Everyone Has An Opinion

Today Larry chauffeured us around in his car. We stopped at a pretty little park named Sorosis, with a beautiful rose garden planted for fallen veterans.


G- Are you kidding me? Who's idea what it to name a park after a liver disease?

P- I don't know, but it makes me miss our friends.

We stopped and asked a lady to take our photo. She was sitting with an older man and her daughter on a park bench.

Man- Where are you from?

P- We are originally from New Orleans, but we've been living in San Francisco for the past 2 years.

Man - I was wondering what country that accent was from.

G- Well, some people do consider New Orleans a 3rd world country, but it's actually just a city in the deep south.

P- (as we walk back to the car) Did that man just say New Orleans was a country?

Larry- Got some brilliant ones in Southern Oregon.

We then crossed the gorge and viewed many petroglyphs that had been taken from the gorge before it was flooded by the dam.  After the petroglyphs we went to Maryhill Winery which is perched on the rim of the Gorge surrounded by vines.  The setting was stunning and the wind, far too powerful to be called a breeze, was blowing with great force.   While trying to enjoy our tasting, we met a gentleman and his wife from St. Petersberg who, of course, asked about our accents, then initiated a conversation about Katrina.

Handle bar mustache man - I never understood why people did not evacuate sooner or why the governor didn't call for a mandatory evacuation.

G- It came up so quickly, there wasn't enough advance warning. The storm wasn't even on our minds on Friday.  the media wasn't making a big deal of it and they make a big deal of everything. At that time it was still on the other side of Florida.  The first we really heard of it coming to New Orleans was on Saturday and it hit on Monday morning.

Handlebar mustache man - That is definitely not the case.  The head of the National Weather Center called your governor and told "him" a week before the storm hit that "he" should call for a mandatory evacuation.

G- (looks at Phyllis, rolls eyes and says under her breath) Every asshole has an opinion!

P- Hello Mr. I know Everything, the governor was a WOMAN and there is no way in hell the head of the NWC could predict where a hurricane will strike a week in advance.

G- And I don't think people get that you just can't willy-nilly call for an evacuation of a million people everytime a hurricane is going to come into the gulf.

P- Scoot down and stop talking to him.  Drink your wine!!

Larry - Is he annoying you ladies?

Larry next took us to the Maryhill Museum, built by Sam Hill, that included Rodin's, numerous Native American artifacts from all over the Pacific Northwest and into Alaska, and many items donated by his friend, the Queen Marie of Romania.  The Museum also had a spectacular view of the Gorge and a sculpture garden. 

A few miles down the road was the tomb of Sam Hill which sat on the very edge of the Gorge, behind an exact replica of Stonehenge, a memorial to local veterans who died in WWI.  A full day behind us, we stopped at a Thai Restaurant for dinner and returned to Larry's house for another evening of hilarity watching episodes of Sordid Lives, The Series.