Pct day 133 + Days off in Vancouver, WA

October 20

2139 – Cascade Locks

I got a late night message from some old friends last night. They want to come meet me! We haven’t seen each other in more than ten years. Meet me by the Bridge of the Gods at noon, I texted back. 

In the morning I started my downhill walk. Pretty soon I realized that noon was a little ambitious. And instead of giving myself enough time, I texted that I would be there at 12:30. Then I started running. Well, trotting. Not so hard on a downhill, but there’s a lot to think about. 

I got to the bridge with whole minutes to spare. The bride looked narrow. Like not even wide enough for two lanes of cars. I hoped they weren’t on the Washington side. I got a text that they were on the the Oregon side, at the base of the bridge. I trotted across a wide lawn and down a hill for some sweaty hugs.

“Lunch and catching up” turned into “coming over to spend the night.” Then two nights. Especially after I found out about the treehouse. Caroline and Wei are old friends from Taiwan. They’ve been having nice adorable babies while I’ve been out spinstering around. 

We went to Portland REI (no sales tax in Oregon!) where they said I could return my busted exped mat for store credit. The kids helped me pick out a new Big Agnes AirAxl. And I got another pair of Altras. 

We had hot pot for dinner. So yummy, especially that sauce, which I’d completely forgotten about until the first taste. Funny how taste triggers the memories. We used to have so much fun, eating delicious food while squatting on tiny plastic chairs, butts inches away from mad scooter traffic. Pretty soon we were deep in old pictures of the Best New Year’s Eve Ever, when we all went to see the fireworks at Taipei 101. Great times, but why were our digital photos so blurry back then?

The next day we rode bikes to go grocery shopping. I found out about Winco and all the bins. Perfect backpacking food. They have bulk dry potatoes and refried beans. Also circus animal cookies and Halloween candy, which made it no further than the treehouse.