The Trip

We are on the road. 

   Day 1:  Canby to Alturas.   Left Canby at 8:22.  Traveled down I-5 to Eugene and over Hwy 58                        and Willamette Pass.  The early morning hours fog, wet pavement, traffic and a few idiots                    who did not realize that headlights were a good idea.  Dry pavement on Hwy 97 through
                Klamath Falls and ending at Alturas, Ca.
   Day 2:  Alturas to Tonopah, Nv.  395 south, Through Reno, 50 to 50A to hwy 95. thru Hawthorne
                to Tonopah, Nv.  We have been on this road before, and know the road.  We spent the night                  parked at the RV park behind the casino.

   Day 3:  Tonopah to Needles, Ca  Nice highway  Hwy 95  Lots of sunshine. long vistas of                                  mountains.  Stopped at Desert Wildlife Refuge just north of Las Vegas to see friends who
                are volunteering there.  Then we pushed through the big city still on hwy 95.  It's 45 miles
                from north to south. Then on to Needles. where we are parked tonight.

  Impressions of Nevada. 
               Lots of distant vistas. Much open land.  Not many towns,  Not many trees.  The wrinkled                     mountains of Nevada.  The vast blue skies.  Vapor trails are everywhere.  They look like                       white lines on a giant blue chalk board.

   Tomorrow we arrive in the Phoenix area where we will visit with friends for a week (with a trip to Algodones for dental work). Then we will resume our trip to Texas. 

Heading Out 2017

Tomorrow we head out.  I would rather be going right now, but there is no way that can be done.  Loading is done, but that is just a small part.  Christmas decorations in the house need to be packed up and put away.  The house needs to be cleaned. (Randa's idea, in case we get visitors while we are gone.)  Clothes washed, bedding washed and bed remade.  We are sleeping in the trailer tonight so that the bed is fresh.  Also a haircut would be nice so I don't have to worry about grooming for a while. 
   The big deal will be groceries.  We have way too many.  We were trying to use up freezer items, but a lot of groceries were purchased thinking that we were having "company" for Christmas, but winter weather changed those plans.  Result;  extra food. 
   Tomorrow's dig deal will be how to get over the mountains tomorrow.  I am keeping my eyes on the weather report and Oregon Tripcheck to see road conditions.  Hwy 58 over Willamette Pass is the optimum route, but we have a couple of options.
   Wish us luck.

Morning walk

Winter Solstice 2017

Winter Solstice is here.  It is special to some.  Today's early morning was special.  Freezing temps, fog, darkness made it that way.  The walk was fun for the senses.

Truck

          The Truck is back !    The Truck is back !

   Yesterday I got the call from Millars Auto repair saying that the truck was finally finished.  The fuse box was replaced.  The batteries were recharged and the bill was less than the original estimate.  I paid the bill and headed up Hwy 99E to Milwaukee and M&S Glass. 
   While the windshield was being replaced, I walked a short distance to the Bomber Restaurant for a pleasant lunch.  After waiting for an hour and a half, I strolled back to the shop.  They were glad to see me to show me several broken clips that they discovered under the cowling.  The windshield was ready to be replaced but the tech thought that the clips were the culprits that allowed moisture to drip down unto the firewall and cause the problem with the fuse box.  I was happy to have that situation fixed.
   Time to head back south toward home.  I stopped for an oil and fuel filter change. It was good to be driving the truck again.  I parked the truck in it's spot in front of the house and spring the hood so that I could remove and flush the K&N air filter.  After letting it dry over night, I resprayed the element and it's ready to reinstall.  I also have the furnace running in the trailer right now to take out some the chill and dampness.
   Having the truck back is a very good thing.  !!

Fingerprints

Thursday was a busy day.  Water exercise at 8.  My annual visit to my dermatologist, resulting in five spots on my hands and at least that many on my face.  Yowl !  That liquid nitrogen is painful.

Then it was downtown to a federal building to get fingerprinted and photographed for ID cards for LBJ.  This is probably the third or fourth time we have done this, but is a new thing I guess.  Getting in the building required the same security as flying;  belts off, pocket items in the tray, walking through the scanner.  Then it was name tags, signing in and down to the basement office.  A little over and hour later we were on the road home.  Luckily it was before the afternoon rush so got home within an hour.  Now we will be legal, again. 

Music

Lately, we have been enjoying live music.  Saturday night it was O'Neill's Pub and 60's and 70's rock and roll from "The Green Tambourine".   Lots of fun and if your toes weren't tappin", you were dead.

Sunday found me at Marylhurst University for a concert by the Portland Wind Symphony.  Great sound to listen to with your eyes closed and your ears open.

Tuesday night it was the Cleveland High School Holiday Music Concert.  Six different musical groups performed from percussion to jazz to their wind symphony.  It was amazing to realize that all the wonderful music was coming from these high school students.  Bravo to all the music teachers in the world.   Made me wish I had continued my music.  The accordion was not a cool instrument to be playing as a young male.  Definitely not a "chick magnet".

Nothing like live music of any kind.  😊

Lunch

Stopped by the Portland Cider location for lunch.

A flight of cider.  A grilled cheese torta.  A bowl of tomato bisque soup.  Yumm  !!

Mystery Solved?

Remember when Hunter was hurt while running in the fog?  I had not returned to the "scene of the crime" until yesterday.  The boys and I went for a nice long stroll and ended up in the same area.  Scanning the ground showed me probably what I was looking for.  My guess is that one of those red fire hydrants were what Hunter crashed into.  Trees might be the guilty parties, but I think the red fixtures in the middle of the grassy areas are a danger for running dogs.I shudder to think of what it would feel like running into something like that in the fog.

Towing

The picture says it all.  The truck is in the shop.  AS you can see it had to be towed.  It was as my Dad would have said,  "Dead as a door nail."  I thought that the alternator had failed again so I removed it and had it tested at Autozone and it failed so their lifetime guaranty is valid.  However, that didn't help.  After charging the batteries all night there still was nothing when I turned the key.  So the tow.

Bad news >>>  The windshield leaked allowing water to drip unto some electrical box on the firewall.  Toasted it.  Toasted the brand new batteries. 

Bottom Line ::   Major dollars,  waiting a week for parts .

Only good thing:  The truck was parked in front of the house and not in the middle of nowhere, Nevada. 

Dream

In my latest dream this is me. 

Colors

Space Alien

What if this guy is really from outer space?  

Computer

Just came home from the computer store.  Not the big box store where you can buy TVs, Washers, stereos and maybe dog food.  This is a store that services and repairs computers, and also sells them.  Computers Made EZ by name here in Canby.  My printer wasn't printing.  Went in got it figured out.  Found out how to rip CDs since the Windows 10 update had hidden it.  Got rid of unused items.  And generally had a good time talking with Jamin, the tech.  Typical computer guy.  No pocket protector though.  While I was in there, a friend came in to bring him lunch.  He has a "retro video" business, dealing in Atari, Texas Instruments, Commodore and old video games and items.  Evidently, it's quite popular.  There is even a retro video convention in Portland once a year.  "The largest in the US", I heard.  Got to taking about Sci Fi shows.  Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, Farscape,  Andromeda, The Orville.  It was great fun!   I did learn about "Star Trek Continues", a publicly funded sequel to the original Star Trek.  Same plot line, same characters (just different actors who look very much like the original ones).  Eleven episodes.  Available on U-Tube.  Check it out if you are a Trekky like me.
   Definitely a Good Thing >>

Torture

My wife has been torturing me for the last hour and half.

     Burning sticks you say?
     Water boarding?
     Beatings?

  No.  This was worse than that. 

 I have been on Amazon,  Christmas shopping.  Trust me.  It was awful !

Mystery

   Saturday morning 7am.  Time for a morning walk with the boys.  We went over to the middle school grounds to allow Hunter some room to run.  It was still dark and the fog was quite thick.  I released Hunter and Quam and I strolled along while Hunter ran ahead and smelled every other blade of grass.  When we reached the jogging path we all turned left and continued.  As Quam and I were walking, Hunter zoomed by us and disappeared into the gray shroud.  About 5 minutes went by and Q and I turned onto the sidewalk that cuts through the school grounds.  I stopped and whistled for Hunter because we had not seen him for a while.
   Hunter appeared out of the mist.  Limping.  Limping badly.  Walking very slowly and limping badly.  I ran to him and discovered that he was bleeding.  Several areas were bloody.  I felt him all over and determined that there were no broken bones but my hands were stained from my exploration. 
   What to do !!  He's too big and too heavy to carry.  He seems to be able to walk, slowly.  It it obvious that it hurts but he can walk.  I try to call Randa to have her come and get us but she was not near her phone....   So we walked.  Slowly we walked.  We were about 3 blocks from the house but it seemed a lot longer.   After lots of soft words,  lots of coaxing,  we arrived home.  I called to Randa from the garage, she dressed quickly and we got the  boys into the car and to the vet.  Our vet was not officially open but the door was unlocked so we went in.
    After examining him, the Dr asked if Hunter had been hit by a car, but was no car in that area.  He had be abrasions on the outside and backside of his front left leg.  Plus between the pads on two feet, left thigh, a scratch on his body.  It must have been quite a tumble.  What happened in fog?  I guess we will never know.
    Three days later, Hunter is still sore.  He is on three meds, which he does not like to take.  But he goes on short walks twice a day which he loves.  So I would say that he is on the mend.

Run

   A couple of days ago while I was walking the boys, two dogs ran by us.  A brown dachshund and a black and white terrier mix.  I knew these dogs.  They belong to the house on the corner in our neighborhood.  Actually they live in the backyard of the house on the corner.  I know because they bark when we walk on the sidewalk next to their house and I can see them through the opening in teh fence.  There is a wire fence in the corner of the backyard with a doghouse that is their abode.
   Evidently, the pair had escaped from their confined area.  As they ran by and disappeared around the corner a very small part of me said, "You should go let the owners know that the dogs are out."  However, the majority of my brain screamed, "Run, Forest, Run ! "  I hoped that the dogs were going to found by a family that love them and treat them like members of the family like our dogs are instead of leaving them outside in the wind and weather. 
 

Batteries

Batteries have been a focus for me this fall.  First of all, the truck was reluctant to turn over so I took it to Les Schwabs.  " You batteries failed the load $500. dollars and you will be good as new".  Ah no.  I found an Interstate Battery store and got them replaced on warranty.  :)  But the terminals needed to be cleaned (future task).
  Last week the Prius wouldn't start.  (It's different with a hybrid because when you get in and push the "On" button the car doesn't start running anyway.  The lights on the dash did funny things flashing things and went out.)  So I took the truck.
  When I got home I out the charger on the car to get it going.  Back to Schwabs  " $219 plus $30 to install. "  Hmmm.     $179 at O'Reillys and I did the install.  It was a bit tricky because the battery is located in the rear corner under the floor but with "U-Tube" it was done. 
  Yesterday I completed the truck battery task by removing, cleaning and reconnectinging the terminals on both batteries.  Starting show be ok now.

Project # 4

This is by the bed an allows height challenged folks to get into high beds.

One of the last ones

Although this is one of the last ones it still has many friends who refuse to let go. 

 Face the inevitable !  Let go !  Let go!

The Ocean

Randa and I love the ocean.  Always have since I was stationed at Camp Lejune many many moons ago.  We love the sandy beaches.  We love the rocky coasts, especially if the waves are crashing on them.  A storm makes it even better!

  Next year we will get more time near the water.
June we are spending a week-end with old friends at Vashon Island in Washington.
July the Weber family is spending four days at a beach house in the Walport/Yachats area.
August and September Randa and I are volunteering at Cape Blanco State Park near Port Orford, Or.    One of the most beautiful places on earth.

Yippee ! 

This morning walk

I slept in today.  Didn't look at the clock until 7:30.  So the dogs and I were out walking a little before 8.  It wasn't as dark.  More like 6ish this summer, except for the colors.

Mt Hood looked good in silhouette.







The trees at the elementary school looked good in the morning light. 

Close up                                               and                 afar.                                                 

Breakfast

Breakfast on Sunday was special.  Swedish Momma, Apple Chicken Sausage.  Fresh Fruit and Apple Sauce.  Yumm !!

Fog

My morning walk with the boys brought us interesting views.  35 this morning.  It was eerie but exciting watching the play of fog and sunlight as visibility improved.

Sol peeking through the trees

I have never seen a fog rainbow.

Washington State Capitol

Yesterday we visited friends on Olympia, Washington.  Took some time to explore the old town area.  

The state capitol was one of the stops.

This is looking up into the dome.  Lots of marble. 

 Five types of marble but most of it was from Alaska. 

The House of Representatives meets in this room.

The Legal Building

The waterfront is not far away.  You can see the capitol dome in the background.  It was a nice day for a stroll.

Sign

Seen on a local business:

   THE  FIRST  FIVE  DAYS  AFTER  THE  WEEK-END  ARE  THE  HARDEST

Fiber

   It has been a while but I think that I am getting interested in fiber again.  Attending OFFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival) last Saturday helped tip the scales.  With that in mind I attended the Sept meeting of the Aurora Colony Heritage Guild last night.  50+ folks that are into spinning, weaving, knitting, and other fiber-related crafts were there.  So many talented people in one room and me.
 

Wait for further posts.

A Fall Drive

A drive in the country.  South on the Canby-Marcham Hwy.  Halfway between Canby and Silverton we stopped the car and enjoyed the view of Mt Hood.  A nice day enjoying the sunshine.

Shoe selection

This is what happens when you get dressed in the dark.

FALL

                                                     A Poem

The Weather has changed
Fall has fell
The Rain has started
And it's cold as ......

  (anyway, its pretty cold.)

    The rains came last week.  Came with a vengeance.  It was like Mother Nature was tired of all the sunny, dry weather that we have had and was impatient to get back to normal Oregon weather.  The result was lots of rain and temperatures in the 50's and 60's instead of the 80's and 90's.
    Don't get me wrong, we needed the rain.  But I was hoping for a more gradual transition.  Oregon weather has a mind of it's own.

Two Dahlias to remind me of summer.

Wash

Hunter is getting a bath at the Greyhound Northwest Annual Picnic last week.                         Enjoying ?  Maybe, but he is the perfect gentleman.

Evening Walk

   The other night Randa and I were walking the boys in our neighborhood.  It was after 9 so it was totally dark.  (I hate that the days are getting shorter.)  Anyway as we were walking down the sidewalk, we noticed a guy walking in the street next to the curb on the other side.  I could tell it was a guy because his face was lit by the cell phone that he was staring at while he walked.
   We didn't pay him any further attention until we heard a thud and a grunt from the darkness across the street.  He had run into a trailer that was parked in the street.  Other than his pride, I don't htink he was hurt, but Randa and I had to struggle to keep from bursting out with laughter.  How many folks have I seen walking around staring at their phones.  Too many.  So many things to see and we stare at a 3 inch screen.

Campfires to Candle Lights

    Last Saturday we volunteered at Fort Vancouver's annual event "Campfires to Candlelight".  It is, by far, their largest event of the year with over an attendance of over 5000.  Stating at the street visitors pass thru areas of World War II, WWI, Civil War, Oregon Trail all with costumed volunteers , tents, accessories, and equipment on their way into the fort.  The fort was set up to be in the Date of Sept 9, 1845.  The buildings were open, costumed volunteers portrayed historic people that would have been in the fort on that day.  This was before the west had become part of the United States.  England still thought that all or part of the Northwest would become English territory.  It was turbulent times for both countries.
    It was a fun event.

Tail light

Do you know what car this is?

Testosterone Tool

A few days after the trees were removed, the guy, Bill, returned and ground those two stumps plus about 16 others from previous cuttings.  The tool is $40K of pure testosterone. 35 hp.  24 inch blade that consists of, not a saw blade, but small hammers mounted on both sides of the blade that literally "beat" the wood of the stumps to bits.  I was the assistant, doing what I could to help him.
   The best part was that he let me operate the machine on the last stump.  One lever moves the head with the blade, left and right, the next one raises and lowers the head.  The third, moves the machine forward and back.  I felt quite powerful.  As Tim Allen would say Woo, woo, woo !!!  It was great !

Zoo 2

Here are a couple more of zoo views

"Here's looking at yah "

The side of a duck you don't see.

Home

   Home is good.  Home means calmness.  It means security.  It means work!  One project checked off the list was thinning the tree population along our back fence.  Fifteen years ago the owner thought it would be a good idea to plant lots of trees along the back fence for privacy.  Not a bad idea until the tree grow large.  If the yard was big enough it would be less of a problem.  Our backyard is not.  So the trees grew close together and did not allow much sunlight to hit the ground.  The area between the patio and the fence is mostly moss and tree roots.
   We started to address the situation by removing several trees, in front, and along either side.  Some were right up against the house.  Not good.  Last week we tackled the ones on the back fence.  A fir and a pine.  Both had split trunks.  The tree guy called them co-dependent.  Again, not good.  So we had them removed.  It was fascinating to watch.  One guy up in the tree cutting and the other hauling branches to the wood chipper parked out on the street.  A couple of hours and the trees were gone and the mess cleaned up.

Before

After I had erected the trellis that I built and planted the Star Jasmine.  Some day it will grow up to be a visual barrier.

Home

We have been home for over a month.  We left South Lake Tahoe at a little after 8am on Monday July 17.  We were ready to be on the road.  The trip up north was long but uneventful and we pulled in front of the house at 9pm.    A very long day.  My phone told me 650 miles.  Under normal conditions we would not drive that far, but we knew the route and our place was waiting for us.  After running an extension cord to the trailer, we grabbed a few items and went in to see if the place still looked the same.  Thanks to several friends keeping track of mail, watering, etc, it did.  The Boys were excited to be home as well.  Hunter literally bounced up and down the hallway.  We all agreed that it was great hitting the hay back in Canby.
    The next several days were spent unloading the rig.  The big slide was opened while we were still parked on the street.  The other two can be opened while the trailer is parked in its spot beside the house.  We were both tired from the intense schedule at Tallac.  The situation arose from the fact that there were too many programs and too few volunteers.  The number of programs was increased with the idea that more volunteers were coming, however several backed out at the last minute leaving us short-handed.  The logical thing to do would have been to cut the number of programs, but that was not done so we volunteers bore the extra load.  The end result was that we were burned put at the end of our stay.
     As usual, the Lake Tahoe Basin gets high marks for its beauty and activities.  But with that comes LOTS of visitors and the crowded streets and highways that goes with that.  We just learned that after Memorial Day you do not try to drive anywhere in the middle of the day.
   Anyway we are home and trying to keep up with the projects that keep popping up.

The Zoo

Went to the Washington Park Zoo last week.  It is the first time we have been in over 10 years.  I really do not remember much from our previous visit, so I cannot compare.  But I remember going to the Sibley Prk zoo in Mankato when I was a kid.  Lions and Tigers and Monkeys in small steel barred cages.  I remember feeling sorry for the animals.  It was not enjoyable.
   The 4 hours we spent at the Portland zoo was fun.  The enclosures were relatively large and had lots of rocks the trees and water etc. to give the residents more challenges.
   I enjoyed seeing the California Condor.  We met someone who watched one fly over Grand Canyon, but have not been lucky enough.

The Hippos were close by because a keeper was throwing apple chunks into their pond.  Imagine being his dentist !

The one impression that stuck with me is the amount of walking needed to view all of the exhibits.  Paths wound around and threw trees and shrubs to take you to the various compounds.  School had not started so there were lots of children walking and being wheeled in strollers the size of Smart cars 

Yard work

Friend

Had a new friend come on one of my tours last week.  What a gentleman.  A pleasure to meet and talk with him.

Rhodies

The Rhodies at Tallac do not compare to those of Oregon but they are beautiful none the less.

Traffic

    This time of year, the population of the Lake Tahoe Basin is HUGE !!  The highways are crowded.  The beaches are crowded, (especially this year with the high water levels shrinking the beaches), the stores and restaurants are crowded.  Our parking lot at Tallac is full all day starting at 10 am, but visitors that are parking there are not coming to the historic site are history.  They are coming for the free parking and access to the beach.  It is not unusual to see families wearing flip-flops, swimwear, beach chairs, coolers, and various floating devices to and from their vehicles.   Will the problem go away?  Sure, but not until after Labor Day.
   
 

Another Falls

Yesterday we drove up to Fallen Leaf Lake which is a couple of miles south and "up" from Lake Tahoe.  Taylor Creek empties from it's northern end and flows into Tahoe.

The snow melt from Glen Alpine creates the creek that forms Glen Alpine Falls and flows into Fallen Leaf.

 We had burgers on the deck of the Fallen Leaf Lodge and looked north toward Lake Tahoe.

The mountains in the far distance are 20 miles away north side of Lake Tahoe

Lake Photos

Trips to Eagle Falls and Fallen Leaf Lake gave me a chance to try to capture the beauty of this area.  I didn't come even close to what my eyes took in.

Here goes anyway.              Emerald Bay

     The mountains above Eagles Creek

 Eagle Creek thundering down

Looking east from high above the lake.

Lake Tahoe Maritime Museum Tahoe City, Ca

   Last Tuesday the group went on a field trip to the Maritime Museum in Tahoe City.  It just recently moved from Homewood to a larger site.  The current building is one of four that will eventually be built on the property so that all of the 43 watercraft that are owned by the museum will be at one location.
    Here are a few photos that I took while there.

 V -12 two distributors  two spark plugs per cylinder

 This engine was amazing!  David K and I poured over it for 20 minutes checking out the workings.  What a beast!

 Check out the cut of the bow.  Quite different from current boats.

Photo taken from the upper level.