Cat, free to good home

We are at the Chinook Winds Casino, in Lincoln City (map).

Sunday night we were in Tillamook, where we were able to park on the street in front of our cousins' house. We had a nice visit, and they fixed us dinner and breakfast. We left Tillamook yesterday by midday, figuring to be perhaps in Coos Bay last night.

About twenty minutes into our pleasant, if a bit wet, drive, Louise went upstairs for some reason or other, and discovered that one of the cats had peed on the bed. Arrrrrgh! This is not the first time, but, after correcting some issues with the litter box and what not, we went through a long, umm, "dry" spell, wherein there was no soiling of the bed. Then, a few weeks ago, we changed the bed covers for a little change in decor, and it was not long before someone decided to use them as a bathroom. After washing all those bedclothes twice, we gave up, threw them away, and started over again with something different, thinking that, perhaps, texture was somehow involved.

What we have now is closer in texture/finish to the items that went for many, many months without being targeted, so we thought, after a few days, that we were good to go. And we have been very diligent about keeping the litter box in good shape. So, when this happened yesterday, it was a very emotional experience for all involved. Louise was screaming, the cats were panicked, and I was desperately searching for a place to pull over so I could assist with the situation. When I finally made it upstairs, Louise was talking about surrendering the cats at the next shelter.

After we got things more or less under control, the very next priority was finding a coin laundry with large machines so we could get the bedding washed immediately, and a search of several on-board resources finally turned up the Lighthouse Laundry right here in Lincoln City. Fortunately, it was in a strip mall with a fairly large parking lot.

It was past 3 o'clock when we finally had all the freshly cleaned bedding back aboard, and we did not want to press any further down the coast. We remembered that the Chinook Winds Casino was just down the block from where we were parked for the laundromat, and we reasoned that the very limited RV parking here would be mostly empty this time of year.

I have to say that we will likely not be back (although I also said that about the place last time we passed by). Everything I said about the RV lot that time is still true (small, cramped, and not level), and, it turns out, neither the Steak House nor the buffet is anything to write home about. Neither restaurant has enough physical separation from the gaming area to keep the cigarette smoke out (although, ironically, there is a non-smoking slot area that is physically separate), and while the buffet was competitively priced, the steak house fare was definitely not worth the price. There is also a restaurant in the hotel, which we did not sample.

All that being said, it was definitely a port in a storm for us. And "storm" is an apropos analogy, since it was pouring rain last night with winds 30 gusting to, I would guess, 50 or so. We have a small bit of an ocean view here, but also full exposure to the on-shore winds.

Today we will continue down the coast, and I will try to be going too fast to stop in time if Louise spots any animal shelters. Perhaps we will make it all the way to Coos Bay tonight.

Anybody want a cat?