Christmas in Eugene

12-17-16     We arrived in Eugene to sunshine and warmer temperatures, at least warmer than Illinois. Temps were near 45 degrees and it was great to see the sun. Unfortunately the weather didn’t last longer and before we knew it we were in witness to the worst ice storm in Eugene Oregon in 45 years. Sam and Nicole’s house faired well and we only lost power for a very short time. Two days went by filled with the sounds of trees falling and branches breaking. Many other throughout the area lost power for days.

Looking down the street from Sam and Nicole's
House.

Close up view of a tree branch.

Rose bush after the storm. Hard to believe
they were mowing lawns yesterday.

I'm loving the Yurt idea. They're Beautiful.

Karen, Sam and I went Yurt shopping the at Pacific Yurts in Cottage Grove Oregon. We had been browsing yurts on the net and wanted to see them in person. We all agreed that we’ve love to put a yurt on some property as a summer home in the high desert of Oregon.

Hannah arrived a day late due to weather in Colorado. Hannah ended up flying from Cedar Rapids to O’Hare. She arrived at O’Hare near midnight and slept near a soldier. She said she slept near the soldier because she thought she’d be safer. The floor of the airport treated them both well and she was on her next plane at 9AM and arrived Portland a few hours later. Needless to say she slept great on a decent bed, in fact she fell asleep on the couch and had to be vigorously woken up to go to bed.

12-19-16     Sam and I drove through the rain up to Willamette Pass Resort for some snowboarding. The rain quickly ended as we approached 2000 feet of elevation and shortly thereafter everything was draped in a blanket of pure white. We got our passes and soon I was trying to get back my snowboarding legs. The last time I snowboarded was 6 or 7 years ago in Wisconsin. It really didn’t take too long for me to get my legs back. I didn’t fall much but I kept my speed slow until I felt comfortable, I was worried about catching the front edge of the snowboard and face planting and breaking a wrist or something else. They day went great and I was feeling comfortable taking on slightly different terrain and more speed. This wasn’t an issue until the last run of the day when I caught the front edge and went face first hard and fast. Luckily nothing broke, other than pride but days later my shoulders, neck and arms are still a bit sore.

Driving up to Willamette Pass Resort

Lift up to the summit, about 6700 feet. We
received about 6 inches of snow this day.

Virtually deserted slopes. It was great, especially since I hadn't snowboarded
in quite a few years. I did get my legs back and ready for Mount Bachelor.

12-21-16     The days have been moving by quickly as we’re getting used to the Oregon winters. Winter here is not cold but it is very damp and rainy. I wouldn’t say it’s worse than Chicago winters because it is relatively warm (in the mid 40’sF each day) but the sun hasn’t shone itself much. Hannah and I did do some bike riding as I tried to show her the highlights of Eugene. This was somewhat hampered by the remnants of the ice storm a few days ago, trees and debris are still being removed and areas cleaned up. Since I haven’t been biking too much I have been running quite a bit. The other night I went of for a run and stopped at the local dispensary and picked up a bit of chocolate (Dark Chocolate with Marijuana inside). Haven’t sampled it yet but plan on it before New Year’s Day.

Hannah grabbed a quick pic as I showed
the chocolate I picked up shopping.

12-22-16     I had been trying to finish up a bit of last minute Christmas shopping and started to feel “Not so well” and a day later spent the entire day in the bathroom and the bedroom. Karen took good care of me even though I was banished to the bedroom to try and keep whatever virus I to myself. A day later I was allowed back in other areas of the house as I had no fever and my color was normal. Writing this days later it appears that we were successful. I’m feel close to 100% even though my stomach is not quite up to par.

12-24-16     Christmas Eve morning came with some morning sun and my stomach feeling like pancakes, this is a great improvement from 2 cups of Lipton soup broth I’ve eaten the past day. I had planned on finishing some shopping but Karen took care of it so I all day to do whatever I like. I made an online appointment at Great Clips for a haircut and walked there which was a nice 35 minute stroll. I arrived just to find they had closed early which makes sense for Christmas. Unfortunately they took my reservation and I walked there, reminded me of Seinfeld rental car reservation episode.

Oregon always makes you feel welcome.

Evening came and Sam arrived home from work just in time for our planned snack night. Karen and Hannah had prepped hot buttered rum, chili cheese dip, pizza and movies. The movies consisted of all the Christmas favorites but the feature turned out to be Animal House. Hannah has never seen it and since it was filmed here in Eugene we thought it would be an interesting change.

Christmas late morning photo-op.

Hannah getting her dog fix before heading back
to a dog empty college life.

Sam's Christmas Morning gift to me.

2-25-16     Christmas morning came to all of us with weary eyes and yawns, not having small children around makes Christmas morning a little less fun. We quickly prepped and drove over to Nicole’s parents for Christmas Day. While on the way Sam needed to stop by the Dari Mart and pickup some beer. He bought me a Mickey’s Ice. The smell reminded me of high school, looking at it reminded me of being homeless.

Christmas dinner was great as you can tell.

Everyone was exhausted after dinner, even
Hannah's new friend Rugby.

The Sister's as seen from the top on Skinner's
Butte on a somewhat clear day.

Hannah loading a magazine with 9mm slugs.
She's going shooting at the range tomorrow.
Really looking forward to her Christmas present
from Sam.

She had a great time. Nobody hurt except
the silhouette.

The day flew by with Nicole’s parents being fantastic hosts and cooking wonderful food. All of us other than Sam enjoyed the dogs. I think Hannah was the most excited of everyone after receiving Sam’s gift to her, a 9mm box of ammo and Sam taking her to the range shooting on the 27th.