On Friday night my South Medford Panthers were blown out by Sheldon up in Eugene in high school football . I listened to the game on the radio. On Saturday I wanted nothing better than to drive down to Standford to cheer on my Oregon Ducks. However, I had made a commitment to my sister to drive to Portland to help her celebrate her birthday. Some things are more important than a game. Did I say that! Yes, family is more important.
We left Medford at about 9 am and had an uneventful trip to Eugene. We stopped at Track Town Pizza across the street from the University of Oregon for lunch. We were able to see the construction on Matt Court the new basketball arena that is rising where the Williams Bakery used to be. At Track Town Pizza I had a great pizza and watched the end of the Iowa game and then the first 10 minutes of the Oregon vs Stanford game on TV. We then drove over to the Duck Shop at the "Mo Center" and watched part of the game on TV there. We then headed for Portland and listened to the game on the radio with Jerry Allen, Mike Jorganson and AD Mike Bellotti. Just about the time we got on I-5 it started to rain very hard. It rained as hard as I have ever seen on the freeway. It reminded me of our trip back to Portland after the Seattle Bowl. It could have been an omen on the game. The game on the radio was not going well for the Ducks. However I liked Mike Bellotti and his insights into the game as a former head coach. As we got near Portland the radio faded out and I could not find the game on the AM dial. We got to our motel near my sister's and I raced into the room to watch the end of the game on TV. However, they did not have FOX Sports Northwest and I went back to the car to see if I could get it on the radio. I then found it on an FM station and listened as the Duck cut the Stanford lead to 6 points but could not close the deal. I went back to our motel room and we received a cell phone call from our daughter in Washington DC who was following the game at work. We then called my sister who came over and we took her out to dinner at Old Chicago near the motel. There were a lot of Beavers there watching their game with Cal on the many TV's at the restaurant. I was able to follow the Beaver and U$C game with ASU while we had dinner. WE then went by my sisters home and we had birthday cake and she opened her presents. We fooled around with her electric piano/organ and then she dropped us off at our motel where it was still raining hard. We then heard the news that the Democrats on a very narrow vote in the US House had passed a government takeover of health care in this country with a trillion dollar price tag. Still has to go to the Senate. Sunday we got up and checked out of the motel and had a nice breakfast with my sister at Elmer's across the street from the Motel and then we met her at Clackamus Town Center Mall and I found a DVD of the Peter Bagdonovich Documentary "Directed by John Ford." We then said goodbye to my sister and had headed back to Medford. We stopped for gas in Cottage Grove and ice cream at the Seven Feathers Truck stop in Canyonville. It rained but nothing like it did on Saturday.
It could have been a depressing weekend what with the Ducks losing and the House passage of the government take over of health care but it was nice seeing my sister and I am glad we made the trip as it distracted me from the bad news of the weekend.
Happy Birthday Sis!
