Monday

Track Town USA: We had a busy, interesting day. Foggy and cold. I had to work this morning, shipping orders and adding new writers to my RV Travelogues website. Dave had meetings at the U all afternoon about track & field. He said everyone at the U of O Athletic Department is just exhausted after the big football weekend... and Stanford had the week off. Next week will be really tough.

I am not even worried.

After a very bad diet all weekend... mac & cheese, chips, Jack Daniels, a little Halloween candy, pizza... it was time for a healthy veggie stir fry for lunch today.

I used whole cashews, carrots, green beans, red pepper and green onion. I sauced the veggies with a little soy sauce, fresh grated ginger, vinegar and dried chilies. Served over brown basmati rice and garnished with a few toasted sesame seeds, this lunch was just perfect after a hard workout.

Except I did not get out of my PJ's until about 2 o'clock. That run down the hill yesterday pretty much did me in. I am icing my leg (otherwise known as the thigh, but I do not want to give any horrid visuals to My Dear Readers). Ouch. No worries. I plan to conquer that hill tomorrow morning... after 30 minutes with the heating pad and a handful of Advil.

We were getting dressed for dinner when I dropped an earring on the floor. I heard it hit the tile, but I could not find the earring. I was pretty sure the earring (a lovely little diamond-encrusted hoop Lisa gave me for Mother's Day last year) had gone under the bathroom cabinet in the slide room. We searched. We used a flashlight. No earring. Finally, our reservation looming, we met our friends for dinner.

We had dinner with DT's Olympic Trials assistant, Rob Vermillion. Jesse Thomas, and his wife, Lauren Fleshman also joined us at Marché for a very fun evening. Lauren is a distance runner with Oregon Track Club. Jesse is an "Iron Man" athlete. We had a great time discussing The One True Sport and enjoyed wonderful meals. Marché was featuring those fabulous oysters from Willapa Bay Dave loved on our trip this past August. Tonight the table ordered Willapa Bay oysters fried and raw.

I had a martini instead.

After dinner, the earring search continued. DT used a screwdriver to remove a "hidden panel" under the bathroom sink. Using a flashlight, he searched behind the cabinet and after about ten minutes located the missing jewel! Yeah, Daddy! Lisa and I would be devastated if the earring had been lost. How something that small could cause so much trouble is beyond me.

Crisis Averted.

Now an important announcement: Late this evening, one of My Dear Readers, Chris C. (bless you), left a message on my blog that the Magna Peregrinus is highly visible at the beginning of the ESPNU video shot during the Oregon v USC tailgate. I looked at the video two or three times yesterday and NEVER NOTICED MY OWN MOTORHOME. (Okay, I never said I was a genius and never forget I am sight-impaired and not really very clever at all.)

Anyway... if you want to look at the video again, with a new vista... click on the ESPNU Road Trip website, go to Matchup 05, POSTGAME WEBISODES, sit through the Wing Street ad and fast-forward to the 44 second portion to see our bus (with the Big O on the back)... then fast-forward to 1:58 to see our tailgate party... which consists of a cop in gold lamé hot pants dancing with Jenn Brown.

Trust me on this.

Until my next update, I remain, your idiot correspondent.