Not Leaving Town

We got up this morning knowing we had finished at AM Solar and it was time to leave Eugene, Oregon. But we had a few things to do first.

Greg stopped by our RV on his way into the shop to be sure everything was working right and we visited awhile. Then Deb joined us to take pictures in case we decide to write a testimonial for them once we figure out how all this works for us.  

After breakfast when we went into the office to say goodby to the rest of them we mentioned we had errands to run before we left. When Deb learned one of them was to buy packing tape so we could mail back the seat we will not be using on the Segway she insisted she should help us do that. So she packed it and weighed it and checked rates and told us she could send it by UPS cheaper than we could do that or mail it. So we gave her the postage money and let her do her thing.  She really likes to help people.

We finally left AM Solar about 11 a.m.

And went, of course, to WalMart. It’s amazing to me how quickly we run out of stuff. We are going to have to learn to plan our food supplies better if we are going to be able to park out in the boonies for extended periods of time.

That done we went to the gas station to get diesel and propane. It’s still weird to me to have station attendants fill our gas tank for us. I think Oregon is the only state doing that.

Then we went to the post office to pick up our mail. We don’t get a lot of mail since we do everything we can online but we do try to remember to have mail forwarded to us whenever we know where we are going to be at least four days in advance. Since we tend to make our plans by the hour instead of the week that can be challenging.

Then we went to the local Social Security office. Dave will be 62 next month so he spent part of last evening on the computer applying for social security. But they need to actually see certain documents. So we took those documents into the local office today and finished the application process. Sometime early next year money will start magically showing up in our bank. It will be nice to have some coming in instead of it all going out.

Then we went shopping for a book. At AM Solar I discovered one called Adventures on America’s Public Lands describing all the Bureau of Land Management Lands and what they have to offer. Since we can camp free or cheap on those lands we want to own this book. Border’s said they could order it for us but we won’t be here when it comes in. Barnes and Noble said they could order it for us but… REI didn’t have it listed on their website so we didn’t even try their store. I guess we’ll have to order it online when we know where we are going to be far enough in advance to get it there.

As we began discussing what we’d like to do for lunch we saw a Red Robin restaurant. We really like their burgers so we decided to go there. Their parking lot was too small for us to get into so I directed Dave into a lot next door.  

I really must learn to look up when choosing parking places. We broke some branches off some low hanging trees. Dave actually had to climb up the ladder on the back of our RV and pull the branches off our rig. Oops.

We’ve been using Google Maps on Dave’s iPhone to help us find places. We needed to buy a couple of small file boxes so Dave entered Staples into the search box and it found three of them not far away. So we drove to the closest one but it didn’t look like an area where there would a Staples store. So we stopped at a curb and Dave looked at the details of this one. It’s a place that sells nails, wire, staples, etc. So he looked at the details of the next one and it was a real Staples office supply place.

But on the way there we passed an Office Depot so we turned into the next driveway which connected with Office Depot’s parking lot. That meant we were able to buy file boxes that match the one we bought at Office Depot before we left Minneapolis. I guess some wrong turns become right ones.

Now it was late afternoon and we were finally ready to leave town. So we drove four miles south on I-5 and stopped at Deerwood RV Park. At least we are now on the correct side of town for leaving tomorrow.

TTYL,

Linda

Solar System

The people at AM Solar are wonderful people. Greg, Deb, Kathy, Michael, & Josh care about their customers and the world we live in. I could tell that before we even walked inside their office. Check it out.

Their driveway is covered with these pavers that are designed to let the rain go through into the earth rather than run off into the nearby slough.

When you walk up to their front door you see this rain chain which helps direct the rain to the ground much more gently than gutters do.

And this car belongs to Deb. Look closely and you can see the extension cord by the garage door that is being used to charge the car’s battery.

Those things made me trust even more than I already did that these people would do right by us as they installed our new RV solar system.  

  

I’m so glad Dave persuaded me to come to Oregon to have this done.  Even in December.

TTYL,

Linda

Heading Inland

I started my day by trading paperback books in the library at the B & E Wayside RV Park in Florence, Oregon. I was down to one unread book so I wanted to stock up before we sit for a few days while our solar system is installed.

Then we checked out of the park and drove to the laundromat–which turned out to be just across the side street. If we’d known that we probably would have walked over yesterday. Oh, well. It is nice to be able to do all four loads at the same time.

Then we headed inland on Highway 126 towards Eugene, Oregon. This is another of those roller coaster roads that has railroad tracks on one side and a river on the other. It also has lots of asphalt patches making for a stomach challenging but beautiful ride.

In Eugene we went first to Arby’s for lunch. We bought extra sandwiches to have for lunch tomorrow while our RV is in the shop.

Then we went to REI to buy me a camp chair. We don’t do much sitting outside normally but we think we are going to the Escapees Class of ’08 graduation near Quartzsite, Arizona, next month and they are planning potlucks around the campfire so I’ll need a place to sit. Most camp chairs are too tall for me so they cut off the circulation in the backs of my legs. We found one that won’t do that as long as I sit up without slouching. We we also bought a camp stool I can use as a foot rest when I want to slouch. I can remember being taught that ladies sit with their knees together and their feet on the floor crossed at the ankles but I no longer find that comfortable and I’m now at the age where comfort trumps nearly everything else.

Then we went to WalMart to stock up on food since we’ll be sitting without transport at AM Solar for at least two nights.

We pulled into AM Solar’s facility about 4:30 p.m. Since we got there before they went home for the day, we got a quick tour of the hookups and amenities. It was nice to get connected before dark.

TTYL,

Linda

Parked

Today was a day to just be. We spent hours catching up on computer stuff and reading those sites you always say you will read sometime when you have time. We mounted and tried out the various seats on my Segway and decided to keep the air seat. We ordered our mail to be delivered to Springfield, Oregon, where we will have our solar system installed. I finished reading another book. Just the kind of stuff you do on days where you don’t have to be anywhere special.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 3 Pacific Coast

We left camp about 10:45 a.m. The sun was out but so was the fog. Weird weather for this Midwesterner.

We didn’t have far to travel today so we didn’t need to take lots of breaks but I thought you might like to see this one. This is called the Devil’s Churn. The waves come into this cut and turn every which way in their attempt to get back out again. If the water is flowing just right, it shoots way high up into the air. Trying to catch one of those big ones on film gave me a better appreciation for surfers trying to catch their big one.

  

I didn’t take a lot of written notes today because I was thinking about what it would be like to have a recorder with voice recognition software that could turn dictation into a computer document. It would be quite a challenge to do but it might be fun to make a record of everything along the coast relating to travel: all the parks, gas stations, restaurants, motels, etc. with the mile markers interspersed to help you find things. If I published that I think I would call it “Oregon Coast: Inch by Inch”. I’m not sure I could talk fast enough to get it all, though. There’s a lot out here.

We stopped for the night at the B & E Wayside RV Park in Florence, Oregon. That name didn’t make me happy since I read enough detective novels to associate the letters B & E with breaking and entering. It was an interesting park but I don’t think B & E is going to be a problem here.

The park is 95% asphalt. The RV spots are two wide so you can park your car/truck next to your RV. Every spot has a small storage shed in case you need to unload your car/truck before you can use it. Every spot has full hookups. There’s a large recreation building with lots of rooms for things like playing pool or working puzzles or watching TV or reading or having a party. I think the building must have been a house they added on to because the party room has a full kitchen and the bath back there has a tub. There are also restrooms in the front of the building and throughout the park.  In the one by us there’s a washer and dryer–one each in the men’s side and one each in the women’s side. We intended to do laundry here but we’ve gotten spoiled; doing it one load at a time no longer appeals to us. So I think we’ll wait another day.

TTYL,

Linda