Dinner with Sierra

TrackTown, USA: Our day was relatively easy, after our long drive yesterday, bailing-out our bus, and stocking-up our larder. There was morning exercise. Not by me - too cold and wet - but My Driver limped around the RV park a bit. Our situation in Eugene:

The trees have turned and beauty abounds in Eugene this week.

Our Big Field Trip today was to visit the Duck Shop at Autzen Stadium (University of Oregon football stadium) to see what we could see. Our nephew, Michael (in Colorado), had sent a text last week about an Oregon shirt he was looking for and could I help him find it? I could not find the shirt. His mom could not find the shirt. This shirt, apparently, did not exist. Imagine my surprise when we entered the Duck Shop and found a huge display of the exact shirt our nephew was coveting! Done! It was worth the drive only to make Michael happy. We couldn't find much of anything else to tickle our fancy, but left feeling very happy.

I spent the afternoon prepping a lasagna for our traditional "first night on the road" meal Friday. Don't get too picky that we left our house in La Quinta a week ago. Tomorrow will be our first official night "on the road" in our bus, so I made a lasagna. Don't get too picky again, when you realize we are traveling only 100 miles tomorrow. Double-checking our engine, we don't want to get too far from Cummins. Anyway, we have to get Out of Dodge. The University is hosting (college football) Colorado Saturday and there is no room at this ~~inn~~ RV park.

The best part of our day was having dinner with Sierra (only child of Dave's college roommate, Bruce). Sierra is a sophomore at Oregon, and invited her friend, Vithika, to join the party. The girls hopped into our car amidst crowds gathering at the basketball arena for a women's exhibition game. Word is the Oregon women's basketball team would/could have most-probably won the NCAA 2020 tourney. Of course, this tournament never happened, so we will never know. Tonight, the University hosted the graduated team members at this pre-season game to honor the student-athletes, their sacrifice, and generally lauding their brilliance. The arena was full.

We took Sierra and Vithika to Rye, one of our favorite restaurants in town and one that is going over/beyond COVID protocol. We are all vaccinated, but one can never be too careful. The girls really enjoyed their night out (they cook most nights) and it was great to catch-up with Sierra (starting her 4th language!) and getting to know Vithika (marine biology). RANDOM: Vithika's family live just a few miles from my brother in Colorado! After delicious foods (Rye has duck confit poutine), we sent the girls home with boxes of Rye's signature chocolates. After dinner, we posed for photos - snapped by the restaurant owner.