Saturday

We went to the farmers market and it was perfection.  I've never seen anything like it dear reader. It was like gourmet stores and vendors and restaurants but under well designed and high quality, custom tents spaced perfectly inches from the next vendor to allow for all the vendors to fit in the area blocked off.  The vegetables were bulbous and the bread and cheese monger were similar to the Seattle high profile patisseries. There was a guy with an actual pizza fired oven!  Like in San Jose where I grew up there was a lovely Hispanic woman selling fresh tamales.  Yeah it was beautiful. We headed to Medford, Oregon to go to Costco and pick up what we would need food wise for a while. We came home and my uncle got the grill put together and I made a steaks and he made tortellini with butter and garlic, and cabbage salad and garlic bread it was absolute perfection. We bought so much fresh garlic because he enjoys it as much as I do that I will most likely smell like garlic for the rest of the year LOL.  Nothing on the agenda today for Father's Day just rest, relax and enjoy the day. I understand it's supposed to warm up but since I got here I've been colder than I've ever been so which I totally enjoy. I spoke to my cousin Francis who lives in Eureka, California and she most likely will be coming down to stay for a few days next weekend I hope. My uncle has a map that he has our trips planned on so I'm really excited about that. Rick has two dogs one named Tug and one named John and they're the sweetest most loving dogs ever. Patches is the property cat and although I don't see it much it is a sweet cat when I do. I miss my cats very much and Shawn of course but this is probably the most relaxing vacation I've ever taken..  I feel like I am staying in the middle of Yellowstone for all the wildlife and the birds and how cool it is in the mornings and well into the early afternoon. I have this beautiful large bedroom with two queen size beds in it with room to spare I have the entire second-floor all to myself and my bathroom has a beautiful skylight and I never thought about having a skylight in the bathroom but it just makes it perfect lighting wise and optical wise. That is all for now dear reader I hope you're having a summer as perfect as mine.

Friday Day one

Arrived at 9 in the morning and spent the better part of the morning touring the property and looking at all the improvements that have been made in the last 12 years, wow!  It was hard seeing my mom's apartment and I definitely won't be spending any time in that wing of the house, but I can see it from my bedroom window which is kind of a drag.  The rose bushes where we spread some of my moms ashes are magnificent.  I couldn't believe that with all the guests my uncle hosts that he only had a tiny charcoal grill like the kind you take on a camping trip to the beach so yesterday we went and bought his first proper propane grill better suited for a property of this size and function.  Today we are going to head to the Farmer's market and get some fresh vegetables.  Got unpacked this morning and looking forward to the coming month.

Made it to Eugene

Made it to Eugene for the night, see my YouTube.  149 miles to go tomorrow until my final destination.  Long day, long drive.

Big day tomorrow

I'm headed to Grants Pass, Oregon tomorrow all by my lonesome.  Long drive but I'll stay at a hotel tomorrow night.  I got a ticket for my bestie Tammi to fly up 7/13 to Medford so we can go on our Twilight Movie Location road trip and then we head to Oklahoma 7/15 arriving in Inola 7/17 so I can meet the attorney 7/18 in Claremore at 9, then grab the stuff from storage and head back to Montana the same day.  I won't be hanging around any longer than necessary, don't worry.  I will attempt to post everyday just sharing in summation what I did that day so I don't look back and ask myself what I did for that month.  I'll have a month after I get home before I have to be back at work, so yay!  We are thinking about flying to Vegas since our last trip there consisted of me hanging out in our suite at Caesar's Palace on the phone with the hospital about Nana.  I am hoping to explore the eastern and southern most parts of Montana as well.  Uncle Rick and I are going to tour the 400 miles of Oregon coast and into California's Redwood Forest, so it'll be busy.  Have a good summer dear reader.

Dumb GoPro

So very frustrating when you buy an expensive video camera and you can't convert the files quickly and easily!  #ReturnedToStore ugh.  I still have the files from our vacation that I need to convert eventually to Leavenworth, WA and this incredible waterfall between there and Seattle and then a ton of footage from the Space Needle etc. and of the four hour each way train ride to Vancouver, Canada and the city itself.  Anyway, this is the first moment I've really had to sit down and reflect on all that's happened.  Firstly, the drive from Helena up to Seattle was lovely, and the weather over the passes was like another world!  We went from cool, fall like weather to a full on snow storm, I have proof but alas, see the aforementioned camera drama.  Of course I love all things rain and snow so I was clapping happily all the way.  Seattle is famous for their rain, however there wasn't a cloud in the sky the entire nine days we spent there, however when we left of course it poured like Noah's flood.  of course it did.

Seattle although pretty and offering up great food and attractions, is overrun with a homeless population that literally has a tent city on every surface of sidewalk and there is no "good" part of downtown, so just be mindful of that if you are traveling with kids or teens who don't pay attention to their surroundings.  I adored the cruise and the ferry rides we took, and we got to watch a family of whales when we went to LaPush beach on the Quileute Nation Reservation See here on the Twilight voyage I convinced my travel companions to take with me.  Here's the thing about book versus movie, every scene was shot elsewhere like in Oregon, Washington and Canada.  Which leads me to my next adventure.

My last day of work before the summer break is June 15th, so I will leave at 4 a.m. June 16th and drive to Eugene, Oregon where I will stop and rest for the night and visit a friend who lives there, and then wake up Friday, June 17th and head to the salon and get my hair and nails did before heading to Grants Pass, Oregon three hours south of Eugene where I will spend a month with my Uncle Rick traveling the 400 miles of Oregon Coastline and South to California to the Redwood National Forest.  I joined some Grants Pass Meetup.com groups so my Uncle doesn't have to keep me entertained on the days we aren't traveling or staying in the coastal hotels like Cannon Beach! 

I bought a plane ticket for my bestie Tammi to fly in the afternoon of July 13th into nearby Medford, Oregon so we can drive into western Washington and northern Oregon, and over to Cannon Beach and see all the Twilight movie locations like the cafeteria and parking lot, and police station, and Bella's house and Edward's house and the beach they used for most of the films, etc.  Then Tammi and I will head out on our road trip to Oklahoma on July 15th, through California so I can show her where I grew up.  I am for us to stay in a few hotels so we don't get too tired but my plan is to get us to Inola Sunday the 17th. 

I'll stay in Tulsa though because I don't want to get anywhere near Inola, too much pain there still very fresh.  I cannot even imagine going to her grave or see where the trailer used to be, yeah can't do it.  Monday the 18th I have an appointment with Nana's attorney in Claremore and then he will take me to storage unit in Inola where I will take possession of the items there.  It is my plan to open the door to the unit, throw what will fit into my car "hopefully all of it" and then take what won't fit into my car to the post office and ship to Montana, this should take two hours max by my figuring.  I was going to stay in Tulsa and go to Church on The Move that I miss so bad it hurts, and see some friends and eat at a few of my favorite haunts but I thought better of it.  Best my friends come see me in Montana, after I come to Oklahoma to get my Nana's estate.  So I'll head home July 18th and it'll take a good two days to drive home since I'll be staying in hotels and resting this time.  Unlike the straight 30 hours it took me two years ago hauling a big trailer with my car loaded up on it behind the U-Haul with two unhappy cats in the cab.

So there you go, that's the plan.  What are you doing for the summer?

Videos

 

Pics