Loads More Catching Up

So much to remember to say...

Derron has another interview scheduled! This one is with the Salem-Keizer school board. He's not heard anything back on the first two interviews and I've not heard about the one I had last week either.

Beautiful couple of days in Salem lately. We've taken the dogs on lots of hikes. We went back to West Salem park in the very early morning on Saturday. It was COLD. Also, the trail that runs around the upper side of the park finally dried out so we've taken them there several times. We did see another BUNNY by the way, but Nutella, the bunny hunter, did not. Derron's questioning whether or not she is really a bunny hunter after all -- reason we say she is, is because Basset Hounds were bred to catch rabbits...and Nutella is part Basset, maybe a different part. The dog run at the back of the park is dry again too so we've put them in there a few times and let them work out some angst!

Today was clean up the RV day...love these days. The dogs are at daycare so we opened all the windows and door and aired the place out really good. I Cloroxed all the surfaces, Febrezed all the fabric surfaces and Derron vacuumed. It's so nice to have it clean for at least a little while.

I also have Chicken Cacciatore in the slow cooker...yummo.

More and more RVs and trailers have piled into the park in the last few days. We were eating lunch a few minutes ago when Derron spied someone new driving in...there's so much fascination with each new arrival. What kind of motorhome/trailer do they have? Is it new? Do we want one of those one day? Derron just got back from dumping trash and said the "Corgi Family" (we refer to everyone by their dog's breeds...and everyone has dogs!) has what looks like an outdoor kitchen in their pull trailer. WHAT????

Grandma and Grandpa -- the owners of the ginormous bus beside us, seem to have gone for a while. The bus of course is still here, but their bikes and jeep are nowhere to be seen. Not sad about that...just wish they'd taken the bus too. Still wishing to have our view back.

Well like I said in an earlier blog entry, the bird feeders my sister gave us are a hit. The blue jays here are incredible...some of them have black mohawks. Gracie's had her eye on a couple.

Speaking of Gracie, Derron had her outside on her harness this morning - he ties her to the back of the RV so she can explore the reedy area behind us - when he came in he said..."I don't want to give Gracie any undue credit, since I'm not really sure what happened, but she may have killed a shrew." A shrew...a little teeny, tiny mouse. Don't worry...I will not punish her for doing what cats naturally do - maim and kill, in fact I am a little proud of her despite the fact that I can't stand to see any animal killed. I guess I should just be happy she didn't bring it in with her. Derron, BTW, disposed of the little fellow. No doubt Gracie will be looking for it next time she goes outside.

Other than hiking, applying for jobs, tracking job applications, reading, watching Netflix, we've not been up to much. We do stroll around the RV park a lot, checking mail, doing laundry, etc. The pool should be opening soon; they are sandblasting the inside of it today. The gym is closing again for a few weeks for some reason or another. We still have a few trails here we've not yet investigated but will do so soon with or without the pups.

We've also been checking out lots of Salem neighborhoods. Still not exactly sure where we want to concentrate...there's a cool house near Minto-Brown Island Park. We took the dogs to that park yesterday. It's huge. The dog area is not fenced so we walked the dogs on trails instead. It would be nice to live near a park like that but the house is up a steep hill and that doesn't bode well come Winter.

Catching Up

Haven't blogged in a few days...so this may read a bit like a stream of consciousness.

Derron and I had interviews today. Spent the week preparing and worrying over them. Well, Derron worried more than I did. Poor guy hates this kind of stuff. But we got through them and are hoping to make the second rounds, if there are any.

Wanted to blog about this the other day but held back. TOILET TROUBLE. This is no laughing matter. While we do have a great bathhouse in the park, it's not terribly convenient in the middle of the night...especially when it's raining or is freezing. Derron fixed it, Thank God! Then today, it overflowed. I was really terrified it was broken. Derron never gets up in the night to pee, but I do...fortunately he fixed it again. Whew...seems it was something I had done to the little plunger thingee.

Then as I was fixing dinner, and Derron was BBQing kebabs in the rain, the microwave crapped out. If you remember from an earlier post, we JUST bought this microwave because the one that came with the RV broke down right after we got here. We decided to eat and worry about it later. In the middle of our meal (and after Derron checked the circuit breaker, which was fine BTW), it came back on. Never seen that with a microwave ever.

We've had lots of good weather lately and I have to say it's really improved our moods. We also got new and improved harnesses for the dogs and BOY do our backs appreciate that. If anyone is looking for a good harness, go to Petco and get yourself an "Easy Walk" harness. The dogs do not pull anymore...not ever. It's a miracle.

I've been getting more involved in local politics. I will be writing a monthly newsletter for the Marion County Democrats. Looking forward to that. I am also in the process of signing on for a year long commitment with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon. PPAO is the political arm of Planned Parenthood here in Oregon. The position, a volunteer one, is as a member of a county-based Leadership and Advocacy Team. The LATs monitor legislation, attend events, register voters, etc. PP is a cause I care deeply about so I'm thrilled to get more involved.

Not much to report on life here in the park. Couple of new people here and there and a couple folks have gone. I've come across a few that have been here before and come back regularly. Primary reason is they have kids in one of the universities here. Still waiting for the big dog area to dry out...most of the water is gone, although some remains on the trails. Not sure how much longer it will take.

We take the dogs to nearby parks almost every other day. Good for them and us. We went to the West Salem park Saturday morning. Very nice park! They don't have a dog park but they have some really nice trails that run along the river.

We had Indian food for our anniversary on St Patrick's day. Probably the best Indian food I've
had in a very long time. We had planned to eat at the Star of India but it was closed so we had to go to the Taj Mahal. I'd read some "iffy" reviews about Taj Mahal so was skeptical. But we were more than pleasantly surprised. The samosa dough was incredibly tender and overall they were fantastic. I had Chicken Korma...the best way I can describe it is as "bright". The flavors were so fresh...the onions so delicately sauteed, and the chicken was incredibly moist. Just fabulous. And the naan...I had some stuffed with potatoes and spices. Never had it before, I typically go for roti (or whole wheat naan). I will never go back to plain naan or roti again. I can't remember what Derron had but he cleaned his plate -- I brought leftovers home and got to relive the meal for lunch the next day.

Oh and we got two free days of doggie daycare!!!! Seems our first day was suppose to be free but no one told us...and they missed a day and said they'd let it go...who am I to argue about that??? Nice little gift!

So, now that job interviews are over for the minute, we plan on relaxing tomorrow...take the dogs to the park, and eat leftovers!

Day Started Out Grey...

It started raining just as we were falling asleep night before last. UGH! It was a bit drizzly in the morning but then it burned off and we had another beautiful day...4 in a row!!!

We moved our picnic table to be even with our RV cab. The new location gives us a chance to be more social with folks walking by when we're outside BBQing. The dogs decided to be a part of the group as well. May I introduce Sister Hazelnut and Sister Nutella!

We have a curtain between the inside of the RV and the cab but both are always "breaching" that line. We were sitting outside and just glanced in and caught Hazelnut. I thought I'd die laughing. Then Nutella did the same thing. I swear these two dogs are more entertaining than just about anything.

We'd been taking the dogs to a dog park in Independence, just a short drive from the RV park. We hadn't bother to explore any further into the town but did so today. Lots of cute little restaurants and bars, a used bookstore, a cinema, and a couple of bakeries...the downtown is not large but there is certainly something to do there. 

On a side street we spotted this adorable restaurant, the Pink House Cafe.

Although we hadn't planned on eating out...who could resist. I had a wonderful curry chicken salad. I don't think I've eaten this much fruit in the last year!

So...we decided to try out the walking trail here at the park, at least the part that hasn't been (and still has in parts, been) underwater for the last few weeks. The dogs seemed pretty happy to check out something new. Of course, Hazelnut jumped at every sound...we got about a third of the way into the foliage when we hit a mud hole...so we decided to turn around. I'd switched dogs with Derron -- Hazelnut does better with him when she's scared, so I had Nutella -- AKA the Bunny Hunter. Good thing Derron has good eyesight and took a look down the return path...what lay in wait??? A BUNNY! I immediately set about distracting the dogs...I feared for my shoulders (as in them being dislocated by a charging dog). Derron scooted on down the trail, trying to block any view of the bunny...and scared it back into the bushes. We made it out without incident. 

What A Difference A Day Makes

Tuesday:

We decided to stay put in our current spot. Even though the other one has a "green" privacy fence of sorts, it's also right next to the dog run so dogs will be running around our spot all the time, meaning...our dogs will go nuts. So we'll stay where we are...not so bad here. The folks in the ginormous bus should be leaving soon and maybe they'll be replaced with a smaller rig. It would be nice to have our view back.

We had a sunny, albeit chilly, day today. Figured it was a good time to break out the grill. Hopefully we don't burn the place down!

Derron may have gotten a little carried away with the amount of charcoal he put in the little tiny BBQ. But the brats were really good...had a nice char on the outside. Just perfect.

Gracie tucked under a tree while Derron grilled.

The pups watched out the window while Derron grilled...well, until I took this pic of course.

Wenesday:

Another magnificent day in the northwest! Cold this morning but as soon as the fog burned off...gorgeous!!! We drove down to Albany to check it out. Nice downtown area but lots of closed stores/businesses. We had lunch at First Burger. Derron had an open faced chili burger. I had just a plain, boring burger. Both were good. They advertise that all the meat is Oregon-raised and ground in the restaurant daily and that the chili has never seen the inside of a can. Can't go wrong there!

For my contingent of friends who are (still) worried about Gracie and how she's faring in Dogville (the RV most days), she's doing fine. We set up chairs outside today and let her roam about. Here she's rolling in the sun...one of her favorite things to do. And then Derron walked her around a bit.

Thursday:

We went to a Hire Our Heroes job fair this morning. Got some good resume tips and made contact with two state agencies...one of which I'm already scheduled to interview with next week. Aside from having to get up early and out of sweats and fleeces, it was worthwhile. Derron made a couple contacts with Intel and Volt too.

Back to the RV to change clothes and then off to the dog park. We plan to take advantage of every ray of sunshine and exercise the hounds!  Then back to the RV again, but this time to marinate some chops for dinner and then a nap...but of course Gracie, who's now become accustomed to spending time in the sun, decided she wanted to go out. So here are a few more pictures of our little hunter.

Jockeying For Position

Now that the flood threat seems to have died down, several people are moving their RVs to better spots. We have our eyes on one at the end of our row. It's protected on one side by a forest...well a forest by RV park standards. We have to go to the office tomorrow to pay for the next month's lodging, and are hoping to make our case for that spot. Since the office personnel moved us twice for reasons of their own, we're hoping they'll feel sorry for us and give us what we want.

In the meantime, we cleaned the RV from top to bottom. It smells great in here -- mainly because the dogs are at the Dog Bark! Every counter has been Lysol-ed and the whole place has been aired out. Nice sunny day today with a couple of very light showers...so we've had the windows open all morning.

Gracie started her meowing tirade in the midst of the clean-up effort so Derron put her leash on and tied her to the picnic table just outside the door (don't worry...we did this all the time on the front porch in Bush). And of course right away she started meowing to come back in. Presumably she wanted Derron to stay out there with her. Later Gracie...

Had the usual errands to run while the dogs were at day care...picked up new harnesses for them and a coupling that will allow us to walk them at the same time on one leash...yeah, that is so on Derron. They've pulled me over, knocked me down, and dragged me too many times to put myself in that position. Knowing them, they'll think they're sled dogs and drag me face first all over the park.

Derron's going to attempt to barbecue later...he's probably looking up how to grill using charcoal right now on the internet. We got some brats for him to try this first time out...how wrong can that go?

We stopped at Adam's Rib BBQ on State Street for lunch. Yeah, pretty much blew our eating out budget for the week in one fell swoop. But it was so good.

Derron had the Tri-Tip (no brisket (his usual choice) on the menu) with mac n'cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, and cornbread. I tried his cornbread...a tad dry, but OK.

I had the pork ribs, pea salad, red potato salad, and cheesy toast. The rub on the ribs was great and didn't even need any sauce (more on that in a second). The pea salad was good and full of bacon. Derron hates peas and I love them...so any chance I get to eat peas out...I do. The potato salad was OK...needed seasoning. (NOTE: I am Irish and a bit of a potato aficionado. When it comes to potato salad, it can't be seasoned after the fact. The potatoes must be seasoned as they boil and again when mixed with other ingredients, while the potatoes are still warm. IMHO.). The cheese toast was entirely too greasy so I gave it to Derron.

The big hit was the sauce...several different varieties available. Derron tried them all, including one labeled, "brazenly hot". My favorite, and his, was this Hefeweizen variety. They also had a bourbon one, which was good...you could really taste the bourbon, but been there done that. Now, hefeweizen...that's something entirely new to us when it comes to BBQ sauce. 

As Jason Mraz would say, it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

We had a nice lazy day after lunch. Derron took a nap and I finished the Michael Connelly book I'd been working on. Tomorrow I will start The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker, which I picked up at a nearby used bookstore.

Picked the dogs up...tried on the harnesses...too big. My dogs have the weirdest proportions. So back to Petco tomorrow. 

Derron decided he didn't feel up to BBQ-ing. Translation: he hadn't taken the time to read a how-to on the internet yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Now off to finish an Irish drama, Amber, I started on Netflix a couple nights ago!

We're In For The Long Haul

Saturday:

Yes, it's raining again, but only after a magnificent 24 hours with NO RAIN! We got a glimpse of just what's in store for us come spring.

My sister, Mari, gave us a couple of bird feeders when we were in Portland Wednesday. We picked up some Shepard's hooks and bird feed at Big Lots this afternoon and will get them up as soon as the sun shows itself again. Pictures forthcoming.

We also got a small charcoal tabletop grill so we can cook outside where there is a lot more open space. Derron's never cooked on a charcoal grill so we'll see how that goes. I am looking forward to it as I've always preferred the way food tastes when cooked over coals.

Gracie made her big escape today after several days of jockeying for position at the door...despite the rain, wet grass, and mud, she seemed undeterred. Derron caught her not far from the RV. She hasn't given up hope of a life outside the tin can.

My poor plants are having a hard time. They thoroughly enjoyed the sunny day but they're back inside again after getting saturated. I am hoping to leave them outside full-time soon.

Oh, and I have a job interview on March 19th. Hoping for a couple more soon as well...applied for two jobs at two different community colleges. I am also meeting with Marion County Democrats to help them get their newsletter back on track (last published in Sept 2012) and bring them into the Twitter-sphere.

Sunday:

Slept like crap last night. Thanks daylight savings time. No rain this morning but it poured all night. Despite that, we took the dogs to the mud hole...er, I mean puppy park. They were happy...but yes, muddy. But before we took them...have to mention that we, rather Hazelnut, spotted a bald eagle perched high up in a tree. She was terrified of hawks when she was a puppy but when she got older (and bigger) she loved to sit in the yard and watch them fly around. She sat there for several minutes starting at it. Unfortunately we did not see it take off. That would have been a sight. I've seen several perched in trees in Minnesota but never one in flight.

It's race day so Derron's going to be glued to the TV. So I am doing laundry. I stripped the bedroom, washed all the linens, Febrezed the whole space -- even though I have problems with all the chemicals in Febreze, and opened up the windows and vents. I'm kinda hoping open windows and fresh air will counter any chemical issues.

The bird houses are a huge hit - thanks Mari! Almost as soon as Derron got them up, we had visitors. And we've been serenaded by song birds all morning. I think the birds are almost as happy as we and the dogs are that the sun has come out today. It's looking like almost a FULL rain-free week with temps in the 60s ahead of us. Be still my heart!

It's All About Perspective

Pitiful Pet Pictures

Hazelnut after her walk in the pouring rain this morning. Thank God for the binkies Grammie Cockayne made the pups a couple years ago.

Nutella looking somewhat forlorn after the morning's walk too.

And they're both down with their binkies.

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The other day I had a bit of a meltdown...as did Derron. But we're back on a more positive course today thanks to support from friends and family. We will make it through this...

We spent the morning discussing our eventual remodel of the tin can. It will be almost a gut and rebuild, but we will retain some elements of its current form. I need to talk to our friend Mack to see if his RV guy in Louisiana has a friend in Oregon who can remodel/repair RVs.

The primary concentration is on making it waterproof!!!! Then the linoleum and carpeting go in favor of laminate wood flooring. I'd love real wood but laminate will work better.

We may lose the shower in favor of a closet. We can always buy an outdoor shower kit for when we choose not to stay in an RV park with a bathhouse. Taking a shower indoors is too problematic. There's very little space to dry off, and in Derron's case, the shower stall is not really tall enough for him.

We're going to turn the overhang into a media/storage area. Then we will lose the couch and dinette for an L-shaped couch. We can figure out later how to bring in a temporary table/trays for eating on the couch, but our goal is to eat outside whenever possible.

We've even thought about changing the orientation of the bed to give us more room in the back...once we lose the two impossibly small half-closets in there.

Lots I want to change in the kitchen too but still mulling over it. And we want to do an overhaul on all the lighting. There is plenty but not all in the right spaces.

Special thanks to my friend Desiree Maestri for turning me on to an RV group on Facebook. Lots of great info there!

We've also decided that as much as we love our pets, we would prefer to travel without them. I don't think any of them will put up a fight.

Here's Nutella claiming her favorite spot - SHOTGUN!

Some Days Are Really, Really Bad

The other day was a really, really a bad one. It's not enough that it feels like the walls of this tin can are coming in on me...then there's the constant rain, coupled with having to walk through slick and squishy mud, slipping and sliding all the way, trying to control the dogs who just want to play but have not yet grasped the whole leash thing, the tight quarters, the unending issues with the RV, the TV...and the same old shows (I swear Derron could watch the same five episodes of BBT over and over), the fact that Derron sits at the table where the dogs can't go...so they crowd me...and I can't get mad at them because they are just being affectionate...and there's nowhere else to go, and no dishwasher...so to me nothing seems clean, the lack of room to cook...so we do sandwiches or soup and that makes me sad, constant laundering because we don't have room for dirty laundry, trying to deal with the realtors in LA who are doing a good job but are so annoying, trying to keep up with the house stuff there...and stuff that came up in the inspection, and trying to change our health insurance to this region and realizing as much money the government pays for Tricare services...I had to print the form out and fill it in by hand! How is that progress? The WiFi keeps going out too. And then there's my sciatica...God I hate calling a condition "mine"...sounds so old. My back is killing me but when the sciatica kicks in, it's unbearable. All that helps is walking...so we walk. And then there's the fighting, borne of frustration. We're so tired. Neither of us is sleeping well. We're probably vitamin D deprived because of all the cloudy weather -- neither of us are big milk drinkers and I can never remember to take my vitamin supplements. And we want things to progress and although they are...it's such a slow progress. Realizing we have 3 more months of this just adds to the frustration.

But today was a good day. We are working hard to help each other so neither of us gets too frustrated. We're trying to respect each other's privacy, space, and time to ourselves. We're trying to share the burden with cleaning, taking care of the dogs, dealing with the house in LA, and everything else. And today it worked. But it'll have to be a day at a time.

Derron, who never plans anything, asked me today if I wanted to go to one of the German restaurants in Mt. Angel for our anniversary on March 17th. That made it a really good day, today. Tomorrow remains to be seen.

The Titanic Is Taking On More Water

Sunday:

Derron is losing it with all the rain and trying to keep up with leaks. I would be worried if I didn't see people out doing maintenance on their rigs all the time. He's devised a way, an ingenious one he thinks, to "catch" water leaking under the slide. We'll see.

We went to the Rickreal Flea Market today at the Polk County Fairgrounds. Some good stuff, some junk, lots of guns and knives...packed with oldsters. Derron saw some stuff he liked but seeing as we have NO storage room left in the RV, he'll have to hope it's still there later.

Rickreal is a farming, and apparently a hunting, community. Scratch it off our list of places to live. Nothing against farmers or hunters, just not a lot going on in Rickreal.

Meeting with a friend of my sister Mari's tomorrow. The friend works for the Governor's Resource Solution Centers. I am hoping she can point me in the direction of "paying" political work or simply point me in the direction of other people with whom to network.

Monday:

Dogs went to the Dog Bark. Yay!

So much for Derron's ingenious way to "catch" the water leaking under the slide. He's now devised an "improved" way to "divert" the water. We'll see. Picture to come when it stops raining.

Met with my sister's friend Lisa Howard. Great talk. She gave me some really good ideas and has offered to introduce me to people she thinks may be able to help further.

I plan on hitting all the Congressional reps' offices in the city - both U.S. Senators and the 5th district Congressman have offices in Salem. They all serve on committees or have bills that dovetail nicely with a lot of my work experience so the intent is to sell myself to one or all of them as a researcher. I may have to do some volunteering first, but it may be worthwhile in the long run.

Also the Governor is up for re-election this year and Lisa is going to see if there's any paid work available.

She also indicated to me...as did the Marion County Democrats, that Salem is much more conservative that Portland and Eugene. Good to know. We'd assumed as much. But the Governor is a Dem as is the entire U.S. delegation...so that's good.

After the meeting, we went to Don's for lunch. We'd been there for breakfast but wanted to try it for lunch. I caved and got breakfast again. What can I say...I LOVE soft-scrambled eggs and they do them NYC perfect! Derron got an open-faced hot turkey sandwich. He cleaned his plate. I think we've found our city diner. The service is great too...

We took it easy the rest of the day. We actually took a nap. Then the SUN can out. We did what probably all people in the NW (and Great Britain) do... we BASKED. We soaked up every sliver. I think we are both suffering from vitamin D deficiencies...so we need either more sun...not going to happen any time soon, vitamin supplements which we have but forget to take, or a ultraviolet safe sun lamp. This is something we need to work on.

Picked up the dogs. They were so happy to see us. Got them home, fed, and then leashed for a walk. I decided to take them outside on my own and wait for Derron - we usually do it the other way around. Lady next door's little rat dog barked, Nutella - still all hyped up from being freed from the Dog Bark, charged the little guy (friendly-like), and in the process, spun me around and on my ass, back, and shoulder in the MUD! My clean jeans and equally clean orange fleece were covered in mud. Needless to say I was NOT a happy camper. After the walk, it was off to do laundry.

Going to Portland tomorrow...going to try to remember to take some pics.

Life Continues

Another rainy day. We're getting used to it. We've gotten the layering thing down...long sleeved shirt, long sleeved fleece, rain coat. The dogs are wondering why they don't have layers. All I can say about that is...I am tired of drying off dogs!

We're also falling into a routine of sorts. We walk the dogs first thing...we try to give them a long walk in the morning and again in the afternoon...and fill in and finish up as needed.

We make breakfast and tea. Derron's still loving his Keurig. I guess I lost that bet. I thought for sure he'd tire of it in a week. I don't like the tea it makes so I stick to iced tea or I make mine the old fashioned way, with a tea kettle.

Following breakfast on most days, we check job web sites. We've applied for so many that I'm finding it difficult to keep them all straight. I am going to have to devise a way.

Derron then spends most of his days playing computer games and "listening" to the TV. I would like to spend more time reading than on my computer but I can't read with the TV on...and as I've said before, there's no escaping the sound...it's a small RV.

So today I went downtown to spend some time in a coffee shop. It was my intention to go to The Beanery, but it was jam, packed full. So I wandered down the street and stopped in at Cafe Shine instead. Nice place, but I couldn't figured out why it wasn't as crowded as The Beanery. It could be because it just opened and word was not out about it yet (the Barista was quite talkative). The tea was good and the marionberry scone was delish...then I started seeing the signs. And don't anyone get the wrong idea...I have NOTHING against religion, or one's expression of it, or one's choice to not have religion in their life...but I googled the cafe and found that it is owned and operated by the Salem House of Prayer. Salem House of Prayer - which seems like a nice enough Christian organization, self-affiliates with MorningStar Ministries...an organization run by televangelist Rick Joyner. According to some sources: "Televangelist Joyner is convinced that a second revolution or a military coup are the only options left to fight President Obama, who he claims is threatening government officials - including Chief Justice John Roberts - with blackmail."

Like I said, I have no problem with religion...but I do have a problem with wingnut conspiracy theories and I won't pay into further dissemination of such conspiracies.

On a less philosophical note, we have a neighbor. Derron said he saw a woman dumping bag after bag of trash this morning...adding that it seemed a little weird. Well guess what? She and family have moved in next door. Looks like 2 guys and her. And the guys are loud. Please let them not be crazy rednecks. Let them be like most of the folks here...quiet, keep to yourself types. Most people we've encountered here have been super nice. No complaints. And I'm probably thinking the worst of the new arrivals...but again, they're loud. And it was so nice to have most of this row to ourselves with views out of every window. No doubt it's only a matter of time until we have neighbors on the other side too. Then we'll just have the unobstructed view out back.

I'm wishing we could start house hunting NOW!

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We tried out the hole in the wall Mexican place, Garibaldi's, in West Salem. While Derron was in the bathroom, the waitress brought the standard complimentary salsa (very good BTW) and BEAN DIP. Derron was one happy camper when he saw it. The food was as good as our favorite place in Covington (El Porto), portions were about the same, and the food came out just as quick. The guacamole could have used a twist of lime, but otherwise we were both happy with our meals.

Sorry for the bad pic. Derron had already started on the beans and I on the cabbage...we were hungry.

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Tomorrow we're off to Rickreal, a small town nearby, for a large, indoors (good thing cuz it's suppose to rain like HELLLLLLZA) flea market.