Wednesday, November 28, 2012

All good things must end

It's raining this morning. That was forecast, and this time of year, expected in Oregon. Nevertheless, we will miss seeing the sun for the next few days.

Today is the last day of our little jaunt, and we are a little sad, but on the other hand, we have thoroughly enjoyed getting away for a change of scenery and some respite from day to day responsibilities.  Yes, even we retired folk have those.  Routines are good, but a break in the routine from time to time is healthy.

The trip home will be both better and worse than the trip down here.  It will be better, because we will not be racing the sun to an unknown destination, and it will be worse, because we won't even see the sun. I will try to avoid the miscues that we had on the way here and trace out the route that is the most efficient.  Our Bible study group is due at the house this evening, so we do need to get home in a timely manner.

The bottom line is that we always enjoy our travels with Sadie, and we will be planning the next one as soon as we get home and catch up with those pesky responsibilities!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Oh, dopey me!

Okay! If you read yesterday's post, you know that we are staying at Armitage park, near Eugene, OR.  You may also remember that I was concerned that I might not be able to post any photos, because I had forgotten the camera.  My hope was that I had remembered to bring the upload cable for my not-dumb phone (that is, it is not a smart phone, but it is capable of sending email and limited web-browsing). 

Well, of course, that was too much to hope for. No cable, no camera, what is a poor dopey blogger to do.  Aha! Why didn't I think of this before? I have a not-dumb phone. I can take pictures and email them to myself, open them on the computer and insert them in my blog! Voila! problem solved.

Not so fast there, Applebee. It is good to have a not-dumb phone that takes pictures (albeit, fuzzy ones) and can send email (albeit, slowly). Now, if only we had a not-dumb blogger. Let me begin from the beginning. 

Last evening, we enjoyed a reprise of Thanksgiving dinner, complete with a little two-buck Chuck.  We were tired and retired (um...tired and re-tired went over a bridge...oops, that's a rabbit trail) early. We awoke to fog and 37 degrees. Nevertheless, we were warm and cozy. Between the electric space heater which we left on low for the night, and Sadie's 40,000 btu furnace, there is no concern about a little chill in the air.

Jill took the girls out for their morning business, and we settled down to enjoy our morning coffee.  After breakfast, I figured out the idea of sending myself pictures for the blog.  I made a couple of test runs before I got it to work, but work it did.  We set out to explore Armitage park.  There are 36 lovely campsites, a picnic area, a boat launch, a beautiful river walk, and a nice, off-leash dog park, where the girls had a fine romp and tired themselves out.

Upon returning to Sadie, a bit chilled by the now 47 degree weather, it dawned on me that I had forgotten to TAKE any pictures to send to myself.  So, I went outside again and took a picture of Sadie, just so I could say that I had emailed myself a picture from my not-dumb phone and put it in my blog.
Here it is:

Monday, November 26, 2012

Of course I know where I'm going; I'm a guy!

We are on the road again. Well, truth to tell we are parked at Armitage park campground, a Lane County park, near Eugene, OR.  This is a beautiful park, and we look forward to exploring it tomorrow.  Our original plan was to leave yesterday after church and get here about 2:00 pm. 

Best laid plans, you know.  My mom had a fall last Sunday, which banged her up pretty good and left her feeling weak, unsteady, unconfident, and frightened. She was due to come to Dallas for a Thanksgiving visit on Wednesday, but after a hospital visit, she was feeling really ill at ease, so I took her home with me on Monday, expecting to take her back on Saturday.  Saturday, it was obvious she was not ready to stay alone, so I wrote my brother and told him I think we need to arrange for some help for Mom.

Good old, Charlie, he called on Saturday evening and said that he would drive to Portland on Monday and plan to stay with Mom all week.  I agreed that would be ideal, so this morning, I drove Mom to her home in Portland and had a changing of the guard with my brother. 

When it was time for me to go home, I called Jill and said, "I'll be home by 1:00, if you want to go camping."  So, she got busy and prepped Sadie for a two day trip, instead of the three days we had hoped for.

When I arrived home, I checked and adjusted tire pressures, checked the oil and water and made sure that Sadie was ready to travel.  We left the house about 2:30 pm and headed for Armitage park.  Now, neither of us had been here before, and we were only vaguely aware of its location.  I forgot to check the Mapquest map that I had made a couple of days ago, and the late Autumn sun was headed for the horizon at breakneck speed.

With only a couple of navigation errors, we managed to pull into the park just before dusk.  I got Sadie connected to the power, water and sewer; activated the satellite dish and connected to the wi-fi. Yes, there is wi-fi in this Lane county park! Once we felt at home, we walked the dogs up to the registration office and checked in. By then, that old sun had found the horizon, so we retired inside to the warmth and friendliness of Sadie's interior.

So far, the only downside to this trip has been that there was a certain amount of angst involved with heading to an unknown destination while racing the sun, and the park is not far from I-5, so there is a certain amount of traffic noise perceptible. Nevertheless, I expect to sleep really well.

Stay tuned for more info and some photos tomorrow, if I remembered to bring the transfer cable for my phone.  Don't hold your breath, because I did forget the real camera!