If you asked the dogs about today, they would just have yawned. It was a mostly a travel day, and travel days are not that exciting for canines or humans.
We spent the early morning cleaning up after ourselves. Vacation rentals have taken to charging security deposits, and I was determined to leave the place in just as good condition as we found it. I was also determined we would not forget the camera, either! Ellen helped me thoroughly clean the Abrams Cottage. John packed the car while she and I took the dogs for one last visit to the dog park.
We drove for a couple hours and stopped in Roseburg for lunch. John and I had done this on a previous trip, and when we mentioned to Ellen that we had found – courtesy or Urban Spoon – a decent Greek place there, she was all in favor of a repeat visit. It turned out that Ellen had actually never been to Roseburg, so I explained about how most of the downtown had been destroyed by a blast from a truck loaded with nitro in 1959. Unfortunately, there is little charm in the rebuilt downtown and the area seems like one of the most economically depressed in Oregon.
From Roseburg, John turned the driving duties over to me and I continued on into Portland. We were stuck for about 45 minutes in horrendous traffic near Eugene. Apparently several cars, including one carrying a boat trailer, had been in a serious accident.
We arrive in Portland around five o’clock. Mike, Ellen husband, has been busy building a rental unit in the back of their property. When they move to Virginia, they will rent out both the house and this “ADU” (planning talk for “additional dwelling unit”). They hope to come back to Portland and stay in the ADU in the summers if Ellen in not teaching. Mike has made a lot of progress on this. The walls and the roof are all up, and windows and doors will be in soon.
Jill, a long-time friend of Mike and Ellen’s, came over for a visit. She is the second person on the left. Jill is a really smart and interesting person. John and I spent an afternoon at her house a couple years ago. Ellen ordered pizza and we had a pleasant supper on the back patio.
