May 31
After work today, Kelly and I had drinks with Brian and Leigh at their place Airstream, before moseying into town for pizza and salad at the super informal Martolli’s – one of our favorite places to eat in Ashland.
Over the course of the evening many stories were shared … all which are securely situated in the vault.
Brian and Leigh are good people and it was a stevie wonderful evening.
May 30
Like most days, Kelly and I worked all day. Normally, this routine plays itself out as we sit in office buildings miles apart. Here in the Airstream this week we sit at a table working 42 inches from one another, yet hardly exchange a word. We are too busy pounding away at our laptops and remotely participating in meetings, all while bouncing in and out of instant message chat sessions with co-workers.
Sadly, I’ve accepted this mundane repetition of ours as the new normal … the quid pro quo of working for the man … we push the corporate rock uphill (a seemingly never-ending hill mind you) in exchange for a regular paycheck every two weeks.
Working remotely this week was supposed to shake things up a bit. Alas, even here in our beloved Ashland, we cannot escape the whispers of work as it peaks over our shoulders, it’s stale breathe an unwelcome reminder of what awaits us back in California.
It is what it is I suppose.
And, it sucks.
Oh the irony – here we are situated smack in the middle of natural beauty. Stunning 360 views abound and I hardly looked out the window.
On a more positive note, the day concluded in a lovely manner – Mother Nature gracing us with fabulous dusk lighting as the sun made its way elsewhere for the evening.
Our silver neighbors
Tomorrow is Friday and once Kelly and I close another work week, our first order of business will be to hit the town with Brian and Leigh; they too will likely be itching to step away from the responsibilities of the real world.
Surely they will be sufficiently bad influences … exactly what Kelly and I need.
May 28
On Monday Kelly and I drove about three hours, crossing into Oregon before settling-in for the week near the outskirts of Ashland. The winding roads, luscious green pine trees, and alpine fog made for a beautiful drive. If you are ever in the area, it is definitely worth diverting from I-5 and exploring the backroads of the national forests surrounding Mount Shasta.
Passing a jack-knifed truck along I-5 a few miles south of Ashland, OR
We’re at Emigrant Lake currently, a location we’ve been once before. It’s a fabulous spot, made even better as we’re here with friends Brian and Leigh for the week. Our jobs require that we all remain busy with work during the day, but the change of scenery is welcome, as is their company.
My office view this week.
Kelly and I adore Ashland; something about this place seems to fits us well. It will be nice to share our time here with others who will appreciate all this great little town has to offer.
I wish every week was like this.
Awaking to another crisp November morning, our plan today was pretty simple – make a quick visit to Noble Coffee for espresso before taking Lilly on her final walk through Ashland. Afterwards, as the plan called for, we’d hook-up the Airstream and depart in time to rendezvous for a lunchtime meet-up with my cousins about an hour away, before finally making our way to Eugene – our destination today.
Per usual, the Noble barista pulled a succulent shot and Lilly was happy to be outside, happily depositing her marks for other dogs to inspect. All was going well – that is to say, without incident.
The same cannot be said for the remainder of my leave preparations.
Typically before engaging in departure or arrival activities, I like to conduct a quick visual inspection, walking around the trailer as I look for anything unusual. During such review this morning, I noticed one of the curbside tires was running low.
Actually it was worse than that – the tire was completely flat.
$%*!
Ugh, a flat tire
I updated Kelly on the situation and she called for roadside assistance while I began readying both the flat and spare tires.
Roadside assistance to the rescue
Ready to exchange the flat tire for the spare
I was impressed with how quickly the service guy arrived. He was really nice and we engaged in a bit of chit-chat. He was mostly curious about our trailer and before too long and without too much hassle, the repair was complete and the service guy left. I figured all was well and we’d quickly be on our way.
Then the following dialogue occurred:
Kelly: (sensing that I was looking for something and with annoyance in her voice) “what are you looking for?”
Me: “Did you move my keys?”
Kelly: (with significant annoyance in her voice) “REALLY?!?!”
Me: (with passive aggressive annoyance in my voice) “Yes, really.”
To summarize the next half hour … we tore everything apart in search of the keys. Eventually, we did find them. Of course they were safely in the truck, almost in plain view the entire time.
$%*!
We were only about thirty minutes late for lunch and had good conversation with my cousins. The remainder of the drive was uneventful once we managed to get ourselves on the road.
We’re now in Eugene, resting and content at Armitage County Park. We’re here tonight while we await some service work at the Airstream dealer in town. Like most Oregon parks (and certainly by comparison to the “campground” we stayed at the past two nights) this place is awesome. Tucked away in the Northeast side of town, the park is quiet, each site affords loads of room, and Lilly-dog adores the fully enclosed two-acre dog run located just steps from our site.
Lots of room and plenty of open space in the RV park
Dog park
We’re here just for one night. We need to flush our holding tanks and fill with fresh water in advance of dry camping most of the coming week while we’re in Washington. Bummer our stay will be so brief, we will need to plan another visit for sure.
Wandering With Purpose 