Pulling into Oregon and Eugene

We drove into Oregon near Illinois Valley about Noon on Wednesday the 8th, and drove directly up through Grant’s Pass. We stopped long enough for lunch at a reststop.

We pulled up to Adam's Aunt and Uncle's house, and were greeted by Adam's mom and dad, who we had pre-arranged to meet up with in Oregon. Adam's dad had been practicing his compound bow, getting ready for a deer hunt in Louisiana in November. He has amazing accuracy with it, even getting a bulls-eye at over 50 yards! We had a great steak dinner at home and a good sleep after that.

The next day was a bit more strange and convoluted. Adam's folks packed up and left, as they had to get back to California (we had originally planned more overlap with them before we knew Aunt Sue would be in L.A.) We had heard that Aunt & Uncle's primary weekday caregiver had taken issue with us being at the house. At first we weren't sure what this meant, was it because we were gay? because of an misunderstanding with the family? In any case, we decided we really didn't want to come between our relatives and those that give them the daily, steady support that they need, and so we packed up and gave Wanda and Lyle hugs and kisses, and told them we'd find another place to stay while in town.

A small town pub with a sense of humor.

Tony's Aunt Mickey is a resident of Eugene, but was out of town taking care of Aunt Sue in Utah, so we were in a bit of a pickle. Tony sent off an email to a couchsurfing couple in Eugene that we had planned to meet just for drinks, asking if they had a place to stay. One of them was feeling sick, so we decided to get a motel for the night, which worked out fine. It took us a few days though to get our mojo back, and felt a little put out by the situation. So it may have colored our opinions of the area.

We spent the day driving all over the countryside south and west of Eugene. Beautiful rolling hills, partially forested with open meadows. Exactly the kind of country we would love to settle in!

Our current psychological state, we decided to have some wine and swiss-cheese food product for dinner. Unfortunately the triscut-knock-off crackers that we picked up tasted of rancid oil. Yum! But it wasn’t enough for us to come up with an alternative for dinner, so we made due with the wine and cheese for dinner.

Our first impressions of Eugene were less than spectacular, unlike our previous visit here 4 years ago. It is still a beautiful town, but there seemed to be quite a lot more economic depression mixed in. We were also surprised by quite a bit of rudeness in stores, restaurants and businesses, which was completely different from our previous visit. We weren't sure if we had somehow missed this in our last visit, if it is something new, or just plain bad luck. But it is unsettling and sad to see.

Also the neat gay bar that we visited last time in town, Neighbors, has closed, leaving Eugene without much of a permanent, "out" gay social scene. We've since learned that there is a healthy private social scene, with things like weekly movie nights, a hiking/walking group, and private parties. (check out queereugene.com) but to Tony at least, a active community center, bar, or other permanent visible part of the community really helps ease his conscious that the local community is indeed tolerant, and that people don't have to hide in the back of a closet for fear of violence or even just plain harassment. Still, there have been no deal-breakers for the Eugene area, and it is still on our strong potentials list for a home in 2009.

Note: I'm going to try and catch up on the next week of activities (Eugene, Bend, Portland) on the drive to Seattle on Sunday 10/19 T.M.)