Mostly Tillamook

Made it to the Oregon coast. We're always impressed by the small towns in Oregon. They seem to be much healthier overall than so many of the empty store fronts we've seen across the country. How do we measure that? A good bakery, a walkable public space, full stores, foot traffic.

It was nice to be in one place for a while. We visitied daughter & son-in-law, Hannah & Nick, in Tillamook. They bought their first home December 2019. The previous owner was a gardener who spent 20 years carving her paradise out of land that feels like a national park. The house is quirky and unfinished which is a great opportunity for H&N to craft it into their forever home.

We parked Athena at their adjacent neighbor's shop and told them that we were ready, willing, and able to tackle a home project. We thought that was going to be a deck but found out that there are permits and planning to be done. Downstairs bath it is. Painting, new light fixtures, moved a door, shelving, baseboards, hooks. Everyone worked; everyone pleased with final outcome.

Enjoyed a couple of walks with Hannah. Greg & I drove 101 up the coast one day. Shared meals. I dunno. It would be easier to have more regular, casual interactions (instead of rushed, planned visits) with my daughters & families if we didn't live a country apart. Sometimes moving closer to them seems like a viable option. Let's see where LJ lands.

Prepping to head into Canada. One critical item we had to do while in Tillamook was replace the emergency exit window in the bedroom. It disappeared. One day we had it; the next it was gone. Initially we assumed that the hinge had popped out of its bracket and the window had flown off. The problem with that assumption is that when anything else has "flapped" in the wind (rogue sewer pipe, unlatched door) we've seen it in the rearview mirrors, stopped and corrected. We never saw anything pertaining to the window. The story we are going with now is more fun: we DID stop close to Area 51 in Nevada. It WAS the next day that our window was gone. 

Quick breakfast with friends from Decatur who moved to Yakima. Always fun to catch up and see how life is unfolding. Fingers crossed for seamless border crossing Monday morning. 

 Not many pictures--we were too busy working!!!