fearless wearer of the many skirts

Hello to pajama-clad readers of desk-top computers connected to the Net--

I'm Rachael, southern-born cowgirl of the great Northwest, fearless wearer of many frilly skirts, accompanied by my two-wheeled pony, Bonnie Blue Bell.


Although I was asked, I never once considered becoming a debutante.


Instead I drove a four-wheeled heap filled with boxes of gear and books to Portland, Oregon with Michael, my boyfriend. We arrived almost unscathed after Nebraska, snowdrifts, and Boise. We went to the ocean and froze off our asses. We got a shoe-box sized apartment and felt the insanity of such a tiny space. I got a bicycle, a restaurant job, cooped up and moved out. But we stayed cool and we got out soon and really started seeing the Northwest.

It's been three years now and we live in a little place on a hill in North Portland. We've seen the Coast, the Sierras, the Gorge, the North Cascades and Mt. Hood, all by bicycle. We have climbed in the snow and in the rain and in the desert, in Yosemite and in British Columbia. I want to ride to Alaska and climb something big. I want to see the Alps from my saddle, and then fly across. I want to say goodbye to my home and then be at home and make lots of amazing friends.

I've seen trees come down and earth come up and people become displaced, too. I've seen rural people and city people and farmers without any food. I want to ride and climb and sing. I want to keep this beautiful place smiling. Shine it like my used climbing shoes with magic marker stars on the ankles.

See a whole universe between two mountains from the top of a waterfall, before it gets too late.