My trip began June the 22nd, including me and my dad (Ron), consisting of skateboarding and camping. We flew to out from Glasgow to Schipol to spend a night in Haarlem, then flew the next morning from Schipol to Portland.
Upon arrival in Portland, the taxi driver took us by Burnside skatepark to our hotel, Which was just a Thriftlodge just along from the Burnside bridge. This was helpful because it meant we could gather our bearings and organise ourselves whilst being walking distance from the skatepark. Skating Burnside for the first time was so fun, after so much anticipation I began to become over excited. The locals run the park, so no bikers or bladers, and the place is buzzing with positive vibes, as it was crated out of dedication and raw hunger for a good shralp. It has the same rough gnarly feel as Livi, but is completely unique, so comparing it to other skateparks does the place little justice. You have to get out here yourself to witness the true Burnside flavour which no video camera could recreate. Plus everyone you meet down there is there to skate, so everyone is really friendly and easy to get along with.
After a hard session and meeting the locals it was time to buy some supplies and rent a car. We got all out stuff (food, camping equipment, phone, video camera, water etc) and we were ready to roll. The first campsite we stayed in was miles out to the Northwest. Not much exciting happened here. I got very cold and decided I needed a better sleeping bag.
After camping we wanted to try another skatepark, I was sure there was one in Pittsburg, but after driving through it became apparent I was wrong. We did see a house blaze down to the ground though (most houses are made of wood).
We decided Newberg sounded like a good plan, so we head off down South. Tigard was on the way so we stopped off to check out the skatepark. I didn't enjoy this park. It consists of 2 bowls, one of them being a small rectangular bowl with one side spining into a large, multi hipped bowl with varying heights of transition and one side was doubled up with a 2 foot quarter running above a 4 foot. The rest of the park is basically a giant bank and a giant quarter pipe with pool coping with a right angle quarter pipe in the corner and some tight birck quarters at the other end. I found the lines were quite boring in comparison to Burnside, and I knew there was so much fun stuff to skate in Oregon so I didnt want to spend too long at a park I didnt particularly like.
When we pulled up to Newberg I like the park instantly. the whole thing is transition, with certainly no need for pushing. Humps, quarter pipes, gaps, transfers, concrete coping and infinite lines = infinite fun. We were fortunate enough to be allowed to camp near the park by the caretaker, so we stayed for 2 nights, cooking sausages, sitting in the forest and going swimming in between skating. By 8am there were skateboarders at the skatepark, all above 25, having so much fun skating the crete. The Americans I have met certainly aren't lacking in enthusiasm or positivity, and I met a skateboarder Shaun who wanted to come skating for a couple of days. The only problem was I couldnt get my phone to work.
I can say after skating that park my whole body is aching, but we left this morning and I am going to skate Pier park later which is even bigger. 19.5 foot full pipe I think. I've finaly got my phone to work as well using the internet. I should have some photos up soon, because I never realised that you have to buy a memory card to put in my video camera to take photos. I have plenty of footage, but I'm not sure how to get it up. I'll get photos any way, and the next time I log on I'll load them up.
