Duck City

bobm

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If you have a duckling that will migrate to U of O in Eugene , Or. next week for start of classes. Be prepared to get lost ... we arrived in Eugene last Monday at about 10:30 AM. ( we will be here from Monday to Friday ) Our Residence Inn Marriott Hotel is located at 25 Club Road which is just off I-5 and the signs to
Autzen Football Stadium are right there, so one " can't miss it ". Well ... we drove round and round and around and still couldn't find the entrance to this Hotel due to one way streets, weird street layouts , 4 way street corners that intersect at VERY odd angles overpasses, underpasses, bridges and the resulting street signs become quite confusing resulting in one going round and round in circles for about an hour. We stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and asked the waitress there as to how to get to this hotel. She said that she lived in Eugene all of her life and still can't get to some places without asking how to get there. We finally went back to square one at the point of coming off I-5 , looked for signs to the football stadium ( about 2 blocks), went past that street where " The Ten Coburn" building is, turned into their back driveway parking lot ( The Residence Inn sign on the Hotel is blocked by trees) drove around to the back of the Ten parking lot and turned onto the Hotel back parking lot drove around to the entrance to check in. We still use this back parking lot tour as it is much easier than trying to navigate to the front entrance due to some missing street signs at some cross streets as a round about way to get there. Whew ! How is that for clear as mud directions ? Also, the directions to the Federal Building in Downtown Eugene from the Hotel is just as "interesting". I thought the Portland, Ore. street layout was weird... Eugene takes the cake ! I think that the street engineers were partaking in Alice B. Toklas cookies, rolling their own, and fermented grape juice when they were designing the city layout. Hmmm ! :hu :rolleyes: Then yesterday (Tuesday) morning we went to our car parked in the hotel parking lot and found that the driver's side mirror was cracked , the tail light cover cracked, the side panel had a deep scratch, the passenger mirror was broken off and hanging down and still attached only by electric wires. The hotel manager said that the hotel is not responsible to any theft or damage to any vehicle. :he The police dept. only takes telephone reports and provides you with a case number. Good luck ! :caf
 
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AMKuska

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I went to Portland recently in order to visit "The Wet Spot" a beautiful fish store. Getting there was really confusing, and we ended up parking in a lot nearby and walking to it.
 

baymule

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I count my blessings, daughter's college was in small town with well laid out streets only 45 minutes from here.
 

Ridgerunner

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I understand. I had much the same experience in Boston trying to get to the Harvard campus to go to a museum exhibit and just to see the famous "Harvard". I know it is in Cambridge and not Boston technically but to me driving it was all the same. One way street systems, poor signage, access blocked by the interstates, just a total mess. We could see the campus, just couldn't get there.

This was before GPS and all that. My wife is a good navigator while I drive. She had all the right maps but she was almost in tears by the time we got there.
 

so lucky

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bobm, do you think your out-of-state car license attracted some street brats? What a horrible way to start your "duckling" off on their college years. Emotions were probably pretty high, anyway, and those kind of troubles sure don't help! Hope things get better.
 

Smart Red

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I understand. I had much the same experience in Boston trying to get to the Harvard campus to go to a museum exhibit and just to see the famous "Harvard". I know it is in Cambridge and not Boston technically but to me driving it was all the same. One way street systems, poor signage, access blocked by the interstates, just a total mess. We could see the campus, just couldn't get there.

This was before GPS and all that. My wife is a good navigator while I drive. She had all the right maps but she was almost in tears by the time we got there.

I had a coworker tell me that after the street system in Boston was laid out and completed, they hung the designer. The way he tells it you drive around and around the city until you fly off like sparks. Never went there personally.
 

so lucky

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Reminds me of that old Kingston Trio song about the man who got caught up in the subway system in Boston: "He will ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston; he's the man who never returned"...
 
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bobm

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I had a coworker tell me that after the street system in Boston was laid out and completed, they hung the designer. The way he tells it you drive around and around the city until you fly off like sparks. Never went there personally.

Yup !!! The bleeding hearts will do anything for you, then have YOU pay for it .
 

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