Oakridge, OR

(I'll Photoshop those powerlines!)

July 7, 2009

Casey’s Riverside RV Park

This is a park we spent nearly a month at a year ago, so our 4 days this visit seems waaay too short. The winds have abated and it is just classic nice Oregon weather—the kind that central valley Californians like to escape to. There are a few returnees from last year, with a seeming profusion of 5^th wheels and trailers. What happened to the Class A motorhomes?? Were they all repo’d? Notable returness: LC with his aging lab, Honey. Bruce and Judy, who are suffering the ravages of cancer and age-related ailments, but remain of good cheer.

The activities here have included three10 mile bike rides over hill and dale as well as a visit to the local 9-holer for me. Not an official round as I played 2 or 3 balls on most holes. The course is a bit tired, so I had plenty of practice swinging off of semi-hardpan. Nice greens, though.

Gourmet activities are limited in nearby Oakridge, but we managed to return to the best Szechuan Chinese restaurant on the west coast. That would be Lee’s on the main drag. Lee (actual first name “Jeff”) remembered us from last year. Our picture (with hiking-mates Michael and Imkelina) was posted on their wall of fame. We’ll have to send them another one. Scrumptious prawns and chicken. I spent all day regretting that I didn’t order some chow mein. Be back next year. My fortune: “Be grateful for the great experience tomorrow (today).” Was that the clothes I washed?? Our bike ride? The 437 points I scored in Scrabble (Janice ‘lost” the last cumulative scorecard at Fritz and Dee’s. That one had me leading 150 to 33 for the year. We are now on a new ledger.)

Maybe the ‘experience’ is just sitting here, scratching Annika behind the ears, watching and listening to the Willamette River run by, perhaps accentuated later on by the whoooo-oooo of a train passing on the tracks across the river. And, thanks for the great chicken-cabbage-almond salad dinner, Janice. Life is indeed good.

The house-selling drama continues with the loaning entity wanting a bit more paperwork from the recent appraisal. Can we stretch this out some more? Is this the Obama plan at work? Hoping for some sense of finality by Friday. In the meantime we are lining up utilities, etc for the new digs. Oh, and there was the Eugene (no tax!) shopping day yesterday. Mastercard has to believe that our card has been stolen by vagabonds and is being used on awild spending spree. Alert! Alert!

Oakridge seems to be reaching the tipping point. Looks like somewhere between 30-40% of the houses are for sale. Many businesses are shuttered, others squeaking by hand-to-mouth. One local motel is inviting “inspections” as a ploy to generate business. Bring the flea detector and the UV light for this place, inspectors.