July 2020 Road Trip to Oregon: Kayaking with Dawn and Ed

Sunday, July 26, we drove from Coos Bay down to Dawn and Ed's neck of the woods. We'd planned to do a river trip with them on our way home. We rented a room that Sunday night in the Travel Inn & Suites in Marysville, which is right next to Yuba City where Dawn and Ed live. It was cheap (as all the places we stayed were) and looked okay in pictures. In real life it was terrifying. It was filthy. I thought for sure we'd get bed bugs. There was a hole in the bathroom wall. Razor blades under the bed. A domestic dispute broke out across the hall from us/in the corridor right outside our room, complete with a lot of scary and profane yelling. It went on a long time. No joke, I was afraid gunshots would be fired, and I feared for our safety. I tried to keep the girls on the bed on the other side of the bathroom so that bullets would have to go through more walls to reach them. Jim had to leave to pick up Panera for our dinner while the fighting was still happening, and we were both afraid for his life. He made it, though, and we stayed the night and lived to tell the tale. A glimpse of our fancy digs and snuggly girlies:

Monday Dawn and Ed took us on a little trip down the river. It's a lot of work for them to prepare and haul the boats and gear, park a car at the far end, etc. We really appreciated their taking us. My sweet Bear:

The water was cold, so there wasn't much swimming. I did live by my motto, however, and I swam in this body of water.

And that was it for Oregon 2020. We finished the drive home, and I read. I read for so many hours in the car on this trip. All the hours. I love it, but I also pat myself on the back a little bit for being a good mom like that.