No, we really don't know if it's the 51st time or not, but it surely feels that way. At least this time we moved our leave time later and thus are staying in some new places on the way to Tucson.
We are making this quick trip to Tucson to look over motorhome parks to choose a spot for the winter of 2014. We've got about 7 places on our list and one day to see them all.
Also on our to-do list is a day with a realtor, looking at housing in our price range, to see if we want to live in stuff that cheap. We are thinking about buying a wintering over house in a warm place. We'll stop at Fort Mohave, AZ too, to look at some casitas with moho garages and in Gold Canyon, AZ also. There don't seem to be any such places in the Tucson area, which surprises us, as so many people winter in Tucson. We don't know if we can really do it, and have promised not to buy anything this trip. I know, I know, we said that when we went to the RV show and we totally gave in and bought one. But this time I PROMISED our financial advisor and so we have to stick to it no matter how much we like the houses.
We counted mohos and motorcycles until after lunch break, at which time we forgot the count and quit counting. I think they call that short-term memory loss. But we saw equal numbers of motorhomes and motorcycles, which we think is surprising. We had lunch at Wendy's today, which was a bit of a treat for us, as our Shoreline Wendy's is gone and we have not been to a Wendy's for months and months and months.
Traffic was heavy today, all the way to Eugene. Portland was especially icky. Lots of loose nuts on the road and in the rest areas. Oregon has some of the nicest rest areas ever, with large dog areas. AND free poo bags. What could be better? And they don't have hard, stainless steel potties with chilled steel seats, like Washington does.
The spring lambs are beginning to look like mutton already, and the sheep are thickly fleeced. Did not see any llamas today. Saw cattle, geese and ducks. It was beautiful and green all day, so many shades of lush green.
We are settled in a lovely La Quinta, right across the parking lot from a huge park and fishing lake. Norm and I took a bit of a walk after unpacking and saw lots of people fishing and in the park. It's a beautiful day! An old hippie (no other kind of person in Eugene except hippie) stopped to pet Norm, who, having had a bath just the other day, feels wonderful and soft. He said he'd never seen a dog like Norm, and I do believe that.
For supper, we walked around the corner (about 3 football fields worth of walking one way) to carry out Chinese, as Norm was having separation anxiety and we thought he'd yowl if we left him alone. So we waited a few minutes on a bench in the shade outside the front door until our food was brought out for us. They put in paper plates, napkins and plastic ware for us, which was nice. We carried our bag back past the Mercedes Benz and Beemer dealerships (decided not to buy one this trip) and ate in our room. Norm would not touch his dog food until after we'd eaten and he'd gotten to clean the plates. We both have enough left for breakfast tomorrow morning. I had cashew chicken and Ray had Mongolian beef, no rice for us, which always causes consternation in Chinese restaurants. We also had egg rolls and they were big home made egg rolls like we used to get at Mr. Wong's restaurant on Aurora back in the days when we first lived in Seattle. Man, were they good! Ray liked them especially because they had no lettuce or cabbage in there. He's funny about greens. But we can heartily recommend Kowloon restaurant on MLK Way in West Eugene. Should you ever be here. With the hippies.
Tomorrow will be a long day, as we have to go all the way to Westley, CA. And check out every rest area, 'cause that's what we do. I think I got it from my younger sisters, whom our Dad used to call "The Potty Inspectors" in honor of their immediate visit to the restroom of any restaurant we ever entered as a family. I don't think they still do that, but you never know. Or maybe we are just aging and stiffen up if we don't get out of that car and move every hour or so. Mountains tomorrow, Lake Shasta and Mount Shasta and then down into the heat of the central valley.
We've got time for one more walk as it is still plenty bright outside still. See ya!
