I couldn’t have asked for a more synergystic evening than the one at REI in Eugene where I spoke on Wednesday evening.
The event coordinator invited another speaker, an REI employee, to round out the evening and talk about her most recent and future travel experiences. Jude is a bicycle mechanic at the store and is planning a 3-month trip through South America ON HER BIKE. Holy mackeral. Not my cup of tea but I completely admire her chutzpa.
There was one man who sat down early on and he must have gotten intimidated because he left when he realized how outnumbered he was going to be by women (although you would have thought he might have stuck around).
I stayed, not quite on a couch, but through CouchSurfing, with a gal named Stephanie. In addition to her six years of living in Japan and teaching English there, she most recently traveled around the world for two years – settling back down with her mom and step-dad in Eugene in the last month or so. What do they put in the water in Eugene that fosters so much travel? Between Stephanie and Jude, I have to wonder.
Stephanie and her mum, Anne-Marie
Stephanie and her mom, Anne Marie, invited me out to lunch before I had to leave for Medford. We went to the Yumm Bowl and oh how yummy it was. At their suggestion, I ordered the original, and received a bowl full of brown rice, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream and underneath it all, their secret blend of yumm sauce (a little mustard, a little soy sauce and some other secret ingredients).
The Original Yumm Bowl
Next, on to Medford, where I’ll be speaking at a motorcycle dealership about my solo motorcycle trip from Seattle to Panama.
Happy Travels!
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