My goal this year is the city of San Francisco. And I'm going to make it! I especially want to see the Golden Gates Bridge! But first I want to visit Oregon, because of the book 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed. It inspired me to travel on my own! Her adventures end on the iconic Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks, and now I am here too! I still can't believe it...
Oregon is really beautiful. I drove to Cannon Beach a couple of days ago. It was a journey of almost two hours. It reminded me very much of the Ardennes and the Eifel. There are many winding roads with hairpin bends and beautiful views of valleys with fields and forests. Cannon Beach is stunning. It was foggy when I arrived, but after an hour it was sunny and I could admire Haystock Rock in all its glory. I was really impressed.
I have a lot of things on my list, such as Mount Hood, and Mount Saint Helens. I can use the car of the homeowners so I'm very happy! I also wanted to see the Vista House, Latourell Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, but you cannot get there because of the forest fires.
The forest fires are really terrible... I understand the most recent fire - just a 40 minute drive from my current address – is caused by two 15-year-old boys who threw fireworks.
When I arrived a week ago there was no blue sky. The sun was trying to shine through the smoke, but it couldn't and it became an orange ball. You could smell the fire and the ashes fell down like snow. People said it was the same during the eruption of Mount St Helens in 1980.
The fire is very dangerous but the smoke is also creating unhealthy conditions across a part of southwest Oregon. A lot of people are wearing masks or stay in their homes. The climate is changing... The forest fires are shocking evidence of that...