This month's calendar Archives Our Google Calendar
September 9, 2005
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
We spent a quiet Labor Day weekend. Dave had to announce the races on Friday and Saturday nights so we didn't make any great plans. Besides, we were leaving on Monday for our "get away" to Ashland for the Shakespeare Festival and then on to San Francisco to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.
I was home for a couple of days last week and got caught up on most of the household chores, so I decided to drive into West Linn on Saturday because we planned a birthday party for Dave. All the family got together for the day. After the party, Dave went to work and I drove over to see my mother before I headed back down to the coast.
Lara and Greg and the girls came down to our place on Saturday night and spent a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the weather. Dave got home on Sunday morning and on Monday we left for our trip.
We decided to rent an economy car to drive south because gas prices are so high and we wanted to spare the miles on our leased car. So Dave ordered a car online, and arranged to pick it up at the Salem airport on Monday. We planned to leave our car at Leslie and Jason's place since they live in Salem. We arrived at the Budget Car Rental and the whole place was locked up tighter than a drum! After several calls, we finally talked to somebody who said we should not have been able to make a reservation at Salem because the office was closed for the Labor Day Holiday! We explained that we had a printed confirmation in hand and that there was no mention of closed offices or anything like that. Now, the guy on the phone was in India or somewhere and obviously had no idea where Salem was. He suggested that we go to Sacramento, California to pick up a car! Little did he know that the distance from Salem to Sacramento is about 500 miles, which is almost to San Francisco! Apparently, the computer at Budget was programmed wrong, so he blamed it on the computer!! "So very sorry, but there is nothing I can do." So we ended up driving our own car and boy did the rental company hear about it on the phone the next day! They did send us a coupon for a discount on a car the next time we rent. But if we go back to Budget it will have to be because they're giving away free cars or something!
We joined my friend, Bernadette in Ashland for the plays. When we come down to see the festival, we see a marathon of six plays in three days. The three evening plays are in the outdoor theater, the other three indoors. The first day we saw a contemporary play called "Gibraltar" which was a little intense for me. That night we enjoyed "Twelfth Night" which is a Shakespearian comedy. The following day Bernadette and I went on the backstage tour, which was very interesting. The guide explains the happenings backstage during the production of the plays. That day, we also saw "The Belle's Stratagem" that I really didn't enjoy. It took place during the 18th century in London and seemed a little too much "pomp and circumstance" for me. That night it was "Doctor Faustus" who sells his soul to the devil. Our last two plays were "Napoli Milionairia" (which we enjoyed very much) and we ended our stay at Ashland on the high note with Shakespeare's comedy, "Love's Labor's Lost".
Between the plays, I managed to get in some local shopping, buying books for my grandchildren or whatever meets my fancy. They have some really unusual shops here and it is fun to just look around. I rarely get a chance to just "shop". We also took a walk through Lithia Park after breakfast. It is also nice to just hang around the lobby of the hotel and catch up on some reading. Our hotel is a century-old second floor inn that's just a block from the theaters.
Today, we have a full day of driving ahead of us to get to San Francisco where we will be for the weekend.
