Getting Back on the Horse

We are getting back on the horse after falling off. Or we’re getting our toes wet. Or we’re doing some other idiom that I remember imperfectly. After getting our purses stolen from our motel room in Bremerton, Washington while we were at breakfast, we questioned our ability or willingness to travel. But now we are in Bend, Oregon for a few days, trying it out.

We had stopped in Bremerton to attend a Celebration of Life for a cousin, but we expected to continue on up into Canada for a three-week road trip east as far as Winnipeg. But with both purses gone, we had no drivers licenses, no passports, no picture IDs, no credit cards, and very little money. We could hardly expect to cross the border or manage the trip, let alone enjoy it. So we went back home. Fortunately, we could get there in a single day.

We stopped all the credit and debit cards immediately after discovering the purses gone. And because we each had been foolish enough to carry a blank check in our purse, we notified the banks and they changed the accounts. Because one of the purses had our house key, plus identification with our address, we had the house rekeyed. Because one of the purses had our car fob, we had the car rekeyed. Fortunately, we still had one fob, so we could drive the car home. And fortunately we were in a town with a large Navy base, so we could get new military ID cards before we set off with no drivers license or other ID.

We stopped at the credit union on the way home to get new credit and debit cards. And we stopped at a Tesla service center to get a new fob and reprogram the car and the existing fob. The three-hour trip took us eight hours.

We spent the next three days applying for replacement drivers licenses and replacement passports, and working with the banks to get everything straightened out, Although we each now had new debit and credit card numbers, the physical cards on the account we usually use were in the mail. The new drivers license was in the mail. New checks were in the mail. And who knows when we’ll get our new passports.

After working diligently on the mechanics, when it was finally all straightened out – or at least all the parts of it that we needed to work on – the emotional hurt swept over us. Would we ever risk leaving home again?

But after a few days, we decided to take a little test trip. Last-minute reservations at the coast are difficult to get this time of year, so we came to Bend. Immediately after I made the reservation, a huge wave of anxiety swept over me.

With a mix of eagerness and trepidation, we left Monday morning. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. We drove out through the Columbia Gorge to Hood River, where we ate a delicious lunch at a funny little diner called Egg River Cafe. With our traveling shoes on now, we headed south past the east side of Mount Hood and down through Warm Springs, Madras, and Redmond to Bend.

This morning we went to breakfast in the motel, checking to be sure our room door was properly fully closed and locked. Today we’ll explore Bend, relax, and talk about where to go next – home or somewhere else.