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Up again at Larry and Candice’s for coffee at Starbucks.   Went in and had another great gathering of folks. 

Joel S. was there and after all the regulars left, he joined Colette and I at the Pattie’s Egg Nest place a few doors down for breakfast.   Always good to talk to Joel.   I meet few people with such an intense desire to be a good person.   And he walks his talk as well.

After breakfast, Colette and I returned to Starbucks to sit and use their free Internet and to catch up on our E-Mail and Blogs.

We then took off to the other side of Monroe to drop in on my friend, Van.   It was a come without calling visit and we were lucky that he was home.   Even luckier, he was free for lunch so we made a plan to meet him at Jeno’s on Main Street and then took off so he could catch a shower before coming.

We returned to Main Street early and while we were waiting for Van, Colette and I walked up and down looking at the store fronts.   I told her about Dan buying his green guitar at Mills music and about my turning in many of the books in my person library at Main Street Books before I left for NZ in November of 2009.   There were many more stories, layered quite deep, that I could have told about events and memories all over town but they are old stories and probably not that interesting unless you’d been there.   So I told a few and remembered many more which has been the inevitable pattern as we’ve toured around this town that was a central part of my life for 20 years.

Van showed up and we all had a nice lunch at Jeno’s.   He’s another Monroe favorite of mine.   I heard about the economics of how his nursery’s going and about Social Security and Medicare which are both subjects of interest to me.

After we finished lunch with Van, I got a call back from Kim W. whom I’d called earlier to try to setup a meeting.   

She was home and she was free so Colette and I took off for the Echo Lake area where I’d lived for the first 10 years I’d lived in this area.   She lives there in a big log home that she and her husband (now passed on) had build many years ago.   She’s a beautiful lady and a friend of nearly 20 years.   I introduced her to Colette and we all sat in her kitchen, drank tea and talked and then we looked at her art work.   She’s quite talented and I always enjoy seeing what new phase she’s gotten into.

When we left Kim’s, we went shopping.   First we picked up a prescription I’d turned in and then we went to Fred Meyer’s and bought a small tea pot for Candice as a thank you gift for having us at their place.   We returned then to Larry and Candice’s and Larry was there ands he said that Candice was going to meet us at The Tijuana restaurant where we were going to buy them dinner (Larry’d cooked us meals the last two nights).

Tijuana was great.   I got to see Martha and Felipe, the owners whom I haven’t seen in two years and Larry, Candice, Colette and I had a good time at dinner.   I got my old favorite, Campechana.  Yum.  This is the only Mexican restaurant that makes it that I know of.

Finally, after a long day of socializing and catching up with good friends, it was home to Larry and Candice’s again and off to bed.

Great day.

dennis

Up this morning at Larry and Candice’s place outside of Monroe and then off to Starbucks with Larry for coffee and a reunion with many of my Starbucks friends.   This was also an opportunity to introduce Colette to a lot of these folks.

It all went great.  There were a lot of folks there and Colette was introduced to many of them and the talk flowed and it was all great fun.   IN fact, there were simply too many people to do a decent catchup with more than a few of them.   Ah well, there’s tomorrow and Wednesday.

After Starbuck’s, we’d dreamed up a plan with Larry to take a ride over to Leavenworth on the other side of Stevens Pass.    I liked it as it is was great opportunity to show Colette the ful length of the Sky Valley.

Would have been nice if natural cooperated a bit better.   Monroe and much of the lower-lying parts of the valley have been shrouded in deep fog since we arrived last night and today wasn’t much different so much of the valley up past Goldbar was in serious fog.   But, no matter, we pressed on up.

Larry showed us a cool water fall along the way and once the fog cleared, the mountains were stunning as always.   We did stop in for a look around in both Index and then Skycomish.   Then up and over the top at Stevens Pass and then on out to Leavenworth where we walked around and enjoyed the German ambiance.

We ate lunch at the South Restaurant which had been recommended to us that morning by Dave D. at coffee.   Apparently, his friend manages it.   It was nice and Mexican was the order of the day.   A Chicken Fajitas sandwich for me!

Then we began the drive back.   All of this side is in brilliant sunshine.   Larry took us a slightly different way back by lake Wenatchee which was quite pretty.   And then, further along, I stopped on Highway 2 at mile marker 39 and took Colette down to see a favorite spot of mine on the river.

As we reentered the lower portions of the Sky Valley, the fog was still there denser than ever.   We dropped Larry off at home as he wanted to get started on the evening’s meal and Colette and I went off to find, gasoline, turn in a prescription and get our dirty car washed.

Then it was home to rejoin Candice and Larry, enjoy a beautiful meal of Salmon and rice and then some excellent conversation afterwards.   A very pleasant evening indeed.

dennis

We left La Push ay 830 AM this morning and headed off towards Monroe after I bought myself a “La Push” hat (smile).   The drive from there was fairly unremarkable until we passed Crescent Lake which is quite beautiful.

Soon we came into Port Angeles and immediately  turned up the road toward Hurricane Ridge at 5242 feet which will probably be our highest ascent on this trip.   It’s a long winding and ever upwards road up to the top and the temperature and scenery gets cooler and better as you go.   Finally, we were driving with snow banks on either side and with patches of ice on the road when we came to the end and the most amazing vista opened out before us.   Hurricane Ridge offers a tremendous view into the interior of the Olympic Mountains and down into the deep valleys, below.   Photos were taken which I think we both fear may not truly address the beauty of the place.

After the drive back down, we stopped at a Safeway for lunch and for some WiFi which we’d been unable to connect with in La Push for the last day and a half.  We each checked E-Mail and uploaded some of the things we’d written and responded to a few E-Mails. Neither of us were particularly hungry so we each grabbed an bagel and an apple and were ready to press on.

Pressing on saw us driving further east from Port Angeles towards Hood Canal and its bridge and then Kingston and the Washington State Ferry Terminal where we could catch the car ferry over to the other side of Puget Sound to Edmonds.  It was still not 3 PM and the weekend crowds over on the Olympic Peninsula had not yet started all jamming the terminal for rides back to the Seattle side so a 15 minute wait saw us easily onto the first ferry, The Spokane, that arrived.  The beautiful weather was still holding and after we parked, we went up top side and forward and saw the coastline on the far side.  Beautiful!

To the right stood Mt. Rainier with the skyline of Seattle’s tallest buildings silhouetted against it like the smallest of toys; all crystal clear.  Then proceeding to the left, the entire coastline from Ballard until far past Edmonds.   And then, still further north, Mt. Baker standing tall like Rainier.   Two examples of the huge volcanos that dominate this entire Western Washington coastline.

The ferry started off and it got cool at the extreme front outside so we found a nice interior warm window seat.  I’d been sipping a nice cup of coffee from the onboard cafeteria.   After 15 to 20 minutes of crossing, it was time to go back to the car and prepare to exit which we did.   The ferries are so organized.   They have to be given the many people they transport from day to day all over the Puget Sound area.

Once on the road again, it was up the 5 and then down the 405 and 522 east to Monroe; a route I know like the back of my hand.

We’d agreed to wash the car before we showed up at Larry and Candice’s since it was such a dirtbag after 3700 miles.   But, lo and behold, when I drove to where the car wash used to be in Monroe, it was gone in favor of a new off ramp.   Ding – plan abandoned – at least for the moment.

Then I pulled the car towards the direction that I hoped I could remember to get us to Larry’s house.  It was a guess but I got us there.  Larry and Candice greeted us and put on a fine meal for us.

Dennis

Still struggling with a cold’s aftermath so I’m feeling more tired that I might otherwise.

So, the day began slowly.   We haven’t planned as much for the day as we have in the past.

The La Push Ocean Park Resort has gotten Internet and WiFi of a limited sort since I was last here two year ago.   By that, I mean that they have WiFi broadcasting for the folks in the office and if the guests want to access it, they have to come over near the office to pick it up.   This has worked OK for us so far but last night we discovered that it wasn’t working and when I requested that they reset their WiFi modem, it turned out that it is in the locked manager’s office and no one has the key until she returns.   Bummer!  All day today’s it’s been off and she may be back Sunday (tomorrow) but no one knows for sure.

After a good sleep in, I took my clothes down to the Quileutte Tribe’s general store where they have some coin-operated washers and dryers around the back and I did my laundry.   This took $2 and about 2.5 hours.   I spent a lot of the time sipping coffee, reading “OnThe Road” and sitting in the general store at a table in the center where everyone sits that wants to visit or pass time.   I really like the small town homey feel of such places.  If you send off friendly vibes, everyone accepts you and things go on much as they would if you weren’t there.

Colette, at one point, walked down to see me and see how I was doing.   She’s been hanging out in the room reading.   

I think some relaxed downtime is good for both of us.   This trip, has been absolutely wonderful but it’s also been fairly non-stop moving from town to town or staying in folk’s homes and socializing.   All of which we love but some quiet rest time has its place as well and that’s what La Push has been for us; three nights with only us out on the remote Washington coast in the Quiluette Tribe’s Ocean Park Resort at very nearly the end of the earth.   No TV, no telephone, no radio and barely any Wifi.   One small restaurant in town and for everything else, you have to go 14 miles up the road to Forks; population 3,000.   Yep, that’s sounds good to me.

In the afternoon, we drove into Forks and got some lunch at the deli counter in the Thriftway store and then drove about 25 miles out to the Olympic National Park’s Hoh Rainforest.  A magical place where they have 14 feet or better of rainfall a year as the winter storms sweep in off the North Pacific and dump their enormous loads of water against the western facing flanks of the Olympic Mountains of the Olympic Peninsula.  Moss hangs from the trees in a deeply surreal manner and everything is alive with every possible shade of green the eye can see.   

The ranger who took our money for admission asked me if I was 62 and I replied that I was 64.   She said, this was my lucky day because for $10, she was going to sell me a senior pass to all the USA’s National Parks that’s good for life.  And, it would also get the two of us in to the Hoh Rainforest for the day which would have been $15.  Sweet.   So now I have this little gem of a card in my wallet and we’ll probably use it a few more times before this trip’s over.

We took two of the loop trails and saw the Halls of Moss the the Spruce Loop.   Interesting stuff that I’ve seen before but I always enjoy it and it was, of course, all new for Colette.

After that, it was back to Forks and then back to La Push where we arrived back to our room at late Twilight.   Some organizing and some reading.   Colette cooked us a Risotto with asparagus, broccoli and mushrooms.   Yum.   And then some granola, yogurt and cantaloupe bits for dessert.   I washed up the dishes and we were done.

We’d been discussing how to organize the 2nd half of our trip.   It’s pretty undefined once we finish in Vancouver, B.C. on December 13th and begin to head south again.   She started working on a suggested itinerary which we’re going to tweak until we both agree that it’s optimal.

And now I’m typing up notes for this Blog.   And that’s how it is on this 3rd of December, 2011 out on the western coast of the Olympic Peninsula.   This is your correspondant, Dennis Gallagher, signing off for now.

This is our first full day here, having arrived last night from Astoria.   The morning broke clear and beautiful which is rare for this coastline.   The locals says it’s pretty amazing but there’s nearly a week of fine weather descending on the area.

Outside the waves are breaking against the cliffs and the sea-stacks that I’ve loved for nearly 20 years now since I first came this way in 1991.   Like music listened to for many years, the views here are part of some of my favorite memories of time and place.

Colette and I walked down to the beach but we  could’t get there over the logs stacked up at the first path so we switched to the next path west and were able to get through.   All winter long, all the rivers here disgorge tree trucks into the sea from the vast mountains and forests in this area and they wash up along the entire coastline making a beautiful sight.   Once onto the mixed rock and sand beach, we walked west and just took it all in.   (The Sacred) James Island, the breakwater, the sea-stacks and the little fishing town of La Push.   Once to the end, we clambered up a small cliff and got back into the town’s roads.

We had a quick look at the River’s Edge Restaurant which is open again all year after an on again and off again pattern these last ten years.   We talked to the owner and decided to come back and eat at least one meal there to support her and the place.

Then we walked back to the room and took right off on a walk up toSecond Beach (we’d been on First Beach) which is about a mile to the east of where we were.   

Once there, you enter the forest and follow a long twisty path until it begins to descend down the the beach.   The path is through thick and wild forest and then descends down until you emerge at the beach behind an enormous piles of logs.   Above you, high up on a tree is a round sign with a highly visible “X” on it.   It says, “here is the path”.   Because, from out on the beach, the forest just looks like a wild and solid wall of trees.   Such signs have helped me in the past when hiking these beaches.

After several false starts, we find our way over the piled logs and out onto the beach proper and we go for a long walk; first one way and then the other.   We’re taking pictures, collecting rocks and we have the entire two-miles of beach to ourselves.   Our footsteps are the first of the day though they look like the first that have ever been made there; the beach looks so pristine.   No trash, no flotsam or jetsam of humanity washed up.   Just sand, rock, green and the waves and sea-stacks.   We run to cross a small stream in one jump.  We see the places where the sand has separated into slightly different colors and we see the small curly markings of some unknown small beach animal.

We’re back from Second Beach by noon and have a quick lunch Colette prepares.   We’re still so early in the day that I suggest we take off for Neah Bay and the Makah Tribal Museum since we have so much of the day left.   Colette’s game so by 1 or 1:15, we’re on the road heading north and then west on our way to the uttermost western point of the lower contiguous U.S. states.

500 years ago, the Makah people lived on the shores of Lake Ozette on the far western side of the Olympic Peninsula.   There was an earthquake and part of their village was covered in a huge mud slide.   In 1980, a storm washed away some of the mud exposing the buried portions of the village and a scientific excavation was done and an enormous amount of day to day items from long houses to combs were recovered.   This is what the Makah Museum is all about.

Unlike other peoples whose early history has been lost to time, the Makah people have suddenly had their past from 500 years ago returned.   The lady at the museum told us that until these things were dug up some of the objects were only known through oral tradition and it was  revelation to see that the stories of the elders were true and accurate. 

After a long drive back, we arrive just after sunset tired but pleased with a long and adventurous day.

It wasn’t over though.   At 4:15 AM, I awoke to see a crystal clear night time sky which is very rare here so I woke Colette and asked if she wanted me to how her the northern stars and constellations she’d only just heard described.   She agreed and we put on some warn gear and went out for a look.

Orion (upside down from how it looks in New Zealand), Sirius, The Pleiades.  Then I pointed out the Big Dipper which cannot be seen from New Zealand and showed her how to locate Polaris, the North Star from the Dipper.   We tried to find Andromeda but I’d forgotten just how to do it.   And then we got too cold to stay out so we went back into our warm room and retired again.

dennis

Astoria to La Push wasn’t terribly notable. We crossed the big bridge after saying good bye to the Sea Lions who had serenaded us so well and we were in Washington State again heading north.

Along the way, we stopped into Aberdeen. It’s a sad and rundown town that’s seen better days. We walked up and down in the main section of town and many stores were closed and things had, to me, a bad feeling. I was glad to depart.

I believe we’re all doing the right thing by controlling lumbering to hold it within renewables limits but it is sad to see the severe effect the cutbacks in productivity have had on many communities in this area.

We drove on and reached La Push by mid-afternoon.

They said that the room rate for then upstairs room I wanted would be $89 a night and I tried to negotiate $80 since, I said, we’d be there three days. Result? They said they were having a special and I could have it for three nights for the price of two! Damn – lucky boy again.

We checked in and then went back to Forks for supplies and then settled in for the evening with the constant sound of the waves outside.

Dennis

We got up early this morning and we were out by 830AM.   Alan was up with us and we ate cereal and yogurt and talked with him.

The new plan, just concocted last night, is to drive to Astoria, Oregon today.   The original plan was to go back to Portland for a second night but we’ve seen Portland and it wasn’t particularly nice to us whereas Astoria is a new adventure.   I’ve only been to Astoria once, years ago, but my memories of it are positive.   It sits in Oregon on the south side of the Colombia as it pours into the Pacific Ocean after draining a land area the size of France.   I remember an amazing looking bridge and an observation tower.

Alan tells us that many wealthy people from Portland would go out to the coast to a town just north of Seaside where the highway we’ll be on will intersect with the coastal highway 101 route.  Sounds interesting.

Soon, with hugs and good wishes dispensed, we’re off with some quiche from Sasha’s coffee shop along for a lunch snack.

My iPad maps the route out of Eugene and onto the 5 north and that makes things easy for us.   Eugene is more complex this way than one might suspect.

Driving was smooth if, perhaps, a bit boring as interstate highways are wont to be.   When we got to Beaverton, Oregon (suburb of Portland to the west)  and were ready to turn west towards the coast, we were considerably further along that I’d thought we would be so a lunch stop was postponed until we might see something of interest. 

It arrived, eventually, in the form of a rest stop called ‘Sunset’.   For those of you remembering that I wrote about Sunset yesterday, please forgive me.   I’m writing this three days after the events and things are beginning to get mixed a bit after so much constant travel and stimulus.   I don’t want to hear any whispering out there in the peanut galleries about   “alzheimer’s”.

So, we pull into the rest stop for a brief walk and a rest and discover that it is adjacent to a walk in the forest behind the stop.   Cool!   We put on suitable shoes and grab the quiche to nibble on and wade in.   40 minutes later, we’re out again having seen  lots of great Pacific Northwest flora.   The trail was well maintained but it’s winter and several trees were down over the trail which we had to clamber around.   It was a great walk and a lot of nice photos were taken.

Then we took off again heading west towards the coast.   The road dead ended into highway 101 at Seaside which is a nice touristy beach town.   We drove around soaking it up for 30 minutes or so and looking for a Starbucks but we never found one and, eventually, we headed down the road towards Astoria.

We found a coffee shop in Warrenton, which is just before Astoria and we did our now standard thing.   We grabbed a coffee in the local Starbucks and scoped out the motels in Astoria via booking.com.   Soon, we had one and I called and talked him down $10 for the night.  It was $80 which was more that we’ve been paying but, hey, it was just by the river, had a view of the Astoria Bridge and it had sea lions singing everyone a concert all night.

We checked in and then went for a look about town.   First call was the Astoria Column.   It’s on top of a big hill overlooking the town and you can walk up in it (164 steps worth) and then you come out onto a little platform behind a railing that goes all the way around.

This was the first time I’d realized that Colette has a sometimes thing about heights.   She said she began stressing out half way up the column and there was no way she was coming out onto the platform once we’d ascended all the way.  So, I left her inside the door peeking out and took both our cameras and took a bunch of shots.   Then she and I walked back down slowly and she was fine.

When we got down to the ground, we were still on the top of a high hill with excellent views and it was just coming up on sunset so we stayed and watched the show.   I watched for the ‘green flash’ but I didn’t see it.

After the column, we drove into town and had a good look around.  Astoria’s an odd town.  A bit run down like it is struggling economically and it certainly looks as if there’s been no new money put into the downtown in many years.   It also has an isolated feel like one can’t quite figure out why it is there where it is.   Like, what sustains it?   And, it has a counter-culture vibe like, say, Port Townsend.

Colette and I walked up and down the main street and stepped into a combination coffee bar and book store that looked fun.   While we browsed, we couldn’t help but hear the loud banter at the coffee bar between three or four people.   They were going on in a humorous way about drugs and vibrators and all sorts of bizarre things.   It made for interesting shopping; I’ll give them that.   Both Colette and I found a book we liked and bought it.   I got a copy of Jack Kerouc’s, “On The Road” for $8.00 that I was quite happy with.

A bit more walking and then it was back to our hotel room on the third floor up above the Colombia River and the Sea Lion concerts.  Have to say, I loved the view out the window where that were several ships anchored sitting very high because they were empty.   I assume they were waiting to go upriver to take on loads of ore for Japan or some such.

dennis

The day at Alan and Rita’s began quietly with coffee and talk.

They’ve rented this house in Eugene.   They sold the one they had in Woodinville, Washington and now they are content to just rent here for the time being.   This is a beautiful 2200 square foot two-story house with a two-car garage.   The layout is really nice and you easily like the place.   Two of the bedrooms are truly huge and the other two, quite reasonable.  Amazingly, they only pay $1795 a month for it which I thought was a really low price compared to what I heard places go for in, say, Irvine, California, or the San Francisco area.   The rental price includes whatever yard work is necessary as well.

Alan had a list of places he wanted to take us round to see so about 10 AM we went outside to take off in his van and discovered that someone had backed into our rental car.  That was a surprise and a problem as it necessitated that we restart our plans and put resolving this issue to the top of our list.

Colette and I sat a few minutes and mentally reconstructed our insurance arrangements.  We’d sorted all of it out throughly before we’d flown to the US but now several weeks had passed since we’d had occasion to think about it.  

We finally worked out that (1) the insurance that protects other folks if we’re in an accident with them is the non-owner liability insurance we took out with Geico.  And that (2) the insurance that protects our health if we’re in an accident is the Southern Cross Travel Insurance we took out.   So, by process of elimination, the (3) insurance that protects us against damage to the rental car is the insurance that comes to us for free when we put the entire cost of a rental car onto my Platinum Master Card.   Bingo.

So, I called them and told them I’d been in a fender-bender and that I’d like to file a claim because for sure when we turned the rental car in, Budget Rent-a-Car was going to WANT the money to repair their car from the damage that had been done.

I talked to a nice lady at the credit card’s customer service number named Michelle who told me that it would take us 10 to 20 minutes to complete the claim application over the phone and thus we started in.

After 10 minutes or so of questions, she told me that for sure the claim would be disallowed and I asked why.   She said that the fine print in the credit card insurance agreement stipulates that the car rental agreement contract cannot exceed 45 days and, since I’d rented the car for 60 days, we were ineligible to claim under this insurance.

Whoosh, that took the wind out of me.   We’d been so careful to make sure that we had all of our little insurance ducks in a row before we’d come the the US and now here we were discovering that we’d never been covered for “Loss Damage” insurance in spite of the fact that the entire rental had been put onto the credit card.

I asked her if there were any appeals or other avenues open to me and she said that she was very sorry but that there were not.   I was, indeed, toast.

While we considered that, we also realized that there were other issues before us.   Like (1) now that we knew that we did not have “Loss Damage” insurance, we were going to need some to cover us for the remainder of the trip in case there were other incidents.  And (2) the question of should we turn the damaged car in and get another or was that going to cause us problems? 

One line of reasoning was that if we turned the damaged car in and terminated the current contract, then we’d get a new car and a new contract and that new contract would be for less that 45 days so we’d pick up the “Loss Damage” insurance for free on the second contract.   But, the problem with this idea was that this would mean we’d have two cars; each of which had been picked up at point A and then dropped off at point B.   And the car rental places like Budget charge dearly for such remote drop offs.

On the other hand, if we kept the damaged car, then for sure we’d need to get the “Loss Damage” insurance and we’d have to buy it over the counter from Budget for about $15 a day for the remaining 42 or so days of our rental period.   That was going to be an unplanned expense.

And, finally, there was the issue that if we went into Budget to ask them about these options and had the car with us, they might see it and tell us we HAD to turn it in.

We took the car and tested it and determined that its drivability was undamaged; it was going to be fine if we kept it – other than the fact that the driver’s door wouldn’t open all the way.

So, we left the car at Alan’s and went in his van down to the Eugene Budget Rent-a-Car place and had a chat with the fellow there who was very helpful and understanding.

The trip was well worth making because he told us right off, after we’d explained our several quandaries, that Budget never rents cars for more than 31 days per contract.   He further said that if we’d rented the car for 60 days, then surely we’d have two sequential 30 day contracts in their system.

Hew asked to see our contract which I produced and he noted right off that it was handwritten.   I agreed it was and told him that the computers had been messing up the day we picked the car up at LAX and that the lady had created a handwritten contract for us so we could get going.   He then went into the system and caused it to print off a physical copy of our contract as it existed in their system.   And it was a 31 day contract covering the period of 8 November to 9 December.   Nice.  

He gave us a copy of it as this was exactly what we’d need to get the credit card folks to honor their insurance obligations to us since the operative contract was, indeed, for less that 45 days.   This also, neatly, removed the need for us to buy new “Loss Damage” insurance as well.

I asked then if he could print us off the 2nd contract that covered the period of 10 December through 5 January.   He could not and after he had a chat with the folks at LAX, we were advised that we’d need to call them ourselves on about December 8th, explain the situation and get them to E-Mail us a copy so we’d have proof that we had their car legally. He wasn’t sure exactly why they wanted to do it this way.

So, we left Budget much heartened by all of this news.   Once back at Alan’s, I called the credit card claim folks again and they instructed me how to write an E-Mail requesting that the previous denial be reopened and the claim approved.   And I did this.

So, finally, some hours after we set off for the day’s adventures, the mess with the car was as sorted out as we could make it so we set off for a second time.

Alan took us for a drive around town and up onto Skinner’s Butte which sits near downtown Eugene and which offers wonderful views over the city.  Some where in all of this, we also went into a Super Burrito place Alan knew and we all had a fine Mexican lunch for $8.00 which was a spectacular price.  I think Colette is becoming quite a fan of Mexican food.

Then Alan took us to a huge antique store which we all browsed about in for a hour.   There were numerous things there that Colette or I might have wanted to take home but given that home is in New Zealand, they weren’t practical so, in the end, we left them all there.

After that, Alan took us by an art supply store that Colette had seen at Pearl and 11th.   That place was fun as well.  We put 20 minutes worth of coins into the meter at the curb and when that time was up, Colette emptied her purse of coins with the request that we pump them all into the meter so she could stay longer (smile).   She found a special kind of Japanese painting paper she’d wanted and I found a great sharp artist’s pen.

We all then went to the market and Alan shopped according to a list made up by Rita for the materials for tonight’s dinner.   And, after all of that, we returned to Alan and Rita’s place.

Rita made a beautiful meal for us with Salmon and the other ingredients.   Justin and Sasha both joined us for the meal and a good time was had by all.   

We discussed US policies and how such things looked from the offshore and New Zealand POV’s.  

Colette was also asked about things in New Zealand which she she answered. 

I broached the subject of Jewishness.   Rita is Jewish and Alan isn’t.  And given the fact that Jewishness transmits in the maternal side, this means that both Sasha and Justin are both, technically, Jewish.   So I asked how all of this worked in their family.  I.E., was Rita of a secular or of a religious persuasion and what did all of this mean for how Justin and Sasha had been raised.   In all the years I’ve been friends with them, I’ve never known about these things nor had ever thought to ask about them. So, tonight was the night.

What a beautiful family they are.   Each freely spoke their POV about all of this.   Freely, relaxedly and with apparent enjoyment.   If only things were so sane and open in all families.  Religion can create such tension sometimes.  It was a great and free ranging discussion with everyone chipping in and I enjoyed it immensely.  As a family, they are quite wonderful.   They speak openly, lovingly and with relaxation to each other.   Everyone respects the others and neither Alan nor Rita plays ‘the parent card’ in so far as I could see.   Bravo, my friends.

My cold was still hammering me so I begged off for the night and went to snooze and thus ended and eventful and surprising day in many ways.

Tomorrow, we get up early and head out for Astoria where we’ll overnight on our way to La Push on the Washington coast.

dennis
J

Currently writing this a few days after the events. I’ve had a cold so my energy levels have been a little low. At the moment, as I type, we are sitting in the Comfort Suites in Astoria, Oregon listening to the sound of Sea Lions outside barking and honking which they seem to love to do all night. More about Astoria later.

So, back to the story in sequence… Bend to Engene today. Interesting country to pass through. Large parts of it are the Willamette National Forest.

We were curious to see if our impressions of Bend held up in a morning reviewing so we drove about in the residential districts east of downtown. And the impressions were still very favorable. Bend is, indeed, a nice town. It feels to me like in in Colorado someplace. I’m not sure what the twon does that makes it affluent. Skiing and the Annual Rodeo must be a part of it. There’s more I’m sure. It seems to have all the amenities that one loves in the Pacific Northwest and yet it’s considerably drier which can be nice.

From Bend, we drove northwest to Sisters. A town that calims 2000+ people but it looks a lot bigger than that. It has a nice western theme downtown and obviously has a lot to do with skiing in the area.

From there, we continued west into the Willamette National Forest and drove through miles and miles of forests and mountains. A lot of it was along the McKenzie Highway.

We continued along the road and into Eugene and arrived at Alan and Rita’s place in the south side of town.

I’ve known Alan and Rita since the late 80’s. They are good lifetime friends. The have a daughter, Sasha, who is a recent univeristy graduate and a son, Justin, who is in his last year of high school. Both wonderful young people.

After some visiting, we all went out for a look at the town and a meal. I’ve always like Eugene. It is a university town with a nice counter-culture feel to it as well as being a beautiful place. We put Colette up front in the car with Alan and Rita and I rode in the rear.

After some sight seeing, Alan took us to a beer place, The Steelhead, that also had a nice menu. It had a good atmosphere but not too noisy so we could talk easily. I had fish-n-chips which were great and a speciality beer that Alan recommended. After that, we went to a dessert speciality place (my, we are eating a lot!) and Colette and I shared a big piece of Blueberry Cheescake. Yum. Then we popped into the place were Sasha is working as a Barista. A beautiful place so more photos were taken.

Then home for a bit more chat and then we turned in for the night after a wonderfful day. Sasha was nice enough to give up her room for us for which we were very thankful.

dennis

Nice trip to Bend, Oregon today. Not too pushed for time, we were able to drive leisurely and to stop and have a look around when we liked. Our route took us south from the Tri-Cities on Oregon State Highway 207 which goes through some pretty remote areas.

My predomionate recollections are of low rolling hills slowly giving rise to Pine Forests as the land rose and then to Confiferous Forests. Underlying it all was lava in the hiilsides and the road cuts.

We drove sometimes for 15 minutes without seeing another vehicle.

Notable was the town of Hardman. All clapboard buildings, many in ruins, there was also evidence of occupation by some folks living in trailers. We later regretted not stopping for a second look as it was so remarkable. In the evening, Colette Googled it and we found out that it is a partial Ghost town. The last business there closed in 1968.

Another town we encountered was Spray. We stopped at a general store to see if we might find coffee and/or lunch. The store and the restaurant were all one thing and a number of local folks were having lunch. We took a look around and opted for two bags of mixed nuts. To me, it felt like one of those places where things were either going to feel really awkward or the folks were going to be really friendly and fully engage us in a ‘who are you and where are you from’ chat. I think we just wanted a quiet sitdown sort of a lunch so neither appealed at the moment.

After that, we began to get back into civilization as we got closer to Bend and the towns in that area.

I liked the remote areas we went through today. I told Colette that except for the Olympic Peninsula, this might be the most remote we’ll get on this trip as most of our travels are planned to be near the Pacific Coast.

It’s hard to remember sometimes when you rip through an area like this enroute from one place to another, that folks spend their entire lives in these places save for the odd vacation. These little remote towns are the center of their lives and their last names can probably be seen on many of the grave stones in the little cemetaries we pass.

Bend is 80,000 people and obviously a nice place. I’ve heard about it for years. We found a nice room for only $52/night and then went out and supped on Vietnamese food.

The only wrinkle is that I’ve been fighting a light cold for several days and in the evening, it got stronger. Not fun being sick when you are travelling. This morning, as we’re preparing to take a look around town before we depart for Eugene, it’s much better. Let’s hope it stays that way. Colette had a slight cough for a few days be seems to have shaken it.

The sun’s out, the skys are mostly cleared, we have new country never seen before to travese getting to Eugene from Bend and we’re feeling good. Time to go. Bye!

dennis