Apr. 15: My Medford trip

Friday

The kids and I took off after school and headed south on I-5. We stopped in Salem to see The Lovely Lori for a few minutes, which put a smile on my face for at least the next 100 miles of the drive. Another stop near Roseburg to let the dogs do their thing extended the drive even more. We finally got to Medford just before 9 p.m. Kathy flew into Medford about ten minutes after we got there. Vic pulled up to Mom’s house just as we got home from the airport. Perfect-ish timing!

Saturday

The day was mostly shopping, eating, running errands, and arguing with idiot clerks at Wal-Mart (that was mostly Kath).

At Mom’s house, we ran interference with all four dogs. Scout made us ever so proud by beating the others in the naughtiest and loudest competitions.

Sunday

Grandma, Uncle Paul and Claire came over for Easter brunch. It was almost entirely painless.

Our cousin Deanna stopped by for a short visit and we got caught up on some of the family gossip. Later Vic packed up the car, dogs and kids to drive back home. I stayed behind for a couple days with Mom and Kathy. It was relatively peaceful with only three people and two dogs in Mom’s house. I say relatively peaceful because Mom and Kathy can be LOUD!

Monday

On Monday morning Mom, Kathy, our aunt Hazel, and I drove around Central Point looking for our uncle Mel. Rumor is that he spends a lot of time in a tavern in town, so we looked for his red truck parked outside all of them.

Yes, that is quite possibly the most Saltmarsh-y thing I’ve ever done.

We didn’t find Uncle Mel in a bar or at home and were just about to give up when Kathy spotted a red truck and yelled, “That was him! I saw his big belly and baseball cap!” She was right. We tailed him to his house and ambushed him as he stepped out of the vehicle.

And that is the story of how we got to see Uncle Mel the other day. Every time Kathy and I see him, we wonder if it’ll be the last time. He’s not well. He gave us big hugs and said he was glad to see us, and even acted as though he knew who we were. It made me teary to see him and be reminded of how much he resembles Dad.

After lunch at a so-so brew pub, we went up to Grants Pass for a tour of Fire Mountain Gems, an online bead store we shop at too frequently. We were disappointed to find that they didn’t have a store in their facility, but thought it was interesting that our tour guide was a graduate of Upper Columbia Academy and Pacific Union College. We just can’t get away from those crazy Adventists.

Back at home, we worked on some beading projects until we were so tired we could no longer focus on silver spacers and Swarovski crystals.

Stephen (my youngest nephew, who’s celebrating his 21st birthday today!) called to ask if he and the band can crash at our house this summer while they’re on tour. I hope we don’t disappoint them (you know those bands can have some hard-to-meet demands), although if we do, maybe they’ll write a song about the shittiest place they ever stayed and then I’ll be famous for a really sucky reason. Proud auntie time: you can hear their music at The Rouge until their CD comes out in June. That awesome drumming? It’s my nephew. I say we call him Ringo and then maybe he’ll marry a Bond girl. As for the rest of the band members, I’ve not yet met them but will be memorizing everything about them for the eventual lawsuit, trial and sentencing.

Tuesday

In the morning Mom, Kathy and I continued beading like mad women until I needed to hit the road. “Hit” being the key word; I ran over a raccoon on the highway. I wasn’t the one to kill the little critter, but he was definitely more dead after I traveled through.

I stopped again in Salem to see the house The Lovely Lori is buying. It’s got nine bathrooms and that oughta give you an idea of how fabulous it is. You’ll get to see lots of pictures of it from all the parties they’ll be hosting over the next few years. Right, Lori?

With the traffic between Salem and Portland, I finally got home last night around 8 p.m. and went to bed soon after. Why is sitting in a car so exhausting? The long weekend with my seester was lots of fun and I’m glad I was able to take a few days off to be with her while she was in our fair state. Thank you, Mom, for hosting all of us!