TrackTown, USA: Finally! We are on the road, in our motorhome, and pointed south to the beautiful Motorcoach Country Club. We've seen our family and friends. Tidied our house. Annual medical check-ups completed, flu shots, yadda-yadda... and one last visit with Dave's knee surgeon - and we are out the door.
As usual, our first stop is two hours south to Eugene, where our RV will have her annual check-up, lube-oil-filter, dash air conditioning service, yadda-yadda, and a new oven installed. (If you may recall, our 9-year-old oven died on the last night of our trip to Napa this summer.)
Are you jealous of our exciting life... or is it very similar to your exciting life?
We left the Magna Peregrinus with our amazing tech, Brian Van De Walker, at Premier RV of Oregon. While Brian worked on our check-list, we went to Cafe Yumm! for one last Yumm! bowl.
Hot n' Jazzy with TofuI order the same thing every dang time, though every dang time I SWEAR to order something different the next time. Why mess with perfection. (Note to Colleen: I have a jar of Yumm! Sauce for you.) When will Cafe Yumm! open in the Coachella Valley?
After lunch, we went to the 5th Street Public Market to visit Mindy's Needlepoint Shop. Mindy always has fun canvases to stitch. Difficult. Intricate. Challenging. Gorgeous. Colorful. Mindy also has the most amazing collection of silks and wools to stitch with, and I can usually find something fun. Mindy's husband came into the shop today (to repair a door) and I learned they were married just a few weeks after Dave and I - same year. Thank you, Mindy, for having such a wonderful space and for being so helpful.
While at the 5th Street Public Market, we saw a massive pumpkin on display. Dave thought it would be fun to take a photo of Bubbe with a gigantic pumpkin to send to the grandkids.
I think that pumpkin out-weighs even me! They are going to carve this squash in a few days. Wouldn't that be fun to watch?
A talented artist had already gone to work on another huge pumpkin, carving a likeness of the monster from Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. I wonder how many times we have read this book to Lisa... and Leo... and Lucy?Late in the afternoon, we returned to find the new oven installed, our dash air conditioning re-charged and a new lightning dock for my iPod. Yes. I have an iPod Touch. Don't laugh. I don't want to keep my music collection on my phone. I'm a bit of a dinosaur at times.
Above is the annual photo with Brian - posted to irk a few of our friends who deeply regret Brian no longer spending his winter taking care of coaches in the Motorcoach Country Club. Mr. Van De Walker likes to stay home in Eugene with his family. His talents are legendary. His diagnostic skills sublime. His memory something to admire. Brian is a treasure - but not only for his skills at making an old motorhome purr again. Brian is a great guy, has an appealing sense of humor, and you just have to admire a man who gives up serious bank to remain at home with his family.The new oven has the identical footprint as the older model. Brian removed the old oven and replaced it within an hour. I have read all the literature on the new oven, which I think is nearly exactly like our old oven - with one very sad difference.
This dang $1000 hybrid electric oven+microwave combination does not have a display clock. Seriously? How difficult would it have been to have the clock show 24/7, instead only for 30 seconds when the door is opened or when the oven is operating? I would have paid $1010 if the oven had a display clock. There wasn't a thought in my head that there would not be a display clock on the GE Advantium. The cheapest microwave anywhere has a display clock.If any of you have the GE Advantium PSA9120 and know of a work-around, please advise. The GE website claims there is no work-around... unless the work-around is buying an actual clock and adhering to the wall. Dang - for the last nine years, we have used the oven clock as our go-to time piece in the motorhome.
Rat farts.
Until my next update, I remain, your timeless correspondent.
RV PARK: Premier RV Park. I-5, exit 199. Large paved pull-throughs. Back-in sites line a small lake. Laundry, fitness center, club house, bath house, recycling, small store. 50 amp, free wifi. This park is very popular with RVers for repairs and maintenance at the many nearby RV facilities. A lot of live-ins. We are paying $56 per night. Ouch.