Trip to Roseburg, Oregon

I just got back from a trip to Southern Oregon. I took my Mom to see my brother John who lives in a nursing home in Roseburg. It was a good trip and we had a nice visit with John. He seemed in quite good spirits despite his physical troubles and having few visitors.

We drove down on Wednesday and back on Friday. The drive itself was not too bad. We made lots of stops so we could stretch our achey joints and snap out of any drowsiness. The scenery in Central Oregon in particular is so different from Western Washington. Mom commented on how it's nice to just have different scenery.

Central Oregon is very agricultural. We saw many, many farms alongside the freeway. Most were raising crops such as corn, hay, and grapes for wineries. We also saw quite a few sheep farms.

I kept noticing what looked like mini duststorms. At first I was very curious to find out what was causing that. If the "dust" had been a different color I would have thought it was smoke from a fire. But as we approached the area where each cloud of dust was lifting, it became clear that a dust cloud meant a tractor was busy tilling a field.

One thing I will not miss about Oregon is that they allow triple trailer trucks on the road. That's not something we have in Washington. I find trucks a bit intimidating anyway because the drivers have so many blind spots. But a triple trailer makes for even more of a hazard.

I thought maybe Mom would sleep much of the way, but she didn't. She stayed quite alert amusing herself with all the different scenery. At a couple of the rest stops she found the pet area quite entertaining. There were some really cute little dogs. As we were preparing to leave one rest stop she pointed at a small animal and asked "is that a dog?" I looked, and it was a little far away to tell for sure, but I thought it was a cat. I noticed the owner had it on a leash, though, ad I don't usually see cats on a leash. But maybe they have to be at a rest area, right? Then it moved. And by moving I mean it HOPPED! Again and again. It was a pet rabbit! Very cute. It sure made us laugh.

Roseburg is a very nice little town in a beautiful setting. I am always amazed at how friendly people are there!

On the return trip we had a third passenger in the car. I would post a picture, but I haven't told my sister Jozi the specifics of the extra passenger, and she will meet him on Saturday when she visits Mom. I don't want to spoil any surprise, so I think I will wait until then to post a photo.

It was nice to take a couple days and have a little change of pace. Now it's back to the routine - such as it is.