The big day has arrived

Today we moved the last of our possessions out of the house in Clackamas. Yesterday, we moved ourselves to Independence, OR in the motor home, but we couldn't quite fit all the rest and residue of our stuff into the two cars. So, we made a trip to Clackamas (59.4 miles!) and retrieved the remainder.

We returned to Independence/Monmouth where we deposited said items with others at Pat and Katie's house. They are very kind and gracious to have lent us garage space until our new home is complete.

After unloading, we decided to head for Dallas and see the progress on the new house. Much to our delight, the contractor and a helper were on site and have formed the foundation footings. Actual progress has been made; something that hasn't happened for three weeks while the monsoons have continued unabated.

We also stopped at our mailbox and collected our first delivery of mail at the new address. This in itself was an achievement. Yesterday, I received a phone call from the post office. The woman said that they would be unable to deliver our mail, because we haven't a house. (Now I know how TRULY homeless people feel.) I explained that we had gone to the post office with the intent of renting a post office box, but the man behind the desk said that he would instead give us a key to the community style mailbox which will be ours when the house is built. He said we could just have our mail delivered there. The woman said she would see about that!

Today, she called back, and in a rather apologetic tone (Imagine! A government worker with an apologetic tone!), she said that she had checked; we can actually receive mail in this manner. That was wonderful news, because it saves us another address change. So, many thanks to Ben Franklin and his marvelous mystery machine, the United States Postal Service.

Once we retrieved the mail, it dawned on us that we all were hungry. Patrick suggested that we try a restaurant that none of us had tried before. We settled on "Bert's Family Restaurant." Now Bert's has a beautifully landscaped lot and a nice looking building. On the inside, the decor is, shall we say, less than opulent. The food, however, was quite well cooked and very tasty. Friday is "all you can eat fish and chips" day, so of course, that's what Patrick and I ordered. We will return; oh, yes! We will return.

After dinner, we returned to Pat and Katie's home for some gaming. We played a board game called "Ra." It is quite simple, but very challenging. Katie made some shrewd maneuvers and came away the winner. We all agreed that periodic and regular meetings for gaming will be in our future.

Once the game was over, Jill and I returned to our little home at Ash Creek RV Park, where we are quite comfy. I will post some pix in the near future.