Sherwood, OR

Stella Olsen Park and nearby neighborhoods

Running time: 56:43.5 + 2-minute kick

Back in our old digs, spent 2 nights at my brother’s house, so I made do with a suburban neighborhood run. The first day I ran down a main street, found a side trail, and did back-and-forths on the trail to stay away from the carbon monoxide. Day 2 I looked more closely at the map and found a nice paved trail that ran through some wetlands and a big wooded park.

Our visit was many-fold. Our youngest is starting college at Oregon State next month, so we came back for orientation, and to move him temporarily in with a family in our hometown. Our middle child left his car here last year when we moved to Utah and gave him a newer car, so the old car now belongs to the young one, so he can move himself to school from his temporary abode. I showed him how to check the oil, how to add oil, and how to replace a head lamp. I also showed him where the power steering fluid reservoir is. He found the windshield wiper fluid reservoir all on his own.

We also helped clean out my mom’s house. She moved into assisted living last month, and we are renting out her house to help pay for that. My four siblings and various next generationers were on-hand for the separation of belongings into take-it-it’s-yours/garage sale/dumpster. We also visited my mom in her new fancy apartment, which she likes in spite of the fact that 6 weeks ago she said she’d rather die than go into assisted living.

And, finally, we gathered some belongings from our old house to take back with us. Our Suburban is full to the ceiling right now with kitchenware and various sundries. When we get back to Utah, we will be packing for our move to Grand Rapids.

We did not want to move to Grand Rapids. We have been living with our daughter, her husband, and our granddaughter. They are selling their house and moving to Rochester, NY. Our plan was to find a house near to them – our first choice was Canandaigua. Then my work said I couldn’t live there because my sales region does not include NY. What a fun day that was when I found out!

We looked at Minnesota, Wisconsin, and MIchigan, and finally settled on Grand Rapids. We looked for houses for about 3 weeks before we found one. Compared to Oregon and Utah, this house is a bargain. It is much roomier than our old house in Oregon, which we are renting to friends (which is why we still have stuff there). And, as it turns out, our nephew is starting college next month in Grand Rapids. So we will not really be empty-nesters.

I hope this is the last time we will move, at least for awhile. Our kids will be spread out – one in Oregon, one in North Carolina, one in New York, with us in the “middle.” My wife has been philosophically opposed to living in the “middle,” but now we will try to enrich the middle with our liberal ways.

Turns out I don’t miss Oregon, other than elk hunting. Our old neighborhood is less-than-desirable, and we are contributing to that by making our house a rental. The homeless problem is worse here than anywhere else I have seen, and I have seen many places in the last 15 months. The saving grace is the beer, but other parts of the country are catching up on that. There is a small brewery less than a mile from our new house. That will be one of my first visits when we get there, before our containers of stuff arrive.