Day Ten was a kick back and relax day. We didn't rush to get somewhere. No 400 miles of driving. Just puttering around, getting things done and having a nice day. The weather here in The Dalles was dandy. A little windy, but I could live with that.
No breakfast at the Oregon Motor Motel. Nothing. Nada. You don't get what you don't pay for, I guess. We could have stayed at a Motel 6. I think they have a loyalty program too. Oh well. Hindsight is looking backwards and that isn't really helpful when trying to move forward. Anywho, we got out of the room fairly early. First stop, laundry.
I sort of like doing laundry at a laundromat. There is the possibility of human interaction that is missing when doing laundry at home. Sure, it is a hassle lugging laundry, remembering all of the accoutrements, getting quarters, etc. But still, I do enjoy it, mostly. The Wash n Shop was fairly small. And I stuffed a little too much laundry in the single load machine. And I washed two pens (which, fortunately, did not ink the entire batch of clothes). While it was doing its thing, mom read and I wandered around buying stuff (there was a Dollar Tree next door). First, laundry detergent. Next, adapters for my computer plug - yes, the lovely Oregon Motor Motel has some plugs that are still two pronged. And lastly, some pens. To replace the ones I washed. Sigh.
While we were there, we chatted a bit with the attendant. She gave us an excellent suggestion for where to lunch - Windseeker. But before we headed there, we went to get the oil changed. I have never heard of and never visited an Oil Can Henry's before. Has any one else experienced this place? If you haven't, I would highly recommend it. We had a PIC (person in charge - ranks after Manager and Assistant Manager) named Matt who was working despite his upset stomach. The employees kept talking with one another and double teamed the car. Customers get to stay in their car while the work is done, which was pretty fun. They gave us a newspaper, which mom wanted to keep (I think she is becoming a bit of a kleptomaniac...) and Matt allowed. We got new wiper blades (mine were pretty beaten up) and were on our way in a short time. Yay!
Next stop, food. I figured lunch was a good idea, especially since we hadn't eaten anything for breakfast. The place that had been recommended was far off the beaten path. I doubt we would have ever tried it (though there were road side signs) if it hadn't been recommended to us. The GPS took us right there, of course. They had a lovely little garden and was right on the edge of the Columbia River! Great view from the seats we were given. Victoria, our server, was very friendly and personable. Mom had salmon, I had a lunch special that consisted of half of a roast beef sandwich, salad, soup and a piece of peach pie. Everything was good and enough food to keep me happy. And I had two beers.
After lunch we took a very short stroll through the garden. Very pleasant.
We headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading to the movies. I ended up napping a little - though I did think about working on Flippety. I have some graphics tweaking I ought to do. When I changed the sizes of the tiles in the last go round, it messed up the work I had done resizing before. That is the way it works with computer applications. One tweak here means six or seven tweaks need to be made there. Sigh.
We went to the theatre and watched Madagascar 3 - not in 3d, though I could tell some of the scenes were designed with 3d in mind. Fun movie! Mom really enjoyed it. Maybe for Christmas, I will get all three of the movies for her collection. Then again, maybe not. Finances will tell. :) Post movie - back to the hotel to watch Tiger struggle and fall behind in his tournament. I must admit to being a Tiger Fan. I know it isn't as popular a stance as it was - I bet he is not a very nice human (never really has been). Oh well. I still keep hoping for him to dominate. I was inordinately pleased that Rory McIlroy missed the cut. Again.
Eventually we headed out to dinner. I had decided we would try the other beer place in The Dalles (Pals), RiverTap. I am glad we did. A much better experience than we had in Clock Tower Ales, all things considered. The three women there worked together to make sure that everybody was well served. They had iPod touches that acted as their own POS, making ordering much more efficient. Lydia brought us water, Debbie brought me beer, Nora just kept wafting past and smiling at us (there was nothing she needed to do for us in any case). Learned a little about Debbie and Lydia - something which always makes me feel like my visit was a good one. Mom learned a little about the Wind Turbines of which she has become enamored thanks to Lydia. I had a taster of beer - five 5 ounce pours (a little expensive, but not horrendously so). I was worried about the delivery though. The five samples came on a huge slab of wood that had no handles and no indentations for the glasses. Seemed really precarious to me. But it arrived unscathed! Yay for unscathed beer! For food, mom and I shared a hummus plate and some barbeque wings (a bit too much sauce but tasty). All in all, I would definitely go back there again.
Back in the motel, it was time to wind down. Not a lot on television, so mom read and I watched Star Gate Atlantis and FB communicated with a friend. Fun!
 |
| Laundry ready to be washed |
 |
| Matt at Oil Can Henry's |
 |
| Mom in the garden at Windseeker |
 |
| The beer list at RiverTap in The Dalles |
No comments:
Post a Comment