My son and I are once again on the road, as we check out college choices. This time we’re in Eugene, Oregon to tour The University of Oregon and take advantage of all the deliciousness that this great state has to offer. (Our last college tour was to Walla Walla, Washington where Whitman College and the local Goodwill mightily impressed.)
Although I used Priceline.com to find lodging before, we were lucky enough this time around to connect with an old friend for housing. I had posted a Facebook status asking “Driving down to Eugene with Colin tomorrow for a U of O tour on Friday. Where should we stay, where should we eat, what should we miss?” Not only did I get restaurant recommendations, but my old pal Karen offered us her house to stay in. (How much of an “old pal” is she? We last saw each other in Israel in 1986!) Sadly, her family was heading up to Seattle during our visit, although we did nab a couple of overlap hours.
My college bound son and I spent the early evening exploring Eugene, and chose the locally owned Steelhead Brewery for dinner where we gorged on fish tacos (me) and fish and chips (him.) Afterward I treated my son to a browse at the second hand Buffalo Exchange store, where he picked out a cool flannel shirt. An ice cream cone followed.
Once back at the house, we went for an invigorating walk through the neighborhood. We made sure to return before nightfall, as her wooded neighborhood is both A) winding and confusing and B) overrun with wild turkeys! Sadly, we didn’t come across any of the turkeys that had confused and excited me when earlier driving to the house. (To say I am “a cheap date” is the world’s biggest understatement.) We did come across a slightly demented tree stump that begged to be photographed.
I named him “Mr. Stumpy.”
Today we’ll take our college tour and information session and then scoot over to the Oregon coast where we’ll stay one night before heading back to Portland. I’d thought about making a motel reservation, but instead decided to wing it, as a one night stay is easy to walk in to. (As long as we stay away from Seaside, which will be inundated with Hood to Coast runners.)
The money for our college tours is guilt free, as I’ve been putting money aside for expenses related to visiting and applying to colleges since last year. And I say a day at the beach is as related to college applications as can be.
Just think of all the money we saved by not having to pay to look at wild turkeys!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so happy to hear that you and your son are touring UO today! I work here on campus in the College of Education. I am a huge fan of your blog and would be happy to assist you guys in any way!! Here is my office # if you want to contact me while you’re on campus today: 541-346-1638. 🙂 Enjoy Eugene!!
That’s great, thanks! We already have plans to eat brunch at the Studio One Cafe, and then wander around campus until our 1 P.M. tour. We’ll be parking for free at the Matthew Knight arena and going to the art museum with some free passes.
And hopefully, not getting hopelessly lost and turned around like we did yesterday.
Katy
Needless to to say, there will be no useless souvenirs.
And no college paraphernalia.
Katy
Studio One Cafe is one of my fave spots! Enjoy… and Go Ducks! 🙂
Buying a t-shirt at every college I visited was one of my favorite things from senior year of HS (many, many years ago). I wore them all through college (and grad school and beyond).
We have a family rule to not buy t-shirts at colleges we are visiting. We are afraid it will jinx us 😎
I would hate to buy a shirt that my son later wasn’t able to go to for whatever reason. Would be like rubbing salt into a wound.
Katy
I haven’t made it to Eugene yet. I hear that many members of my tribe (hippies!) live there, so you know it’s only a matter of time and it’s not too far from us in Seattle. Are you going to visit Oregon State in Corvallis? We did go there many years ago (pre-kid micro-brewery pilgrimage and home-brewing contest trip) and I thought it was such a nice little town. Are there any other Washington trips coming up?
Every time I came to the non-consumer advocate since august 11th, that was the most recent post until today, when there were suddenly a bunch of new posts. I tried refresh, I wasn’t coming from a book mark.
I remembered you said you had trouble getting posts up before- but now it seems it was just me that couldn’t see the past few posts until today.
I missed you! I read this first every day. I missed some great posts.
I had a similar problem…..but yesterday it finally loaded the more recent posts. Glad that I was not the only one, but still curious why it happened.