Are We There Yet?

I'm not really sure where October went.  We spent a large part of it driving north and south on I-5 to Newberg, OR, where Jessi and Josh live and work.  We spent a week in September there scoping out the areas around Newberg anticipating a move there ourselves.  We checked out the libraries, aquatic centers, senior centers, parks and coffee shops :) of several towns.  We've been looking for housing opportunities but haven't found anything that really fits yet.  So there is no imminent move at this point.  We did see one amazing sight in a park In McMinnville. We were walking on a trail when I spotted something white through the brush.  It wasn't moving initially, but soon a brown full-grown deer moved into sight and the "white thing" moved into the clearing and  lo and behold it was a white deer!  I did some research and discovered it wasn't technically an albino deer because it had a bit of brown on its face and a bit on its tail.  But other than that it was pure white.  Pretty cool....and of course the camera was in the car.

We spent the 2nd two weeks of October down there again.  Well, technically it was only 10 days because we had to come back on Fridays to work at Stoney Ridge and then drive back again on Mondays.  Have I mentioned how much I hate that drive on I-5?  We did make it out to  the coast one day which was a real treat.  We haven't been to the OR coast in years and years. 

We also cooked dinner, did housework, took care of the guinea pig (my grandchild!), and helped in Jessi's classroom.  Our goal was to take some of the pressure off of her while Josh was out of town for two weeks so she could concentrate on teaching and grad school.  We graded papers 

and helped at Family Fun Night and helped in the classroom so she could get home before 7pm at night!

It was all worth it, despite the car trouble we had coming home!  The Toyota was running hot and losing radiator water even though we could see no visible evidence of a leak.  A new head gasket, water pump and radiator later, we have our car back.  The mechanic was amazed the car made it back here from Portland.  That's the old Toyotas for  you....they are tanks for sure!