Well, That Didn’t Go as Planned!

Sunset from Mom's deck.
We spent more time than we'd planned here admiring the view. Lol.

We pulled into Jackson Wellsprings in Ashland, OR at dinnertime on Monday, 9/28. This is our third time here in as many years and each time the place looks a little more run down. Sigh. It’s still a good deal and a great location, so I guess we’ll just ignore the lack of maintenance until we find a better option. We had a free day on Tuesday and were delighted to find that Ashland has a farmer’s market on Tuesday mornings! We didn’t really need anything, but I’m never one to turn down the possibility of fresh baked goods and fun finds. 

Raney on the campground trail. 

We love live theater and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is well worth a visit. We had two performances on Wednesday. In the afternoon, an hour-long one-man show created and performed by Rodney Gardiner, called “Smote This, A Comedy About God... and Other Serious $H*T”. He wove tales of his youth in the 1980’s as an undocumented black boy in Miami. In the evening we saw, “Emma”, a hilarious take on Jane Austen’s beloved Regency-era heroine with sharp, funny, feminist wit featuring contemporary pop music and screwball-comedy. On Thursday evening, we saw our last performance, the musical, “Come From Away”, that tells the story of 7,000 stranded air travelers from all over the world diverted to the remote town of Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001. Although this was the second time we've come to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and didn't see any Shakespeare. Next time!  

Three great plays!

Emma! This was my favorite.

Rog on The Green. There's often live music before the shows.

We had a leisurely stay and that was fine with me because I had managed to catch a cold on my flight back from Texas. I wasn’t feeling too bad, although at night I also had muscle aches and bit of a fever and a headache. Then Rog started the sniffles too and added tummy troubles to the mix. You’d think we’d have figured out this was something more than your normal run-of-the-mill cold. But we’d managed to get through the pandemic without ever testing positive for COVID. Little did we know, our luck had finally run out. 

Oblivious to the nasty virus we harbored, we left Friday for Rog’s mom’s house in Redding. Rog made sure he stayed well away from her, and I was pretty much over my “cold”. One of our main goals for this trip was to help Mom clear out a storage unit that had belonged to her partner Ed, who had passed earlier this year. His daughter Vickie had cleared out most of his records and paperwork, but there were three large filing cabinets, and several carloads of old books, office supplies, and whatnots plus Mom’s outdoor Christmas decorations. Rog was down for the count, so I went over and brought back several carloads to sort for the “save”, “donate”, and “trash” piles. I also called around and found a thrift shop that would accept the furniture. I would like to register a weather complaint here. Why, why, why does it always seem to hit the triple digits when we are in Redding?  Is there some unwritten law that I am not aware of? Toting and sorting through dusty, grimy boxes in 103° heat in a stifling hot storage unit and garage was a challenge. Ugh.  

Storage unit stuff. It's all gotta go!

Then on Sunday, Mom started with a tickle in her throat and a cough. Uh-oh. Rog went into the house Monday morning, and Mom wasn’t up and about. Not good. He went back to her bedroom, but the door was locked. He could hear her inside, but she said she was on the floor and couldn’t get up. He went outside to the bedroom slider, he could see her, but that door was also locked. He came and got me, and we managed to burgle in. Apparently, she had felt ill at bedtime and sat down in her chair and then couldn't stand up. She ended up on the floor and had spent the night there. She hadn’t activated her life alert button and was pretty confused. We called 911 and she got a ride to Mercy Hospital where they made sure she hadn’t injured herself, gave her some IV fluids, and she tested positive for COVID. Now we really felt bad. Rog went to the hospital and brought her home several hours later with a prescription for Paxlovid. She had a rough day on Monday (and Rog slept in the house a couple nights to keep an eye on her), but she was up and moving around like a trooper by Tuesday. Yay, Mom. And next time (hopefully there won’t be a next time!) we want the good drugs too! Lol.

Mom is back from the hospital and
Nurse Riley is checking on his patient. 

On Wednesday, Rog and I got the last of the furniture delivered to the Cancer Society thrift store and then cleaned and closed out the storage unit on Thursday. Mission accomplished! We were supposed to leave Friday for Rian’s moochdock in Sacramento, but Rog was still feeling wiped out and we wanted to hang around until we were sure Mom was back to 100%. Although she was already telling us that we didn’t need to wait around and keep checking on her. Lol. Several of her neighbors stopped by and we found out that the guy two doors down also had COVID, so it’s still out there. Obviously. ☹ She did give us a good scare though. When you are pushing 85, stuff can hit hard and fast and we don’t like that she is living alone. She is talking about downsizing and I’m going to give her huge props. We donated a total of seven loads to the Cancer Society thrift store and I’m on a first name basis with the staff there. Lol.

Just one of the loads for donation!

Divide and conquer. One nice thing about Jello plans, there is no wrong. Rog decided to stay in Redding while I took the car to Sacramento. I arrived on Friday, 10/9, and we ordered in sushi with Rian’s friend Savannah and her boy Gilbert. Gwennie and Gilbert are BFF’s and a riot together. They are always up for snuggles or playtime.

Gwendolyn and Gilbert. BFF's.
Aren't these two just adorable??

Well, maybe not all the time. Lol. 

Rian takes the best pictures. Isn't my grandpuppy gorgeous!

Rian had bought tickets to the Thriftapalooza for Saturday, 10/10. It was my birthday too! Woohoo! We had a great time. Picked up a few things, had a lovely lunch (with complementary birthday sundae!) at the Lazy Dog restaurant and then hit the Deseret thrift store. The next day, we did the Sacramento Antique Fair, a huge outdoor market held on the second Sunday of every month. The weather was warm and sunny, and happily NOT in the triple digits. Lol. I also loaded up all the boxes that I’d left in Rian’s garage from our previous thrifting and antiquing excursions. Normally, we stop in Redding and Sacramento at the beginning of our trips and I leave stuff at Rian’s rather than lug it all the way around the country. Besides, I might need the room if I find something fun along the way. Lol.

Thriftapalooza!

Happy Birthday to me!

I drove back to Redding on Monday afternoon. Rog is slowly getting better but has a lingering cough and fatigue. In the meantime, Riley was loving the pool. Raney liked having a backyard, but really preferred to hang out in the house. We went out to Final Draft in Redding on Tuesday – they have good food and the absolute best sours! I put together a flight (Tart Berry, Peach, Cherry, Imperial Blueberry Cider) and was hard pressed to pick a favorite. The Peach won out and I picked up a six-pack to bring home to share.

Riley in the pool. Every. Single. Day.  

Final Draft - good food and excellent sours. 

And it looks like home is where we will be headed. We decided to hang out at Mom’s for a few more days. Apparently, there can be a rebound effect after the course of Paxlovid is finished and we want to make sure we are around in case that happens. We kept busy, the pups got a bath, I did some laundry, and Rog did some small RV projects. We are also continuing to cull closets and cabinets in the house. Mom is on a roll! I actually enjoy cleaning out and organizing, at least when it’s someone else’s stuff! There are a lot of memories in those boxes and some fun finds. Doing this with Mom has inspired us. Rog even committed to getting our garage cleaned out and organized. We’ll see how long his enthusiasm lasts. 😊   

Grandma Ardys' glassware and baby Rog. What a cutie!

Not every find was a treasure. At least Riley and Raney were not impressed. Lol. 

We pulled out of Redding on Monday, 10/19. Mom is doing fine and we have stuff coming up on the calendar in Washington. We opted to try some new Harvest Host locations on the way home. It’s easy to get in a rut and hit the same stops repeatedly, but there are lots of new interesting places to explore. And we picked two winners. 

Rog and his Mom.

Goodbye selfie!

Our first stop was Edenvale Winery in Medford, OR. They had a huge grassy area for the pups to play in. I’m not a wine person, but Rog sampled their red, we shared a charcuterie platter, and I enjoyed a glass of their organic hard pear cider. The pear orchard, which is now part of the winery’s estate, was the first commercial pear orchard in the US, planted in 1885. Some cool history there.

Edenvale Winery.

Yum!

Riley in the heritage pear orchards.

Plenty of room to roam.

Our second stop was a quick overnight on Tuesday, 10/20, at Timber Valley RV Park, one of the Escapee’s co-op parks located in Sutherlin, OR. I know, this is a repeat stop for us. Not every place can be new and exciting! But it’s a great location and the welcome wagon ladies always stop by with dog toys for the pups. How could we pass that up?

Our final night, Wednesday, 10/21, was a Harvest Host site in Salem, OR. Willamette Valley Smokehouse. So maybe we will have to make this a regular stop. They had a great lineup of local craft beers and excellent BBQ. There’s a coffeehouse on the property too and they serve breakfast burritos. Something to try next time! We were there on trivia night, it’s always a blast learning how much you don’t know. Lol. The dining area is outside, with two large tents if the weather is iffy. Everything is pup friendly and both Riley and Raney got to hang out and get lots of pets and plenty of treats. They had a large level parking area with undeveloped property to walk the dogs. Yeah, this place is a keeper.

Willamette Valley Smokehouse.

Good food, good brews and pup-friendly too!

The firepit was perfect as the evening got chilly.

We made a couple of stops on the way for fuel and propane and pulled into home about 4pm on Thursday, 10/22. Our trip certainly didn’t go as planned. We’d originally scheduled six nights at Mom’s, we stayed seventeen. Rog missed seeing Rian, but I’m glad I got to spend the weekend with her. Our plans for spending a week or so on a lake to kayak, fish, and hike were derailed by COVID. But, overall, it was still a great trip. Maybe not the one we thought we were going to have, but adjusting expectations and going with the flow (and you know that’s not really my strong suite, lol) is just part of traveling. We don’t have any more trips planned until next spring when we head to Las Vegas for Randi and Jose’s wedding. See you then!

Home again. No triple digits here, we are well into fall.