Thursday, August 11, 2011

A weird day yesterday

WELCOME to our new followers!   diane has a 1961 Shasta travel trailer that she is repairing, looks like quite a job, good luck with your project, diane.  I'll enjoy following your progress!  Thanks for coming along with Me and My Dog, Katie.

Welcome also to hil,  I don't see a blog listed for you, hil, but I'm very happy you are following long with me and Katie on our adventures.

I think there is another new follower, but I can't figure out who it is - the number went up by three, but I only see diane and hil.  If you are a new follower and I haven't found you, let me know in a comment. : )

So...yesterday I unhooked the water and electricity  and battened down the hatches and off we went to shop.  First stop, Walmart.  Tuesday was such a weird day.

I parked back at the end of the parking lot and went into the coach to tell Katie I'll be right back, look out the side window, and this is what I see just driving up and parking:

 Yup.

Weird - they left the campground today and I was wondering where they go.  Well...

When I went into Walmart, I looked out the glass windows, and they were gone.  Freaky.

So then I get a cart and start walking, looking for food. It looked like a big store, but it turns out it wasn't a Super Walmart.   I'm heading toward a register to ask if they have any milk, etc., and there checking out at that register are Donna and Russ.  I rammed Russ with my cart to get their attention.  Gently, of course.  It was so funny.  So they re-directed me to the local Safeway, where I got my food.   Is it a small world, or what?

I drove a few miles to the Safeway and parked at the end of the parking lot where I could get two tandem spaces.  I had to pass some shops to get to the Safeway and found this American flag in a really cute store called The Shamrock.  It was in front of the store with other garden flags:

It's on one of those wrought iron holders that sticks into the lawn.  I've had neighbors who fly the flag, large American flags that fly from their RV roofs.  I don't want a big one, and I want one that is easy to put out, and this was perfect.

So, I buy the flag on it's holder and I'm carrying it to Safeway, like a VERY patriotic American.  I get one of the little carts, and attach it to the back to keep it out of the way.  You can imagine the curious looks I got.  And then I walked all the way back to The Palms with the flag flying in the breeze.  I had to laugh at myself.

Patriotic Shopping Cart

Later in the afternoon two Park Rangers stopped by to talk to Ginny, but she wasn't back to camp yet. They told me the Sheriff dropped the man from the restroom off at a detox unit.  I was really happy to hear that - for his sake and for ours.  Ginny was glad also when I told her. I'm sure she slept better last night knowing he wouldn't be back.

The Rangers came by again around 8:30 this morning to talk to Ginny before she left. They were interested in what she saw the man from the white bus doing with the porta potty contents, which was clearly against the rules.  She's packing up now and will be on her way to complete her vacation in other campgrounds.

Another beautiful, but weird, day in Eugene, Oregon.

This is my favorite campground so far.  It feels like I'm living in the middle of a beautiful park. Ginny said the traffic noises bothered her during the night, but I think that's because she's in a tent; they didn't bother me at all.  The weather here is the frosting on the cake, couldn't be better.

Today we're all hooked up and probably won't leave the campground until we are at the end of our 14 day reservation next week.   I'm going to take it easy until then and act like a retired lady.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Thursday, everyone!  : )

16 comments:

  1. have fun acting like you are 'retired'!..it is strange who you see at Walmart?..you have heard of the 'people of Walmart'?..
    nice to run into some new friends, literally!!

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  2. I think I've been to a Walmart three times in the last ten years. There isn't one close to where I live or shop. Target is the only place around.

    The bus people are probably "free" spirits doing the best they can, but should take their porta potty juice to the restroom to dump.

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  3. Probably the more you travel around the more odd people and strange situations you will see. I wouldn't want to travel around, sleeping in a tent, the way Ginny does. Would want more than a thin layer of nylon between me and the world. A little Class C like yours, or just a little bigger, would be perfect though.

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  4. Hi,
    It was probably me who was the third follower! Just getting the hang of this! Enjoying reading about your travels.

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  5. Well, Ginny is certainly brave. That whole tent camping thing isn't something I'd be overly keen on these days. And I don't mean to imply anything about the surroundings or what have you. By "these days", I just mean at this point in my life. Did the tent thing when I was much, much younger. No more sleeping on the ground, thanks. It's all fine and dandy when the weather is nice, but I do recall peering out the window of our motorhome one morning after a nasty storm to see the poor tent campers oozing out of their soggy bedding. Oh dear! It was then off to the laundry to get everything half ways dry again.
    Felt bad for them, but they were young and didn't seem to mind. It's all about what works for you I suppose, and what you budget will allow.

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  6. Glad the Rangers are following up on the porta potty issue. And that the fellow got taken to a place that might help him. Wish Ginny the best as she camps but tent camping never was or ever will be anything I will do.

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  7. Enjoyed your post and certainly had giggles with the Talking Photo show!

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  8. Barbara, stick around long enough and you'll find that EVERY DAY in Eugene is weird to one extent or another. Where else will you find a festival that crowns a "Slug Queen" as its reigning monarch - and that Queen is most often a man in drag who bribes the judges to select him/her (all in good fun of course).

    There is a fantastic festival going on this weekend though that you might want to go to. It is in Junction City, our neighbor just up the road. This is the annual Scandinavian Festival and I highly recommend it. No carnival, just old fashioned food, crafts, dancing, etc. You can google it for more info. You MUST have a meat pie and a Fri-Jo!! The festival runs today through Sunday.

    Enjoy the rest of your stay and watch out for those "People of Walmart!"

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  9. It was nice "bumping into you" at Walmart. I tried to find a manager so I could file an accident report, but there wasn't one around.:)

    Yup, this is Eugene, and there is never a short supply of "weird things" that happen here. No matter where you are, there's always something strange to see.

    Glad you're here during this great weather! Hasn't been so nice until lately. Lots better here than in most other parts of the country right now...so I'm glad for that.

    Katie is such a cute, quiet, well behaved little girl. I certainly enjoyed seeing her in your "talking photos". Just looked at all of them the other day.

    I'm still enjoying catching up with you through your archives. Have you ever looked at Blurb.com....they can create a book from your blog, and you can edit the layout to suit your tastes. They have lots of interesting books that people have created....and they are for sale. Might be another way to make some money!!!

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  10. I still like to set up a tent once in a while. You can waterproof the tent seams but with the flimsy rain fly that nearly all tents have these days, the rain blows in. The fly MUST cover the tent completely and go all the way to the ground, all the way around. Backpackers tents usually have them, and I've never seen a true backpacker yet who had to squeeze out the water after a rain. I never got wet inside my tent, and spent many rainy nights in one in the 3-1/2 months I was on the Appalachian Trail. But I hate to think of putting up a tent (and taking it all back down in the morning) for just a one night stay, so an RV is definitely more convenient.

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  11. you have the best time acting like a retired lady OK,, I smiled when you said that,,

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  12. Glad you are getting into the "retired" mode! It's different from being on "vacation." You are doing very well.

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  13. New follower as of today. Sounds like I am just getting in when all the action is starting. I am newly retired..my husband has some years yet. We love camping and it is our dream to be full timer's at least for a while after he retires. Looking forward to more adventures. Love your dog. We also have a chi.

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  14. I used to drive from Seattle to Tucson and back without a cell phone and never again. When I think back to being in the middle of nowhere without the ability to communicate, it is just scary to me now. I'm surprised that Ginny would camp in a tent and not have a cell phone...yikes.

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  15. Hi Barbara,
    I may be the mystery follower. I enjoy reading your blog and seeing where you are. I just don't know how to "register". Kristy tried to tell me, but I think I need to be shown. Happy Trails.
    Marie

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  16. I do the tent thing. The best time I ever had in one was last summer. But that was because I was camping for a week at the Oregon coast. So I was able to put the tent up and leave it up for a few days. My tent is such a pain to put up, that on weekend trips I feel like I am not getting my "tents" worth. This is the main reason I want to find a little camper van. Something I can just drive to a site, Set up a chair and be done with it. Since I only do the weekend camping thing, I figure at this time I only need a little camper van.

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