Here, to catch up again is a summary of our adventures since completing our work in John Day.
Liz had to fly back to Tucson for some business the end of July, and was gone for a week. While she was gone I worked on the landscape plan for the house we were living in. The day before her return I was spraying weed killer on the weeds in the driveway, and did something to my back – I don’t know what. I just know that I could barely walk and after four visits to the John Day chiropractor with temporary relief, I have a major issue to overcome. Not having insurance is keeping me from aggressively pursuing treatment, and I don’t want to shorten this trip, so I’m trying to baby myself as much as possible. As long as I’m sitting or lying down, I’m not in pain – and that is a good thing!
We completed our volunteer “contract” with the Forest Service on August 29, and stayed over the Labor Day weekend, the last night staying in the trailer. I had received permission to leave the trailer in the Forest Service lot another week while we traveled to Seattle to see family – Liz’s uncle and cousins, and Doc’s sister and her husband, and his niece. I had been having some trouble with the truck’s brakes, and didn’t want to take the trailer to Seattle. Since I’d had brake work done by Midas before and had a warranty, I made arrangements to stop at the Midas in Kennewick, WA (the closest one to John Day) to have them looked at. It was another expensive repair, but the brakes work great now!!! Thank goodness for credit cards! We overnighted on Monday night at the Best Western there as my appointment was for Tuesday morning.
We had a great trip to Seattle. Liz’s uncle Wayne, approaching 90 years old, was a wonderful host, preparing his basement apartment for us, with food and necessities. We spent time visiting Liz’ cousins Suzanne and Barbara. Suzanne is an artist, working with watercolor, dance, yoga, and horses. Barbara is an artist working with beads, kids, grandkids, home repair, and dogs. Both very different and fun.
Liz and I had a chance to go down to the Pike Fish Market briefly – we took the bus from near Wayne’s house and we spent some time shopping at Nordstrom’s Rack store. After two days at Wayne’s I traveled south to Seatac to visit with Aley and Keith and Katie, leaving Liz to continue her visit with her family.
Keith and Aley are undergoing more changes now that they’ve been advised they will have to move out of their apartment. Keith’s chiropractic practice is growing slowly so there are more financial challenges there as well. Katie had been staying with them since moving from Chicago after they moved from Massachusetts. She’s gotten a job as a counselor, and finally found an apartment of her own. She moved in on Saturday, a move that created some relief on everyone’s part!
It was great to see all three of them. We had fun shopping in the bookstores, drinking pumpkin spice iced coffee from Starbuck’s, and I bought some new beads to work with (they were on sale) at a local bead store near the bookstore.
After the weekend, I drove back up to Seattle to get Liz so we could continue our trip down the Oregon coast. We drove back to John Day and stayed in the trailer. The next day we headed for the coast, spending the first night in Prineville, OR at the city park. It was an old park and I had some trouble ‘fitting in’ there. First I made a curve too short and found myself literally between a rock and a hard place. Luckily I stopped in time to not scrape the side of the trailer – only the sidewalls of the tires. Then, with the help of a couple of men (actually, too many) I managed to back into a long space for the trailer and the truck, outfoxing a rock and steep corner in order to maneuver the trailer into place. And through it all, I was a crank! Four o’clock in the afternoon is not the time to be pulling into a place for the night!!! I was rude to the men, and to Liz, shouting to her to “get out of the truck!” (to help me remove myself from the rock and hard place) – I’m learning a lot about myself that I wasn’t aware of before. And why is it always HOT on my side of the truck that time of day?!
We made it to the coast the next day, pulling into Newport and finding a spot for one night at the popular South Beach State Park. Still having problems communicating when parking, we did manage to back into the space we were assigned. We decided that we needed to rest somewhere for longer than a day at a time, so I called a couple of RV parks about staying three or four nights.
While I was in Seatac with Aley and Keith, Liz hurt herself when she walked out of a pair of newly purchased ‘wedgie’ shoes from a second-hand store (the shoes were a size too big, but they were ‘cute’), and fell onto her knee. She didn’t seek medical attention at the time. So as we were planning to ‘recuperate’ for the next few days, we spent a few hours in the Newport Hospital ER getting her knee x-rayed and treated before heading further south. It was a major bruise around the kneecap, but no breaks, thank goodness! So we’re just two crips trying to make the best of things.
Our most recent stop, from which we will leave tomorrow, September 15, is Darling’s RV Resort, about six miles south of Florence, OR. It is on a beautiful lake near the Dunes, a large geographic recreation area on the coast, where many like to drive their ATVs. This weekend there is the first old car show in Florence. (like ‘show and shines’ in Reno and other cities). We went there yesterday to look around in the Old Town area of Florence, where all the touristy things are. We also drove south to see if we could connect with the ocean; however, it’s all dunes and lakes for many miles. Perhaps when we get to our next place we’ll be able to walk on the beach.
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