Day Fiftyeight - Aug 9, 2004

Newberg, OR to Corvallis, OR

High Point: Brian - A high end technology fix Theresa - Walking on Mary's Peak

Low Point: Brian - Finding the Buena Vista Ferry is closed on Monday Theresa - Saying goodbye to Michelle

Miles By Automobile: 72

Miles Total: 13957

Price Per Gallon: 1.86

Today's Weather: Sunny, in the high 90's and low 100's

Tonight's Lodging: Todd's Pad

Where Uploaded: Salem, OR

Wildlife: Cows

Daily Didactic

Our day started with our second very comfortable awakening in Newberg. Sadly, Alan had to go to work and left sometime before dawn. Michelle, SuperMom, was teaching at vacation bible school and had a number of other people's children downstairs by the time we awoke. We gathered ourselves and, after a sad goodbye, got back on the road. Goodbyes between Theresa and Michelle are always sad occasions and it is clearly about time our Oregon friends did the right thing and moved to Alaska...

We headed back through McMinnville and south toward Independence. A cousin of Brian displays art in a gallery in Independence and Theresa was eager to take a look. Strangely, there appears to be some sort of understanding that artists, museums and galleries need not function on Mondays, and it turns out the gallery we were after was typical. We walked up and down the very short and quaint main street of Independence for a bit and then headed south for a backup event, taking the very old school Buena Vista Ferry across a very narrow section of the Willamette River. Turns out ferry operators don't like to come in on Mondays either, or for that matter Tuesdays, and we settled for wandering on the ferry without guidance.

We headed on to the goal of the day, Corvallis and a guy who does work on Monday's, our buddy Todd. Todd is a one of those really smart people, with the added bonus of being a really nice guy. Todd is always good for a OSU technology tour that leaves Brian befuddled. After a series of server rooms, labs, and network infrastructure that had Brian dizzy and envious, we headed into the woods for the nearby Mary's Peak. This little adventure had a great Oregon mountain road, an amazing view of the Willamette Valley, a little hiking, and some very fun four wheel drive fire roads. We eventually descended back into Corvallis and let the our local guide lead us to dinner at a great little Mexican restaurant, followed by a campus tour with a guy who seems to have all of the keys... After a healthy mix of technology and the great outdoors, we called it a very fun day.