1. Debbie and I were a little slow getting around this morning. We were tired after our ordeal on I-84 yesterday, but it turned out to be a good thing that we persisted and came to Eugene on Wednesday. On Thursday, I 84 was closed out near Cascade Locks because of a landslide. UPDATE: Later in the day, the state cleared the freeway of debris and reopened it. Still. I'm really glad we didn't give up on Wednesday and didn't have to face Thursday's delay.
So, not only were we slow getting around this morning, we both took naps in the afternoon. But, we went out around 11:00 and enjoyed some premium coffee at the 16 Tons Cafe and then dashed into the Market of Choice next door and did a little shopping.
Shopping at Market of Choice made my head swim for about five minutes. Yoke's is a solid grocery store and we find most of what we want and need there. Market of Choice, however, is loaded with tons of food, wine, beer, baked goods, freshly prepared dishes to eat at the store or take away, vitamins, supplements, and copious other offerings. I hadn't been in this store since May, 2019 and it dizzied me for several minutes, but I regained my equilibrium and we picked up some dairy products, ground coffee, granola, and a few other items.
I drove Debbie to Cornucopia where she met a friend for lunch and I did a little driving around and stopped in for a few minutes at Hideaway Bakery and bought a cheese bagel.
Debbie returned to where we are staying.
We napped.
2. Debbie made an appointment not too far from the Bier Stein for a haircut at 5:30. Refreshed by our afternoon naps, we piled into the Camry, parked outside the Bier Stein, and sat down with a beer. Today's tap list didn't include a porter, so I decided to SAVE THE STOUT and ordered Von Ebert Brewing's Waning Echoes, a wonderful American Stout that somehow transported me back to 1996-7 when I first dove into the world of craft beers and my early euphoric experiences with stouts.
Debbie had to leave and just missed the arrival of the Troxstar and Marla. The three of us fell into easy and fun conversation about our lives, our kids, our dog and cats, work, and any number of great stuff to yak about. Debbie joined us looking stunning with her new haircut and elevated the quality of our already superb conversations.
I went to the cooler, then, and found A PORTER! I have always enjoyed Pelican Brewing's beers and I bought myself a Midnight Malt, a superbly balanced Cocoa Porter. Upon finishing it, I returned to the bar and ordered a half pour of Left Hand Brewing's Milk Stout which paired splendidly with the dozen plain chicken wings I ordered for Debbie and me.
When we first entered the Bier Stein, I saw Tim Shaner and we made a plan to be sure to enjoy a beer and some conversation next week. Then, completely out of the blue, Molly's childhood friend, Julia, strolled in with her guy. Julia's mask kept us from recognizing her at first, but she revealed herself and Debbie, Julia, and I had some rapid fire conversation getting caught up on Julia's life, her mom and dad who are longtime friends, and her sister -- all punctuated by our roars of laughter and the fortuitous randomness of running into each other this evening.
I love to roam for foam in Eugene. Inevitably, we run into people we know, have fun conversation, and enjoy the great fellowship that develops out of drinking craft beer with others. That's sure what happened tonight!
3. One more stop.
We wanted to go drink some Cold Fire beer at 16 Tons Cafe, but it was closed, so we headed down to our favorite of all spots, 16 Tons Taproom and Bottleshop.
I was pretty jazzed to see that Oskar Blues splendid PORTER, Death by Coconut was on tap and I ordered a short pour. Debbie and I fully entered into the world of craft beer fellowship at 16 Tons. Debbie initiated conversation with our server, Karen, and found out what she could about guys who used to work at 16 Tons and got to know Karen better. I fell into conversation with a guy about our age named Jeff, a retired educator, who told me about the book he was reading, entitled, A Higher Call -- a remarkable sounding book about two fighter pilots in WWII. Debbie joined us and we soon learned we'd all lived in Eugene for decades and we reminisced about things and Debbie gave Jeff info on how to listen to Babes with Axes over at bandcamp.com.
Great beers. Superb conversations. Longtime friends. New acquaintances. Just what we were hoping would happen when we agreed to house sit and help take care of Poppy.
We are off to a great start!
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