Exploring Corvallis

Have I already been here 2 weeks?? It doesn't seem like I've seen enough of Oregon to have been here this long, but I'm definitely missing my family, friends, and fiancé back east.  This past week has been a lot of sitting in my room working on a practice grant proposal, and you know what I was thinking the entire time?


 But tomorrow I'll finally start on lab work (hooray!)



This past weekend I stayed in Corvallis, and explored downtown.  Wednesday, we went to Oregon State's surplus sale (basically a garage sale of things that student's have left), and I got a bike for $10!

Soon after getting our bikes, we rode them to Fred Meyer to buy locks. I waited outside with the bikes while my roommate went inside and bought a lock. When she came back out, she realized there were zip ties on it, preventing us from easily locking up our bikes.  We decide to ask a younger guy if he had a pocket knife we could use to cut the zip ties; he didn't have a pocket knife, but he did have a machete. Yeah. Like a jungle weapon. What's a guy in Corvallis doing with a machete in his car?? Trekking through the underbrush of the suburbs?



On Friday, I went with a group of REU students to a restaurant called Block 15 and got gelato afterwards.  Saturday morning, I met a Marshall alum who is currently working on her Ph.D. at Oregon State, and we went downtown to the farmer's market.  I was thrilled by all the samples the vendors were just begging me to try, so I had to oblige.  I ended up buying a loaf of sourdough bread and a bag of jerky.  We then walked around downtown through all the shops, and I found a set of pots and pans for $12.

We had a delightful lunch at New Breakfast Bakery.  In the afternoon, I walked downtown again with a couple REU students and got ice cream after visiting the rose garden.  Today (Sunday), my roommate and I took our new bikes for a ride on the town, venturing to Dollar Tree and Fred Meyer for food.

Still loving Oregon, and I can honestly see myself living here (I'm hoping Brian loves it as much as I do!)

When in Oregon

So after a hard couple days of work reading about microbes and oceanography, my first weekend finally arrived. Since Oregon is known for it's natural beauty, one of the REU students from Corvallis offered to show us around this summer. First stop: Silver Falls State Park

The park is located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, about an hour from Corvallis.



It is home to several large waterfalls, and is Oregon's largest state park. There is a 9 mile moderate hiking trail that accesses each of the waterfalls.

2014 Oregon State REU crew