The Oregon Trail--Part XVI--At Home Again

Monday
October 25, 2004

Coffeetopia again for a double cappachino for Nancy and a large regular for me, and we were ready for the five or six hour drive back to San Diego and a return to Matt, the cat, real estate and bills to pay, and the routine of life on the Southern California coast. Its not quite like someone returning to Minnesota in the middle of winter, after laying on the beach in Hawaii for a couple of weeks. But the change from the relaxation of rural Oregon, to the congestion of SoCal, from 2 lane highways with little traffic, to 8-10 lane freeways with bumper to bumper traffic can be a bit of a downer. There is something to be said for both lifestyles, I guess, and the purpose of a vacation is to do something which takes you from what you are used to in your daily life, to something different.

The whole state of Oregon has a population of 3.2 million. San Diego county has a population of 3 million squeezed into a much smaller space. People in Bend think their city of 70000 is growing to fast and pushing towards 100000 people in the next couple of decades. Encinitas' population is also about 70000, but it is surrounded on all sides (except the ocean side) by other cities and towns covering all of San Diego county from the Mexican border to the south to Camp Pendleton on the north, to the mountains and the national forest on the east. North of Camp Pendleton, the 12-15 million people in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernadino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties fill all the space for a 100+ miles in all directions. California's total population is now about 34 million, Oregon x 10.

Southern California is a vibrant, fast paced place to live, with the best weather patterns in the world! But it also can wear you out. Traffic can wear you out! The high price of living can wear you out! To many people everywhere can wear you out! The "rat race" can wear you out!

On the other hand, anything that happens in our society happens here! There is no chance for boredom! This is not the "boonies"! There are lots of great golf courses, schools and universities, professional sports, theaters, and everything cultural! But that also can wear you out!

Or invigorate you!

Nancy surprised herself and fell in love with Bend. She decided that deep down she was a mountain person more than a beach person. She remembered that many of her favorite times were spent in the mountains of Southern California as a child. She fell in love with the Cascades, and her walk along the Deschutes River in Bend satified the need for "water" in her soul! She also loved the seasons in Bend, and the crispness of the fall weather, and the golden leaves on the trees.

It would be nice to have a foot in both worlds. Some can do that! But that can wear you out too! There will come a time in the next few years when we will decide which world has the most appeal. We will have to go back to the Cascades and to Bend during the summer months to see if we experience the same feelings we found in October with our journey on The Oregon Trail!