You Can Go Home Again and Again and Again and........!

Sunset at the Oregon Coast

By the time we arrived back in Eugene, ALL of us, that is Myself, Lanie, Big Bertha (the Chevy Diesel) and the 5^th Wheel, had been on the road for some 13 months.  It was August 1, 2014 when we pulled into Deerwood RV Park just South of Eugene for a month long stay; it was also our 33rd wedding anniversary.  That was one BIG THING to celebrate on that day; being HOME again was the other.  Lanie was born and raised there; and, except for a brief year slaving for a National CPA firm in Portland after graduation from the UO, I’d lived in Eugene ever since..  So this was truly HOME for both of us, and it was good to be back.

 

Uniquely Eugene, Saturday Market, 40 years+ running and still going strong

 But, at the same time, it felt different.  For one, we’d sold our Eugene house before leaving on our 13 month “gypsy trail” around and around this great country;  the” 5^th”, now parked at Deerwood, had been our "home on wheels" for some time now.  For another, our “work roots”, for lack of a better term, though still deep, were irreversibly changed.  Lanie had spent nearly 35 years at the UO, me 16+ at EWEB.  Now, we had no early alarm clocks to start us on our daily work grind.  I can’t speak for Lanie, but, though I enjoyed the work I did for the most part, now, in retirement, I didn’t miss the “work” part at all. But I did miss the people I worked with, as did Lanie.

At the Afghani Food Cart at Saturday Market, Shish Kabobs to die for

It was kind of weird for me to head out to the ROC (Roosevelt Operations Center in West Eugene, my EWEB home for the last 3 months of my work career), and not be able to just swipe an access card to get in.  I called one co-worker, got her voicemail, and left a message asking her if she’d come down and let me in; then called another co-worker, same thing.  I must have stood outside the locked entrance doors for 10 minutes before another EWEB employee  I recognized (but couldn’t immediately recall her first name) came by; and I politely asked if she’d let me in.  She agreed and I was “inside” finally, punching in as a “guest” and catching up with old friends.  Lanie did similar at the UO, though she was such a long-time fixture at the UO College of Education, I doubt that she had to wait 10 minutes before “begging” a former co-worker to let her in.

Siuslaw River near Mapleton, at our friends, Mary Ellen and Tim's, riverside retreat

Anyhow, there was so much catching up to do, both at work and in personal affairs such as doctor’s, dentist, appointments, maintenance on workhorse Bertha, etc., that the time just seemed to fly by; our weeks in Eugene were just as busy, if not more so, than our previous standard work weeks.  We also were soon away from Eugene for more than a week, first hitching up the 5^th and heading to Bend for a long weekend to attend a wedding; from there heading directly to one of our favorite RV parks on the Central Oregon Coast for a few more days, then , on return from the coast, dropping off the 5^th for some repairs and annual maintenance.   Since this was our “home on wheels”, we, temporarily homeless, headed to the Salem area for a couple days, staying in a motel and doing some wine tasting.  By the time we picked up the 5^th, on a Friday, and set it back up at Deerwood, we were already at mid-month; yet it seemed like we’d barely had time to “catch our breath”.  And the hectic pace wasn’t over quite yet.

Deschutes River in Central Oregon

"Roughing It" at Sea & Sand RV Park near Depoe Bay

The truly beautiful Oregon Coast

Next morning, a Saturday, I was off to the Portland area, first to have a long breakfast in SE Portland with my long-time best friend, Lyn, who drove all the way down from the North Seattle area just for the food and conversation.  It meant a lot to me for him to do that, and it was great catching up, however briefly.  Then I was off to my Clackamas High School 45th class reunion picnic (yes, do the math, I’m that OLD, but I really don’t feel so.)  Anyhow, it was nice catching up with old friends from “way back in the day”.  And, after an overnight stay up there, I was back in Eugene, and Lanie and I were planning what to pack in on our remaining ever dwindling period of time in the Eugene area.  

"The Daver" and "Spike", two good buds from Clackhi Football Days

And more buds, clockwise from left, Doug, Bill, and Bill.. all were wrestling teammates - Bill, with the grey hair... okay, to be more precise.. "up-front" Bill, was State Wrestling champ our senior year at 136 lbs

And before we knew it, we were OFF, leaving behind (again) a wonderful hometown and truly great and scenic state (BEST in the country in my humble opinion), not to mention family and friends.   We were headed to Colorado again via a meandering route that took us out the Columbia Gorge, up into Washington State to Spokane, then following the Columbia even further up to a little town called Trail, British Columbia.  We had a truly steep descent into the Columbia river canyon to Trail and a truly remarkable, long hard pass to climb out the next morning, crossing from there into the Eastern part of Idaho panhandle and then into Northwestern Montana, spending a second night on the road in a KOA on Flathead Lake.  Third night was spent at Little Bighorn, a return visit to the RV Park there; then we headed down through Wyoming to Colorado, arriving there on September 3rd.

Blass "Splash, Bounce and Camp", our exclusive RV spot in Louisville, CO

 You see we had a date at our 2^nd Home these days in Louisville, Colorado.  Grandson, Jonah, lives there with his full-time attendants, our daughter Sara and son-in-law, Drew.  But for two weeks in early September we were needed as more than just doting grandparents (which we unmistakably are). Seems his regular Nanny was on vacation the early part of September, and we were needed to fill in.  It was a volunteer job, but we weren’t complaining; besides one of the perks was being able to park our rig right in the Kid’s large driveway.  We spent our evenings there, where we had electricity and water hookups, and our days with “Little Man” Jonah in and around the house.  He was and is an absolute delight, a happy, easygoing, and very loving and loveable little tyke almost all the time.  We were also fortunate to see… well Lanie saw them at least… his first two wobbly walking steps, on the occasion of his 14^th month birthday no less.  And during our time in Colorado he’s sprouted a couple more teeth, and is quickly learning how to use those “chompers”.

Jonah's an outdoor kid, one of his favorite spots being a water tub, with toys, on the deck

And here he is at the controls in his backyard "cabin"

 In a larger sense, and this owing to our recent year of blissful retirement and “gypsy like” ways, we have been fortunate to be able to visit Jonah and his parents several times over the past 14 months, starting with our arrival for Jonah’s birth on 7/4/13, and continuing with Thanksgiving in Colorado again, a return for his first birthday, then this latest trip “home” as Nanny’s.  Plus we’d spent a few days with Sara and Jonah in Nashville last November, a week with the whole clan, including also Tempe based daughter, Emily and her boyfriend, Trevor,  in March in the Phoenix Valley,  a rendezvous with Jonah and his parents in Des Moines, IA, and, just before that, a quick visit back in Oregon this past June for my Mom’s memorial service.

Jonah, hula hoop in hand, multi-tasking in his family room - He was also standing and working on that walking thing at the same time.

We’ve been truly blessed to spend so much time with Jonah, Sara, Drew, plus that week in March with Emily and Trevor, and, before that, Christmas with Emily in Arizona.  But come tomorrow (Sep 18) as I write this, we’ll be hitching up and heading out from Colorado yet again.  Originally we’d talked about a swing up through Wisconsin and Michigan, two states we’d missed on our cross-country travels the previous Fall, then spending the winter months working our way South down the Atlantic Coast and across the Southern Gulf Coast, including Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, BEFORE landing in the Phoenix Valley by March.  

 BUT that all changed…  backing up a little bit here on the timeline… when we found out, as we were headed toward Colorado in late August, that the townhome we own in Tempe that had been leased out for the past few years, but that we always intended to move into after our long travels, had been vacated suddenly by the existing tenant, who had broken the year long lease (originally extending through March 2015) she had with us.

So we basically had two choices: 1) have our property managers rent it out for another one year lease period; or 2) take the house back now and accelerate our Arizona moving plans.  We pondered the alternatives for a bit before deciding on the latter, the decision influenced just a bit by the other big news we received about this time from daughter, Emily, namely that she and Trevor were now engaged with a wedding planned sometime within the next year.  

Our "Gypsy Travel" Map has a few states left unfilled (Wisconsin, Mich, Virginia, etc)- Those will have to wait

So we will now be heading directly South and a little West to Arizona, setting up our last “Gypsy Camp” for a while at Tempe Travel Trailer Villa, which is conveniently near both our daughter and Trevor, and our soon-to-be new residence.  We’ll live in the 5^th for another month or so while updating the townhome, then head to Eugene probably in late October to load up our household belongings, presently in two West Eugene storage units, and drive back down to Tempe, our latest “home” since retiring.  

We’ll miss Eugene and Oregon.. A LOT!... but are already planning regular return trips to the area next late Summer/Early Fall, a trip that may well become an annual affair.  And Jonah and his parents, as long as they remain in Colorado, are just a short flight, or easy two day drive, from Tempe.  If they move elsewhere, well we’ll track em down regularly.  And now, in Tempe, we’ll be close by to help with preparations for the upcoming Emily and Trevor wedding, which will undoubtedly be in Arizona.  Life is good for us right now, I think.  

All in all, Home is where the Heart Is, I truly believe!

Lanie and I at Sara and Drew's wedding, July 31, 2010, King Estates Winery, Oregon

Trevor and Emily, Tempe, AZ

The Blass family, Sara, Drew, and Jonah, Louisville, CO