Aberdeen, WA to Grants Pass, OR

Our time at our daughter's house near Aberdeen came to an end. It would have been all too easy to stretch it out a day, or two, or three, but our appointment at the RV repair shop held us firm to our schedule. We delivered the trailer within minutes of its time. We almost have the closing/hitching up process down to a science, but we underestimated the time required by just a few minutes. Well, I did refuse to leave without a last hug from my daughter.

Back in August, when we were in Montana, we went over a particularly rough patch of road construction as we approached Helena. It was so rough that my seat belt shoulder harness locked up, and because of the constant jerking, I absolutely could not get it to release and was pinned to the back of the seat. So I took off the seatbelt so I could put it on again, but that same jerking made it impossible to get the seat belt out enough to put it on. I of course belted up again as soon as we got past the construction. We stopped and fueled when we got to Helena, and continued on our way. Over a big hill (not a pass, thank goodness), we pulled over for lunch. When I opened the door of the trailer, I found that the furniture had shifted about (it normally doesn't move at all), other things had shifted, the medicine cabinet was empty, and one of the curtain rods had come loose and was hanging by one end. Aargh! Investigating outside, we found that the rough road had jarred loose the electrical connection between the truck and trailer, and the plug had dragged for miles on the pavement, making what should have been a rounded plug flat on one side.

We learned a lesson the easy way this time. When we had an opportunity to check out the trailer after that really rough patch, we didn't. The worst thing was when we realized we had come over the hill without aid of our trailer brakes! Yes, we definitely got off easy, and we have become very diligent about checking the rig every time we stop.

Back to the present. Our appointment was to replace the plug, and the spring that had gone missing on the receptacle, that helped secure the plug in place. Now we wouldn't have to tie the plug in place with orange baling twine.

The repair didn't take long, and soon we were on our way. We drove through the beautiful autumn day, overnighting at Silverton, Oregon. I hadn't realized Oregon had become such a big wine area. We passed mile after mile of grapes. And then, there were the fruits and nuts and more. Farmstands everywhere. I was smiling and humming inside, because it felt good. Thirty years ago, I lived in the Eugene area for five years, and loved it; I've always wanted to go back to Oregon. I had remembered the big hills south of Roseburg, but I hadn't remembered they were so big! Passes, actually.

There's so much to see in southern Oregon, and Jan is champing at the bit to get out there with is gold pan. We decided to stay in an RV park in Grants Pass, so I wouldn't be stranded while Jan checks out the rivers and streams around here. We paid for a month and settled in.

We were really happy to make it to church Sunday, as sometimes that is hard to do when you're traveling. Here is Calvary Lutheran Church of Grants Pass.

After church, we took the dogs for a romp in the dog park that's only a couple blocks from our RV park.

We travel with two dogs. Claire is a border collie mix. She is a fabulous ball player. Below you see her leaping up for a catch. Tasha, our standard poodle, chases her around but really doesn't "get" the game of catch.

Jan has already met some of the other people in the park, and he's going panning Thursday with one of them.