Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #27 – Joining Up and Getting Ready for the Cruise!

 

Sunday, June 25^th.., 2023…… I didn’t have to be at the airport until 3:15pm so I was able to go run errands and relax. I have 90% of my stuff packed but needed to add a few things which I went out and got. I hung around the house until 2:15pm and then headed down to Eugene. I timed it almost perfectly! I went in and got her in one round! We got back to the house and relaxed for the evening. She said she had a great time but was glad to be home again to now begin concentrating on the cruise. It was sure nice to have her home again! She was extremely tired so we hit the spa and were in bed early. 

Monday, June 26^th., 2023…… Not a lot on the calendar for today. I am still chasing the sprinkler valves!  Most everything is operational except the timer for the back yard doesn’t work. But, I can access the valves and manually turn them on and off just to get the area some water. The guy comes on Wednesday to check out the whole system and get together an estimate for us. Can’t wait! We walked the dogs and then went to the gym. On Mondays, we always got to Kevin’s for breakfast after the workout. We stopped at Walmart to pick up some things for the suitcase. But not too much going on. I have my stuff packed but Cathye is just now starting, so she has to sort through and get her outfits together. She’s excited! So many clothes for our more formal night on the ship. Plus jewelry, and shoes, oh my!  More spa time then we called it a night.  

Tuesday, June 27^th., 2023……  Haircuts for both of us is all we have on today’s calendar. So, we had breakfast then headed off for that. Took an hour and we were back home. Since we moved the Shasta out, Cat was able to get to it and spent some time on that today. I  pulled some weeds. Boy, have they gotten out of hand!  

Wednesday,  June 28^th., 2023……  Today was exciting for me. I was getting my Cub Cadet mower today!  And, the irrigation guy is coming today. George showed up at his appointed time and I liked him right off. I explained the history and how I have chased the sprinkler and flowerbed lines and pieced parts together for 6 years now. He understood the system and once I showed him where everything was, he did his thing. We did discover that when the guys were working on the deck, they cut the wiring cable going to the junction valve box in the backyard, thus making that section inoperable. We talked about several remedies, some of which involve wireless connections and such. All of it sounds expensive!  But it will be a week or two before I hear back from him. Plus, if we pull the trigger, they are scheduled out until mid-August.  That’s the hardest part!  Later, in the day, we took Cat’s truck in to the detailer. It hasn’t been done since I met her and she has a local guy she liked when she used him before, so she made an appointment. The only thing that I wasn’t happy about was that we had no word from the delivery for the mower. When they delivered the bagger, they notified me that the driver was coming tomorrow between 11:00am and 3:00pm. For this one – nothing.  Maybe tomorrow.    

Thursday, June 29^th., 2023…… Bill and Treasa are scheduled in this afternoon, flying into  Eugene. We got up and showered and walked and fed the dogs, then went to the gym and then breakfast. We were back home in plenty of time before we left to drive down to pick them up. Once we got them, we drove back home and had some appetizers to tide us over until we left to meet Penny for dinner at Dos Arbolitos. We wanted them to get a taste of what we consider our favorite Mexican places up here. We gave them the 50 cent city tour (Treasa was here for the wedding but Bill wasn’t) and then got back home and visited and then went in the spa for a bit, then called it a night. Since Ohio is a 3 hr. time difference, it was a very long day for them!   

Oh yeah - I called Home Depot and tracked down the trucking company and HD said they would be calling me today or tomorrow to schedule delivery. Cool!

Friday, June 30^th., 2023…… We had today pretty much planned out. After everyone was finally up and showered, and we had the pups walked and fed, we headed up to Kristi’s for breakfast. Thanks B & T!  After that, we hung around the house for a while, then made the drive down to Eugene to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. 

It was another good Indy movie and we all enjoyed it. We left there and dropped Cat off to pick up her truck from the detailer and then came back home to rest for the day. I called back to Home Depot and they connected with the shipper for the mower. The best I could do was learn they don’t work on weekends so I had them use my sister’s number as a contact so she could be here when they call sometime next week. With the 4^th of July holiday, I’m sure it will be later in the week before it gets here. Penny came over and we cooked shish ka bobs on the bbq for dinner. It was a fun night.    

Saturday, July 1^st., 2023…… No plans for today. Cathye cooked bacon and eggs and potatoes and we ate breakfast in.

I did have to make a run to the home center to look for a part for the irrigation valve. I had to shut the system off because it was leaking but I’ve got that resolved for now and Penny can water according to plan while we are gone. We all made our last minute packing deadline. Ok, some of us more than others! But we were all close and would be ready for 6:00am departure tomorrow!  Later in the afternoon, we decided to take a drive and we took them to Sweet Home and beyond to Foster Lake to check it out. The weather was gorgeous and the lake had the holiday crowd show up in force! We saw that the spot we had to ourselves a few weeks ago when we fished, was now wall to wall party boats! There must have been 30 of them all together partying and enjoying the water. After that, we looped around to drive by Cathye’s old house in Crawfordsville. It was nice to see that the new owners are making tons of improvements with garden and flower beds! We stopped for ice cream in Brownsville and then headed back home. We needed to cook up the rest of the shish ka bobs so we repeated the dinner from yesterday. It was good. After that, we sat out on the deck and talked. Penny got a last minute lesson on all of the things to do (watering, etc.) but mostly we just sat and talked and talked. We needed to shower tonight since we are leaving early tomorrow. Can’t wait. Hope we sleep tonight!  Tomorrow we cruise!!

Note - I won’t be taking my laptop with me but I will take notes (and a lot of pics!) and plan to compile and post the next blog asap after we get back next Sunday.