Rebekah Day

** This post is for Monday, June 7. But the hotel's Internet connection died, so it didn't get posted until the next morning. **

We got to spend all day with Rebekah. What a treat. We had breakfast at the Wild Goose Cafe. Then, while Mary went back to the hotel to do some computer work, Beckah and I went to SOU. I left my job there almost 6 years ago. There were a few changes, but most was pretty much the same. We visited the Computing Services Center, and chatted with a number of people I used to work with. There was a kind of depressed feeling, from recent layoffs to ongoing budget struggles. But it was good to see that some of the things I started, such as Blackboard course management system and the Help Desk.

We also visited the Theatre department, where Rebekah picked up some of her graded course materials, and where I got to hear great compliments about her. When we went to see the library, we ran into Hart, an old friend that I worked closely with on Blackboard training and the Master in Management, including the Guanajuato, Mexico exchange program. She indicated that I should also stop by to see Meredith, who was also one of the coordinators of the Guanajuato program. The funny thing is that I think I saw them yesterday at Crater Lake. They accompanied some visitors from Guanajuato on an outing. We may have run into some of these visitors; that is, they may have been the Spanish speakers we overheard. But when we were leaving the gift shop, I thought I saw a couple of people at a table in the care that I knew, but I wasn't sure, so I didn't stop. Funny, huh?

After that, we went to Costco, where Rebekah bought a Wii system she had been saving up for. While in the area, we got a car wash and went to look for other old friends, the Veilleux's. Unfortunately, although we think we found the right place, it seems they moved not long ago. We also drove by our old house on Rio Street. The trees that we planted were huge! But the landscaping was mostly the same. The house was a different color, though. And most surprising, they sold off our big back yard and another house was there. It was interesting to see it and the old neighborhood. Overall, it was less changed than we might have expected. 

We then went to Red Robin for lunch. We had a french dip sandwich in Kansas City and really liked it. But we’ve gone to Red Robin in several cities since, only to find they didn’t have it. We were happy they had it here. We told the waiter we had driven thousands of miles to get it! Beckah also enjoyed a veggie burger. We ran some other errands, and then ended up in downtown Ashland, where we strolled through Lithia Park (one of my all-time favorites) and enjoyed Ashland Creek. We also strolled around downtown, looking into store windows and looking at real estate flyers. Ashland continues to be extremely expensive. In the end, we bought some very expensive -- but delicious -- chocolates. Then we went back to the hotel to hang out, chat, and watch “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” on Netflix. It was not only hilarious, but great music. 

Okay, that’s a lot of detail, but it was a fun day.