Hello friends!
Our summer in Oregon is almost 1/2 over, so I thought I'd catch you up on our adventures so far.
 |
| Running horses sculpture just east of Sisters, Oregon. |
We had a mostly uneventful trip north. This year, Ben's brother Greg decided he'd like to see more of Baja, so we picked him up at the La Paz airport and took him north with us on our journey. He did volunteer to help Ben drive, but after seeing the narrow roads, and the numerous potholes here and there, he said he was happy that he just let Ben drive! All went well, except when we stopped in San Ignacio to show Greg the old mission church and the village, I fell down the last two stone steps and scraped up both knees and strained my ankle a bit. I was ok, and Greg and another nice lady helped me up (Ben was walking the dogs). I cleaned up and applied band-aids to both knees...it reminded me of my childhood "look"! I wore them for several days!
The border crossing at Tecate took way longer than we were hoping (several hours, at least), but we made it through finally.
Shortly after arriving in Oregon, we had an appointment to renew our passports, which were expiring this summer. That process went very well. We went to the Bend Post Office (Ben had made an appointment ahead of time for us), had our pictures taken, and had the passports expedited. It cost a bit more, but Ben wanted to have his in hand ASAP just in case there was a hurricane that he needed to hurry back home to help get our house ready. We had them within 2 weeks!
We helped out with meals and other things when we could, as the family was dealing with taking care of Guy, Mel's ill son. Helpers included Guy's mother Sherry and brother Mel Jr. Sadly, Guy passed away peacefully last week after his battle with brain cancer.
While we were at Fort Rock, Ben took a tumble off of the temporary wheelchair ramp (trying to get around their dog Cocoa, the chocolate Lab) and hurt his right arm. He thought it might be broken, but a trip to urgent care in La Pine resulted in a "no break" answer, but the possibility of a Rotator Cuff injury. He's still hurting, but not as bad. (Add that to our medical issues this summer! See below!)
After our stay in Fort Rock, we went to Ben's brother Ken's place near Sisters, and stayed there while we had doctor appointments. I had several biopsies at the dermatologist, and just this week, had one of the spots removed. (It took most of the day for the Mohs surgery.) Fortunately, even though it is a rather weird type (the lab hadn't really figured it out yet), he got it all.
I also saw my cardiologist, and he said my heart was in good shape, other than the constant Atrial Flutter. He referred me to a specialist who can do an ablation AND insert a Watchman device, which eliminates the need for blood thinners. I'll be seeing him in mid August. Ben will also be seeing a cardiologist. He's had a heart murmur for quite a few years that our GP has been monitoring, and thought he should check in with a cardiologist this year. Fortunately, our appointments are on the same day! (We do tend to have the same kind of things going wrong with us!)
Obviously, we are tending to spend more time visiting doctors these days! But we also did some fun stuff. Mel and Katie took us fishing up at Deadhorse Lake one day. We had a blast, and caught a bunch of beautiful trout. We used wet flies and fished out of Mel's drift boat. Even the dogs got to go, and Gus was sure excited about the fish! I just found out today that they want to go back there with us next week, so we're looking forward to that!
We also celebrated Ben's birthday with our good friends Janet and Tony. Janet's birthday is the same day, so we often celebrate together.
After all the doctor appointments we went over the mountains to the valley. First place was in Salem at George & Carolyn's place. They have a lovely spot for us right next to their patio with an electric and water hook ups. We met up with various friends from the area, and visited Willamette Valley Pie Company, which is very close to where we used to live in Salem. I purchased a pre-baked Marion Berry pie, which we enjoyed with George and Carolyn. Yum!
On to Eugene, and up the hills to our friend John's house. After setting up our trailer, we went out to meet John and his friend Sue at Bennett Winery near Cheshire, Oregon. There was live music, and some good wine, and a car show for whoever wanted to participate with their classic car. John drove his 1956 Mercedes Gull Wing. It makes quite the statement!
The next night, we made sure to make it to our favorite Eugene restaurant, Mazzi's. Our waiter said the owner's grandson, a good friend of his, is now the main chef of the restaurant! We started going there soon after he opened in 1970, raised our kids on their food, and ALWAYS make at least one visit there a year. Delicious as always!
You can see our trailer hitch in the pic to the left, and the big trucks come through the back area to unload.
Gus got in big trouble this morning when he got into the baby chick pen and killed two of them! They are raising about 30 for meat. Well, now maybe 28. Bad dog! And, did you know a full grown chicken can move faster than a speedy dachshund? We didn't either, but thank goodness they can. (Dogs are now wearing their "pay attention!!!" collars on the farm).
We marked July 27 on our calendar a long time ago to be in Eugene for a Purkey family reunion. We met at Greg's house and enjoyed visiting with 3 of Ben's brothers and their wives (and one niece). John came all the way from North Carolina where he lives now.
 |
| Me and John |
We took a couple days this week to go back to Bend for my dermatology appointment and left the trailer on the farm. Coming back, we took the old McKenzie Highway over the mountains, since we weren't towing the trailer. It's a beautiful drive, and we stopped at Dee Wright Observatory, where I managed to go to the top (my dermatologist said to take it very easy today and the next week after the Mohs surgery, so I walked up slowly!) I remember hiking up this monument when I was a little girl!
OK. I've caught you up, and we've got two more months to enjoy Oregon. There are many wild fires going on right now, most started by lightening strikes. Where we are currently in the valley is not smokey at all, but evidently it's pretty awful in far east Oregon and Idaho.
If you want more photos, just check out the June 2026 album and the July 2026 album.
Your Baja friends in Oregon,
Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho
