By Madeline Lau
They say love can conquer anything, and I sure hope that includes Oregon rain! Recently my Orange County, Calif.-based boyfriend came to visit me in the Willamette Valley –in the dead of dreary winter.
It was an impromptu trip and I really didn’t want to talk him out of making it, but the weather was not looking good.
On the bright side, we had gotten over that string of sub-freezing days and were working on a balmy 35 degrees.
Still, I was worried and wondering how I would get a palm tree-loving, beachside golf course-perusing Californian to love Oregon.
After some consultation with friends and family on where to take him and what to do, I felt ready for the task.
Before I go any further, I should explain that my boyfriend, Andy, is originally from Korea, one of the few places in the world that might have us beat in terms of rain.
They have a yearly monsoon that completely consumes the country, but with warm rain instead of our usual icy downpour.
When Andy pulled up to my house he was sans umbrella (bonus points), but looking visibly shaken by the power of our weather.
I made it my goal to show him Oregon’s bright side, even in January.
We explored Stayton and he fell in love with Apizza, eating there multiple times in his five-day stay.
We visited the Capitol building and looked at all the flags from different states, checking out California and admiring Oregon’s seal that is so awesome my friend Olivia got it tattooed on her leg.
On a particularly drizzly day we braved Portland to dine at Urban Farmer and schlep around the city ending up with a baker’s dozen from crazy-amazing Voodoo Doughnuts downtown. Why we needed 13 doughnuts to commemorate the experience is beyond me, but the bakery was definitely out of the norm – check out their selection next time you’re in town.
For the rest of Andy’s stay we hung out with my friends and family to give him a taste of what small town life is like; watching movies, taking walks and spending time together.
We even made my family Korean barbecue, the only time Andy was disappointed with our community’s lack of selection – of Asian markets.
When it was all said and done, though, I think he ended up really liking the place I’m so proud to call home.
“It reminded me of something out of a movie,” he said, “people are so friendly, nothing like LA or Orange County where you don’t know your neighbor.”
We left together for the condensed drive back to LA, taking only one day so I could skip the inevitable melancholy that comes with leaving home to hit the road.
As we drove through the Siskiyous and, later, the Grapevine, I couldn’t help thinking about my cozy house in Stayton and the people I love so much.
While I didn’t ask in the car, I’m hoping I can get Andy to visit again – just maybe in the summertime.
