Leaving our mountain top home
Mom says we are going on a trip!
As much as I love to travel, it is always hard to leave our highland home. We have had an early spring and the weather has been beautiful for over a week. For the first time since I have lived in the Pacific Northwest, the temperature has been in the 80's in early May. Eighty-three was predicted for the Friday we were leaving. The RV was packed, the dogs were inside and anxious to go. I did one more walk-through before we headed down our winding road to the Interstate highway below and headed south.
We had not seen my Aunt Zelma since her birthday last year, in August, when she turned 100. My daughter, Laura and her husband, Kevin were in Yachats, at the beach, doing an article for Coastal Living Magazine at a beachside RV park. Yachats is pronounced "Yaw-hots". It is only about a half hour drive north of Florence, Oregon, where Aunt Zelma lives. I decided to visit her and they planned to meet me there on Sunday and we would stay until Monday afternoon. As I drove through Portland it occasionally seemed that the RV was not handling right. The steering seemed to wobble a bit and the brakes pulled a little. Sometimes it is hard to tell if there is anything wrong as the RV handles so different from my Subaru. We got as far as Wilsonville and I saw a Camping World. I decided to get off the highway and ask if the road is known to cause any of the things I was experiencing. Sometimes big trucks wear down the highways in a way that makes the car pull and wobble a little bit when it drives along the ruts...similar to some of the things I was feeling. By the time I stopped it was late afternoon and the weather was very hot. Camping World sent me to Les Schwab Tire and Brakes. I love Les Schwab. They pulled my front wheels and immediately found that my brakes were bad. The RV parts were so hot they could not work on it for a while and since it was about 5:00 pm I thought sure we were going to have to wait overnight to get it repaired. I took the dogs for a walk and when we came back they told me I needed new front disc brakes, calipers, seals and front rotors. They said they could do it as soon as the metal was cool enough to work with. I asked if we could get back in the RV and they said it was fine. Before I knew it, we were being gently lifted up in the air. The dogs looked down, but soon decided to take a nap. I used my new Verizon MiFi and played Words With Friends on my iPad, while I sat at the dinnette and enjoyed a cool drink. It seemed like they finished in no time. Two guys worked on it - one on each wheel. They lowered us back to the ground and sent us on our way. The bill was $827.00, mostly for parts. Labor was only $133, which seemed like a bargain to me.
I called my aunt and told her we would be late, and to go to bed when she usually did and that we would park in her driveway as usual and then see her in the morning. We stopped at the next rest stop and I walked the dogs. I fixed their dinner and we got on the road again. The way the RV handled was wonderful and the rest of our drive through the coastal range of mountains, from Eugene to Florence was very nice.
Journey always sleeps with me when we travel in the RV. We were all tired and it was great to be cool and comfortable at the coast, which is usually at least 10 degrees cooler (in the summer) than the inland valley. In the winter months the coast is usually about 10 degrees warmer than inland.
Green Trees is a mobile home park. It is nothing like the mobile home parks I was used to seeing in the cities, which are more like trailer parking lots). Some of the roads curve. There are many, many trees and most of the mobile homes look more like houses. They have wild life that comes into the park, and sometimes even bears visit. It is located on the Siuslaw River, just a few miles from the ocean beaches. Green Trees is a wonderful and beautiful place to walk and the dogs and I really enjoy it. There is a large recreation hall which has two swimming pools; tennis courts; pool tables; ping pong; a little library; lounges with cozy fireplaces; and nice shower rooms. They also have an area to park RVs, with full hookups. I usually just stay in my aunt's driveway though. My daughter and her husband have a larger Airstream trailer and they park in the RV area when they visit.
The dogs love it there and they recognize where we are going as we pull into town. Then when we enter the gates to Green Trees they get even more excited. The night we arrived it was about 11:00 pm though. We were a little road-weary and ready to sleep.
The dogs have made friendships with many of the dogs that live in Green Trees and as the various dogs walk past my aunt's place they recognize the RV and look for my dogs. The morning after we arrived, Saturday, it began to heat up right away. It was the hottest day I have ever experienced in Florence. It got to almost 90 degrees. I had expected cooler weather at the coast, and had packed mostly sweat shirts and sweaters.
I had a very strange experience on Saturday morning. I was sitting at my aunt's kitchen table having coffee with Aunt Zelma. My cousin had just come in with the mail. She was leafing through it and as she looked at one greeting card envelope, she remembered some news to tell me. Nellie, one of my aunt's closest friends had lived in Green Trees for many years. They spent a lot of time together and only a couple years ago, Nellie had decided to move to Corvallis, Oregon, in order to be a little closer to her daughter. She had moved to a home that provided some care when necessary, as Nellie was no longer driving. All of Nellie's friends in Green Trees missed her and kept in touch by phone or letters or cards occasionally. I normally asked about Nellie and how she was doing. This time my cousin said she had some sad news: Nellie had died around the first part of April. As I thought about this news, for maybe a minute or two at the most, my cousin opened the card she was holding and immediately announced, "Nellie isn't dead". I cannot tell you how confused I was. Several thoughts came to me: April Fools? (no, no one would do that!) or well...I could not think of anything else. I am sure my expression must have been really weird. As my cousin Dolores then explained, the card she had just opened was from Nellie's daughter. Nellie's daughter had written, thanking my aunt and my cousin for the sympathy card they had sent, and said that Nellie had really gotten a kick out of it! She went on to say that she had no idea how the rumor of Nellie's death got started, but that Nellie was alive and well. She said that she and Nellie had a giggle at all the sympathy cards they received. My cousin was horrified! She had read the news of Nellie's passing in the Green Trees monthly newsletter. There was also an announcement on the bulliten board. My cousin was intent on finding out who posted the erroneous information. As the whole story unfurled and the reality set in, I suddenly found it very funny. (Sorry, sometimes I cannot account for my sense of humor.) The more I thought about it, the funnier it seemed, from my point of view. First the sadness of Nellie's demise (but only for about a minute) then her re-emergence and amusement regarding the sympathy cards .... well it just struck me so funny. I spent the next few days laughing anew, everytime I heard the story repeated.
As a followup, we found out that someone (unknown and nameless) had called the newpaper editor and told them the sad news. I guess no one thought to ask the person's name. The news was printed, the notice posted, and the rumor began. Saturday evening my cousin went to the Green Trees clubhouse, where a Bingo evening was in progress, and reported the correction. Many people said they needed to make a lot of phone calls to let people know it was a mistake. I tried to cover my (possibly inappropriate) humor by just explaining that I loved happy endings. So anyway, Nellie is alive and well and the rumors of her death were premature.
Nellie & Aunt Zelma
We spent Saturday shopping a little, enjoying the swimming pool, walking dogs, and visiting. Sunday morning we went out to breakfast. There were many more opportunities to relate the good news regarding Nellie.
Sunday afternoon Laura and Kevin arrived. We had dinner and did some more visiting. Monday morning Laura and Kevin headed south on the Oregon coast, to one of my favorite towns, Bandon. A couple hours later I headed north on the coast. I feel as if I could drive that coast for months and never get tired of it. It is so very beautiful! I love the little fishing towns; the arts and crafts of the local people, the fresh amazing seafood, and the unusual rock formations jutting out of the sea.
Heceta Head lighthouse - caretaker's house with red roof on the right, beyond the bridge.
First stop, South Beach Fish Market for the second best fish & chips I have found on the Oregon coast. Also bought some fresh crab and some smoked salmon. Wish I had bought scallops, more smoked salmon and some fresh Halibut. Oh well, next trip.
We got a late start leaving Florence on Monday afternoon and by the time we got close to Hebo, Oregon, where I like to stop for freshly baked apple dumplings with cinnamon sauce, it would have been closed. Instead of missing it, I pulled into the cute little campground where I love to stay, Camper Cove, in Cloverdale, Oregon. We hiked a little, then I fixed dinner for the dogs. I was still content from the wonderful Halibut fish & chips.
"I will sit here on the table mom, I can see just fine."
We needed to get an early start as we were scheduled for Journey's agility lesson at 12:30. Bear Creek Artichoke Farm, the apple dumpling place, was only about a half mile up the road. I stopped to get apple dumplings and also a couple berry scones. They make their baked goods each morning. They make the best fresh artichoke dip and their pesto is homemade too, and so good. I also visited their greenhouse and purchased some herbs for my new raised planting beds.
About twelve miles north of Hebo we arrived at Tillamook. We took Highway 6. through the coastal range and If we had not had a road construction wait we would have made it to the agility class on time. After our 30 minute flagged wait, we were about 20 minutes late to class. I had no idea how Journey would do in his class under these circumstances. I was stressed from rushing. Normally we practice the first half of the coarse 1-10, (twice), then we practice the second half of the course twice. Then we put the whole thing together 1-20 and do it twice. We missed the first half of the practice. We did the second half, and then we put it all together. Journey did it with no faults - so proud of him. We do a lot of running, but so far I am holding up. There are only four dogs in our class, so it keeps us moving. We got home about 2:30 pm and I got the RV mostly unpacked. I decided to rest on the couch for a few minutes .... a couple hours later I woke up and fixed dinner for the dogs. I was ready for bed. Wonderful trip, but a long day of driving.
