Sunday, August 13, 2017

Back at the Oregon homestead

Well, our vacation has ended and, despite the good time had by man and beast, I think we are all happy to be back home in Port Orford.

The 975 mile drive from Island Park, Idaho to our little coastal village took only a few days that were mostly without incident.  Our first night on the return trip took us to Twin Falls in Idaho and back into lower elevation heat.  The skyline during the entire return to Oregon, and almost to the coast, was blown out by dense smoke from mostly distant wildfires.  The miles and miles of usually beautiful scenery were covered by a dense brown haze that dissipated only at the crest of the Oregon Coast Range east of Brookings.

Our second day on the road took us along one of my least favorite roads in the US, the eastern end of Highway 20 from Ontario to Burns in Oregon.  The roadway is in decent shape but consists of a constant twisting and turning along a river valley.  In the past we have hauled our fifth wheel trailer behind allowing us  the use of a tag along bathroom.  Let us just say that I was very uncomfortable after well over 140 miles of roadway with no facilities and after multiple morning cups of coffee.  I will readily admit that I killed some sparse roadside plant life during this portion of our travels.

We were greeted in Burns with a temperature of 102 and spent the night in a motel that might not have been infected by bed bugs.  At least I didn't see any.  The place was somewhat run down and the two Beagles were bothered by some aroma that I couldn't detect.....maybe a dead body in the room at some time in the past??  I sure hope not!

The peek-a-boo latch on the door was torn off, obviously by someone kicking in the door and the handle and lock combination was in bad shape.  A couple of bikers in the next room elevated the discomfort level, although wifey and Beagle girls slept through the loud bangs and bumps that lasted most of the night.  I didn't sleep quite as well.........

The third day of travel took us along the arrow straight portion of Highway 20 to Bend, where we turned south on Highway 97 and then west just north of Crater Lake.  We arrived in Central Point (near Medford) during mid afternoon to a balmy 106 degrees.  At this point we really missed the cool weather around Yellowstone and eastern Idaho.

During our overnight stop in Twin Falls, Idaho, I ordered and set up for Saturday pick up a 55" 4K Ultra High Definition TV at the Medford, Oregon Best Buy store.  While Juanita finished packing and preparing the girls for our last day on the road, I drove over to the store and made the pick up at the 10 AM opening time.  I secured the big heavy box just to the rear of the truck cab and returned to the motel to collect my passengers for the 175 mile drive to Port Orford.

We arrived at our little RV home late in the afternoon and happily inhaled the fresh clean Pacific air with a 63 degree temperature showing on my weather station.  Better!!!  I unpacked all of our luggage and we rested a little before a friend of mine arrived to help me take the big 97# boxed TV out of the back of the truck.

Our sixteen days of travel and 3500 miles of roadway had left all of us unscathed by insult or injury....that is, until I tried to shift the big box around in the back of the truck, without help and wearing my sandals.  I realized my bonehead move the instant the box suddenly lurched over the big toe on my left foot, crushing the digit and lifting about 2/3 of the nail from the flesh.  Will I ever learn??  Uh, probably not....................

Anyhow, a week has passed and we have returned to our daily routine.  Juanita is quilting, my friend and I managed to get the TV into the trailer and in place, and I have already scheduled my first of the season salmon fishing trip on the nearby Coquille River.  As for my tender toe, it is slowly healing but I think the toenail will fall off in time.  Oh well, it won't be the first time.

As for the TV, it is fantastic.  NASCAR races never looked so good........................................


7 comments:

  1. Wow, sorry to hear about your toe. That sounded painful. Your description of the night with the bikers next door was hilarious although I know the actual experience was anything but. As always, Gordon, I really enjoy your excellent writing and I'm glad you and the fam are back home safely.

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    1. Toe is getting better but still hard to wear shoes or boots. Went fishing today and couldn't wait to get boots off! We're happy to be back on coast and beautiful weather. Stay safe out there in the east....

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  2. Glad you made it back with no problems; boy, that weather report from Port O sounds good. Sorry about the toe, but we geezers need to think twice about where we put our appendages, don't we?

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    1. I have three 100# ea batteries showing up this afternoon on UPS. Hey, I think I will wear my boots instead of the sandals. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks??

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  3. Geeze Gordon! I wish I had known you were that close. We would have done some scheduling magic to meet up with you and Juanita. Oh well, as you said, we'll see each other in a few weeks or so.

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    1. Hey Dennis....I didn't know you were in the vicinity either, but we look forward to seeing you on the coast soon.

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  4. Gordon, I lost you and Juanita and just found you again. Just caught up with your posts and it sounds like you both are still traveling and having a wonderful time.

    Our best to you both
    Judy and Bob

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