Mall parking in Eugene

Our free camping…I mean parking, spot

A whole lotta pavement

We’re here in Eugene for a few days and decided to take advantage of the free overnight parking at the Valley River Center. There’s a two night maximum so we’ll be moving along tomorrow. For a mall parking lot it’s actually pretty nice. We’re parked way back in the northwest corner near the bike path and river. Last night it was very quiet, and security patrols the parking lots on a regular basis so we felt relatively safe. There’s only one other RV in the lot (the big rig you see behind us on the right) which surprised us since the Walmart in town doesn’t allow overnight parking. Yesterday afternoon we walked for a few miles on the very well used bike path. The path runs for a few miles in both directions on either side of the river. We took the pedestrian bridge across the river and walked down the south side of the path which meanders through several parks. There were tons of people out biking, walking, running, or dog walking like us.

Last night we did something we never do- we went out to the movies. There’s a theatre in the mall and all movies are only $5 on Tuesdays, so we figured why not. The movie we saw was called Looper and it stars Bruce Willis and Joseph Gorden-Levitt. It’s described as a science fiction action film which would normally turn me off immediately. Nothing about those three words appeals to me, but for five bucks I figured why not. Surprise, surprise, it was actually pretty good. Of course there were the obligatory Bruce Willis machine gun filled action scenes, but the plot moved along nicely, and unlike many science fiction films I was not confused throughout the entire movie. We both agreed that the movie made for a nice night out, and you can’t get more convenient than a three minute walk home.

This morning Phin and I took a stroll across the bridge to check out the foliage in the park.

Early morning sun on the Willamette River

Blazing maples in the park

Looking cute in the leaves

Finally some fall colors!

This is the first real fall we’ve seen in Oregon, since none of the trees on the coast are the kind that turn pretty colors.

Today we’re taking advantage of our central location to get some errands done (I’m at the laundromat right now- ugh) and tomorrow we’ll pick up our solar panels for the airstream! Unfortunately the weather is about to take a dramatic turn from the constant sun we’ve been enjoying, and they’re forecasting lots of rain for the weekend. Hopefully the sun will come out long enough to test the new panels.