Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #3 – A Run Up the Mountain & Buying A Shed

 

LAST POST HERE ON THIS BLOG!   FOR FUTURE POSTS,  PLEASE GO TO terryandcathye.blogspot.com     

Saturday, January 15^th., 2022…… No rains today but it’s still really cold. We went out to walk the dogs and it wasn’t too bad. But later, after we got back from Kevin’s, it was chilly out there!  We marked off the spot where we want the new building to go (no, we haven’t got one yet) but we didn’t stay out too long because it was really nippy!  So, most of the rest of the day was spent in the house. I worked on the blog and Cathye worked in her office. We also spent some time prepping for her meeting with the wedding venue (Boulder Falls Inn). We have some decisions to make and wanted to talk about it before she goes. I watched some football and then we settled in later to watch some taped shows. We decided to take the doggies out for a drive tomorrow (weather permitting) and talked about that before calling it a night.

Sunday, January 16^th., 2022…… Today was such a nice day – ok, maybe not compared to SoCal! – so we decided to take a Sunday drive. We loaded up the pups and headed off to Mary’s Peak. This is one of the higher points in our immediate area. It’s part of the Coastal range so we headed west toward Corvallis and a few miles past Philomath we headed up Hwy 34 before taking the turn up to Mary’s Peak. You can see it in the distance.  

Because the last horrific windstorm had downed many trees, the roads were just barely accessible. We had the Acadia so we were ok but not able to use 4-wheel drive. As you can see from the pics below, we ran into snow! 

We got through most of it (about 10 miles) and even got past the ‘road closed’ sign and went about a mile father then found the deeper snow and had to back out and turn around. Oh well, it was still fun!  We parked and got the doggos out for a little run. Rylee loves the snow! Jama not so much…

Once we got back to the car and had paws and shoes wiped down, we headed back home to rest for the day. I watched football playoff games while Cathye watched Hallmark. It was a fun day!  

Monday, January 17^th., 2022…… Weather is cloudy and cold, but no rain today. We had Princess and Butthead out for their walk and got them and us fed breakfast.  Today we needed to go to Albany to check in on Jamie. We first went by the trailer to check on it and grab some stuff for the house.  We went and dropped off Jamie’s money and then drove south of town to look at a couple of shed businesses. If you know me, you know I like to compare product and won’t buy the first thing I see. We had already looked at three other places to get an idea of quality and craftsmanship and bang for the buck, so we kind of knew what we wanted and didn’t want. We found one lot that had two used sheds and that opened my eye a bit. Besides financing these sheds, I guess they can also rent-to-own them as well and they get repos from time to time. We found two of them which didn’t look too bad. The one I liked was already insulated (we assumed) and drywalled and was wired for power. No one was on the lot (MLK day) so we moved on. The second place also rented U-Haul trailers and the guy was busy with a truck rental but gave us the master key to look around. We were excited to see that his prices were much lower on this brand. We would come back later because we had an appointment with the vet for Jama’s shots, plus I wanted to go see the guy Cathye knew in Sweet Home before we decided. Turns out he was not there either but his sheds were unlocked. Same manufacturer as the first company so we already knew prices.  I called and left a message about the used sheds and the guy called back. Turns out the one we were interested in was more expensive than an original because it was drywalled and had electrical installed. And it was bigger than we needed. But because it was older, we thought it would be cheaper. Guess not but it gave me cause to think about it.  We knew we needed to go back by there tomorrow anyway because we needed to go to Albany to get Jama’s license renewed.   

Tuesday, January 18^th., 2022…… Forecast was little or no expected today. It was dry when we walked the dogs, but still pretty cold and a little windy.  This morning Cathye had scheduled Corey to come back and dig out the stump and plant the blue spruce we had bought before Christmas. It was still in the pot and needed to go into the ground asap. They worked on getting him started and I headed off to Wilco to get an axe because I couldn’t find mine. Imagine that! Once we got him equipped, we left him to his task and headed off to get breakfast and then on to Albany to the animal control office. Canine registration for senior pet owners is only $15.00 in OR. I think I remember it being the same in Calif too. We got that done and stopped at the place that had the used shed. The guy I spoke to on the phone yesterday was there today and we got to meet him. We took a close look at the shed and discussed its pros and cons. We are looking for a 10x12 and this one was 8x16. I had done the math, and drywall and electrical would run big bucks. We didn’t plan on doing anything more than running a cord out to it for light and maybe for a space heater, but complete wiring was a bonus. It was weathered and would need paint and some other tlc and the price made the cons outweigh the pros, so we passed and went up the road to the second place. The guy was there and we seriously looked at the models. The good thing was that each of these were for sale now so there would be no wait time. We signed the deal and bought this 10x16 for about the same price as the 10x12 at the other yard(s).

We will need to measure now to see if it will fit where we planned or if I need to get more gravel fill. When we came back home, Corey had the stump out and the tree planted!  Yaay! Funny, it looked a lot bigger sitting on the back porch!  

Wednesday, January 19^th., 2022…… Today, Cathye headed off to SHEM (Sweet Home Emergency Ministries) for her volunteer work at their food bank.  We had slept later than usual so I got dog walking duties while she got ready to leave. After she left, I started laundry and worked on that for most of the morning. When she got back, we started researching door lock assemblies for her Shasta trailer. Back in July, at the camping weekend in Brownsville, she got locked out of the trailer and a guy next door drilled out the lockset. Well, it is now toast so we have the task to find another 1974 door/latch assembly!  There are several vintage trailer hobbyists and businesses around the country, and she had some old contact info, so she started calling. Meanwhile, I started searching eBay for old parts and assemblies. Wow, these things are few and far between!  Plus, they cost an arm and a leg! Now we wish we would have just broken a window which would have been way cheaper!  More on this as it develops…

Thursday, January 20^th., 2022…… The weather is still gloomy. We have hours when the sun is out and it looks like it will warm up (but never does) and then it gets cloudy and misty or we get sprinkles. On a positive note – the grass never looked greener!  Since it was more sun and less gloom today, we decided to spend it working outside. I have it in my head to install an iron pipe across one end of the potting shed so she can use it for hanging pots and such. I figured out what I needed and took some measurements and headed off to Lowes where I had previously seen what I needed.  I had a piece of ¾ in. iron gas pipe cut and threaded so I could install the bracket plates on the ends and then mount it on the wall as one piece. My measuring and his cutting/threading were spot on and the piece went up with no problem! Next up was water!  We are lucky that Walt had installed water and power out there. I connected a water line and hose and ran it over to her new bench so that will make it easy when she starts working out there in a month or so. While I was doing all of this, Cathye went through the boxes and boxes that Corey had brought over from the sheds in the trailer. She sorted them into three piles: house, storage, and yard sale. She only got three or four done before we called it a day.      

Friday, January 21^st., 2022…… Another project we are working on is the inside of the Shasta trailer.

We are booked for the Vintage RV Rally in July. She has this idea that we can enlarge the fold down dinette with a bolster that will help me fit in there better. I’ve never slept in that bed because it’s so tiny, but if this works that would be great!  I have a bed extension very similar to it in the motorhome that I use when the bedroom slides are out to make another 8-10 inches of leg extension on the rv queen bed. That works well, so we found an upholstery shop in Albany and took the piece to him. He was only 6 months out to make the piece!  Not!  There are other places around and we are thinking that if we can just get the foam cut to size, that she can cover it with fabric.   We also took our bags of cans and bottles to the recycle center. I think we got over $60.00 this time! When we got back and rested for a bit, Cathye got herself an appointment for a pedicure later that afternoon so she headed off for that. My job was to pick out a place to go for dinner when she got back. I chose The Depot. It’s about 18 miles away in Albany but it is always worth the drive!  Plus, I was craving scallops (which were delicious as usual!). We got back home and settled in and relaxed and watched tv until bedtime.    

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #2 – Running Errands & Happy Birthdays

 

  

Thursday, January 6^th., 2022…… Rains are coming, so they say!  But this morning it was halfway sunny and no rain at all when we took the dogs out for their walk. But it’s coming…

I heard from Janie yesterday and today about Rick. They were out in their rv (down at Santee Lakes in the San Diego area in Calif.) and he said he wasn’t feeling well. As of this writing, he is still in the hospital there. They are running several tests. I have been talking with Janie and will keep everyone posted. Prayers for Rick and Janie.

Cathye left to go meet with the state folks for another evaluation for Jamie, her stepson. More on that as well…

I headed off for my noon massage. Cathye has set up regular sessions for both of us and today was my day.  I will pre-pay for hers tomorrow which will surely surprise her!

Ok, I’m back now and very refreshed. She worked on my neck and lower back this time. This is really working!     

Friday, January 7^th., 2022…… The weather is starting to change again, at least for this week. We are now expecting warmer temps and less rain as the week ends. Cathye had her meeting yesterday with the state folks (mental health). They said that they are still trying to figure out his future care.  It’s pretty tough not knowing what will happen! We both had things going on today. Cathye had her massage today and I needed to go to Costco for my tires. I dropped off the car and since they said it would be 1-4 hours, I headed in to shop. With a list from Cathye, I got everything and luckily got a call that they tested the sensors and I only needed one replaced. They would be done quickly!  I headed back home and relaxed. Cathye was still here and left a bit later for her appointment. Later, we went off to the Elks lodge for dinner. Tonight’s menu was beef stroganoff. We were early so we hit the bar and had a drink and played video poker. Dinner was pretty good. Back home and tv until bedtime.      

Saturday, January 8^th., 2022…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!  No rain has shown up yet!  Yaay!  We walked and fed the dogs and headed off to pick up Penny and Cherrelyn. We were going to Elmer’s in Albany for her birthday breakfast!  We had a nice morning. After that, we came back home and cleaned the house. Our friend Mark was coming over to take a look at our coins. We really aren’t coin collectors and these were sort of handed down to each of us over the years. So, we will be selling them and buying gold. Not much going on for the rest of the day so we just hung out and relaxed.  Later, Cathye made stuffed salmon and we settled in and ate and watched tv for the rest of the evening.   

Sunday, January 9^th., 2022…… We were up and going early and got showered and got out with the dogs. I had an Alexa notice pop up early this am about fog and frost. Since it didn’t rain yesterday, there was no water on the ground so there was no ice. Plus, we both had on our new insulated boots and they have good traction!  Later, Cathye headed off to church and I went up to get something to eat. I came back and settled in to watch my sports. Yes, they are back in 2022!  Last night was supercross race number 1 in Anaheim. New teams, new riders and a new chance for everyone to race a full season! Of course, I am following the NFL. Even though my team (Broncos) sucked this year, Cathye’s team (Packers) is doing well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go all the way this year! Rains came later in the afternoon and into the evening.   

Monday, January 10^th., 2022…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANDIE!  I waited until she had time to get up and going this morning, then gave her a call. I’m glad to hear they are healthy.  We also talked with Janie today. She gave us an update on Rick. The Camping Squares also send out updates on members so we had one update already and are able to follow all of our friends. After having a stent put in, Rick is doing well and will be going home soon. Yaay! 

We were out and about today running errands. We had a super early (7:30am) appointment for both of us for acupuncture in Corvallis. After that, we went to Tommy’s 4^th St. Bar and Grill and tried their breakfast. It was pretty good and since it’s close to Bonnie’s, we will be going back when we have morning appointments.  On the way back, we detoured over to Albany to give Jamie his weekly money and check in on him.  His endoscopy showed some issues but he seems to be doing well. We came back home and rested from our morning.   

Tuesday, January 11^th., 2022…… Penny left for her mini trip to Utah today. Cherrelyn is holding down the fort. Corey came over and did some work for us. I decided to finally get that laundry room cabinet installed, but I still needed a little help!  I had prepped the space and found the studs the day before and built a platform on the washer/dryer to temporarily support the cabinet. So, that made it easy and Corey and I got it up there and it only took a few minutes to screw it in.

Next up is paint.

Wednesday, January 12^th., 2022…… We went out for breakfast this morning and then hit Home Depot. We were shopping for a workbench for her potting shed. We found a rack system that uses wire for the shelving and it can be assembled side by side, so that will work perfectly for her potting area! I will bring the truck back later in the week to pick it up.  We also stopped on the way home to look at storage sheds. We want to put one up that will be used for the mowers and some odds and ends.  Some choices shown below

Cathye says she has a friend in Sweet Home who she thinks still sells them, so we will be checking in with them in the next week or so.   

Thursday, January 13^th., 2022…… Weather is clear but getting colder!  High temps are only getting up to the mid-40s.  No snow expected, but it’s chilly out there!  Heck, I was just getting back into my shorts again! We spent some time today putting up those Christmas boxes. We had everything out there but needed to move the truck and zero turn out of the way so we could get in and get the boxes off the floor and up on the racks. Good thing I take pics before so I know where everything goes.  Even the additional boxes found a place!

Friday, January 14^th., 2022…… Housecleaners came bright and early this morning!  There were four of them today and they made quick work of the place. Boy, they do a terrific job!  We let them in and then took off for the morning and headed off to Albany to pick up that workbench.  Corey was back today and, while I worked on assembly of the bench, he took my truck and Cathye met him at her trailer and he loaded up and brought over a bunch of items from the sheds over there. He made two trips and got everything out. We temporarily put the items in my shop garage.  I finished up the potting station worktable and she got to check it out and thinks it is perfect!

She’s already got a couple of germination stations ready to go and we are looking forward to starting work out there come spring!  I still have some rearranging to do out there and some poles to install for hanging flower pots from, but it’s coming along! Cathye had gone to pick up the kids from school and brought them over here. We had fun playing with them before they had to go home. It was a busy day!

 

Ok, here’s an important update that you all should know. My former blogspot address (terryandlydia.blogspot) is changing!  Actually it is changing to terryandcathye.blogspot.com

I need to check with Google to see if there is a way to move over all of the history but right now all I could do was create the new address and post on it going forward.

I am hoping you will move over to the new address and continue to follow me (us)! I will continue to post on the old site 1-2 more times, then close it.  If you open the new site on your computer/laptop, you can save to your bookmarks. For your android phone, once you open the new site, you can go to the three dots in the upper right and click on ‘add to home screen’ to make a new quick link. Apple ipad/iphone users – I’m sorry, I am not super familiar with their systems but I’m told there is a white bar at the bottom with an ↑ arrow that you can click to see an option to ‘add to home screen’.       

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #1 – New Year & Listing the Trailer!

 

Saturday, January 1^st., 2022…… Happy New Year!  For us, it was an early morning. We were up and showered and out with the doggies. The plan today was to take it easy and hang around the house today and watch tv. But first up, was breakfast. I went off to go get that while Cathye fed the dogs and started the coffee. Once I got back, we settled in and watched the rose parade. I sure miss the LA feed with Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards!  But it was still a good parade and good commentary. I just thought the parade was a lot shorter than normal!  After that, I went in and started watching my bowl games. Cathye decided to go visit with Lona and Misty because she still had a few gifts to distribute. So much for staying in! She also stopped by the market and got stuff for chili and cornbread for dinner. We relaxed and ate and, later, watched more tv until bedtime.     

Sunday, January 2^nd., 2022…… Today we have work to do!  We have Corey and Eric meeting us at the trailer. They will be loading up Cathye’s entertainment center to bring to the house. It will replace the one in the living room and that one will go in the main bedroom. The old oak unit in there has seen its day and will be scrapped. We had already shrink-wrapped the unit at her trailer and the guys got that loaded with little issues. We also made another trip and took her floor model radio and her antique slot machine to add to the house as well. The boys did a great job and sure saved my back!  Eric wanted the old oak unit, so that was even better!  

All we need to do now is reload all the items again.  We went back over to the trailer and loaded up some more of her personal items and cleaned off all of the counters and moved out some items to make it look roomier. We were ready for the pics!

Monday, January 3^rd., 2022……  Today we had a few things. We walked and fed Princess and the Butthead and then headed off to Kevin’s for breakfast. Then we went over to Albany to meet up with Aimee to sign the papers for the trailer. That went easy. Pics tomorrow and the listing should go up middle of the week. We stopped by Jamie’s to check in and give him his money for the week. I have never been inside and Cathye says “there’s a reason for that”. She spent some time in there cleaning up and getting it livable again. Still no word on the future for Jamie. No word yet from the family in Arizona.  So, it’s likely going to be up to Cathye to work with social services and mental health here in Oregon to get some help in placing him in assisted living, or at least get some more help at his home.        

Tuesday, January 4^th., 2022…… We do not need to be at the trailer today for the pics, so Cathye and Penny met for lunch. They were going to discuss more plans for the wedding. I stayed home and had the task to go pick up Jama from the groomers when we got the call that she was ready. Cathye went back to the trailer later and visited with her neighbors. There was one lady next door who was mildly interested in the trailer for her daughter who lives in Palm Springs. We offered to hold up on listing if she was serious. She quickly backed off so we are almost ready! The sign is now up and the listing will go out tomorrow!  While she was gone, I sorted through and arranged some new and old photos that Cathye has framed. Some came from her trailer, and some were newly mounted. I laid them out and started adding them to a collage in the breakfast room. I think they look good!

 We had leftover chili for diner and rested and relaxed and watched tv until calling it a night.        

Wednesday, January 5^th., 2022…… Cathye headed off to SHEM this morning. I walked the dogs and then fed them and went off to get my breakfast. The weather is not too bad today. There are sprinkles predicated for most of today (and continuing this whole week) but I decided to take the Honda in for service. Cathye showed me last week that the TPMS light was on in that car. Yeah, I had to look it up!  It means Tire Pressure Management System. Most cars now have sensors in the wheel stems that register a little tire logo on the dashboard that indicates you have a low tire. The TPMS light means that one or more of those sensors are defective. That means you can still drive the car but that little tire light will now not function. The Honda dealer said they didn’t have racks available today so I scheduled it for Friday morning. But, one the way home, I remembered that I had those sensors all replaced when I had tires installed a few years ago at Costco. Now, I don’t expect them to be still under warranty, but I found the bill and it will be WAY cheaper to have them replaced at Costco than at the dealer. So, I called back and cancelled my appointment at the dealer. I got back home and relaxed for a bit. Cathye came home and then we went together to meet up with our friend, Sally, for lunch. Sally was part of the team who worked for so long at Cathye’s house ahead of and during her estate sale. She was cataloging and pricing items and also tested and priced hundreds of radios. She is a super lady and we both looked forward to seeing her again and catching up with her.  We had a great lunch and she followed us back home to see our place. We visited here for a bit and then she headed off to finish her chores today. Aimee sent a text saying the listing is out. She sent a link to the listing.  I’m listing it here. Hope the link works for you.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2796-S-Main-Rd-UNIT-90-Lebanon-OR-97355/209772044_zpid/

We are a little concerned since we have also seen other trailer/mobiles listed that were newer or bigger and priced less than hers. Time will tell.

After our nice lunch, neither of us were hungry for dinner so we snacked on fruit and cheese. We are excited to start episode 1 of The Amazing Race tonight! Or. at least I was excited!

This season (33) was filmed in two parts, because of covid. Production started in February 2020 and was halted for the pandemic. They had to wait 18 months to get started again!  This has always been one of my favorite shows and I was anxious to share it with Cathye, who had never watched it before at all. She said she had a hard time following all of the teams and was trying to figure it all out but was enjoying it so far. I am hooked and can’t wait for the next one!           

 

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #74 – More Relaxing & Ringing in the New Year!

 

Wednesday, December 29^th., 2021…… Today was Jamie’s scheduled endoscopy. We were up early and Cathye went out to go get him. He’s in Albany and the endoscopy center is in Corvallis, so she left early. We did get lucky with the weather. The snow is gone and the roads are clean and dry. I stayed home and walked and fed the pups and then went out and got my breakfast. On the way home, I stopped by the trailer and picked up all of the contractor’s junk and loaded it in my truck to sort through and dispose of at home.  I cleaned up some more of the section of the garage and moved some items around in the rv garage.

Cathye got back around 1:30pm and rested for a while. She needed to stay and make sure Jamie was doing ok and cleaned up his really messy place while he nodded off. He is having some serious health issues and is challenged to be by himself much longer. He is receiving state aid and gets evaluated on a regular basis. House checks and such. He is supposed to be getting assistance with household chores and errands and such, but he is not too cooperative and shoos much of the workers away. His brother and aunt are in Arizona and Cathye is trying to explain the seriousness of the situation. We’re hoping they will help in facilitating getting him into a true assisted living place somewhere, if they don’t want to take him in there.      

Thursday, December 30^th., 2021……  I didn’t look back in my posts to see if I had mentioned this before, but I think I did mention about Cathye’s ring that was in for repair. There are two sections (with the sapphires) on the rose gold part, that ‘float’. She had snagged one of them and was worried that she would break one eventually. We wanted it soldered to make it more secure. Well, they called and it is done, so we took a trip back up to Woodburn to get it. The weather cooperated and the drive was nice and we got the ring and it looks perfect!  You can’t even tell where it was altered.

We stopped at Costco and then came back to the house. Aimee called back with the appraisal and market assessment. She thinks we can get a little more than we have in it. Since space rent/utilities/insurance/cable/etc. adds up, and she cannot sub-let it, and it stays empty these days, most important is selling it sooner than later. With the market still going strong up here, she thinks there will be a bidding war. We will sign the contract on Monday and they will take pics on Tuesday. Meanwhile, we are ready for the new year!  Cathye bought us tickets for the Champagne Train for New Year’s Eve. This is the local train that runs from here to Sweet Home. The train will be following ‘east coast time’ tomorrow night so we will leave the station here at 7:00pm and celebrate the new year at 9:00pm and be back and home and in bed way before midnight!  Should be fun! 

Friday, December 31^st., 2021…… As mentioned, we have decided to put the trailer on the market and since we will be going to see Aimee on Monday, that means we need to go over and put away any items on the counters and such and straighten up the place. We have also decided to swap out the entertainment centers. We’re going to bring her new one with the fireplace over here for the living room. The current one in the living room will move to the bedroom and the one in there will be scrapped. We needed to wrap the one at her house because it’s very heavy and we don’t want anything to come apart, so we got that accomplished today. We also started moving out some of the personal items and got those boxed and out. Then it was time to stop and take a break and wait for the train trip tonight. Ok, it’s later now and we had changed and headed out to the train station here in town.  We made it to the line for boarding in back of a dozen folks but ahead of a bunch of others. We boarded and found seats in the bar car and settled in. I must say we were sorely disappointed with just about everything that went on that night. The bar car was one constant line as the younger partygoers that outnumbered the older folks made a constant line right above us in our seats. I had already gotten us drinks so we were there waiting for the crowds to disperse so we could breathe!  After a bit, the train was away from town and the line let up and we settled in. The food was a buffet (again, disappointing, especially since tickets were $50. ea.!). It was a few cars away so I held our seats and Cathye went down to get us a couple of plates. Again, it was disappointing! We got veggies, meatballs, little hot dogs, and a couple of cookies!  The champagne wasn’t ready but we decided not to mix drinks anyway so we decided we’d pass on that. The kids got rowdier as the night went on. We should have realized this would be the norm for the evening and we couldn’t wait until we got back to the station. At 9:00pm, they counted down to the New Year and we kissed 

and had a drink, and sat back and people-watched for the rest of the trip.  Once we got back to town, we quickly made our way to the exit platform and headed out and home. We were in bed at 10:30!  I guess we will chock it up to just a bad experience and learn from it for next time. It was just an ok evening for us but we hope everyone had a nice New Year’s Eve! 

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #73 – Last Minute Things and a Merry (White) Christmas!

  

Wednesday, December 22^nd., 2021…… We needed to go to Arby’s in Albany some time today to pick up a gift card for Jamie. We’ll go later in the day.  First up - walking the dogs. We got up and out but made a little shorter trip of it today because it was starting to rain a bit. I am so used to the rain that I don’t think too much about going out in it anymore. As long as I remember to take the time to change out my wet shoes or wet pants or whatever is too wet to wear for the day, I’m good to go!  We headed to Albany and ran some errands and hit Harbor Freight and Home Depot and used the drive thru at Arby’s (no inside service), to get that gift card.  Problem was, when I got up to the window, I found they do not sell Arby’s gift cards!  But I managed to back out, thanks to the guy behind me having a big truck and gave me enough room to get out. Thank you, sir!

Thursday, December 23^rd., 2021……  Another drop in temps today. BUT we had some glorious sunshine for most of the day!  It was just cold. Temps all day in the low 40s. All of the news today has been about maybe a white Christmas. We’ll see… We had Aimee (my realtor friend) come by and meet Cathye today. We took her over for a tour of the trailer just to get an idea of its value. We’re still trying to figure out our best options for the property. We had a nice visit and she took a few pics. Later, Cathye took off for some errands. She had to run to the store for some ingredients for a cake and to drop off a few gifts to friends at the trailer park. That done, she came home to get me. It was time to head off to her doctor’s appointment. This was her yearly physical. I drove and waited in the car and rested. No worries. She is very healthy. We got back home and then headed over to Walmart for some last-minute stuff for Christmas dinner. Tv until bedtime.        

Friday, December 24^th., 2021……  The storms and the humongous cold front that is coming in from Alaska is still on track to hit the Northwest so we are all getting ready for it. I only have one or two outside water spigots that needed to be covered and I did those. Cathye got a note in her mail at the trailer reminding her to do the same. She went over and took care of hers. Then we settled in at the house and got ready for tomorrow. We pre-cooked some stuff for Christmas. Cathye made a chocolate cake and I made the deviled eggs this time.  We were ready! I did manage to catch this little elf on the shelf taking a break!...

The only thing left was midnight mass. But, as it turned out, most of the churches cancelled services due to the weather. So, we had an early night and settled in.  

Saturday, December 25^th., 2021…… MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  We will have Cherrelyn, Butch, Penny, Britany, Corey, Brandon, and Jamie here for dinner. But each of us will open gifts beforehand and then the shared ones when they all get here. Cathye and I took the dogs out for a really short walk. It was 33° and not expected to get any warmer throughout the day. But no rain or snow so we just had the cold to deal with. I used to think I would hate the cold, but I guess my blood is used to it by now. So, temps in the 40s don’t bother me (shorts weather!) anymore. I don’t think anyone can ever get used to highs in the 30s, so I can say it was cold today!  Snow is still expected today. Anyway, we opened our gifts to one another (and the dogs got theirs too), then got ready for the family. Everyone showed up at once (around 11:30) and we opened gifts. We also had several phone calls and a couple of facetime calls with family and friends. Dinner was spectacular!  

Dessert was awesome, although we ate it way later in the day because we were stuffed. Later, when everything was cleaned up and everyone was gone, we settled in and relaxed and enjoyed a quiet evening watching tv. Rylee was pooped out, surrounded herself with her guarded toys!

As we were sitting there, we looked out and saw the first snow falling! This is a shot from the front porch.

It was the end to a nice day!    

Sunday, December 26^th., 2021…… Here’s what we woke up to this morning. Shot from the back porch...

It wasn’t a lot of snow but it wasn’t done yet!  It continued to snow off and on all day. Our discussion about Christmas decorations had been going on for some time now. Cathye wants them up until January. I want them down the day after.  We compromised. The tree and my village will go today or tomorrow. The outside lights and the snowflake lights in the windows stay up. The snowmen decorations (and we have tons of them!) will also stay up around the house. The rest will be boxed up. Not too much going on today though. Her church service was cancelled. We were both content to just hang around the house and not do too much. We did go over to Penny’s house to give Cherrelyn her gifts. She didn’t come yesterday, and we wanted to get out in the snow anyway, so this was perfect!  We took Cathye’s 4x4 truck but the roads were fine and we made it there with no issues. We had a nice visit. Later, when we got back home, I drug out the boxes and bins and we started with the tree and got the decorations down and put away and the tree boxed up and out on the porch. That was about it for the day…

Monday, December 27^th., 2021……  More snow last night. The main roads had been sanded yesterday but not today. They were icy!  I know because we went out for breakfast and, even though I was driving the 4x4, I managed to lose traction and slid it a bit. It was fun watching people watch me as I corrected the wheel to avoid hitting anything. But I put it in 4-wheel drive and we were good to go.  Cathye managed to have a few laughs at my behalf! We ate and headed back home and finished putting away the Christmas stuff. The boxes only made it to the back porch but at least we had everything in the house cleaned up. Only the snowmen (and the outside lights) remain!    

Tuesday, December 28^th., 2021…… Cathye headed off to take down her decorations at the trailer and hit Walmart while I concentrated on getting everything off the porch and stashed in the shop garage. We will wait until all of the bins are there before we stack and store on the racks. I took pics where everything was but we have purged a lot of the old brittle bins and replaced them with bigger ones. But I think we’ll have no problem putting everything away. The snow is still on the ground but it’s starting to melt. I think by tomorrow, it will all be gone – at least on our flat property. Those folks up the hill to our south have tons of trees and don’t get a lot of direct sunlight.  

 

 

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #72 – A Snowy Leavenworth & Prepping for a Party!

 

Wednesday, December 15^th., 2021…… We slept well last night. We were up and showered and out before 9:00am. We made the short walk to the main village area and looked for a place for breakfast. Some places didn’t open until 10:00am but we found a coffee kiosk that said try Louie’s, it was the place the locals go. It was just up the street and we got in and seated with no problem. I enjoyed the meal and especially the German sausage gravy! We still had some time before the shops opened so we headed back to the inn so Cathye could swap out her shoes for some with a little more traction. Later, we headed back to town and spent quite a long time just walking in and out of the local shops. We found a place for lunch called the Soup Cellar. It was really good! We hit the Nutcracker Museum. We decided to do that tour and it was really interesting! They say they have the largest nutcracker collection in the world!  And we believe them!  Cases and cases on two floors were crammed with nutcrackers in various themes and shapes and sizes.

It was very interesting. We watched a movie and learned that some of these guys can go for some serious coin! MY favorite was the Hilary model, complete with the nutcracker between her legs! Hilarious!

After that, we headed back home to rest before our walk back to town on the way to the event we had tickets for. We wanted to find a place for dinner but discovered that neither of us were hungry, so we spent some more time just looking around some more.  We even went to a thrift shop. We stopped at the local market and got some milk and then went to the bakery next door and got some pastries for a snack and also some for the train trip tomorrow morning. We made our way to the local high school, taking pics along the way. This town really does a great job in decorating for the holidays! Lots of snow and there were kids sledding around the town square gazebo.

We got to the school before most of everyone else, since we didn’t want to walk around in the snow.  We were going to see the local Leavenworth Village Chorus in concert. Cathye had found this online and booked us tickets for the 7:00pm show. I had already called and scheduled a shuttle/taxi to pick us up afterward, because it was going to be late and we didn’t trust the weather.  Since it was just starting to snow when we went into the auditorium, we thought it was a good choice. The show was pretty good. They had a guest chorus from the school do a few songs plus they had a couple of guest singers.

 

It let out around 9:00pm and we only had to wait a few minutes for the driver to come get us. And yes, it was snowing when we went outside. Good call!  Next up was another shuttle for the early morning pickup back to the train depot. I sure hope that one works out as well as this one was!    

Thursday, December 16^th., 2021……  This morning, we were scheduled to catch the same Empire Builder headed back from Chicago to Seattle. It was due in at 6:08am. Our shuttle driver called when he was across the street. We were next on his schedule and got standing room only on the bus but at least we got on and would make our train! Whew!  Once we got there, we only had a few minutes to wait before the train got to us. Again, our car was for mid-range riders, so we easily found good seats. The ride back was really nice. Leavenworth is only 1200 ft. elevation, but it’s on the eastern side of the Cascades, so they get snow at lower elevations than we do here in Oregon.  We went up and over Stevens Pass (4,061 ft) and by the time we got back to Seattle, the snow was long gone. We made that really long 200 ft. walk across the street and dropped off our bags again. It was only 10:30am so we knew we would need to go find breakfast before we could check in. We walked next door and had an excellent breakfast at the 13 Coins. Much better than dinner the other night!  Nadya was there to meet us and said she had our room ready!  Boy, she really came through!  She gave us a corner room on the 15^th floor, overlooking the city and the sound!  We left the curtains open all day (and all night) just to see it all. 

We rested for a while and actually napped!  We weren’t really hungry but wanted to go back to Sluggers again.  It turns out that when we made the walk over there, we found we worked up an appetite so we each had linner. We walked back to the hotel and stopped at 13 Coins to get dessert (chocolate cake) and took it back to our room.  Later, we went down to the reception area and had a beer and some chips. After that, we went back and changed into our swimsuits and hit the spa. This time we had it to ourselves. It was the perfect end to a nice trip! 

But we weren’t done yet….   

Friday, December 17^th., 2021……  Our train back to Albany today was the Coast Starlight. This train begins in Seattle and ends up in Los Angeles!  So, it was another long-distance train with plenty of amenities. This time we were given a seat assignment. Still good seats. We settled in for the 5-hour ride back to Albany. This time the train was running behind and ended up 36 minutes late to get us back to our stop. But sis was there and we loaded up and headed home. I think it was closer to 5:30pm when we drove into the driveway. The dogs were sure happy to see us!  We came in and unpacked and stacked laundry for tomorrow. What a nice trip!  Cathye kept track on her FitBit and discovered that in the 6 days we were out, we averaged over 11,000 steps each day. And we rode a train four times!  But I doubt we lost weight because we took advantage of the food and drink everywhere we went. Hey, we’re on vacation!    

Saturday, December 18^th., 2021…… Laundry day.  We slept in but once we were up and ready, we went out with the dogs. Even though the weather was cold and damp, it was still fun to be with them again!  After breakfast, we had a few things on our to-do lists. Cathye had some shopping to do. I did some more shopping online but I still needed to get my appointment for my second shingles shot. I had had the first shot at the Walgreens in Albany, but when I went online, I found they were able to schedule me at the Lebanon store (about a mile away). Plus, they had an opening today at 2:30.  I took it!   We headed off to get the mail at the trailer and Cathye wanted to straighten up before Heather and Charlie get here on Monday. I left her there and went to Walgreens. I had to wait in the normal prescription order/pickup line but it went pretty quickly and they got me signed in and the rest only took 10 minutes and I was out of there. We went to Hangry Solutions food truck and split a chicken ranch wrap and went home to eat. Later, and so far, other than some minor soreness, no issues with this shot. But I did go to bed early and tossed and turned for a bit until I could find a comfortable position to sleep.   

Sunday, December 19^th., 2021…… I managed to get a little sleep last night but I was awake every time I rolled over. No worries, today is Sunday and I have no plans so I can rest. The weather is getting colder here lately. They say if the next front coming in stays a cold front, we could get low-elevation snowfall. We are at about 340’ so that means us!  But right now, it’s just raining. Today’s rain was light enough for us to get out with minimal rain gear to walk the dogs. It did come down pretty hard later in the morning. Cathye was able to get out and drive to church and I hung around the house for the day.  

Monday, December 20^th., 2021……  We both slept well last night. No more sore shoulder from the shot. I am good to go! We had taken our single blow-up bed over to the trailer the other day for Charlie to use and made sure it was operational. We went back later today and found it was down!  But I checked and found the escape valve wasn’t quite tight and it should be ok for one night. Heather’s dad and the rest of that side of the family is in Sweet Home. They are coming down to visit them so we won’t see them on this short of a trip.  Heather’s mother (Mary) is Cathye’s sister and lives in Benson AZ. They will be going there later in the year. We also needed to get the place ready for Cathye’s party tonight. She’s having the girls over for a party/gift exchange. I got the task of making dinner!  Not really. She said she needed to make a casserole and I had shared one my family liked since way back when. We called it “squiggly noodle casserole” and it’s easy to make, so I volunteered to make it for them. She had gone shopping already and got all of the ingredients. It was easy to assemble and I had it in and out of the oven and ready right on time. The girls (Lona, Misty, Robin, Cherrelyn, Penny, and Judy) all got here and started partying. I stayed in my office and worked on the previous blog and stayed away! They had a fun night – some of it at my expense as I heard from them later!  Good times!     

Tuesday, December 21^st., 2021…… Cathye went to her church for a morning of volunteer work boxing up for the needy. But no one was there!  She called her friend and was told they were now working out of the SHEM (Sweet Home Emergency Ministries) foodbank store in town, so she met up with them there and worked for a few hours. Once she got home, we went over and picked up the blow-up bed and brought it back here. We made plans for Christmas dinner and present exchange. That set, we were good to go. I think we only need one more item and our gift lists will be complete.  I have all of my stuff wrapped but Cathye has several to go. So, she went off to her workspace in the office for that.  Leftover casserole for dinner and relaxing time with tv until bed.