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zolac_no_mikoGood gods but I love air travel. Give me some wings and a clear day over crumpled topography and I am happy as a clam.
By all rights I should be unconscious... I had a night of four hours of sleep followed by a night of no sleep and an eternity of hauling heavy boxes down flights of stairs. When I got to the airport for my flight to Los Angeles I was more living dead than lively. But it seems a fifteen minute nap at the gate–serenaded by Pachelbel's Canon in D picked out on a red Gibson, accompanied by a chorus of ululating adolescent murmurings in Thai and dreams of an American Disneyland vacation–was enough to revive me, at least for a few hours.
I got a left window seat, which was brilliant; my favorite Oregon places were laid out like a map before my eyes. As the plane climbed the air layers I was given a sweeping view of the entirety of Portland in all its cheerful glory, towers and bridges and hills, forested parks and two great rivers. I caught the very edge of Sauvie Island as the airplane completed its spiral and swept southwards.
As we rose through the clouds, so did the great Cascadian volcanoes: Rainier, St. Helens, Adams, and beloved Mt. Hood, snowy slopes glistening in the midday sun. Hood's bulk was changing the weather in the Hood River Valley, holding back the marching clouds, and the white was so pure I could see the specks of Timberline Lodge and the ski slopes against it. I looked down on the Cascades, and the snow highlighted ribbons of highway and quilted forest, a patchwork of firs where the logging trucks had and hadn't been. Mt. Jefferson passed directly below me, and I looked down on its bold ridgelines, and the round mouths ofbuttes cinder cones and the sinuous, frozen rivers of old lava flows.
I followed the lines of the highways as they left the snowy passes and slid down into Central Oregon's high desert, and I retraced the roads taken by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shichahn, look_alive, and myself, intrepid explorers, only the weekend before. The town of Bend, Central Oregon's hub, clinging tightly to its winding riverbanks, and Highway 20 forging off across the lava plain towards Millican, disappearing as we had into Horse Ridge. 97 driving south, and a flashback to an adventure months old; only this time Paulina Lake was partially frozen over and framed in snow, Paulina Peak overlooking the great masses of the obsidian flows, stark white where before they'd been in grayscale. Further south and it was last weekend again: Big Hole and Hole-In-The-Ground more visible from the air, the intertwining shapes of the four-by-four tracks we'd followed exactly as I remember them from shichahn's road atlas, dun-colored lines and arcs cutting through Jeffrey pines, and I could almost smell the vanilla rising heady from pine bark. And there was Fort Rock, jutting up from the flat ground like the worn-down crown of the last molar in old Oregon's gum. The towns of Fort Rock and Christmas Valley, and beyond, the hills where Crack In The Ground would be if I could see it. Flat Top, the marshy smudge of Silver Lake, and finally the breathtaking expanse of Summer Lake and the snowcapped bluffs seen from the perspective from which they'd seen us. I could see where Paisley would be, as far south as I've been in the state east of Oregon's Cascades, and beyond that Lake Albert and more snowy bluffs and more lakes....
Ye GODS but Oregon is a gorgeous piece of dirt. I'm really going to miss that place.
...So that brings to a close the Portland, Oregon, chapter of Angela's life. After that the scenery became less recognizable, and I glanced out only occasionally to catch glimpses of California's sprawling farmlands and rugged peaks. As we approached our destination the earth crumpled into smooth wrinkles which became mountains patterned in bold colors and crazy angles, striped with the strata of the prehistoric seabed. A crescent of white gold sand came into view, and a slice of blue blue ocean, marred only by the black, splotchy canopies of the kelp forests. Malibu Beach and rich mansions in the hills, and I gazed down at the canyons and wondered which one was Topanga, remembered the box in my room of shells-turned-stone I had disinterred from its fossilized cliffs.
We looked down at the sprawling City of Angels, the city of concrete and asphalt and swimming pools and sun tans, and already I missed my City of Roses, my city of trees. Nor did the angels seem pleased to see us; the turbulence we experienced on our descent was less than friendly. I watched out the window as a Southwest airplane hovered adjacent to us, nearly motionless, and our two planes set down in synchronicity on parallel runways. Los Angeles, I'm yours.
Descending from the Alaska gates, I rescued one of the Thai kids when, his arms full of packages, he became ensnared in the grasping arms of a manually-operated revolving door. His shy, softly accented “Thank you” made me smile. L.A.'s rat maze of an airport made me yearn for my portal gun, but the Los Angeleans proved themselves hospitable, jumping in with offers of assistance whenever I showed the least hesitation or uncertainty. Honestly, though, there's no excuse to make us go through security a second time. LAX, I despair of you, but least you can rest assured that you're not half as absurd as Frankfurt.
The flight to Honolulu was uneventful. I slept through all of it. And Uncle Gary picked me up and I hung out with him and Auntie Susan and Cousin Darian, and we played old rock songs with an electric guitar and ‘ukuleles, and then, because my timing is BEAUTIFUL and I've arrived in Hawaii in the middle of the Merrie Monarch Festival, we sat and watched the Merrie Monarch hula competition on the television LIKE I HAVEN'T DONE IN YEARS, and I ate fried noodles and ohmigaaaaawd. T_T And then my friend Adam came to pick me up.
GUYS. GUYS. YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE STORY HE TOLD ME. He works for this audio-visual company that operates out of a local hotel, and a couple of Hawaii Five-0 episodes have been filmed there. And so, after the P. Diddy episode, the cast were hanging out in the hotel club getting trashed, and Adam was up in the booth doing sound, and P. Diddy came up into the booth and started DJing, and then P. DIDDY AND GRACE PARK STARTED MAKING OUT, LIKE, PRACTICALLY ON TOP OF MY FRIEND, like seriously, he had to try to edge away, it was really awkward.
...XDDDDDDDDDDDD BEST TRUE STORY YOU'VE EVER HEARD, RIGHT?!
And now I've seen my Doctor Who, so I can FINALLY GO TO SLEEP, OH MY GOD.
By all rights I should be unconscious... I had a night of four hours of sleep followed by a night of no sleep and an eternity of hauling heavy boxes down flights of stairs. When I got to the airport for my flight to Los Angeles I was more living dead than lively. But it seems a fifteen minute nap at the gate–serenaded by Pachelbel's Canon in D picked out on a red Gibson, accompanied by a chorus of ululating adolescent murmurings in Thai and dreams of an American Disneyland vacation–was enough to revive me, at least for a few hours.
I got a left window seat, which was brilliant; my favorite Oregon places were laid out like a map before my eyes. As the plane climbed the air layers I was given a sweeping view of the entirety of Portland in all its cheerful glory, towers and bridges and hills, forested parks and two great rivers. I caught the very edge of Sauvie Island as the airplane completed its spiral and swept southwards.
As we rose through the clouds, so did the great Cascadian volcanoes: Rainier, St. Helens, Adams, and beloved Mt. Hood, snowy slopes glistening in the midday sun. Hood's bulk was changing the weather in the Hood River Valley, holding back the marching clouds, and the white was so pure I could see the specks of Timberline Lodge and the ski slopes against it. I looked down on the Cascades, and the snow highlighted ribbons of highway and quilted forest, a patchwork of firs where the logging trucks had and hadn't been. Mt. Jefferson passed directly below me, and I looked down on its bold ridgelines, and the round mouths of
I followed the lines of the highways as they left the snowy passes and slid down into Central Oregon's high desert, and I retraced the roads taken by
shichahn, look_alive, and myself, intrepid explorers, only the weekend before. The town of Bend, Central Oregon's hub, clinging tightly to its winding riverbanks, and Highway 20 forging off across the lava plain towards Millican, disappearing as we had into Horse Ridge. 97 driving south, and a flashback to an adventure months old; only this time Paulina Lake was partially frozen over and framed in snow, Paulina Peak overlooking the great masses of the obsidian flows, stark white where before they'd been in grayscale. Further south and it was last weekend again: Big Hole and Hole-In-The-Ground more visible from the air, the intertwining shapes of the four-by-four tracks we'd followed exactly as I remember them from shichahn's road atlas, dun-colored lines and arcs cutting through Jeffrey pines, and I could almost smell the vanilla rising heady from pine bark. And there was Fort Rock, jutting up from the flat ground like the worn-down crown of the last molar in old Oregon's gum. The towns of Fort Rock and Christmas Valley, and beyond, the hills where Crack In The Ground would be if I could see it. Flat Top, the marshy smudge of Silver Lake, and finally the breathtaking expanse of Summer Lake and the snowcapped bluffs seen from the perspective from which they'd seen us. I could see where Paisley would be, as far south as I've been in the state east of Oregon's Cascades, and beyond that Lake Albert and more snowy bluffs and more lakes....Ye GODS but Oregon is a gorgeous piece of dirt. I'm really going to miss that place.
...So that brings to a close the Portland, Oregon, chapter of Angela's life. After that the scenery became less recognizable, and I glanced out only occasionally to catch glimpses of California's sprawling farmlands and rugged peaks. As we approached our destination the earth crumpled into smooth wrinkles which became mountains patterned in bold colors and crazy angles, striped with the strata of the prehistoric seabed. A crescent of white gold sand came into view, and a slice of blue blue ocean, marred only by the black, splotchy canopies of the kelp forests. Malibu Beach and rich mansions in the hills, and I gazed down at the canyons and wondered which one was Topanga, remembered the box in my room of shells-turned-stone I had disinterred from its fossilized cliffs.
We looked down at the sprawling City of Angels, the city of concrete and asphalt and swimming pools and sun tans, and already I missed my City of Roses, my city of trees. Nor did the angels seem pleased to see us; the turbulence we experienced on our descent was less than friendly. I watched out the window as a Southwest airplane hovered adjacent to us, nearly motionless, and our two planes set down in synchronicity on parallel runways. Los Angeles, I'm yours.
Descending from the Alaska gates, I rescued one of the Thai kids when, his arms full of packages, he became ensnared in the grasping arms of a manually-operated revolving door. His shy, softly accented “Thank you” made me smile. L.A.'s rat maze of an airport made me yearn for my portal gun, but the Los Angeleans proved themselves hospitable, jumping in with offers of assistance whenever I showed the least hesitation or uncertainty. Honestly, though, there's no excuse to make us go through security a second time. LAX, I despair of you, but least you can rest assured that you're not half as absurd as Frankfurt.
The flight to Honolulu was uneventful. I slept through all of it. And Uncle Gary picked me up and I hung out with him and Auntie Susan and Cousin Darian, and we played old rock songs with an electric guitar and ‘ukuleles, and then, because my timing is BEAUTIFUL and I've arrived in Hawaii in the middle of the Merrie Monarch Festival, we sat and watched the Merrie Monarch hula competition on the television LIKE I HAVEN'T DONE IN YEARS, and I ate fried noodles and ohmigaaaaawd. T_T And then my friend Adam came to pick me up.
GUYS. GUYS. YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THE STORY HE TOLD ME. He works for this audio-visual company that operates out of a local hotel, and a couple of Hawaii Five-0 episodes have been filmed there. And so, after the P. Diddy episode, the cast were hanging out in the hotel club getting trashed, and Adam was up in the booth doing sound, and P. Diddy came up into the booth and started DJing, and then P. DIDDY AND GRACE PARK STARTED MAKING OUT, LIKE, PRACTICALLY ON TOP OF MY FRIEND, like seriously, he had to try to edge away, it was really awkward.
...XDDDDDDDDDDDD BEST TRUE STORY YOU'VE EVER HEARD, RIGHT?!
And now I've seen my Doctor Who, so I can FINALLY GO TO SLEEP, OH MY GOD.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-05-01 11:29 am (UTC)Anyway, great to hear you're home safe, hon. And I gotta say, I love your purple prose! This in particular: And there was Fort Rock, jutting up from the flat ground like the worn-down crown of the last molar in old Oregon's gum. What a striking image! Made me smile a little to myself. Lovely, darling! I can almost taste the nostalgia. Onwards and upwards, I guess!
Frankfurt airport is thoroughly ridiculous, but Milan is way worse, trust me on this. At least I've navigated Frankfurt a few times now, and I know where I'm going. Mostly. >.>
WHOA, WOW, BEST TRUE STORY! Just imagine, now you'll be happily pottering about downtown and Alex O'Lough will just happen to walk past you or something. My face is starting to turn interesting shades of green.
That Doctor Who ep, amirite? WHAT A MINDFUCK WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY! Well done that Moff.
Sleep well, darling! <3
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:11 pm (UTC)GUUUUHHH, Fort Rock! I love that place like burning! And let me tell you, that is an apt motherfucking metaphor. That's exactly what it looks like, and that's... kind of what it is. It's a tuff ring, a volcanic vent that erupted in the middle of the lake that used to be there back in the Ice Age, and the sides of the ring were all worn away by the waters of the lake, leaving behind these steep cliffs... and it just pokes up out of the flat ground in the middle of nowhere, and it really does look like a molar that's been worn away almost to nothing.
Ahhh, I've not been through Milan. ...Frankfurt's not so much hard to navigate as it is just... absurd. Ridiculous. Poorly organized. We had to go through security, like, two or three times, and they don't let you through security to your gate until just before your flight leaves, and since you can't go sit at your gate, the central lobby area is immensely crowded with people shoved into corners, sitting forlornly on the floor. What even. And it's, like, a major hub in Europe, so everybody has to go through the freaking hellhole.
Ohhhhh, yeah, my eyes are freaking peeled for the H50 cast. I'm so useless around celebrities, though, I don't know what I'd actually do if I saw anyone. ...Regardless, watching H50 has already screwed me up with its weirdo AU of Hawaii... I'm driving around Honolulu and I'm like, WHERE ARE THE EXPLOSIONS? WHERE'S THE GUNFIRE? WHERE ARE ALL THE AUTOMATIC WEAPONS AND VIOLENT CRIMES?
THAT DOCTOR WHO EP. I am just... whoa. There was just so much going on there, I am just really not sure how to process this, just like... OH MY GOD, MOFFAT.
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:34 pm (UTC)WHERE ARE THE EXPLOSIONS? WHERE'S THE GUNFIRE? WHERE ARE ALL THE AUTOMATIC WEAPONS AND VIOLENT CRIMES? AHAHAHAHA, BEST AU EXPERIENCE EVER! XDDD
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-01 03:26 pm (UTC)Anyway, aww, you are home and we will miss you! You'd better keep your LJ updated or be on skype more often or something, because I definitely want to hear about what you get up to this summer. You know, when I have the time myself to get online.
I miss you already! ;_;
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:20 pm (UTC)Good luck with your summer stuff and have fuuuuuuunnn!! It sucks that you'll be away from the internet so much of the time... although it's possible I'll be in the same position come June and July. I don't yet know what my living arrangements will be like... if I can swing a spot in the volunteer housing I won't have to drive for 45 minutes twice a day just to get to and from work, but the downside would be lack of internet during the weekdays.
I miss you toooooooooo!! i_i It's gonna suck not being able to hang out with you and have adventures all the time. We will just have to hurry up and become productive members of society so we have the money to visit each other/go traveling together a lot. Until then, SEE YOU ON THE INTERNETS, BB.
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Date: 2011-05-01 03:41 pm (UTC)Also: awesome true story. (Diddy has been busy lately. I wonder if his fake-attorney that was calling my office is aware of this makeout session.)
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:25 pm (UTC)Next time Hawaii. Same advice regarding weather.Hahahahahahaha I'd forgotten about fake!Diddy lawyer! ...Man, everything about P. Diddy is hilarious~.
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Date: 2011-05-01 04:02 pm (UTC)Have I mentioned that your posts make me happy? Love your stories (real life and fiction), and I'm glad to know you're okay! ;)
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:28 pm (UTC)=^_^= I'm glad my posts make you happy. And thanks!
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Date: 2011-05-01 05:03 pm (UTC)I'm visiting a friend in LA next week; quite looking forward to the flight! I always fly in my sleep, and the dreams get much better after RL encouragement :).
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:31 pm (UTC)Hawaii is home, and I've traveled a fair bit all over the place, and there's just no place I'd rather be. I love these islands so hard.
Enjoy your flight and your visit!
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Date: 2011-05-01 11:18 pm (UTC)I will be back!
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Date: 2011-05-02 12:15 am (UTC)And you should check out the neighbor islands. BIG ISLAND IS THE BEST. We have active volcanoes! :DD
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Date: 2011-05-01 05:30 pm (UTC)That is my eloquent reply to all of this.
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:33 pm (UTC)I'd say that is a sufficient amount of eloquence.
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Date: 2011-05-01 06:58 pm (UTC)Dude dude dudedudedude THAT EPISODE OF WHO. Like, okay, I saw the BADADEDAAAAAAAAAAH GAY thing coming a mile, off, but still. MOFFAT! ♥ And wow, way to answer all my questions about Rory while simultaneously making him EVEN MORE AWESOME. Nnnnh~
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:37 pm (UTC)WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!! ...Pfff, yeah, the gay thing was easy, I mean the getting fired for wanting to marry someone, duh, and also he was totally flirting with the Doctor. Canton, ilu, Mark Sheppard, YOU ARE MY FAVORITE ALWAYS.
Haha, yeah, thanks for explaining the centurion thing, right?! And THANKS FOR CONTINUING TO GIVE US A FUNCTIONAL MARRIED COUPLE, OMG. This episode, though, seriously, WHAT IS GOING ON, SO MUCH IS GOING ON, AAAAAAAHHHHH MADNESS!!
...I MIIIIIIIIISSSSSS YOOOOOOOOUUUU!! ♥
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Date: 2011-05-02 12:30 am (UTC)Dude, that whole thing made me SO HAPPY. And like. With the tick-marks all over them in Sharpie and the crazy-ass 28 Days Later wall writing. HNNNNNGHGHGHHH ♥ And YES, A+ for functional married couple! I mean, it'll be interesting to see what happens with the pregnancy, because... well, yeah. But. Yeah. RORY, MY LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS, BABY.
I MISS YOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU! ♥ ♥ ♥
Meet your replacement! He's ginger, wears a bowtie, and is really fucking cute.
Naturally, his name's Patrick.
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Date: 2011-05-02 01:15 am (UTC)WELL HOLY FUCK, THAT WAS FAST. I feel soooooo replaced, bb, so replaced. ...He really is fucking adorable, aaaaawww, Patrick! I love his bowtie! YOU SHOULD TEACH HIM TO SING!
How's he getting along with Z?
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Date: 2011-05-02 01:23 am (UTC)Eh, I've been considering it for ages, and Z is seriously going to drive me crazy if it's just us. She needs more attention than one person with a full-time work schedule can provide, and the new kid was rescued from a hoarding situation, so he's way used to like, other cats. And general insanity. And he's super affectionate and playful and sweet, so I'm hoping he'll just sort of enforce himself on Z if she's being a brat and they can buddy up a little. There's a two-month trial period on the off-chance it doesn't take, but I'm really hoping that won't be necessary. He kinda freaked out a little in the car on the way home, but I started singing Water Buffaloes at him and he settled right down. It's FATE, I tell you!
They won't be meeting for a few days yet. Part of the acclimation thing is like, keeping them separate for a few days, just smelling each other and getting used to the situation. Z is REALLY CURIOUS, though. He's chilling in your old room and she keeps staring at the door.
GUH HE'S REALLY REALLY CUTE.
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Date: 2011-05-02 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-02 05:16 am (UTC)Also hiding under my bed. But pretty awesome.
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Date: 2011-05-01 09:19 pm (UTC)Also: P.Diddy, wuuuuuuuuuuut.
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Date: 2011-05-01 10:40 pm (UTC)I KNOW, RIGHT?
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Date: 2011-05-02 06:52 am (UTC)So you've really left the continent, and not just for a quick trip this time. *Big Hug* We've shared some great adventures haven't we my little padawan. From little white belt to black belt instructor, from marathon anime watching to my first anime convention, from introducing me to Batman comics getting to you to your first comic book convention, and epic adventures in the wilderness or through the imagination, and so many others. We've certainly had our share of adventures together haven't we. In the coming years we will have to find more opportunities to share adventures. I wish you the best of luck as you continue your journey, and I will continue to endeavor to stay in touch.
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Date: 2011-05-02 09:08 pm (UTC)To our adventures in the future! *raises cup*
Btw, haven't forgotten about those things you wanted me to look at. I got, like, halfway through the Harry Potter thing before job coordination and packing took over my life. It's still on my To Do list.