Finley NWR

June 20, 2020

While we wait

The day gets off to a slow start, as an unexpected patch of rain delays our intended out and back ride south on Bellfountain Road. With a fairly long ride planned, we concluded that it was the wrong plan for a day where we wouldn’t depart home until after noon. We tabled Bellfountain for another day, and decided this would be a good opportunity for us to each go our own way.

In the meantime, while waiting for the morning showers to pass I took the opportunity to call our good friend Capitol One and chat about our suspended refund. I was curious to see whether rules could be bent and our refund could be expedited. Feeling no guilt, I decided to trot out a partial truth and state that we planned to leave the country soon and needed the cash.

The call began as it always has - with a five minute exchange with their representative, explaining who I am and why I’m calling, and giving background. And, as always, the representative absented herself for several minutes and when she returned stated that she’d have to refer the question to a supervisor. If I ever have to call Capitol One again, I think I’ll just start by saying something like: ‘Hello. You can’t help me. Please save us all some time and transfer me to a supervisor’.

And, as always, when the supervisor comes on the line I have to start from scratch, identifying myself and explaining why I’m calling. This call went very well though - it filled up what I believe was a full hour of the morning, but had a successful outcome. The representative was very helpful, patient, and informative. I wonder if I’d been lucky enough to speak with this man two months ago a different and more reasonable outcome would have been possible. Who knows? He might have even retained us as Capitol One clients.

Three things added to the length of the call. First, it turns out that not all of my documents have been approved yet after all. They have no record of receiving a bank statement with my address, so maybe I messed something up when I uploaded it along with my SS card and driver’s license. So the clock hasn’t actually started yet on issuing my refund, because they still aren’t sure who I am. Who knows when I would have realized this if I hadn’t called up today? You’d have thought they’d let you know that one was missing, but you’d have been wrong.

So, I still need to identify myself. I’m impressed that the representative stayed on the phone while I logged on to our credit union account, saved off an image of our latest statement, and uploaded it so he could act on it himself. Otherwise, I’d probably be looking at another delay until their document review team could validate it.

Next, we had to wait for validation. The supervisor called our credit union to confirm my identity, and then wrapped me into a three way conversation so I could confirm my identity to them as well.

And finally, we had to resolve a discrepancy. The address Capitol One has for us is not our current (Elizabeth’s) address. It’s our old one, of the condo unit we sold over two years ago. This has never come up as an issue because we receive all correspondence from them electronically. Once that was cleared up, we waited while our address of record was updated in the system. Which was good, because otherwise the refund would have gone to our old address and hopefully have been returned as undeliverable.

Best of all, it was worth the wait. The refund is approved for delivery, and should arrive in seven to ten business days! So, our best guess is that we’ll get our money back: 1) on July 1st, if it arrives in the mail by then, so we can pick it up from Elizabeth on our way to Bellingham. Or: 2) in early July, if I can cajole my sister into braving the COVID world and leaving home long enough to go to our neighborhood bank and depositing our check for us. Or: 3) in late August, when we return to Portland for a few weeks before hopefully leaving for Greece.

Today’s ride

There, I’ve gone and done it again. I’ve used up all of my available time this morning, and it’s time to ride. It’s Fathers Day, and I get to choose. We have a long ride in mind and need to get an early start, so I’ll make this exceedingly brief.

Today’s ride is one I’ve wanted to make since we arrived, and it’s a good choice for a solo outing because a few miles of gravel are involved. It’s a loop south to bike through Finley National Wildlife Refuge . the refuge was established in 1964, as one of three refuges in the Willamette Valley to preserve wintering grounds of the Dusky Canada Goose. I’ve visited the other two, Ankeny and Baskett Slough, many times because they’re within biking distance of Salem. But I’ve never visited Finley.

Worth the ride, and I’m glad to have seen it. The gravel wasn’t bad either. Maybe some day I’ll make it down again in the winter when the geese are in town, but for now it was nice to enjoy riding through its protected complex of prairie meadows, marsh and woodlands.

Southbound on US Highway 99W. Not bad, but not particularly memorable either. The shoulder and traffic are about like this the whole way.

There aren’t many scenic spots from the highway itself, but this wheat field and barn were worth a stop

Finally! I’ve known of this place for over 40 years but somehow have never made it down this way.

Not many birds of note around today, at least ones visible from the road. So, we’ll get flowers and vistas instead. I won’t insult your intelligence by identifying all the flowers for you, because I’m sure you know them all already.

Finley is a small but complex reserve. Part prairie, part marsh, part woodland, part museum.

Who’s afraid of a little gravel? Not this tough guy.

In Finley National Wildlife Refuge: the John Fiechter House, built in 1855 and on the National Register of Historic Places.

In Finley National Wildlife Refuge. I like this view because I recognize that notch that looks like a giant took a bite out of the ridge. That’s just east of Priceboro Road, where we were riding a few days ago.

Heading north, returning to Corvallis on Bellfountain Road. Much more appealing than Highway 99W.

Looking west toward cloud-shrouded Marys Peak, from Bellfountain Road.

Water truck and mill, Bellfountain Road.

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Ride stats today: Scott, this ride: 36 miles, 1,100’; Rachael (hers): 39 miles, 400’

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Jen RahnWow .. your Capital One story should go in a Customer Disloyalty collection.

I'm glad you finally reached one person that was helpful!

I would have had a hard time not asking about the 17.65% interest owed (to you) on the $$.
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4 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesI much "enjoyed" the Capital One part of this day's story. We are always thinking about what constitutes good content for a cycling blog, and I would say anything you see or hear or think or experience on, before, or after a tour, goes. So that means anything goes!

On this one, I must admit I have not been following quite closely enough to immediately know what the refund issue was about. Unfortunately the Cycleblaze search function, while good, was not able to turn up the background very efficiently. One quirk is about the credit card company. It is actually Capital One, as in Capitalism. Capitol One could also be plausible for them, especially if headquartered in some capitol city.

As part of our COVID survival strategy we have been watching a lot of old movies. One was Catch-22. Despite an all star cast, the movie is pretty poor. But the original "catch-22" idea is brilliant, and obviously lives on in government and financial organizations!
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4 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThat’s so funny. I’ve probably been misspelling their name for years without noticing. Perhaps they know somehow, and have been tormenting me as a result. Thanks for pointing it out, although with luck I’ll never have cause to mention them again once our check arrives, if it arrives.

We haven’t been watching many films, but we have been pretty faithfully working through Masterpiece miniseries at an episode per night for the last two months. It’s a bit of a luxury, since we almost never watch TV. We’ve missed a lot of great productions that we’re finally catching up on.

We didn’t see Catch-22, intentionally. It was one of my favorite books as a young man and I didn’t really want to see what happened when it was staged as film.
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4 years ago