Weird and Wonderful Americans

I am quite liking the American people, yes there have been some slightly dodgy ones that we have seen, but they seem to be in their own world and not really bothering anybody - like the half dressed ones in Pioneer Square in Portland who were dancing and making strange sorts of moves, but totally in their own world - possibly another planet(!), lots of homeless people holding up cardboard sheets with their sob story, and then there are the black people who seem to keep to themselves, but really fit the stereotype we see on TV. But overall, I have found that they are very friendly and polite people, very chatty, and interested in where we come from and where we have travelled to. And shock horror - I am even liking the American accent. Strangely, I find myself enjoying listening to it! I never thought I would ever say that!

Anyway, tonight we are in Eugene, and enjoying another hot evening. The coast was quite chilly, around 15 degrees, but strong cold winds blowing through. Our car has a thermometer on it, and it was funny watching the temperature rise as we headed inland again from the coast. We have gone from a cool 16 degrees to 31 degrees in less than an hour.

We had 2 nights in our log cabin in Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon Coast, and yesterday enjoyed a lazy sleep-in, and slowly sorted ourselves out. The playground was right outside our cabin, all built into a giant sandpit, and Lucas enjoyed digging his way through to the other side of the world - well maybe just a hole deep enough that he could stand in with only his head poking up! We then headed across to the beach and climbed the giant sand dune which was really steep and hard work to climb, and we hired a board ($10 for 4 hours), and the kids enjoyed surfing down the dunes for the afternoon.

So now we are on the road each day, making our way south to arrive in San Francisco on Friday night, where we have 2 nights before the kids and I fly home. We are having some interesting stops on the way though.

Anyway, now that internet is working ok again, here are some photos:

Outside our hostel in Portland

Xanthe feeding a lorikeet at Oregon Zoo

Xanthe still feeding a lorikeet

Kids outside Portland market

Our log cabin at Cape Kiwanda

Stefan (in distance) surfing down the sand dune at Cape Kiwanda

Di at top of sand dune

Glen at top of sand dune looking down at beach below