Oregon-limited Camino stuff

So, I guess there aren't any rules on what I can put in my own blog, so this post will have limited Camino stuff, but will introduce you to Dave's writing since on our trips, he's the one who journals, often daily about what we see and do. He's often tongue in cheek and usually doesn't have an audience. He, most likely, will be writing much of what's in this blog while in Spain. When it's his voice, I will say so, but it will probably be apparent anyway. Also, when he refers to Scout, that's me!

This trip to Oregon was planned long before we planned the Spain trip. We normally aren't crazy enough to have back to back trips with one day between them. We are here in Ashland for two days+ seeing three plays, then drive to Newport to run, and then return here for a day+ seeing two more plays before heading home.

Dave:

May 24/25 and all the prep work is completed…we hope. All that remains is the journey, punctuated with recurring realizations that we either didn't think of this or that critical thing, or that we overthought by an exhausting degree and the trips cannot possibly be worth all the work that went into them. My money's on both of the above. Kudos to Scout for the literally hundreds of hours of prep time. She'll say she enjoyed it, which is code for "If I relied on Dave to get this stuff done, we’d never get there." So true.

San Diego to Portland to Medford, a burg whose alleged "metropolitan" population is 208K. Really? From there, a short rental car (Kia Forte… Never heard of it) drive to Ashland, the town where old liberals go to die. Not in a bad way, though; lots of women in flowing grey hair and Birkenstocks with men in LL Bean cotton chambray shirts and substantial bald spots. Since I, too, have a substantial bald spot, I find these old geezers sad: hanging on to a 1960s that they really experienced (sort of like me).

Found our all-time favorite Ashland restaurant, Pasta Piaza, for some greens, a little home-made spaghetti and a glass of vino. Life is good and, because of the salad, we can pretend we’re "eating right."

May 26: Up at 6 AM for Starbucks and 2.5 miles in Lithia Park, a wonderful walking park despite the posted sign about a black bear sighting on the trail, Then an all bran breakfast at the hotel and a slow drive to Crater Lake, the deepest fresh water lake in the US. Really, really deep. Scout jumped in twice and, even with a rock tied around her neck, couldn't get to the bottom. The thing about Crater Lake (created by a mammoth volcanic eruption that local Native Americans still talk about after 10,000 years) is that, after you look and take a few snaps and hit the gift shop, it’s time to go. We toughed it out for about eight minutes before the 1 ¾ hour drive back to Ashland.

Our first play was Shakespeare’s "Pericles," a play seldom performed, but jam-packed with plot, ships lost at sea, missing spouses, missing children, murderers, pirates, envious queens, brothel staff and lots more. As always, well-acted and wonderfully staged. Met some old lefties before the show and they, like most of Ashland’s population, moved up here to see the plays and, you know, die. Lots of nice, contented-looking people who came up here for a visit and asked themselves: "Why are we going back to Phoenix or Los Angeles or even Portland?"

Good question. We always think about moving here – at least part-time – when we’re here. Something to do with staying in a place we don’t have to clean and buying meals on credit cards that seems idyllic… Until the end of the billing cycle. The answer is: because it ain’t cheap. Unless we can find a trailer park for the double-wide we do not yet own, it ain’t a-gonna happen. So sad.

Back to Pasta Piaza for another salad, a shared plate of pomodoro and a $17 bottle of red. Yum. After that, a walk to the yoga place Scout has found on the Internet. Seems nice enough, but we got lost (again) on the way back to the hotel. Getting lost is a fairly commonplace activity for us now. The good news is, it’s too much wine, not dementia…at least that’s Scout’s excuse.

I'm throwing in some pictures of the day. I ended up seeing another play last night, "Guys and Dolls." Got tickets in the afternoon and Dave stayed back at the hotel and chilled. The performances were good and it was enjoyable, but the play showed its age and not in a good way.

Camino books in a local travel store!

Yes, snow at Crater lake in late May

Gorgeous Crater Lake

Wine, plays, food....not bad!

Lithia park walk early morning

This morning we ran and walked 5 miles at Southern Oregon University. It's our go-to place for an even surface. Of course, there are prettier spots to walk and run, but this is easy, and we will visit Lithia park again when we want "pretty." Ok, off to a yoga class this morning before lunch and seeing another play at 1:30. We also have one tonight. Namaste...........

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