Roadtrip Survey

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Where did you go on your favorite roadtrip?
Chicago to Grants Pass, Oregon and back

What vehicle was driven?
1968 VW Microbus, Royal Blue, Name: Easy Virtue

How many people were in the vehicle?
two

Who were they?
My life partner and I

Was gas divided equally among everyone?
yes

Did you partake in any driving?
yes

How long were you gone for?
two weeks

How many miles were traveled round trip?
1,538 X 2 = 3,076

What was the highest gas price per gallon you paid?
$0.38 a gallon

Ever get lost?
nope

Did you use a map, onstar, or navigation system?
map

Did everyone agree on music choices?
yes

Did seating arrangements ever change?
every four hours

Was anything brought along for in-car entertainment?
music tapes, books on tape

Ever play highway bingo?
nope

Was the driver generous with bathroom breaks?
yep

Did you pack food for the road?
yep

If so, what was packed?
vegetarian road food, fruits & vegies

Was it a non-stop trip or did you stop to see scenery along the way?
non-stop

Did anyone sleep in the car?
alternating, we both did

Was a radar detector used?
no

What was the fastest speed you drove?
80 mph

Was anyone pulled over by the cops?
no

Did you stop at any rest areas?
yes, but only one in Nebraska

Did you stay the night in any hotels along the way?
no

If so, what ones?
none

What state has the worst drivers?
Nebraska

Was any food spilled in the car?
popcorn

Do you take caffine pills to stay awake while driving at night?
nope

Did you drive through any patches of bad weather?
bleak winter weather the whole time

What did you do after reaching your destination?
slept, ate, fed and milked the goats and horses.

Would you rather drive or fly next time?
fly

That road trip led to my first visit to Portland, Oregon, My first visit to the Scott Family Home, twenty  minutes away from Downtown Grants Pass, Oregon. The Applegate River was my first kayaking adventure. My first all day skinny dipping, making love on the river, which threatened to carry us downstream in the class 2 rapids.My first meeting with my Life Partner's family, and a whole lot of learning to keep my lip zipped

It was my first experience on a farm, with chicks and ducks and fancy pidgeons. Goats! Lots of them. (Imagine that you're a 22 year old city girl, meeting a frisky Male Nubian goat for the first time - He tried to eat my shirt while I was in it!) There was a two day old kid, named Hunny, who had in the kitchen rights, but no farther! Encountering nasty old pidgeons as pets! That about did me in!

Nothing would do but that I should learn to squeeze goats and get milk out of them. That was a lot harder than I thought, and I milked two goats while my beloved zoomed through the rest of them. Eventually I caught on, and that was a dreadful mistake. From then until the end of our visit, we milked goats twice a day.

The Applegate River cut right through the family farm. So did the highway, leaving several acres empty across the road. The twins, Davie and Donnie put in very young Black Walnut trees, as a Boy Scout project. That was long enough ago that the trees  could be sold for some serious moolah now, and used for something big, like furniture.

My hostess got up at 5AM, Five freaking Ack Emma! to read her bible for an hour. She said she tried to finish the whole thing every year, had since she was thirteen. The only reading material in the house was a doom long bookcase, three shelvevs, filled with Reader's Digest Condensed Books. I think over the years I read them all.

The Scotts ate every single meal at a long, trestle table, as a group. People apologized if they arrived after grace, and we all said grace again in solidarity with the tardy one.They were Free Methodists, which is somewhere to the right of Atilla the Hun. There were seven surviving of Eight children, the first being a stillborn sister. People talked of her as if she had just left the room. I studiously ignored that, and talk of religion. Once that was settled, we got along fine.

There were tons of blackberries in the big freezer, so we had blackberry pie, blackberry cobbler, blackberry smoothies, and best of all, blackberry ice cream made with fresh goat's milk! The hand crank method. We all took turns, saving the guys for last. It turned into ice cream right quick! Yum!

Comments:

Hi Stephy - My name is Annie and I live in Southern Oregon off HWY 140 between Klamath Falls and Lakeview. I know about picking Wild Blackberries just south of Eugene, Oregon in a place called Yoncalla. Picking is kinda painful on the fingers, but the goodies that one can make from that delicious fruit are undescribable. Grants Pass, the Rogue River, Ashland and all of those places are so very beautiful. I'm in the high dessert part of Oregon with sagebrush, rocks, and junipers. But... I love this part of Oregon, too.

Anyhow... I'm glad to meet you and I look forward to reading more of your blogs. I put you on my friends list as you seem like a very interesting person.

Annie :o)

comment by lunarhunk on July 12, 2008 9:43 AM ()

Thanks! I liked the goats more than the people, but that's hush-hush.
The Goats weren't more judgmental than God.

reply by thestephymore on July 12, 2008 11:43 PM ()

Cute! (photos)

comment by jondude on July 12, 2008 8:49 AM ()

Yes, they are that. Nobody warned me to do laundry before we took our clothes home in the minivan. It smelled of goat for weeks, into the Summer. The 95F heat burned it off.

reply by thestephymore on July 12, 2008 11:44 PM ()