Bouncing Back

We have been back five days, and I still don't feel like I am in my old routine. I suppose you leave to break up routine. Right now I miss my old routine.

We thought about dropping by to see my old college roomate, Barbara and my niece, Lindsay while we were in Oregon, but it seemed like such a huge effort. I suppose it was because it rain and rain and then it rain some more. All that rain was so exhausting. You have all heard me whine because of the lack of moisture in Denver, but I not sure I could ever get use to all that rain. Even the dog, who loves water got tired of it and would only go out when she really, really needed to go. I did manage to finish "World Without End" and two smaller novels. I can't help thinking it would have been more comfortable if I had been home.

Paul managed to sell the RV, but he did not think is was going to sell. He intended to leave the truck in Oregon, buy a small car and come back to Denver. He looked and looked for a small car and then got nervous that he would not find anything and impulsively bought a 2005 Aveo that turned out to be nothing but trouble. Because he sold the RV there was no point in leaving the truck in Oregon. He spent two days and over $200 repairing the Aveo in the parking lot of the Motel 6 in Troutdale, and then I drove the truck back and he drove the Aveo. Aveo still needs a lot of work done.

Highlight of the trip for me was probably the day we spent in Lincoln City. Althought the 20 minutes or so we spent walking the the beach in horizontal rain left us soaking wet. Highlight for Paul was the day we sold the RV. It's exciting to buy and exciting to sell. Thank you, Judy, for taking down our posting.

We had to take our time coming back so Aveo would not over heat. The first night we spent in Boise and the second we stayed with Mom and Ed in Salem. We had a really nice visit with Mom and Ed. It was nice to catch up with what they are planning this summer.

We both enjoyed the hour or so we spent in Twin Falls while the Aveo rested. We went and looked at the canyon and then had a hot dog at Costco. It is a very pretty town. We took very few pictures because of the rain, but I did get a couple of good shots of the canyon in Twin Falls.

On the third day we let the Aveo rest at Glenwood Canyon while we had a picnic on the lawn. Brandy was very leary of the eagles with the feet wing span.

We hit rush hour traffic all three days. Paul had no idea so many people lived in the SLC metro area. He is back to thinking maybe we should retire there. Mainly because it was not raining, and he thinks there must be a reason why so many folks are flocking to the area. Give him six months and he will want to go somewhere else. What can I say? He has the heart/soul of gypsy.

I had parked my car at an RTD park and ride because I was planning on flying back. While we were gone the city of Denver gave my with a ticket because I had not pre-paid to park in the RTD lot. It told me how to pay the ticket, but not how to pay for the space for 15 days. I called Thursday (and sent followup email on Friday) and I am still waiting for a call back.

Last time I parked there (Sept of 2010) it was free and I misread the instructions on the RTD website. It stated: "If your vehicle is registered to an address in-District, you may park daily at no charge. You will be subject to the park-n-Ride fee for extended use each day after the first 24 hours." I only read the first sentence (there are reason I don't work for NASA).

Still upset about no call back, I know, I will have to pay late fees because the only thing I paid was the ticket, but not sure how to pay for the parking space. I am upset about government agencies make rules that private companies have to respond timely, while the government is somehow exempt from the same rules.

My other rant being why should the general public have to make up for the deficiencies in their pension plans? If the community actually got some kind of assistance I could see why municipal employees should be reward for the many years of 'dedicated' help, but not when government workers do not feel they owe the public something (a phone call) in return. Grrrrr!

The good news is while we were gone "The Decorative Painting Society" reshipped the magazines I had ordered from them and I got my first two issues of "Lapidary Jewelry". I am in magazine heaven.