May 1: In Love with LaGrande

People: La Grande, OR is gorgeous! How did I miss this place?

This morning when we finally got up, it was sleeting a little. Actually, I got up pretty early after a night of wrestling with the camp mat and realizing it was too full of air! (Finally figured it out in a blur at some ridiculous hour.) We had a nice breakfast of eggs and fruit, and I got to go on a little jog with T-Lou around the campground.

We cruised out at last to the amazing La Grande, home of Eastern OR U and the kind of place I fantasized living in as a college prof with a Piled Higher and Deeper (that I never managed to get). OK, a little run down in spots, but with that wonderful old fashioned town center all plunked down into a green valley with sweeping pillow lava and sculpted mountains around it.

We were there so that I could quickly get some school stuff done at the public library. Let me just say that I have always been a huge fan of public libraries since hiding behind the red velvet curtains in the window seats of the one in my town. But with wifi needs, there's no better place. St. Elizabeth folks know I live at the Poulsbo library (why do they not have a picture--it's beautiful!) when down that way (a paragon of libraries!)

"Quickly" turned into hours. My laptop couldn't get itself online. After messing around with Device Manager and going through countless paths to fix Windows or Lenovo's connection devices, I gave up and used the library machines for school work, which turned into an hour's worth of work. Then, thankful that a computer store was just kitty corner to the public library. There, La Grande became the great epicenter of human kindness.

If you are ever there, visit these fabulous folks at eoni--Eastern Oregon Net. Their motto is "The Internet Done Right," but what they do right is help travelers and refuse to take any money for it. Yes, I don't lie. The tech quickly gave me a workaround (yes, Lenovo is evil), and we could finally get on the road.

The lush green gave way to drier stuff, but once again, that Tolkien flash of ruins hit me. You can kind of see it in this photo, the "wall" at the top of the cliff. But it's river carving, not human. 

Somewhere in Idaho

Sadly, we were in too much of a rush for me to get tons o' photos, but we did finally make it to the Twin Falls, ID KOA, where I am typing this at a ridiculous hour and must go to sleep! (Had to do school work first. My myth students this quarter are just fabulous, but I hope it is also at least a little that I shifted some things around in the class in new ways based on some student suggestions. Oh, well, then I guess students get all the credit.)

Here at the KOA they have a funky miniature golf and kiddie area but trees and howling coyotes. We like it. And it's DUSTY, not muddy. The novelty of that alone is worth it.

Scott is getting sicker with his cold, so things are getting interesting. T-Lou is snoring in his Dog Cave under my bed. In fact, I found out today that Avery (our granddaughter) wants to buy T-Lou a welcome bone. See, it's all about the dog. He just brings us along.

A shout out to my wonderful Phoebe who gave us an iPod for Christmas. Or did I already shout out? I'm loving it except for the fact that I've only been able to load Don Quixote on it so far. But I love my apps: temple bells for meditation timing, calendar, camera, microphone. But iTunes is the devil--just remember that.

Tomorrow, we have a gut buster day, hoping to get to Rawlins or Laramie, WY. It ain't gonna be pretty inside the car, but I hope it is outside!