It’s “Wine Tasting” Tuesday as we head out into the Willamette Valley. The Elkhart boys are getting together this week to reminisce about our Indiana hometown. All of us now live in Oregon but only a couple of times a year do all four of us get together. We’ll have lunch at the Horse Radish in Carlton, with an appointment shortly after at Resonance owned by the famous french family, Jadot. We’ll end the afternoon at Saffron Fields. It looks like a beautiful Oregon day for wining – not whining. 

I got a new battery installed in my car yesterday, after the incident in The Dalles over the weekend. (See Post #1401). Hopefully, this will be the end of the calls to AAA. We still have plans for at least one more California trip with the Solara before the long drive to Florida. I need it to be reliable these next 6-months before I trade it in on a golf cart. I guess that’s the point when retirement will really begin. It will be stressful these next few months making all the final decisions on the house design and the arrangements to move cross-country. 

My wife’s youngest daughter and husband will visit this weekend from San Francisco. At least, there’s no boredom in our upcoming lives between friends, travel, and family. There’s a sense of optimism that hasn’t been there these past four months of self isolation.  We were fortunate to get away on this last trip to Glacier National Park, following too many cancellations of recent travel plans. Hopefully, our family trip to Hawaii in December will happen. We’ll continue to plan for the future, but may need to be satisfied with continuing to explore the mainland USA. No whining!