Day 5 - Reconnecting and discovering

Woke up in: Nye Beach (Newport), Oregon
Slept in: Eugene, Oregon
Traveled: 101 South, 126 East
Notable eats: Hot breakfast at Tables of Content; tempura fried shrimp roll at ??? in Eugene
Miles: 99
Total mileage: 368
Photo Evidence (more are stuck on my phone; who knew that Save to Phone means you can't upload??? Grr.)

My farewell breakfast at the Sylvia Beach Hotel involved saying goodbye to my new friends Dian and Bonnie, and meeting a fascinating woman who writes children's books. (She told me I look like her cousin, in spirit as much as physically -- whaddya think?) Ann has written a wonderful series about an African-American family following the kids as they grow older -- although she didn't want them to age when she was writing; they just did!

The sun was out, so I wandered the coastline delighting in the warmth. I also bottled some of the Pacific Ocean to send to my British cousins.

It was so delightful to see my friend River again; we've both had more than our age's share of disaster and confusion in our lives since we we parted in 1989 -- but at heart, we have have always had much in common, and it was nice to find out we still do. We'd corresponded a bit when she finally tracked me down on the Internets, but really that wasn't the reason why it felt like it had been mere weeks since we last saw each other. She is the same amazing, bright person she was in ninth grade, only more so -- we've both grown into ourselves. I got to meet her girlfriend and three cats (Sarah, Bridget, and Shanti) -- Sarah turned out to be quite portable in her basket, so we passed her around as needed while we chatted and caught up.

In the evening, we visited the Lichtenstein exhibit at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. We moved around the gallery trying to avoid a talk provided by Jordan Schnitzer, benefactor, himself (River was highly amused that he patted my shoulder in passing and asked if I was having a good time!). You could hear in his voice that he was trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about and impress the art patrons. I felt sad for him, to have such an exciting collection to share and choosing to talk pretentiously rather than what he really loved about the paintings.

In the gallery's permanent collection, I discovered a delightful beryllium copper sounding sculpture by Harry Bertoia -- the site has some MP3s of what happens when you touch these sculptures. First time I'd seen his work, and it added a whole new dimension to my perspective on 3D art.

Here's why houseguests should always treat when they go out to dinner with their hosts: without a receipt, they won't remember the name of the sushi restaurant where they had the interestingly-named tempura-fried sushi roll! Help me out, Riv....

Before bed, I looked up where to go for Nia the next day, and figured out where to snack and work subsequently. I was promised that Bridget would want to snuggle with me, but I think she was put off by the airbed's response when she walked on it. Made me think of my own feline family: who wouldn't care, who would be suspicious, who would poke holes in an airbed deliberately...!