Ashland, Oregon here we come

We took a notion to do the tango festival in Ashland, so we left a mountain of cat food on the floor, packed our shoes and pillows, and hit the road. There was a bit of parking lot around Sacramento, but we still made good time. It was astonishing to see Mt. Shasta peek above the horizon at least 100 miles down the road. Eventually it dominates the scene.


It's 450 miles, and it took us almost exactly 8 hours. Ashland is an interesting little town tucked into a hollow half way down the mountains just over the border from California. The town is known for being a Shakespeare and theater town, but seems very quiet right now. There was snow in the pass coming down the mountains, and it was pretty deserted, cold and windy last night. We had forgotten it was Thanksgiving, so we walked around downtown trying to find someplace to eat, were turned away at the only two places actually open and serving food, then got in the car and drove from one end of town to the other, looking in vain. Finally, in desperation went into Safeway and got a hot roasted chicken, some cole slaw and bread, and ate in the funny little hotel room where we are staying. Columbia Hotel, it's a restored old boarding hotel from the 1800s, very rustic, but clean and inexpensive, with shared bathrooms, but free WiFi! After we were done eating (I almost got a migraine I was so famished, I had packed snacks for road food, but I need to eat, I can't go to bed on just an apple) I picked the carcass and took the still warm chicken out to the alley behind the hotel; I had spotted a little black kitten, and it was so cold out. Of course immediately there were three kitties, in a variety of sizes and colors, but all quite feral and would not come near me, but descended on the chicken as soon as I stepped away, so it was a good Thanksgiving dinner for them. When I get home I will remind our rotund fur herd how lucky they are: no fighting in alleys for scraps, no sleeping in cold corners under a dumpster. sigh. what a world.

This morning we walked around town a bit; there's a creek with trout running along making music.


And here is your moment of cat:



Lolita, the shoe store cat.