Monday morning another typically rain squall peppered Oregon coast today. As we are departing tomorrow, our mission now is to wipe out as much of the foodstuffs we have left. Cereal and oatmeal were consumed, together with a banana and more orange juice. As we had specific tasks and destinations for the day, we were headed and ready to leaved the house by 11:30, pulling ourselves away from the unfinished puzzle.
Today, we are going to visit Sean Eustice and Grant Phillips, two friends of Darcy’s. Two years ago, Darcy became a registered officiant in order to perform the marriage ceremony for these two here in their Oregon coast home where they live. The home (now a compound) is along the Siletz River, just a few miles from our location. The turnoff of US 101 at Kernville and some 10-12 miles upriver. Grant’s grandparents built the first cabin here. Later Grant’s parents bought an adjoining lot and built a larger two bedroom home, and now, most recently a “barn” that looks out over the river and is actually a studio with space for a ceramics studio, with potter’s wheel and kiln as well as a loft bedroom and bath.
We arrived shortly after noon and received a warm welcome from Sean, Grant, and their dog Olive. Olive was most talkative as we walked in the yard, but as Darcy warned, ignore her and she quickly calmed down and leaves us alone. We received tour of the two homes annd the Barn (studio) and enjoyed tea and coffee with the fellows. A large fenced in garden with a greenhouse, apple trees, and raised beds for vegetables is visible from the front porch of the studio, one that instilled envy in all Omaha gardeners. Of course, the cool and rainy coastal environment is very conducive to vegetables. So much so that we witnessed something we never see in Omaha - parsley bolting to 18” high!
We left Sean & Grant and drove north to Depoe Bay for lunch at The Sea Hag Bar & Diner, a fish and chips emporium along the highway. Deb & Mark each enjoyed some clam chowder, agreeing that this sampling was the best of the trip. Don picked a huge seafood salad, while Ann picked salmon with chips. A good and filling meal, our final professionally prepared meal of the trip.
Next stop was the hardware store for some household purchases and then back to the house for some puzzle building, reading and resting. At 5:00 we had our customary wine and dined on leftovers which we had been accumulating in the refrigerator. We tuned in on the Orange Felon Antics on PBS Newshour and then enjoyed a marathon of eight episodes of the 1st season of Ted Lasso. Deb & Mark were happy to introduce this show to Don & Ann, and also gave them the opportunity to refresh the antics of these characters prior to the new season breaking next month.
Tuesday being a travel day, it was early to bed; the morning arrived quickly, Mark was out of his room and checking the fog rolling in from the ocean by 5:30 and Deb was soon out also. We finished our packing and began policing the area. With Ann as our directoress, we secured the house, closing down all the blinds, stripping the bedding and towels for deposit in the laundry room, and clearing the refrigerator of anything that might spoil. Ann’s nephew and family are scheduled to arrive from their home in Portland on Thursday so we needed to prep for the cleaning crew who was to immediately follow us and prepare for the new arrivals.
Our goal was to be out of the home by 8:30. We would have achieved it except for a small problem with the car keys. They had gone missing. We knew they were most likely somewhere in the vehicle as Don was able to start it and back it our of the garage. We moved seats, took all of the luggage back into the house in case the keys were in the huddle (if the keys were out of the car in the luggage, then it wouldn’t start- right?) Don finally discovered the set tucked along the driver’s seat, next to the console. We reloaded the vehicle and left for the drive back to Portland.
We arrived at the airport at 11:30, right on schedule. We said our goodbyes; Don & Ann were driving north into Washington state, visiting with some friends and then journeying onward in their quest to visit the all the U.S. state capitals, this time Olympia, Washington.
Our flight was on schedule. We checked our two bags, grabbed our small backpack containing our meds and other small electronics and went to our gate. Deb had secured 1st class seats for this trip, so we settled in, accepted a glass of wine, and readied for a smooth journey. As we started towards our runway, the United Airlines pilot came on to inform us that the new United computer in Chicago had determined that the plane was over loaded and so we had to go back to the gate. One passenger was released, the Pilot vented on the poor gate agent about the bosses. We were off again and this time (although lighter by virtue of one less passenger and a lot less fuel having been burned in the taxi maneuvers), we were off.
Our meal, previously chosen from the website, was coq’au vin, with a lightly dressed vinaigrette salad, a roll and a luscious lemon tarte with a Rasberry compote drizzled on top. Tasty. As we crossed the western border of Colorado, the pilot again addressed us; there were horrible thunderstorms in the Denver area and the FAA had closed the airport. As we had burned all that fuel driving around the tarmac in Portland, we didn’t have enough fuel to just circle until the airport reopened; therefore, we were setting down in Grand Junction, Colorado to wait out the storms and re-fuel. The good news for two passengers whose eventual destination was to be Grand Junction, their trip just got shortened. Over two hours later, we were cleared to leave; the bad news: there was a two hour wait for the stairs to let off the couple who were going to deplane in Grand Junction. They would just have to continue on with us. (There were roughly nine UAL flights that were stuck in Grand Junction due to the storms, the stairs were in great command it seems.)
We arrived in Denver, anxious as to the next hard. Every other flight had also been delayed, so we ran/hobbled from gate B38 to B8 and boarded our final leg home. The flight attendant poured us a glass of bubbly, we took our first sip, and toasted each other on a long day’s travel. NOT YET! This pilot came on the speaker to inform us that the Chicago computer had decided that this plane needed repairs and was not flight worthy. We all trudged off, leaving our champagne behind and back into the airport. 40 minutes later we went to a nearby gate for a new plane. The same crew was aboard, but alas, the flight attendant did not bring our wine with her.
We settled in for a quick five hundred mile flight over lightning storms to Omaha, landing at 12:01 AM on July 1, just before the rain. As we taxied to a stop, the pilot again came on the speaker, we would have to taxi over to a holding area while they cleared another plane from our landing gate. Finally, 12:30 and we crawled off of a United airplane, vowing not to travel with United again! Of course we will not be able to keep that vow, considering how much of the Omaha market this carrier has, but it felt good to complain.
After 40 minutes, our bags both arrived (a miracle). Abigail was there to pick us up, and we were home shortly after 1:15AM. Poppy the cat was a bit aloof, but quickly warmed up. We crawled into our own beds at 1:49 and were soon comatose, tired but well travelled.
