Baker City to Bandon (via West Linn and Salem!)
554 miles
This was not the most direct route over to the coast and Mom's, but we did stop and see family along the way! We got away from Baker around 9:30a on a beautiful fall day. Rick drove to Space Age where we gassed up for $2.15 a gallon! Lowest we have paid in over a year! I drove the rest of the way into West Linn and Liz's. Smooth sailing.
We arrived at Liz's just as Liz was leaving to pick up Tucker and Tyler, so I rode with her and visited while Rick stayed and chatted with Doug. We had a quick visit with everyone (Dave came home) and then left at 3:30 bound for Salem and our 4:30 dinner date with Jed.
We pulled into Red Robin right at 4:25pm, but Jed had gotten behind in leaving as he tried to locate a test he needed to pick up for grading! He joined us just as we were ordering (we had his order!) around 5:10! Oh well! It was a good visit over an excellent dinner. Afterwards we went out to the parking lot and unloaded the car, so we could give Jed the two sections of railing we had brought over for him. He is getting a good dose of family as he picks Luke up from the airport Friday and will spend much of Saturday with him.
Rick drove the rest of the way down to Bandon in the twilight and dark! The sky was beautiful to the west as we went down the valley - a silhouette of the coast mountains, the sliver of crescent moon, and the orange glow of sunset. Heading over to Reedsport, I looked up and saw a sky full of stars, the Big Dipper right overhead. We arrived at Mom's at 10:30pm - she was still up, of course, and offering ice cream right away! In bed by 11:30.
FRIDAY, October 16
Yard work, walk for Rick. Sermon work in Dad's office Mom falls.
SATURDAY, October 17
Farmer's Market, Walk on beach, Cut toe nails, made bread. Stone from Sabra. no sourdough.
SUNDAY, October 18
Went to church with Mom (SS too!).
Rick went for an extended walk instead.
I took a walk on the beach in the
afternoon, wearing my shoes this time to avoid all the ‘junk’ on the tide
line. Beautiful afternoon.
Talked with Mac in the evening.
Discovered Mom had a leak in the sprayer on the sink and we needed to
fix it. Mom took a good nap.
MONDAY, October 19
Trip into Coos Bay, AFTER we disconnected the water and removed
the sprayer hose. Rick ran up to Ace and
bought a new unit which we installed successfully. Water back on. Went to BiMart and then to EZ Thai on Main Street in Coos
Bay. Good lunch. Then shopping at Fred Meyer. Home around 2:30. Mom napped, no walk on beach cause it was
still raining! It pretty much rained off
and on all day, so a good day to pick to go shopping! Cleared out the garage with Rick so he could
paint the common wall on Tuesday.
TUESDAY, October 20
Puttered around house in am and went into town with Mom for a few
more groceries (including more Salmon!)
After walk on beach, helped Mom finish reorganizing her shelves in the
garage, throwing away some stuff. Salmon
dinner. Mixed up more bread and baked
two loaves….one to eat, one to give to Sabra.
Two more to bake tomorrow!
Finally got in a round of Quiddler tonight and had a +300 score! Won too!
WEDNESDAY, October 21
Wrap up details today! Mom
went down to basement and tried out her sewing machine which I had fixed last
Friday, just to make sure she could operate it correctly again. Rick tackled the cars (wash and wax) today,
plus the hedge and a few other cleanup items.
Walk on beach in afternoon. Baked
bread in am. Made a blackberry pie with
Mom in pm. Mom and I went to chime practice
at 5:30 while Rick cooked spaghetti for dinner.
I will be playing with them on the Thankisgiving service. After
dinner Sabra and Mark came over and shared the pie with us. (I had invited them
over during chime practice.) Mom and I
had barely begun a game of Quiddler, so they joined in and we had a good
time!
THURSDAY, October 22
Bandon to Prineville via Umpqua River
We left Bandon around 9:30a, a rather leisurely departure compared
to our 6am trips! But then again, we
were only going halfway home! Decided to
travel up the Umpqua and around Diamond Lake for a little variety. Beautiful fall day for a drive in the
mountains!
We stopped at one of the waterfall trailheads for a bite of lunch
around noon (the waterfall was a mile up the trail, so we didn’t hike up.) Once we got to Hwy 97, I drove up to
Bend. Called Tom and Diane to give them
an ETA and then we took a backway east from south Bend up to 20 and Powell Butte
Rd to Prineville. Different drive
through juniper country. Grateful for my
phone to locate their house once more. I
think now I could find it without help!
delightful evening of conversation. Got a tour from Diane of all she has done in
her yard with the rocks and plants. She
is so methodical and everything is labeled and protected. Some of the rocks still have the ribbon on
them from when they were gifted to her on her CAV birthdays! Love it!
Diane made chicken cordon bleu, rice,
and salad for dinner. I added the
bread! Then an orange glazed pound cake
for dessert! Yummy! We ate around 6 and then sat around the table
for four hours talking and solving the problems of the world! A beautiful sunset over the mountains as we
sat down to eat!
FRIDAY, October 23
Prineville to Burns
EOP Presbytery Meeting
Tom had to leave EARLY (5:30ish?)
this morning for a wood cutting expedition with Band of Brothers. The wood will be donated to veterans for
heating their homes during the winter. I
got up around 6:30 to write in a quiet house, watching the sky lighten. Tom and Diane have a gorgeous place set on
the hill with views out to Jefferson and the tips of the Sisters. Yes, it is juniper country and somewhat
barren, but the views are awesome! We
had a quiet breakfast when all got up at a leisurely pace, and Rick and I left
around 10am.
It is a beautiful OPEN drive down to
Burns through wide expanses of high mountain desert. We check into our motel in Burns and Rick
drops me off at the presbytery meeting.
He takes off for a walk about town and will return later for
dinner. Meeting is sparse at first but
people drag in slowly. A few new twists
which I found very positive to how the meeting was run. We make contacts with Iva and Dale and others
we know. Rick walks home and I drive the
car home after worship.
SATURDAY, October 24
EOP Meeting; Burns to Baker City
Presbytery
concluded just around noon, and we hit the road with our quick lunch in
place. Interested to drive up 395 and
see what damage had been done by the wildfires this summer. We saw the evidence as we neared Canyon
City. Salvage logging was taking place,
but hillsides along the road were black sticks of trees. Houses were lost in this area
particularly.
Home around
4. Whew.
I’ll be home for almost three
weeks now.
