donut Shop. Steve had told me about this place (actually, he had raved to me about it, saying that it was the best doughnut shop ever), and we both decided that we were hungry enough to stop. As promised, my doughnut was excellent. We then continued on our journey.
Steve and I drove along the Columbia River Gorge, and then took an exit to drive along a historic highway. Allison and I had driven along a short portion of this highway when we first got to Oregon, but we didn't really stop and see much. Today, Steve and I were going to see a few waterfalls, and do a bit of hiking. The first landmark that we came to was the Vista House, an old rest stop on the top of a bluff on overlooks the Columbia River Gorge. The Vista House, though, wasn't a typical rest stop. It was fancy...the bathroom stalls were made out of marble! Our vantage point greeted us with spectacular views. Gorgeous :)
Next stop on the historic highway - Latourell Falls. This waterfall was pretty, and just a short walk from the road.
We continued on, and stopped to see the Bridal Veil waterfalls. We had to hike a little bit to see the Bridal Veil (2/3 mile or so roundtrip), but it was worth it. The sound of the rush of the falls is so fantastic and powerful...I love it.
The next stop was the famous Multnomah Falls. Since today was a Saturday during summer, it was pretty busy. But we were still able to enjoy the beauty of the falls. After taking a few pictures at the bottom, we walked up to the bridge that overlooks a higher part of the falls (just a short hike, around 0.2 miles on a paved trail). The mist that sprayed us here was refreshing, and made me so happy again that I was in Oregon experiencing the outdoors. At this point, we decided it would be fun to hike up to the very top of the falls (a long way up). According to a sign, this hike was only a mile up. Well, the sign lied. It was actually a mile and a quarter. Normally, this quarter mile wouldn't have bothered me. But this hike was hard! The grade was incredibly steep, and made me sweat. Gross. I really shouldn't complain, though, because the scenery was terrific, the top of the falls were worth the trek up, and the 1.25 miles back down were a piece of cake. I can't forget to mention that we saw girls hiking up who must
have been insane...I saw two girls wearing heels! And not just short heels - they were wearing 3 inch heels! Who does that?! Insane girls, that's who. But anyways, Multnomah Falls were beautiful.
After seeing some of Oregon's waterfalls, and especially after that hike, Steve and I had gotten pretty thirsty. So since we were in Oregon, what better way to quench our thirst was there than by visiting a local winery/brewery? We stopped at McMenamin's Edgefield. It was almost like a mini-resort here, with a hotel, winery, brewery, theater, spa, soaking pool, pub, golf course, etc. Very cute place. As we explored a little bit, we passed a porch with two guys sitting outside in their bathrobes, both smoking cigars, sitting in rocking chairs and listening to what sounded like Peter Frampton (or some other musician who plays with a voice box). They were a funny sight. We laughed. Later, we saw them again, but this time they were walking around the grounds in their robes. We laughed again.
We found the wine tasting room, but it was busy and we really didn't want to wait around for samples. Instead, we headed to the pub for dinner and beer. Good decision. We both ordered burgers to eat (which were delicious), Steve ordered a Terminator Stout (very dark beer, tasted a bit like coffee), and I had a Ruby (a light, crisp, fruity, raspberry beer...that was pink). Good food, good drinks, and good company.
From there, we headed back to Sandy, where we then parted ways. I came home, relaxed, listened to music, did laundry, and drank chocolate soymilk (I think I like the soymilk from Trader Joe's so much because it almost has a malt-like flavor to it, which I find very enjoyable). Not sure yet what tomorrow has in store for me, but I'm excited to find out!
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