Pictures from my weekend-

Well our weekend at Wooster has come to a close and we are packed up for tomorrow's return trip. This has been a great weeekend with my family. I've got an early wakeup tomorrow so I'm not titling all the pictures I uploaded tonight but I will share with you just a couple pictures tonight.

The first one is my family; Mom, Dad, 3 brothers and sister.



This is the birthday boy, Brother and Pastor Mark.


Your humble scribe, relaxing while the family gathers for photos.

As always, click the little'uns to see the full-sized images. You can see the full album here: Ohio vacation

Maybe not training wheels...

But instead, a 4-wheeled bike! I mentioned at the end of the last post that the BSU and I are lacking in the beach camping aspect of not having bicycles to ride around the campground. So I've been looking around and I think I found the solution- an American Speedster Sidekick!

This Sidekick would be a perfect winter project for me and it includes my favorite building material- PVC pipe! I'm ordering the plans this week to have a good look over and if they pan out, when winter arrives, I'm going to build us a bike.

The bike doesn't look fast, and it doesn't need to be for our purposes. But it looks like fun and it could travel on top of our camper for trips to the Oregon coast. And it's made of PVC pipe!

How cool is that?

What I did on my summer vacation-

I drove- a bunch! I've already mentioned the 1800+ mile trip so I won't bore you with that. I did see the bravest, (or dumbest) driver ever while passing through Idaho. I saw a guy driving a mid-70s vintage Fiat X-19, a 1300cc bundle of Italy's finest 2-seater fury across the desert in 100 degree temperatures. He was 30 miles or more from the nearest exit which seemed to me to be a perfect opportunity for breakdown, heatstroke and frustration. But there he went. I wonder if he got where he was headed safely.

Fishing was lousy at Coffenbury Lake in Ft. Stevens State Park where we were camped. I caught just 2 trout that were worthy of killing and cooking for dinner, 1 on 2 different days. Noah and Cecil didn't catch any fish! It really was slow and not really worth the $40+ cost for each of the fishing licenses that I purchased. But it was a fine time killer. The hatchery bred fish weren't as tasty as the ones we have here in Utah but everybody seemed to enjoy a few bites.

Noah and I took the guided tour through the underground portions of Battery Russell, the Columbia River defense fort and that is a very interesting place. I returned later with the BSU to see the memorial rose gardens and we had a nice time and even spotted a mama raccoon and 4 offspring out for a jaunt across the grounds as we were leaving. We also drove down to Seaside to see the aquarium and to laugh at the seal antics as they begged for food from the spectators. That was great fun! We also had a seafood dinner at Norma's before returning to the campground for even more food.

Another day, Noah and a brother-in-law and I drove down to Tillamook to visit the Naval Air Museum. It is housed in a WWII vintage blimp hangar that is worth the trip all by itself. Tillamook was an active coastal defense base with numerous blimps and crews stationed there operating up and down the coast watching for enemy ships so there is plenty to see and we had an informative and interesting afternoon. One of the weird fact about the blimp hangar that we learned was that the roofing contractors, when they placed bids on the roofing job, (galvanized, corrugated steel), bid by the acre! There is 11.5 acres of roof on the hangar! And there would have been twice that amount when they did the work because there were 2 hangars originally, 1 of them burnt down in 1982.

So we visited with family, ate too much, enjoyed the cool temperatures and groused over the lack of cell phone and internet connectivity. I've decided that Ft. Stevens State Park has a distinctive sound- that is the sound of kid's bike training wheels scraping along the camping loop roads from sun up to sunset. One thing you must realize about this very large park- everybody brings their kids and their kid's bikes and the kids circulate around the loop roads non-stop. So the sound of training wheels is everywhere while you are outside. Next year I think I am going to have to have bikes for the BSU and myself so we won't feel so left out. Maybe I can avoid having to install training wheels for either of us.

There's no pictures to post as I took only a few and most weren't very good. I'm back to work, got the lawn mowed already and almost everything has been put away until the next time. The BSU wants to get out camping a weekend or two in August so we will see how that goes. The boy scurried off to Logan to see his old friends the same afternoon that we arrived home and we haven't seen him since so I suppose he is having a good time. Maybe he and I will get out fishing again this weekend if he shows up at home before time to return to Colorado.

Home. Safe, tired and I have to go to work tomorrow-

I was supposed to go to work today after a 1 day long haul home yesterday. But we started late and from the coast instead of inland and the Magellan said we wouldn't make it home before 2:30 AM. So we spent the night in Ontario, Oregon, (avoid the Rodeway Inn) and finished the trip today.

Total miles- ~1875. It was 867 from the coast to the house but we also did a bunch of driving up and down the coast while we were out there.

It was a very nice vacation and I'll tell some stories later during the week. But tonight, I'm just chilling and getting ready for bed.

Pulling out tomorrow!

And except that I have to go pick up the firewood tomorrow morning, we are just about ready to start our vacation. And I'm ready!

Son Noah and I went to East Canyon this morning fishing and we even managed to catch 3 nice trout, securing our supper plans with fresh grilled fish. Once we got home, the dog needed her nails trimmed- a trip across town, I had to fix two more sprinkler heads, move the boat, pack a tool bag and some emergency items- guns, if you can't guess, and start loading up the truck bed.

There's laundry still turning in the machines and camp boxes upstairs to go into the truck in the morning. But we'll be pulling out for Oregon tomorrow morning and it should be a great trip.

But now, I'm really tired!

Vacationing in Michigan- contd.

So, when last I left the keyboard, I left the final portion of our trip to Michigan untold. And now it is time to remedy that situation. On Monday Mom showed a couple neat museums in Alpena but she came up with an even better idea for Tuesday- a trip to Mackinac Island, a fabled place in Michigan history which somehow I had managed to never visit in spite of so many summers spent in the northland. The weather looked promising- glorious even and so the decision was easily reached that we would set off on Tuesday morning for Mackinac.

It is a beautiful island resort and it has been a resort area since the end of the Civil War. To get there you have to ride a ferry boat and we picked seats right behind the boat captain’s controls to have a view of the approach. When you get to the island there’s an interesting surprise- NO motor vehicles! There are exactly 2 powered vehicles on the island, a fire truck and an ambulance. Everything and everyone else travels by horsepower, typically 2 horsepower, meaning draft horses pulling carriages or carts. The good citizens of the island banned horseless carriages in 1897, one was snuck onto the island causing havoc and injury in 1902 and after that, the horse lobby won and self-powered vehicles were prohibited. So there are 400 resident draft horses on the island during the summer and they have very nice barns, exercise pens and rest pastures for their maintenance. The horses don’t winter on the island but are instead shipped over to the mainland and boarded with farmers all over the upper portion of the lower peninsula of Michigan.

We took a pleasant carriage ride on the tour around the island, entertained by a driver and tour guide and 2 Belgians that were not so pleased to be back in the harness after their winter break.

We saw and photographed probably the most photographed rock in Michigan, Arch Rock-

spoiled most of the tour guide’s lame jokes and departed the tour at the entrance to Fort Mackinac. The fort was built as a defense for the straits, surrendered to the British without a shot being fired at the outbreak of the War of 1812, held captured Confederate supporters during the Civil War and is now a very nice museum of life on the island and behind the walls during its heyday. There are young men dressed in the military uniforms of the times giving demonstrations- (yeah, cannons!)

and describing life in the fort. Due to the fort’s idyllic location and minimal military necessity, life was pretty good at Fort Mackinac and a desirable place to be stationed.

Lunch was served at The Tea Room, outside on the deck in the glorious sunshine and due to the early season and mid-week timing of our trip, we had the staff’s complete attention. The manager came over and visited with us for a bit and it felt like we were living the lives of The Rich and Famous while enjoying some delicious lunch.

The view from the Tea Room was really nice too, although the harbor was empty of pleasure boats due to the earliness of the season.

Take special notice of how clear and blue the water was. I didn't see water during our Carribean cruise that was any prettier than it was here.

After lunch we left the fort, walked down the hill and did some window shopping and browsing down Main Street. We didn’t buy anything but ice cream cones but we did have a very nice look around at the artist and t-shirt shops. Remember that I said everything gets delivered on the island by horse and cart? Even the UPS delivery guy has a hose cart! He even had a dedicated driver to manage the horses as he unloads boxes and makes his deliveries.

I thought this was the funniest thing I saw all day.

One of the beauties of the day was the early season timing of our visit. Travel to the island between Memorial Day and Labor Day and the place is packed with tourists on horse carriage, foot or bicycle and sight-seeing becomes an effort in avoiding being jostled by all the thousands of people that flock to the resort. Instead, we had lots of elbow room and opportunity to look at the beautifully maintained historic homes, hotels and shops because we visited so early in the year. We were a couple weeks early for most of the flowers to be in bloom and one of the island’s charms are the beautifully groomed flower beds in every yard and corner. But we did see some of the early bloomers and enjoyed some terrific spring weather.

It was a grand day with the 2 most important women in my life and we all had a great time. Dinner was at Big Boy back in Alpena at the end of the trip. Why don't we have Big Boy's here? I really miss them!

The next morning it was time for a few more pictures-

before getting back into the rental car and setting Magellan in search of the Detroit Metro Airport. That's my Mom on the left, Grandma Manning in front and my uncles- Mike and Glen in the back row. Mom and Grandma really have a great deal in their home, Mike lives in the basement with his wife and Glenn lives next door with my aunt and cousin. There are more aunts and uncles just minutes away and most of them are at the house very regularly.

But we got back to the airport and back to Salt Lake City without much drama. It was raining at our layover in Chicago and our plane left late but we got home safely to 2 very cats!

Our vacation Part Deux

So the previous post was all about our trip to the Land of Lincoln to see our grandbabies and let me just say again how much fun it was and how much we both enjoyed our time there. It was really terrific.

But we had another place to be in the Midwest- Alpena Michigan, to see my mom and grandmother for Mothers Day. It was 4 hour drive from Detroit to Alpena but the Lincolm MKZ that we rented and our Magellan GPS made it short and sure.

It was late when we got in but we got tucked in and then in the morning went with Mom to church. Afterwards there was a dandy dinner with several of my aunts and uncles and cousins. We had an extremely enjoyable afternoon visiting and checking out firewood piles and an uncle's new house next door to Grandma's. I have some really neat cousins that have cool talents and hobbies and I like getting to sit around with them discovering what they have been keeping busy with. Cousin Steve has taken up blacksmithing as a hobby and this month is on the cover of the Michigan Artist Blacksmith newsletter with his hummingbird that he makes. His talented spouse took all the pictures and wrote the story and they were both tickled to have their efforts recognized on the cover of the newsletter. I actually got to see one of his hummingbirds and some beautiful lilies that he made for his folks. Cousin Tom helped his dad build the new house from foundation to shingles and everything in between. He's also a motorhead that likes buying damaged vehicles and rebuilding them. Cousin Tammy is a talented gardener. So catching up with my kin is always a real treat and the Sunday afternoon visit was a terrific time.

On Monday Mom took us sightseeing in Alpena, first to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and then to the Jesse Besser Museum. Out back of this really nice museum is a log house that belonged to my Grandma's grandfather and there is a picture of the gent sitting on the steps of the cabin hanging in Grandma's house. I didn't know this but from 1910 to 1913 there was even a car manufactured in Alpena. The museum was dandy with replicas of some old buildings, an antique fire-fighting rig and some very fun taxidermy displays.

Later, uncle Mike grilled some thick pork chops on the grill and we had a very nice Michigan evening with family. I even was able to do a couple fixes on Mom's computer!

Tuesday was another very full day and will require its very own post. But it will have to wait until later. I'm tired of typing tonight!

We had a wonderful time!

I know I'm late getting to telling the tale of our vacation but I've either been too tired or too busy so it's just happening now. I uploaded pictures to my Photobucket account this AM and created my first slide show of some of the pictures but for some reason I can't get the coding/copying right so time was wasted on that.

But on to the tale! I've already described the first night's re-introduction to the kids at their other grandparent's very nice restaraunt and it was a very great evening. Astin was kind of shy for the first little while and Marinda took to us like she had been waiting forever for us to show up and introduce ourselves. She is an extroverted little girl and made friends with us in just a few minutes. We brought 2 toy, stuffed hamsters as gifts for the kids and after supper, Marinda and I taught her hamster some tricks- sit, lie down, roll over and how to stand on its head. Marinda seemed to think that was great fun. Here's some pictures from the first night-



The next day the kids and their mom came to our hotel room, (thanks Comfort Suites!) just before lunch and during a drowning downpour. The weather ruled out our plans for a nature center trip so instead we first went to lunch-

then played with some new toys in our room and then went for a dip in the hotel pool-





We had a great time playing in the pool until we were all well wrinkled and played in our room a little longer- Astin loved the Hot Wheels track and cars I had bought for him and then we went to another pool where Astin had a scheduled swimming lesson. Afterwards, we all got to pet a stuffed black bear and admire lots of other game animal mounts at the adjacent sporting goods store. The kids really seemed to think that black bear down at their level was pretty neat!

The next morning, before we had to leave, we met the grandbabies and their mom one more time, this time for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We spent some time just playing and sharing some pictures we had printed up early and finally said our good-byes and headed back to the airport for the next leg of our journey. That's the next post...

I think everyone agreed that our visit was a huge success. The kids seemed to really like us, (hey, toys helped) and enjoyed playing with us. Their mom was gracious and friendly and relaxed and provided us with some really nice pictures of the kids from a studio. (Where did I save those? I know I scanned them at Mom's.) We talked about how often we might be able to repeat the trip. I know I would like to do it 3 times a year if I can work the costs into our budget. We will have to see. I do know we will be going back as often as we can afford and Sara will tolerate!

Where was I today?

I had a fabulous day with my Mom and spouse today in a very unusual location. Check out this guy-

That's the UPS driver! Ever seen a UPS driver on a rig like that one?
Here's a picture of my Mom and I.


So, where were we? Guesses in comments. And as always, click the little pictures to see the biggie sized ones.

I'm no longer hating the TSA-

I found my pocketknife! It practically fell out of my suitcase when I unzipped it last night! Where it was hiding, I have no idea. But I've got it now so I'm happy!

Well what a day today has been!

We have been playing, swimming and eating french fries with the grandbabies non-stop since noon today. I will tell you this, those two are high speed & low drag critters with seemingly only one speed- fast! They have worn us out quite thoroughly!

We did not get to go to the Nature Center that we had hoped for due to a lashing Midwest rainstorm that ate up most of the afternoon. So instead we went out for lunch then played and splashed and jumped in the hotel pool for quite a while. When we wore out splashing we retired to the room where we played with a Hot Wheels track with 4 new cars and a Fisher-Price airplane with both the kids.

The ex D-i-L was even wearing the locket that we brought for her and gave her last night and it looked really nice around her neck. I hope she likes it and wears it often.

Tomorrow morning we will be meeting with the kids again for breakfast and then heading back to the airport for the 2nd leg of our trip- flying to Detroit and then driving to my Mom's house.

On another note from my vacation-

I'm pretty certain the baggage handlers at Salt Lake City airport lifted a Benchmark pocket knife from my checked baggage! It is possible that a prized pocket knife fell out while I was packing and still lies unmolested on my bed. But I am almost certain that I would have noticed if it didn't get into my bag and now it is not in the zippered, inside pocket of my suitcase where I intended it to be.

In the morning I'll dig through all the contents of my bag but I am NOT hopeful that my knife still belongs to me. I'm betting that some dumbass xray watching baggage jackass has it clipped to his back pocket.

And that prospect does not make me very happy...

Safely arrived in Illinois-

The Cadillac CTS is sweet... It was completely painless driving over here from the airport and the Magellan drove us right to where we needed to be.

But I did just find out we are having dinner not only with the ex D-I-L and the grandbabies but with her parents too... I'm not so happy about that development. And no extended visiting tonight because the kids are cranky...

Apparently we are eating in the fanciest place in Effingham, Rexroats Distinctive Dining.

UPDATE- After dinner: Well, that turned out far better than might have been expected! In the first place, we wern't just being joined by the other grandparents for dinner- we were having dinner in the grandparent's place! That's right, the fancy place in town in partially owned by the D-I-L's parents! We did NOT know that! So dinner, which was quite tasty, was also free, even though I tried to pay for our portion. And "thanks" to our very gracious hosts for the very nice dinner and hospitality!

More importantly, the grandkids are great! Marinda, who is just 2, is outgoing, friendly and ready to make friends at the drop of s toy, stuffed hamster. Astin, who is 4 1/2, is much more timid but he did warm up to us and (repeatedly) shared with me the contents of his oversized Spiderman backpack, in which he carries around all his prized possessions, including a fresh pack of glow-in-the-dark Lightning McQueen briefs! Astin did warm up to us after a bit and we played with the stuffed hamsters that we had brought for each of them until both of the kids were worn right out and needed to get home.

Tomorrow we are either going out to a wildlife center to see some butterflies and birds and some fishing in a pond or we have been invited to use the other grandparents pontoon boat for a little boating on the lake behind their house. And I'm hoping to buy a hummingbird feeder and get it installed at their house so they enjoy their bird's antics as much as I do. We'll see. And pictures tomorrow when I'm drinking coffee in the morning, not drinking vodka before bedtime!

Home, finally!

The morning started pretty early today with our return preparations. The travel into Portland from Columbia City took an long time as the road was plowed but not cleared very well. There was usually two lanes where you could see the road but there was a lot of loose snow in between the lanes, making travel pretty tricky. It wasn't hazardous but it was pretty slippery the entire route.

The real adventure began when we arrived at Portland International Airport. Southwest Airlines had cancelled numerous flights over the past 2 days, leading to an overabundance of folks hoping to get rescheduled for their flights home. So the check-in line for Southwest wrapped around and around the shopping concourse giving us plenty of time to make friends with our line mates. We stood in line for about 2 1/4 hours before finally checking our bags and heading to security and the loading gate. Since the airplanes leaving were all late in line, ours was late too so we had time enough for a lousy lunch before getting on the plane.

Flying home was no trouble and we arrived before 5 PM. But by the time we claimed our bags, hiked over to the rental car agency, cleared through the youngsters that were trying to punch up their commission by upselling us a bigger car and made it out of the airport, it was late.

The very good news? My next door neighbor had used the snowblower under my carport to clear my driveway! Roger used the blower to clear his drive, mine and the next one over, for the guy that owns the snowblower. That was a huge relief because this little rental car would not have made it into the driveway!

So tomorrow the truck comes home from the repair shop and the dog comes home from the kennel. Then the rental car can go back to the airport and I'll be able to relax for a bit!

Made it out of the house today!

The snow in this part of Oregon took a break today and we were able to actually go into town! The BSU & I went with the sister and her hubby into Wal-Mart and the Safeway for some last minute shopping before returning to their warm abode. I promptly took a nap after our excursion!

But there has been sewing going on and cookies are being stirred right now and it's been as pleasant a day as possible.

Tomorrow is going home day, so cross your fingers for clearing weather. The flight we are scheduled for tomorrow cancelled today, so I'm hoping Southwest has had a chance to catch up. Twenty-six flights had to be cancelled yesterday since Portland's airport couldn't deice jets fast enough to clear the parking spots and all those flights were delayed even arriving. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

The biggest trouble I can see- short of getting home to Utah, is that my driveway at home has been piling up with snow and Leonard's snowblower seems to be busted again. Which means I'm going to have a serious shoveling chore when I get home!

But all the kid's gifts have been ordered and are in the capable hands of the delivery services and all I have to worry about is getting home and hoping my truck is ready for me to take home too.

The snow must be setting some kind of records-

Because the people that live here claim to never have seen so much snow, for so many days, in all their lives, here on the banks of the Columbia River. It has been snowing mostly non-stop since we arrived and when it wasn't snowing, it was freezing rain. The roads in the neighborhood have been taken over by the kids with inner tubes, sleds, toboggans, snow boards and trash can lids for sliding down the street outside the house where we are safely ensconced.

I did go out today to unbury the rental car and make enough path to get it into the portion that has been plowed but I didn't drive it anyplace. I took a walk up the hill behind the house to see the view and the very fancy houses and to watch the chickadees slipping and sliding while they dig for seeds. The birds seem pretty confused by the white crusty stuff and it was a hoot to watch them for a bit.

So here's some pictures- bad ones, snapped with my phone on a grey day, of the scene going on outside the house. As always, click the small pictures to see them full size.




[UPDATE] The news reports are that this storm has delivered the largest snowfall since 1968 in this part of the contry. There were many airline flights cancelled yesterday but it appears that things will be cleared up by tomorrow for us to travel back to the airport and back home as we planned.

Snowed-in in Oregon!

That's right, we are comfortably housebound with the BSU's sister and hubby, in their very luxurious house with a view of the Columbia River, well and truly snowed-in. Our flights yesterday went off with very minor hitches- sorry for all you folks traveling though Vegas, you weren't so lucky, and we arrived at our destination with very little drama.

But the snow has been coming down, the roads are packed or slushy or frozen and the house we are staying in is on a steep hill. So nobody's going anywhere unless they absolutely have to and we don't have to. It looks like board games, reading and drinking are the activities for the weekend. I've already read 70 pages of Jack London's Call of the Wild, in the same Companion Book that I am pretty certain can still be found on my Grandmother's bookshelf. Good fun.

Dog's at the kennel-

and the BSU says it's a nice one, so that's a good thing. The truck is ready to go to the transmission shop tomorrow. The BSU's gifts are wrapped and packed and the teddy bear that was a gift from the jeweler was re-gifted to the Toys for Tots bin. I bought a bag of food so the cats won't starve.

Now it will be time to get the luggage packed and decide if I'm taking my laptop.

And my new eyeglasses? They work terrific for everything except reading! I have to move my glasses way down on my nose to be able to read anything! This is going to be completely unsat and when I get home I'll have to see the optical shop for some kind of action. If it gets bad enough I'll install the old lenses back into my frames on my own.

New eyeglass lenses installed-

Last Saturday finally made it into the eye doctor for an exam and I ordered new lenses, because I like the frames I have been wearing for several years. They arrived tonght and I arrived just before the kind lady at the eye center locked up, so she kindly hooked me up with my new lenses. Everything's great but I wish I could read my monitor!

We bought a gift for one of the boys, shopped for the shoes (unsuccessfully) I need and found more toys for the grandbabies. I mailed another package, bought some parts for another gift and figured out how to get home from the airport next Tuesday.

Now I just have to pick up the BSU's gift, if it's finished, tomorrow and find some shoes tomorrow night. No worries, right?

Re: my last post-

The dog needs to go to the vet for fresh immunizations before she can go to the kennel...

Only having one vehicle in the family is getting complicated!

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