Portland, Oregon

 

Funny the things you forget...

I drove to Portland, Oregon yesterday. 
I have an appointment early Monday morning to have my van looked at. Hopefully my mechanic friend can figure out why the fob and inside lights stopped working.

I stopped by my middle son's house for a short visit and enjoyed some of the luscious pork roast he had in the oven. Then I headed over to my eldest son's home for a visit. I have two teenage grandchildren that will be starting school on Wednesday and I wanted to at least see them before school started. We grazed their wonderful garden, and I stuffed myself with golden raspberries and cherry tomatoes and strawberries. My son was off kayaking, so I had a great visit with my daughter in law and grandkids, then headed out to the van about 9 pm to sleep.

I had cut reflectix to fit in the driver and passenger window, as well as in the smaller triangular "wing" windows in the back. But in the two side windows, I'd simply cut some decorative film that I got at Home Depot. It blocks the view of people wanting to look in, but lets in the light. It looks like stained glass. It's very pretty but I realized pretty quickly it wasn't good for sleeping. All night long, the very bright streetlight at the end of the driveway shone in my eyes. I finally took off my pj bottoms and positioned the leg over my eyes to block out the light, and got to sleep. The same light woke me up at 4:30 am!

Note to self:  Cut more reflectix

You'd think I'd have known.  There was an "Oh doh!" moment as I recalled yes, I had reflectix for those two windows in my last van. I just wasn't thinking. Also, in my old van, the back was entirely blocked by the kitchen I'd had built in, so no light came in from the back window. Last night, the little curtain I usually draw across the electric van door window was used to block the light in the back window. Though comfortable at the dark beach a few weeks back, I wasn't prepared for bright street lights. Next time, I will be!

I've been using the van without the fob now for a couple of weeks, and honestly, it's no big deal. I wonder if I'm stupid to pay to have it fixed. I guess I'll just wait to see what the issue is and what it's going to cost, then decide. We've become so used to ease in our modern lives, we forget the simplicity of simply using a key to lock doors instead of pushing a button. Maybe I'll just leave it be.

As I write this, the whole house is asleep... all except Shakti, my son's cat. She is sitting near the box of her food, rattling her food bowls, telling me she's ready for breakfast! She and I are early risers. I'd better go feed her before she awakens the rest of the family.

Happy Trails!

Annie