Recharging At "Home" in Talent, Oregon

Now for my readers that don't know, I do not live in Talent, nor do I have a home there. However, I do have an extremely generous family friend named Sonna, who allowed me to stay with her for the ten days I spent in the area. Despite never having visited Talent in my life, Sonna brought me the closest to "home" that I have gotten since the start of my trip.

The bulk of my trip was spent working and enjoying the amenities of a house. The former of which was only possible because of Sonna connecting me with friends that needed work. One of those said individuals was good ol' Pete, lover of history and Golf, who joined us on a few of our adventures.

From left to right: Sonna, Elam, and Pete (Sonna's good friend)

I may have spent a lot of my time in Talent earning money for the rest of my trip, but that doesn't mean I didn't get to explore the area. On Tuesday, the Talent Trio-me, Sonna, and Pete- went up to Mt. Ashland and hiked a short section of the PCT before lunch. We kept each other company with stories of history, future travels, and superheroes. However, much more notable than the stories we told were the sights along the trail. From which, we could see Mt. Shasta and the Rogue Valley.

Standing in the flowers on Mt. Ashland

Another notable event during my trip was my Friday morning in Lithia park and downtown Ashland. Sonna dropped me off at the park around 10:30 am and I started my time there with a run. By the time I finished, it was nearing noon, so I grabbed the Monte Cristo I had made earlier that morning and had an amazing lunch.

Now, as much I love Monte Cristo's and chilling in a park, I wouldn't write about it in a blog everytime, I ate lunch in a park. The reason I'm writing about it in this post, is because the serenity I found on that park bench with that sandwich on that day was the most I've ever experienced during a lunch. Maybe it was my mood-or the fact that I had just completed a run-but that lunch was easily the highlight of my day, if not a highlight of my ten days in Talent.

Enjoying my Monte Cristo in Lithia Park

That said, my lunch in Lithia park wasn't the only exciting thing that happened that Friday. That evening, me, Sonna, and Pete had dinner in Jacksonville. Pete had rsead my post about Nevada City and figured that since I had enjoyed that area, that I would enjoy the historic significance of Jacksonville-and he was right!

While there, we ate sushi, walked around downtown, and visited the cemetery. I am not a huge cemetery guy, but I was quite impressed with the amount of unique gravestones within it. I don't want this post to become a Jacksonville cemetery review, so instead of taking a picture next to every cool gravestone I saw, I just took a photo with the best one. Rest in peace Jesse and Rebeeca Wilson. I hope you both lived a fulfilling life and that your family found solace after your death.

Posing next to the coolest gravestone in the cemetery

I wanted to do something special for my last day in Talent, so I decided to visit my middle namesake, the Rogue River, and Table Rock. Initially, my plan was to go to Touvelle state park and access the Rogue River there, but I didn't anticipate a $10 parking fee, so I found a pullout and walked down to the river from there instead.

Taking a picture with the Rogue River

However, the water was cold and moving quite quickly, so I decided that I would abort my hopes of swimming there. Instead, I drove up the road to the Table Rock trailhead. Time for a hike!

Made it to the top of Table Rock

Despite being an uphill slog the whole way up, the views at the top were worth it! Additionally, I had gotten all the uphill hiking out of the way, so going down was nice and smooth.

Enjoying the views on top of Table Rock

Going on this trip has easily been one of the best decisions I've ever made, and it would be an understatement to say it has been great. However, it's easy to overlook the security and ease that comes with having a space to lay your head without any concern. To be clear, I am still very excited for the rest of my trip and have yet to reconsider my journey, but words can't express how grateful I am for Sonna and the community around Talent, Oregon for giving me a home away from home.