Limberlost Campground(McKenzie Bridge, OR)
I rode my bike across the highway and found a gravel road with a lot of forks. Some of the forks were short dead ends. Others went deep into the woods. The woods were so dense it was dark even though the sun was still bright in the sky. I was a little scared to go too far. An hour of exploring was enough. I spent the rest of the night reading quietly finishing simulacrum before I fell asleep.
Maybe its the dark woods or the dampness, but I seem to get a little more paranoid when camping in these type of camps. One of my fellow campers had came by to look at the stream with his unleashed car. We had a short conversation. He was camping alone. I was nervous trying to fall asleep after that. My paranoia of sleeping in a tent returned for the first time in a long time.
I slept restlessly and was up by 7:30 am. I had decided to check out some of my old stomping grounds in Springfield since I would pass through the city to get to Cottage Grove anyway. I first stopped at the office at which I used to build PC clones and database for three years.
The owner I worked for (it was just the two of us) died of liver cancer one month after I returned to Oregon after being in the Navy for four years. I never had a chance to see him, but did attend his funeral. He was about my age now when he died nine years ago. In cleaning out my house I recently found a letter he wrote when I left the company where he was very specific in pinting out that he considered my leaving just a leave of absence and wanted me to come back. I don't think I ever contacted him again aftger I walked out the door for the last time. What a crud I am. The circumstances sound very similar to the end my most recent job.
The office had been split in two. One side had a lot of "Go Ducks" signs in it and computers that looked like the ones I had built 15 years earlier. The other was some kind of memorabilia shop. The two gas stations I worked for a total of 4 years had been demolished. One was taken over by the equipment rental place that had been next door. The buildings no longer existed however. The buildings did not exist for the other station either. It was an empty gravel lot with a for lease on a busy highway. If I took omens seriously, I guess this would be a good indication that I should destroy that part of my life and not go back to work in gas stations. The local Sizzler was now called "Shakers" (nude dancing) and the Taco John's was a Burrito Amigos.
I tried to find the duplex I lived in for so long. It was actually a single house that had the garage remodeled into a 1 bedroom apartment I lived in. I thought it was on 5th and E street, but the two story house there did not look familiar. The one across the street did look like the house that had been busted as a meth lab 14 years earlier. It did not look like it had been lived in since.
I stopped by Ms in CG and took care of some bills and web page postings. I found out you just can't go into a bank in another state and have them deposit into your checking account in your home state. I had to mail my mortgage refunds to Arizona to have them deposited. I stopped by M&Ds and had a short visit then I was off.
I guess I had taken a picture of the wrong house in Gann Valley. I believe I followed the directions I was given, but all indications is that the hoiuse of my grandparents is still being lived in and was not a spooky as the one I saw. Subconscioulsy I still like the spooky one better. It had character. It represented things that had passed away to dust but still had some kind of structure standing. I really liked that house.
I decided to head for highway 138 since I had not camped in that area yet. I had offers to stay with people, but for some reason am still not comfortable with that idea. I am trying to figure out what I want do in the near future. This to me is not a conscious decision but a subconscious one and my subconscious has not decided yet. All I can do is to give it time to come up with something. Its like a slot machine, the wheels don't all stop spinning at the same time. Until that last wheel stops spinning you don't know if you won anything or not. I still had to find a place to stay.