BY ANNA GEANNOPOULOS
A friend of mine recently went to Georgia on vacation. After telling three or four people she was from Oregon they responded with, “Oh cool, I’ve been to Seattle.” Which is, of course, in Washington.
And I’m not trying to imply that everyone in the Southeast is confused about the Northwest just that they may be unaware of what the state shoved between California and Washington has to offer. The same way I was unaware of the joys of deep fried pickles until I came to SCAD.
Sure, Oregon is a distant far off land, not as consistently warm as California and our largest city is smaller than Seattle, but this state has a lot to offer in the outdoors department:
We’ve got Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor for skiing and snowboarding in the winter and hiking and alpine sliding in the summer:
The Oregon Coast for tide-pool walking, sand-dune riding, wet suit required surfing and lighthouse climbing:
The Cascade Mountains for gorgeous vistas and wildlife. Portland, one of the friendliest cities for biking, pedestrians and outdoor lovers with bridges and coffee galore. Complete with Washington Park in city limits full of miles of trails, the zoo, arboretum, International Test Rose Garden and Japanese Garden. The Oregon Caves for spelunking. The deepest lake in the United Sates: Crater Lake. Natural hot springs for bathing.
We have wineries, deserts, farmland, mountains, valleys, forests, caves, ocean, ponds, lakes, rivers; the list goes on and on.
If you describe yourself in any way as a nature lover, add Oregon to your to-do list. Visit in the summer for weather perfectly golden and green neither humid nor dry. Or come in the winter and ski on Mount Hood or Bachelor for perfect shredding conditions.
Oregonians have been accused of not wanting to share their state with everyone, for enjoying keeping it our little secret, but that’s not true. We’re all just too busy hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, camping, skiing, climbing and the like to spend much time thinking about it. But trust me when I say the best thing an Oregonian can hear when they’re far away from home telling someone where they’re from is, “Oh, I’ve been there, and I can’t wait to go back.”
