Chores, now fun

The last few days have been mostly chore days.

Monday:  Washed and vacuumed the tow car.  We also did two walks for a total of six miles around a really great city park in Tualatin, OR, south of Portland.

Tuesday:  Moved from the RV campground “Roamers Rest” south of Portland in Tualatin to the Columbia River RV Park in north Portland.  We also hiked in Portland’s Mt. Tabor Park, created on the only volcano within a U.S city's limits per Jim.  (We later read that Bend, OR, and Jackson, MS, also have volcanoes in town.  Jackson??)  Mt. Tabor is also the only place in the country where we’ve gone hiking and come pretty close to getting lost -- but Jim’s sense of direction and Cooper’s nose prevailed.  Afterwards, we had dinner at what may be one of Jim’s favorite Portland pub, Madison’s Grill. On the way back to the rig (at first I wrote “on the way home,” since home now truly seems to be anyplace our RV is parked) we saw a wonderful sight on the Columbia River:  dozens of sailboats with blue, red, yellow, white and striped sails.  Pretty!

Wednesday (today): Drove across the mighty Columbia to Vancouver, WA, so Bev could have a root canal.   I’ve had problems with a tooth since shortly after we left Salt Lake in early June; when my cheek started to swell I finally called my dentist.  He put me on penicillin and gave me the name of an endodontist near Portland.  But the tooth has calmed down and the Vancouver DDS thinks all may be well. So no root canal today.  Afterwards, Jim and I went to the Navy Reserve office in Portland to renew our military IDs, which allows us to use military RV parks.  And after that:  tah dah -- we had lunch at Rogue Brewery with SLC friends John and Deb, Deb’s sisters Pam and Lisa of Cleveland, and Dane’s friend Michael who are in town for this Saturday’s wedding of John and Deb’s son Matt.  Chores are over, let the fun begin!