Meri and I just returned from our semi-annual trip to Oregon. We normally travel out there for Mother's Day and Thanksgiving to visit both of our families. This trip was a little unusual, though. Meri's Dad, Ed, had made plans to go back to Virginia to visit his family while we came out to spend time with Meri's Mom, Evelyn. Sadly, Meri's brother, Bill, needed Meri to assist him during his recovery from a stem-cell transplant. He's in the hospital at OHSU in Portland. Meri flew out to Portland on April 25th, leaving me to bach it for a couple weeks.
I packed the car and left for Oregon on May 2nd, driving as far as I could that day before landing in a Walmart parking lot somewhere in Idaho for a few hours of shut-eye. I finished the drive to Portland (Lake Oswego, actually) the next day and spent the night of Thursday, May 3rd with Meri at the home of Gary and Elaine Lord on Lake Oswego. Gary and Elaine have been so kind to host Bill and his fiance, Jan, during Bill's prolonged illness. Meri and Bill grew up on Lake Oswego and Gary Lord was a neighbor and good friend.
The next day, Friday, May 4th, I hit the road again. I had a show that day at the Oakshire Brewery in Eugene, thanks to my long-time friend, Mike Dilley. (I met Mike when I was attending the University of Oregon in 1968. He ran a recording studio in town - The Well-Oiled Sound Machine - and I did some work there from time to time.)
The brewery gig was quite unique. They're located in a warehouse in North Eugene. I performed in an area where they normally store kegs, but they moved them out and set up tables for their regular Friday event. Even though the location is pretty much off the beaten path, the beer is well-known to locals and a good crowd shows up on Fridays. Mike brought his 1960's-vintage Martin D-12-20 (he's the original owner) and sat in with me. He also brought a friend along, Jim Dotson, who's a banjo player. I asked him to sit in too and he ended up playing my banjo for most of the afternoon.
I haven't played a 4-hour gig in quite awhile, but I breezed through it without a break. Got to play most of my original tunes, plenty of Kingston Trio and Brothers Four stuff and we had a great time. The pale ale was excellent, by the way.
Right after the gig I packed up and hit the road to Jacksonville. I had to take Ed to the airport at 5:00 AM on Saturday, so I didn't have time to linger in Eugene. I had hoped to see my Mother, but she was off to Hawaii for Mother's Day. My nephew, Gavin, lives in Eugene too, but he had to work that day, so we didn't connect either.
I made it to Jacksonville about 11:00 and got a few hours sleep before taking Ed to the airport. I was a little nervous about being the "man of the house" during Ed's absence. Evelyn is 92 years young (and I mean young!) but I was hoping that I could fill Ed's shoes without any problems. As it turned out, everything went very smoothly and I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend some special time with Meri's Mom.
When we visit, I always have fun with Pepper the Dog. We have our morning walks and play times - he's a great little pooch of unknown lineage. He was rescued from a homeless person on the Oregon beach about 6 years ago and he's been Ed and Evelyn's faithful companion ever since.
Sadly, Pepper had developed a cyst on his leg and had it removed the week before I arrived. He was stitched up and bandaged and we had to take him in to the vet the next day to have his wound attended to. The vet decided to send him home in one of those stupid cone-collars so he wouldn't chew the stitches out. But he's a smart dog and he figured out how to reach his paw way out so he could lick the wound.
The next day the vet called and asked Evelyn (and me) to come in for a conference. That didn't sound good, and sure enough, the vet informed us that the biopsy on Pepper's cyst had come back as cancerous. The vet recommended amputating the leg, which was quite a shock to all of us. (We didn't tell Pepper.) We called Ed and the decision was made to go ahead with the amputation, so we took Pepper back in the next day. That was the end of my play-time with Pepper for this trip - he's still in the hospital recovering. I sure hope he makes it OK - I love that little dog!
During the week I had a few shows at retirement homes in the area and then on Thursday, May 10th, I played at the Bella Union Restaurant in Jacksonville. That was a fun night and the audience included some of my classmates from Medford High School as well as our good friends, Bob and Sandy Schmidt, who I met here in Denver at the Atlanta Bread Company. They're originally from the Medford area and when we met we discovered that Bob's brother, Roger, had been a classmate of mine at Medford High. Bob and Sandy have moved back to Oregon and it was great to see them again.
On Mother's Day I had planned to take Evelyn to church, but she didn't feel up to it. So instead I spent the morning singing Gospel songs for her. She seemed to enjoy that. Ed's flight arrived a little after midnight that night and Evelyn stayed up to go with me to pick him up.
The next morning I packed the car and headed up I-5 to Lake Oswego to spend a few hours with Meri again at the Lord's house. It was a beautiful day on the lake with boats going by, water-skiers and kids being towed on inner-tubes. We sat on the deck sipping Spumante and talking about the old days. Gary Lord had some great stories and it brought back some good memories for Meri. Meri cooked up a beautiful meal for all of us and we had a fun night. I wish I could have stayed a few more days!
But I had to be back in Denver by Wednesday, May 16th, so I had a long drive ahead of me. Meri took me up to the hospital to see Bill on my way out of town and then it was non-stop back to Colorado. I drove 21 hours straight through, only stopping for gas and potty breaks.
About 5:00 AM the next morning I was driving along a monotonous stretch of I-80 through Wyoming when I noticed an odd light in the sky. I wondered if it was a relection from some light shining up from the ground, but then the moon broke through the clouds - a beautiful crescent moon hanging very low in the sky winking at me. Suddenly I was wide awake watching the man in the moon as he dodged in and out of the clouds. A little while later I noticed the light of dawn starting to creep over the horizon. Gradually the sky became an awesome pink as the moon rose slowly higher. The sunrise magically took me most of the way to Cheyenne before I started to feel groggy. I stopped for gas and forced myself on down I-25 for another 90 minutes to home. 21 hours straight through with no sleep. I crashed for an hour before I had to guzzle some more 5-Hour Energy to stay awake for guitar lessons.
It took me two days to recover from that drive, and I don't think I'll do that again. I was anxious for Meri to get home and her flight arrived the following Saturday, May 19th. When I picked her up she was in a wheel chair. She had injured her leg somehow in Oregon and was barely able to walk. But the most amazing story she had to tell was about how she managed to fly home without any I.D.!!!
Apparently, she had left her wallet in Bill's car after she came back from visiting him on Saturday morning. When she got to the airport - uh - no wallet - no I.D. But Meri has magical powers and the ability to manipulate just about any situation. So she managed to get the airline to issue her a boarding pass (I could never do that!) and then she went to the security check point. She explained her situation to the TSA agents and they called in the head-honcho to talk with her. He quizzed her with questions about who she is, who I am, what kind of car we drive, etc. and amazingly - he passed her through! When I heard this story I was flabbergasted! That just doesn't happen, but with Meri, anything is possible.
So now we're back home together. The pool's open and we're anticipating a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. I have one show today and then I'm off for three days. Life is great - enjoy every minute. And God bless the USA!
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