From Seattle to the Oregon Coast.

Rather than calling or texting when she arrived, she knocked on the door.

Her name is Whitney Monge. She is a musician heading down to California to play some shows. She decided to use Craigslist Rideshare to get some help with fuel, as so many do. She could drop me off at the car rental place just off the highway in Portland, so that I can get to Astoria - about two hours west of Portland. 

I told her my story about what got me to where I was. She told me about places that she wanted to go. She named three or four places she really wanted to see. I can't remember where they were, but I do remember that I had already been to all of them. 

This was the first moment, maybe in my life, that I suddenly felt like I was "traveled". But at the same time I felt pretentious. Or privileged. Something that I didn't totally like.

I had never even been on an airplane before I was 18-years-old when I went to Denver with a guy I hadn't met long before. My family, I suppose, is content enough staying in the "safety" and monotony of what is South Jersey - a seasonal town that has a winter population of about 5,000 people (ripe with a serious heroin problem), and a summer population that can swell to as many as 250,000.

That is not me. My traveling has primarily been under my own steam. It is my addiction. I don't feel like it is even something that I have the option to stop. If traveling is something you want too, don't wait for others. Don't make excuses. Just do it.

Or, I guess, just keep reading and living it through me. I'll do my best for you.

Anyway, you should watch this music video so you can see and hear Whitney. Her music is great. Her voice is incredible! She's so full of soul!! And she has amazing hair.

We made it to Portland and said our goodbyes. We became Facebook friends too. It's a great way to keep in touch! I am really grateful for it.

I walked into the Enterprise Rental Car, buzzing with the excitement of my life. A few hours earlier I thought I was not leaving Seattle. Had I not bought the wrong bus ticket - Whitney would not even exist. Of course she would, but our lives crossed and now we were not worse because of it.

So, now I am on my own and my entire chest feels like it is on fire with the happiness. I feel as big and alive as the landscape around me.

Beautiful Oregon. Giant trees.

I stopped to just appreciate. Everything.

After two hours of driving, I arrived in Astoria. Driving into this town, across a long bridge, is absolutely breathtaking and I was so excited. (Kindergarten Cop was filmed here, too!)

I would be staying in this town with a woman I met ten years ago! Jess is in the Coast Guard so I got special access to the ship! She even let me pretend I was the captain.

When you know people in the Coast Guard.

Playing Captain on the ship from the previous picture!

Not too bad, huh?

Some things that are pretty.

 After playing on the ship, Jess and I met up with her wife and friends at a dive bar they referred to as "The Dirty D". Several people made comments, "Why would you bring her to The Dirty D?!?" and she said, "She asked me to show her Astoria like a local."

It was dingy and full of character. And characters.

While Jess was playing shuffleboard with her friends, I sat at the bar and got to know her wife, Sandy. They met a few years ago while playing Roller Derby in Texas and now they lived here in beautiful Astoria because it is where Jess was stationed, although they would be relocating to Oakland in July.

Sandy let me know how strange she thinks it is that I was staying with them, since I didn't "really" know Jess, and I wasn't "really" her friend. I wanted to explain. It is true Jess and I only met twice, and briefly, in 2005. But, we're Facebook friends, so isn't that enough? And I guess this is just something I'm comfortable with doing.

I briefed her on my trip - how I got there; what I was doing; where I was going; what I was hoping for. THIS! These moments of getting to know people.

While the exact part of the conversation has slipped my memory, the moment has not at all: Sandy was so moved by my story, she got emotional and started crying. It was about life. It was about doing it. This woman was amazing. She is really intense and passionate. I truly love meeting people like her. She feels it.

The next day Jess and Sandy took me around Astoria. Sandy and I climbed to the top of the Astoria Column, which provides amazing views of the area.

View from the Column.

Another view of Astoria from the Column.

There I am.

Jess and the little dog waiting for us on the ground.

My fearless guides. And hosts.

After the column, we went to the downtown area and got lunch, then walked around. While we were wandering the streets, I saw a man on a corner eating an ice cream cone with a bicycle that appeared to be equipped for a long trip. I asked him if he was biking across the country and he said, with a New Zealand accent, "Yes!"

Well, isn't that something?! I am going to New Zealand in just over a week by myself! 

His name is Gabe and we probably only talked for a total of ten minutes, maybe less, because Jess and Sandy were waiting for me. He told me that he had started in Vancouver, British Columbia and would be making a big loop around the United States, up the East Coast, and then back west across Canada. He ended up giving me his father's phone number and told me to contact him when I arrived in New Zealand! Okay! This would just be the first of many New Zealander's to help me. 

We made tentative plans that I would meet him in San Francisco when I got back from New Zealand and maybe I would bike with him to San Diego and beyond, even though I'm not sure that much else sounds worse than biking through Texas in July. 

Gabe and I have stayed in touch since that fateful encounter. He has changed his route and is making his way to Patagonia now. You can follow his GPS here. And you should. It's awesome. He's awesome.

After meeting Gabe and feeling super inspired by someone on such a huge quest, Jess and Sandy took me to a waterfall.

A waterfall just outside of Astoria.

Things I haven't seen in New Jersey. Or Brooklyn. Or Colorado.

After the waterfall excursion, I decided to venture south in my little red rental car to explore the tiny coastal towns that line Oregon. I had tentative plans to return to their house that evening, but I brought my bag just incase something changed.

South Bound.

Astoria, Oregon.