To The Big City

The drive up the coast is always beautiful as the fog lifts. The road curves and twists showing the expanse of ocean with inlets, rocks of gigantic size, sometimes called haystacks, open areas where the wind whips up white caps for miles. The traffic is light in the early morning so one has a feeling of having the road to oneself, so there is time to look and enjoy the views.

Pat and I headed for Eugene where Erin started her college years, so we were not entirely lost once we arrived in the big city, of course all of those maps were of great help. I had an appointment with a vein man . . . who turned out to be a sweetheart. He asked questions and he listened.

We took the Drain cutoff to Eugene and that road is truly a relaxing ride, rural, fields, barns, cows, elk if they are out, but were not as we passed their special area. There are many small towns, rivers with lots of fishermen trying for salmon. We arrived earlier than anticipated so had time to find a place for lunch. We had a walk of about three long city blocks and found a haven of small restaurants with outside tables and chairs. We chose what appeared to be a Jewish delicatessen with a bakery case to make your mouth water. I opted for the cream cheese and lox thinking I was going to get the real thing but . . . there goes my 'but' again. It turned out to be thick dripping cream cheese with a thin slice of lox on a roll, no sliced thin red onion or capers; oh well, it tasted pretty good anyway but it was a big disappointment. Pat discovered she is not a patron of matza-ball soup. We walked back and kept the appointment and then found our hotel.

After a rest we found our way to the mall. It is like putting a child in a candy store, so many stores, so many small shops and huge shops on both sides of the highways. Macy's had a one day sale which was in our favor. I wanted to buy shoes but the SAS store was closed, wouldn't you know it! We didn't shop long but went back to have our dinner in a lovely Thai restaurant not far from out hotel. The ambiance was lovely but neither of us are lovers of Thai food, and am not sure why. Maybe the sauce is different as the dishes themselves look much like the Chinese dishes we order at Chan's here in Brookings.

Early in the morning we backtracked to the Drain exit and watched for yard sale signs. You can see the balloons that led us to a sale where we found a couple of small treasures. The huge tree in the yard looked like a Christmas tree with the leaves changing already. I noticed the season is changing much faster this year.

We followed that little black Ford (I think it was a Ford) for several blocks before passing it.
The scenery along the highway into Reedsport is lovely, the pictures do not do it justice. We ran into the usual stop for road work and I took a picture of me taking pictures through the side mirror of the car, while waiting and you can see Pat's hand " patiently" waiting for the light to change so we can drive through the work area and continue our journey home.

That picture of the dining area is in the Mills Casino in Coos Bay where we stopped to have lunch. Usually we get a window table but they were busy and put us in a booth across the room. I didn't have time to get up and run for the window so aimed my camera from across the room. I missed the tug boat but you can see the barge. There were men walking across the deck and they looked like midgets.

It is good to get away for a day or two even for a medical appointment. The consensus of opinion about my problem is old age. I've worn out the Betty Grable legs and have developed what Maxine would tell you 'are the road maps to nowhere' but think of the fun I had getting there. So the secret is exercise, wonder what the doctor thought I've been doing all these years....walking, dancing, but not in 'those' stockings to go with the granny shoes ----pride goes before the fall and I have 'fallen'.

So a word of wisdom, take care of yourselves and change any lazy habits into good ones. Get out there and walk every day, eat right, sleep tight and 'don't let the bed bugs bite'.