Laundry and Electric Communication

 We left the hotel just after 4:00 a.m. on Saturday.  Jaime likes getting breakfast at Denny's and so we went there for food.  Richard and I don't care for Denny's and were each disappointed with our meal - though we had not expected much to begin with. I would rather have McDonald's than Denny's. Jaime said it could be our last time for going to Denny's.  

We drove by way of Boise.  Though we hit almost every rest stop between Salt Lake and Myrtle Creek we seemed to make good timing.  I think it was after 5:00 when we drove passed the sign that indicated we were in Douglas County, but then it took another two hours before we arrived in Roseburg. (I have mentioned how incredibly large our county is) We could see the smoke before we arrived in Glide.

For the most part I don’t check my facebook or email while on vacation.  I’m on vacation.  This is how things looked when I returned

 

Before our backroom was built Richard had hung two clothes lines that came down in 2019 and were never replaced.  I could use the lines 2-4 months of the year.  I could hang about three loads.  Richard has since replaced one line but it is much shorter and holds only one load at best. 

I was able to take in a few more classes of the water fitness before the pool closed for the season.  The last day was August 25th although we had scheduled a pool party for the 26th.  Open swim and party were both cancelled due to the poor air quality.  We had worse in 2017.

When I returned home I had used the dryer as the skies were filled with smoke.  The rain has since chased the smoke away.  It seems pointless to hang the laundry with a chance of rain. 

Greyhound: Never Doing That Again

                You think I may have learned from my last Greyhound excursion (here) that it wasn’t that great of an experience from Portland to Salt Lake.  But I decided to give them another shot.  I thought it might be a fun experience for Jaime to try.  It would be the first time I brought my own companion on the bus. I had never done that before.

          I had purchased the tickets online. I decided the word “Flixbus” means “small”.  Searching the internet further leads me to believe it is the Flixbus that is the coach bus (with more leg room offered than on airlines) and the Greyhound is a petite upgrade from school bus. I have ridden coach buses before and I have ridden school buses.  The bus from Portland to Salt Lake was closer to school bus as far as the amount of space for passengers.  It was definitely smaller than three of the buses Jaime and I took to get to Salt Lake three weeks ago.  But still . . . There was only one coach bus.  The seats are marked with this sign

Yea, right!  Unless the passenger buttocks is the size of the average middle schooler, there is no flipping way a seatbelt is going to fit across a person.  Get real!

 I had ridden the bus before.  I’d gone back to Virginia on Trailways at the time Greyhound bought them out.  I don’t recall the bus size being so smooshed as opposed to eight years ago or three weeks ago.  But then I was a lot smaller in 1987 than I was eight years ago to currently. 

Eight years ago I caught the bus in Roseburg at a gas station where there were benches outside.  This year it was at the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store.  There was nowhere to sit.  No one to talk to.  Nowhere to pay.  What the hey?

          The bus lines would like passengers to believe that there is a restriction on size and weight of luggage – but for the most part we (the passengers) were required to put the luggage on and take it off ourselves.  Driver did not enforce the size or weight regulation. Doesn't seem to matter whether one specifies assigned seating as that isn't enforced either.

          We did ride a Coach Bus (the Flixbus that wasn’t marked as a Greyhound)  from Hermiston (not mapped) to Boise.  Why is it that we had to take four buses?  And why through Seattle instead of Portland?  There was a bus in Hermiston going to Portland, so why not from Portland to Hermiston?  Why the tour of southern Washington state?  Granted, it was pretty – but it was 8 – 12 hours we could have been in Utah and not on Greyhound's upgraded equivalent of a school bus.

          We had a four and a half hour layover in Seattle. 4 1/2 hours! Theoretically the station wouldn’t open until 5:00 a.m. and we had arrived just before 4:00.  Fortunately someone came to open the doors at four.  My bladder was most grateful for that call.

          Before we left the house, Richard had told me to fill my pockets with change.  I had selected a pair of shorts that seemed big on me without the weight of the change – but with all that money in my pockets, I definitely needed a belt so that my pants wouldn’t fall off my body. It was in Seattle where my change came in handy as there were vending machines that offered snacks and Jai and I were both hungry for something other than what we had brought with us.

          We did have some good experiences and some not so pleasant moments – but we were safe and we were grateful.  I had looked into other options for our return as I really didn’t wish to return the way we came. But because of all the fires that happened while we were away, we may have not had that option anyway.

Tony’s Family Vacation part 2

               Wednesday was a more relaxing day as the only driving was on the part of Tony who had loaded up the car and came on down to spend with us.  I had washed three loads of clothes before they got here and I think they ended up doing four.

          We played or started many games.  I think there were more games we hadn’t finished then there were those we finished.  Richard made fish for our lunch and decorated cupcakes with the kids.  I think Tony and family left shortly after 7:00 and decided to head toward Medford in order to see the temple.  They said they returned to Roseburg after 11:00.

Yesterday required more driving as we went to the Wildlife Safari. It seems each time I have gone to the park there seems to be less number of animals than the last time I was there.  We did see a group of staff members watching a cheetah in the parking lot.  That was cool.  Also was quite entertained at watching two emus in a heated chase.  Tony said that if he lived here he would be going to the Safari at least once a week.

The three year old drifted off as we were driving away and was sound asleep when we stopped our cars to feed the animals – mostly the deer and rheas.  Tony felt bad that Oliver was missing out on the feeding, but we did take the gang to Stewart Park afterward to feed the ducks and geese and Oliver was awake for that.

Once again, Rochelle and I felt warn out by the end of the day and rested on the couch while the kids watched Toy Story Three.   We played more games and ate Hawaiian Haystacks.  Between eight and nine we said our good-byes.  They are going home a different route than their coming.