Sheridan, Oregon
I had a great time in Oregon. Amazingly, I have never been that far north before. I can't believe all my life such a beautiful city such as Portland could have only been an hour and a half plane ride away. I could honestly see myself living there.
It is a very lawful place. Everywhere you go, there are signs saying that it is unlawful to do blah blah blah. And the speed limit on the freeways never exceed 55, and surprisingly, no one ever goes over the speed limit. To a Californian, 55 on the freeway feels extremely slow, almost like we were crawling. Everyone seemed to drive safe, no one was in a hurry. It was crazy. Today I had to run some errands and felt like my life was in jeopardy on several incidents. It made me miss Oregon.
While we were there it snowed! I haven't seen snow since I was about fifteen, which is way too long to go without seeing snow. I love the snow.
On Sunday morning mom woke me up at 7am because she wanted to go to Starbucks. While she had her morning cigarette before we left, ashes seemed to be falling from the sky. It took me a moment to realize they were wispy, tiny snow flakes. It was so beautiful. It did that all day long until we started to drive back to Portland. Normally, Portland is about an hours drive away from Sheridan. But it took us about two and a half hours to get there, because it started to snow heavily. To the point where we had to drive about twenty to thirty miles an hour.
We stopped at a gas station along the way. Did you know that it is required by law in Oregon for a gas station attendant to fill your tank for you? So while that was going on, I filled my bare hands with icy cold snow, and posed for a picture. My aunt is supposed to email it to me, I'll post it when she does.
Apart from the snow, I also had a great time visiting my Grandpa. I haven't mentioned why he moved to Sheridan on here yet, mostly because I used to find the reason embarrassing. But after visiting him, my embarrassment faded away. He is serving two years at a federal prison in Sheridan for tax evasion. The prison is amazing. He is in a minimum security prison, so there are no fences, he doesn't have a prison cell- nothing like that.
He lives in something that is very similar to a dorm. No, he doesn't have his own room or anything, but he has a bunk mate, his own desk and locker, and each "wing" has a bathroom and showers.
It really is a great place to be, if you have to go to prison. It's almost like going away to college, as he puts it. He is with a bunch of people who committed similar white collar crimes, and it's not as bad as my mind had envisioned at all.
I miss him a lot though.
It was great to see him. To see that he is okay. He was in such great spirits, and he reminded me that you create your own reality. So many people that he lives with have a negative outlook on prison... and honestly, it makes sense. But he is all about mind over matter, and making the best of everything. Prisoners are encouraged to take classes that are taught by other prisoners. He is taking a class called deep thinking which stresses positive thinking. When the guy who teaches it gets out in March my grandpa will take over teaching it.
The time went by so quickly. We had three hours with him Friday night, four Saturday and four Sunday.
I honestly think it is ridiculous to stick someone who committed the crime of tax evasion in jail. He is already in debt to the tax payers by evasion, and now he is just eating up more tax dollars by sitting in prison. Don't you think it would be more effective to put him on house arrest for two years instead, and have him get a job where he can pay back his debt?
It's just all so frustrating.
Anyway, we're back now. I probably won't get to see him again until the summer, if even then.
Here is a picture we snagged of him. After visiting hours were over he said he was going to walk the track (he walks at least a mile a day), so we said we would drive by and get a picture of him.
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