Monday, August 15, 2011

Jump Off Joe Creek

Although I do love to plan, part of a vacation and especially a road-trip is best left to chance. You stumble upon great little campsites with incredibly friendly people sometimes when you arrive in the middle of the night road weary and looking for a place to settle in. Jump off Joe Creek Campground Oregon for example. Would you ever actually make this a destination? How would you ever know about a place like this? The for sale sign hangs at the end of the long road and you know they have seen better times. Yet they have planted the annuals in the window boxes, the welcoming lights are on, and the owner eagerly comes down the path to meet you when you arrive.
We left early this morning and the owner waved as we headed out. Friendly as all get out. :)
Then again today hunger struck so we asked the trusty GPS to find us a good breakfast and there it was, Steve's Breakfast & More in Springfield, Oregon. I mean the name alone should bring you in. Although Steve wasn't slinging breakfast or busting his hump like our waitress who was the only one serving in the hopping joint. What a great breakfast though. Huge blueberry pancakes, incredibly delicious sausage and perfectly cooked eggs. Hidden gems that the locals all enjoy and travelers rarely get a crack at are now a little easier to find with gps and apps like flavourtown USA etc.

As our road-trip winds down, over 5,000 more kilometers on the odometer than when we started our adventure, I am thankful that we were able to make it happen for our ladies. I am also thankful for the memories that flooded back to me over the trip. Many road-trips taken, many memories of family and many hidden gems unearthed from my memory.
Watching that waitress today in that diner reminded me of a road-trip with my mom and dad and my
Mom's family. We travelled to Oak Lake, Manitoba for their centennial. We stayed at a bed and breakfast there and the owner of the bed and breakfast also owned the towns restaurant. You can imagine that a celebration of this magnitude in a small prairie town would bring in a lot of extra income for the small businesses. The owner of the bed and breakfast and the restaurant had had a kitchen accident the week before and had been badly burnt. So my wonderful generous father offered to help out and suggested that I help out as a waitress. I was 14 years old and though I had been working at a wedding catering company since I was 12 working in a busy diner was a whole new ballgame. It was HARD work and hot and greasy and so not the way I had imagined spending my summer.
I think I only worked there a few days but at the time it felt like forever. It wasn't all bad as I got a few good tips and made some extra pocket money.
Road-trips....

3 comments:

  1. Love your waitressing story, Kathy. I'm pretty sure you were only 13 then, as that was the summer I started dating Paul and I was 19. Borderline child labour that! I can imagine you had to work pretty hard. I can't imagine my kids being too impressed, (or cooperative) if I asked them to help out.

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  2. It's funny how roadtrips bring out family memories. So many roadtrips so much fun. I love this story and glad you shared since I don't think I'd heard it before thanks
    hilary

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  3. Of course, that's only one of those road trip stories. Was that the same trip when . . . ? Nope, not my place.
    But you, you're such a story-teller, a natural, and I hope you'll stick with the habit you've created for yourself. We're loving your blog!

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