Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #114 – Carpet Cleaning and a Vet Appointment

 

Tuesday, August 28th, 2018……   Today was carpet cleaning day! I spent most of the morning moving small items out of the carpeted rooms, and running the vacuum over every area for a nice clean start. We had patiently waited since moving in up here to get the carpets cleaned. They were already soiled in a few areas but since we had planned on eventually getting, and potty training a puppy, we had decided to wait until all of that was complete before we called in the troops. Down in SoCal, we had a friend of Jeff’s (Kevin), who has always cleaned our carpets. I have to admit that we were always treated like royalty and were given a super great price. Of course, all of that came to an end when we left, so we knew it would be more pricey.  Wow, it sure was! But the guy did a great job and removed stains both in the house and in the motorhome! With the weather in the 80’s this week, the house carpets will dry with no problems. But, since the rv is in the garage, we will wait a few days and run some fans out there before we move the new recliners in and finally get that task completed.  

Wednesday, August 29th, 2018……  Today was Rylee’s vet appointment for her spaying. We woke up, showered and got ready. Hardest part this morning was not being able to give her breakfast (no food after 8:00 last night). But we were able to calm her down and we got her there by 8:15am. Ok, we had the rest of the day dog-free, but we didn’t do too much. We went to Walmart and bought some hanging bouquets for the front porch and then stopped by Shirley May’s for breakfast. We had planned on mowing today, but instead we spent most of the morning working out in the front yard,

 and then putting all of the furniture back in the rooms after the carpet cleaning yesterday. Then, after a break for lunch and resting a bit, we left for Kohl's in Albany. Lydia had a 30%-off coupon and wanted both of us to look at new tennis shoes. Well, we both found a pair! On the way back, Lydia called the clinic to check, and yes, Rylee was ready to be picked up. We paid (not nearly as much as we expected, including some ear medication and flea pills) and took our sweet baby home.  She was pretty much as we expected – drugged out and very sleepy. She did eat (I think it’s a reflex action!) but she slept most of the afternoon.

We were very surprised that they didn’t put her in a cone! They said to keep an eye on her and if she licks her incision site to come back in for one. Hope she doesn’t – will keep you posted. Meanwhile, I checked my online requirement for jury duty and yes, I have to drive in tomorrow to Albany and report in at 9:00am to the Linn County Courthouse. Oh, well, we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. We ended the evening pretty quietly, keeping a close eye on our sleepy pooch, and watching our taped America’s Got Talent while we ate dinner leftovers.        

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #113 – More Touring and The End of the Visit

 

Sunday, August 26th, 2018……   Today the girls had a few items on their plate. We got up and fixed breakfast and then they were off. They went to Albany to the carousel. Frances said she was really impressed – another place to bring Raymond! Then they went to Fred Meyer (her first time there) and picked up a few things for dinner. On the way back home, they made a slight detour and Lydia drove her through Brownsville. She has seen the movie Stand By Me and was familiar with the scenes filmed there. Then they went back and stopped by Home Town Furniture. They close forever next week and mailed us a discounted flyer so Lydia wanted to see what they had plus show Frances all of the décor. Then they stopped by Penny’s to tour the house before coming home and resting before dinner. I fired up the bbq and cooked the tri tip plus the corn and zucchini and mushrooms. My sister came by and we all had a nice filling meal.

Then the girls went out and picked grapes and blueberries. The blueberries all almost gone now but the grapes are ripe and delicious! Both Frances and Penny got some of each bagged up to take home.

After the meal, we all rested and watched tv and chatted – ok the girls chatted, I went in and watched tv. I had taped the Little League World Series (congrats to the champs from Hawaii!) and all of the weekend’s races and auctions so l had some catching up to do! Later, we called it a night and got some needed rest. Frances flies out tomorrow so we head back to Portland early in the morning.  

      

Monday, August 27th, 2018……  We got everyone up, fed Rylee, and then left for the airport about 7:00am, stopping by McDonald’s and then to get gas. We made it with very light traffic along the way. We got there around 9:00am or so and said our goodbyes. It was fun for Frances to finally get up here and see our place and spend some time with us. Maybe Raymond will be able to get up here next trip… Then it was time to head back home. I mentioned that we took Hwy 99 going up last Friday. Today, we decided to follow it home. Problem was finding the closest intersection from the airport. The gps wasn’t exactly cooperating but we managed to surreptitiously make our way to it. We eventually crossed over where we exited it coming up the other day so now we know we have an alternate route to and from the airport in case we choose to use it. The drive via hwy 99 is very interesting and goes through the Portland suburbs and then through some small farming cities on the way south. We even stopped at a furniture store (still pricing dining room sets) and also a fencing company. We want to close the 165’ property line past the ‘west forty’, plus we’d like to put up 2-rail white (poly) fencing across the front of the property. We got prices for each but those 'sticker shock' prices will cause us to hold off for a bit!  But at least we now have a comparable and can look into alternatives (maybe Tim & Dana?) to compare prices.

We got back home in time to feed Rylee her lunch and we ate ours as well. Then it was relaxing until later in the day and I took off to Walmart to get steak buns for tri tip sandwiches for dinner. We both watched a few programs together and then went off later to each watch a few of our own taped shows. 

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #112 – Lydia’s Sister Visits and a trip to Cheese Heaven

 

Friday, August 24th, 2018……   Today Frances was due in. She booked in to Portland so we planned our morning to leisurely get up there in time to meet her. We did our normal routine and left the house about 9:45am. I had seen that Hwy 99, which goes through our entire state, ran parallel to I5 – so we chose that route. We’d never traveled that road before so it was an adventure. No, it’s not an interstate and has traffic lights, but we weren’t in a hurry and we knew it ran pretty close to the airport once you get into Portland. It turned out to be better than expected! Nice drive and we saw things we need to go back to further investigate. We sat in the cell phone lot and waited for Frances to call and then drove in to the pickup area and got her. I wanted to bring her back through the city and we did that, with only one detour for a closed frwy ramp. The trouble came later when I ignored a traffic incident warning on my GPS. We got stuck for over 45 minutes waiting for a travel trailer to be moved off the highway. But we made it home in time to feed Rylee and then take off again for dinner since none of us had lunch. We chose Skyline and Penny came over to the house and joined us. We had a nice meal and drove back through the area to show Frances around a bit. Then it was back home and get the monster mutt her dinner and let her out.  Later, I called my jury hotline number to see when I have to report. My jury number is what they go by and my number is on the list for this Thursday. I still have to call in on Wednesday so it may change. The girls spent most of the evening visiting and getting caught up. I watched the Monterey Mecum Auctions I had taped. Tomorrow we are making the drive to the coast and then up to tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory. They have opened the newly remodeled tour center so that will be new to us.               

      

Saturday, August 25th, 2018……  Today we got up and got going early again. I fed and walked Rylee and then we set out on our day’s adventure. It’s probably 90 miles all totalled to get to the Tillamook factory. But it’s a nice drive and there is never any traffic to speak of. Rather than search for a place for breakfast, we decided to stop at Elmer’s even though it was a few miles out of the way. We were in and out pretty quickly and on our way. Frances liked it and said she will definitely be taking Raymond to the one in Palm Springs soon!  Frances was also very impressed with our area, even though the crops are harvested and the fields are mostly dirt and very dusty when the tractors are working them. She liked our coastline and commented that it certainly wasn’t congested like So Cal is! We got to Tillamook and got a great parking spot! We went in and were immediately impressed with the place. You go right upstairs and straight ahead to look down on the production line through viewing windows. Very nice. On the way out you go past the room that documents the process that the milking cows go through before the milk reaches the plant. 

Then you go to the tasting room!  They had several cheeses to choose from. We learned from others before us that you can skewer several pieces of cheese with one toothpick and fill several and then eat them once out of the line. We definitely got our fill! 

Then, you go downstairs and through - what else – their store! Yes, we bought some cheeses and even some summer sausage (from Debbie D’s which is across the street – saved us a trip!). Frances got Raymond some souvenirs and then we went and got in line for some lunch. This was the part they didn’t get right. They have three lines – one for food and one each inside and outside for ice cream. We wanted soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. The line was very slooowww in moving. When we finally got to the front we saw they only had one person taking orders! They use gps devices to find you once you go find a table. They had plenty of room for folks to sit and eat (another plus from before the remodel). If they could put more people at the registers, it would have moved faster. But we suffered through that and got seated. Lydia and I split a cheese cubano and shared a cup of tomato soup plus a plate of fries. Frances had the soup and cheese sandwich. The food was excellent! Afterward, we headed back and took a shortcut to get to Salem and then down to home. It was a long day but it gave Frances a broad spectrum of the different landscapes of our state. Thanks to sis for coming over and feeding Rylee lunch and dinner.  We decided that since we ate a decent lunch, we would just snack for dinner. We had planned to bbq a tri tip but that will now be for tomorrow. We ended up crashing for the day.    

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #111 – A Wellness Visit and a Ladder for the RV Garage

 

Wednesday, August 22^nd, 2018……  This morning we had our in-home medical consult. She said between 8:00-8:30am. So, we got up about 6:30am, fed and walked Rylee, and cleaned up some of her toys before the lady got here.  She was a bit late and the whole visit took over two hours!  But it was time spent for both of us so it wasn’t too bad. Both of us are already scheduled for our yearly physicals so we’re good to go for now. After she left, Lydia made breakfast. We had bought some jumbo brown eggs at the farmer’s market and we wanted to get those going asap. They were yummy! It’s so nice to have fresh eggs, fruit and veggies. Then I went out and worked on the trailer. I got most of the wood removed and then it got hot out! So, I came in and rested and took advantage of the air conditioning for a while.         

      

Thursday, August 23^rd, 2018……  This morning we got up and got going early. The weather has finally broke. We are expecting temps in the 70s this week. Yaay! The smoke is not as bad either. Yaay again! Lydia got ready to go play pickleball and I wanted to go to Burcham Metals in Albany to check out a platform ladder for my rv garage. You’ve seen these steps at Lowes and Home Depot – they use them to get stock off of the higher racks in the store. I wanted one to use to get up and do work on the motorhome. They had one that was well priced ($87.50) but wasn’t as tall as I wanted so I passed. I got back and started looking for others that I could buy. Most everything was $350-$700 plus freight.  When Lydia got home I told her I was going back to get the one I found and asked if she wanted to come with me. We took off and headed back and found it was still there. I got it loaded and came back home. I need to put a couple of rubber stopper pads on the bottoms but other than that it is ready to go. 

It’s not exactly what I was looking for but it will work for now. I’m still going to keep my eyes open for a bigger one.

We decided to eat an early dinner and watched tv until bedtime.     

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #110 – Rylee’s Good and Bad Four Legged Visitors

Monday, August 20^th, 2018……   Rylee has been in trouble the last few days. She now looks for neighbors to go see and when they are out, she’s off to the races!  Also, she likes to explore where Quincy explores, so now she’s heading out to the flower bed islands way out in the back yard. Problem is, we have spotted coyotes out there. She even chased one the other day. I got her back just in time to see a second one coming in behind her. They hunt in groups and she wouldn’t have a chance if they can get to her. So, we have been watching and now have a leash ready when she goes out.   Kirk came over today just to pick up the mower for his Monday mowing job. He will be here tomorrow to work and we’ve asked him to weed whack the grass out in the back past the creek bed. That’s where the coyotes come and go from so we need that gone! He’s got that terminator blade that will go through that stuff in no time! Today I caught up on some bills and filled in my bill spreadsheet. Lydia made some calls and got a credit card replaced that she accidently cut in half. She thought I told her the one I gave her was a replacement and cut up the one she had. It wasn’t the same card! She also called and made an appointment to get the carpets cleaned. We had leftovers for dinner and watched tv until bedtime.        

      

Tuesday, August 21^st, 2018……  Rylee got up and on the bed around 5:30am but slept in with us until after 6:30am. That’s a record for her!  We’ve had the bedroom slider open and the blind dropped to about a foot off of the floor. That’s where she sleeps so that gives her a nice window for cool air to come in on her at night. The weather here has been getting warmer and warmer each day. We are now up into the mid 90s. There is very little wind so the smoke here is pretty thick. They say we are getting all of it from Canada. The Portland news station this morning showed video from Seattle where they can just barely see the space needle. It’s supposed to be like this for a few more days when offshore winds are predicted to help blow away most of the smoke. Kirk came by and, as requested, cut back the weeds on the back of our property, just over the creek bed. It makes it nicer to look at now plus we can see if there are coyotes sneaking around out there. I worked a bit in the house garage today. I wanted to hang my step ladder off the wall which makes for a cleaner look out there. I also hung some plastic boxes for balls and poop bags and leashes. Lydia went out early to play pickleball and got back in time to see Rylee and her new friend playing in the front yard. Camo, an eight-month-old English bulldog is our neighbor’s dog. They were out walking him up our street this morning and, of course, Rylee saw them and went out to investigate. Where was that leash!  Good thing he was friendly!  We took them into the yard so they could play on the grass. They played for a good long time. Camo has as much energy as monster mutt so it was great for both of them! Camo recently got fixed but his instincts kicked in when he smelled Ms. Rylee. He behaved himself pretty much though!  Later, after I hosed all of the mud and mulch off her and toweled her off and brought her in, she was able to sleep for a good long time! Sabrina and I plan on more ‘play dates’ now that we know they are friends.  We ended up staying in most of the day, what with the smoke and the heat. But later, Lydia did go out to get her hair cut ($it’s $10.00 Tuesday!). On the way back, she picked up dinner from Jack in the Box and we ate early. Later, when it was cooler, I went out and started the water on the fruit trees/grapes/blueberries. We’ve picked about 90% of the blueberries. The grapes are looking good. I think they have another month and they will be ready. The apples are getting ripe but most of them have a ton of bird bites and some bug holes. They are so heavy with fruit that they are almost on the ground! The grapevines have creeped over to the apples and attached to them so they are now 20 feet long and bigger and growing through to the tops of the trees!  Walt screwed up when he planted everything so close together, with the three apple trees in the middle.  We may get some useable apples but I’m thinking more seriously now about cutting down all three trees and just keeping the grapes and the blueberries. But none of that will happen until all of the harvest is over.    

After a bit, I went out and shut off the water and put the truck in the shop garage. I also moved the trailer in next to the rv garage so I can start dismantling it. I hope to get all of the old wood off, then get Scott, my welder friend, over to reinforce the front section. Then I can paint it and rewire it, and then put new wood on it.  

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #109 – More Visiting and Saying Goodbye to Our Friends

Saturday, August 18th, 2018……  Plans today included hitting the Corvallis Farmer’s Market and Walmart. We were planning on a bbq tonight. We picked up veggies for the meal and blackberries for a cobbler dessert. Cheri bought corn on the cob. On the way home we stopped at Shirley May’s for breakfast. If Cheri wanted to go back for the second time, you know she liked it! We got back and dropped off the stuff and I took Mike and Cheri to Walmart for the rest of the items we needed. Then it was back home for some much needed rest. I fired up the grill about 4:00pm and the girls got the rest of the items going. The meal was excellent if I do say so  myself! We kicked back for the evening. We did play dominoes until late into the evening. Then it was time to call it a night.  

      

Sunday, August 19th, 2018……  The Roots were leaving early this morning. They didn’t get out too early because they were only going about 150 miles today, to Seven Feathers Casino. They have a really nice rv park and Mike and Cheri have been to it before. Plus, they really like gambling. They said they would be there two days before continuing on to their Garden Grove home. We were really glad they could manage their trip routing to be able to come see us and spend some time here. We sure miss all of our camping friends and hope more of them will come up and visit.

After they left, we just lounged around for the rest of the day. I caught up on my races and the LL World Series games I had taped.  Lydia did pretty much the same, napping for a good part of the day. Next week her sister is due up here for a visit. Oh yeah, both Lydia and my sister got their jury summons like me! They are on the schedule for the week after mine ends. Her juror number is just six digits more than mine!     

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #108 – More Visitors & Geo Caching!

  

Wednesday, August 15th, 2018……  For some reason, Rylee woke me up around midnight.  I took her out but she didn’t need to potty, so we went back to bed and back to sleep. It may have been too hot for her even with the door open. We also have had some smoke settle in from the fires so maybe that got to her.  Today we had plans to go to breakfast and then shopping. We took Mike & Cheri to Shirley May’s and I think they liked it!

Then it was off to Costco to pick up some things for dinner this week. We got back and rested and visited for a bit. Mike needed to go to the urgent care facility to have blood drawn for tests he is doing. We got in the truck and headed out. But, on the way out, I spotted a car pulling a trailer and I thought I recognized the driver and passenger, so I turned around and found that it was our friends, Paul & Alice! They were on their way to their son’s house in Yamhill (southwest of Portland) and were bringing up some items for them to store. They wanted to stop by on the way up and visit with us a bit. They told us they have made the decision to sell their home in Anaheim and find a place up here somewhere. With Mike and Cheri here, it was like old home week, with our old square dance friends. They stayed about an hour or so then headed north. Mike & I went off to urgent care and Lydia & Cheri went to Walmart. Urgent Care sent us over to the lab in the community hospital across the street for the blood draw. That done, we headed back home and the girls started dinner. We had bought bbq ribs from Costco and my sister came over to help us eat all of them. Yummy! We sat around after dinner and visited until it was time for bed. 

      

Thursday, August 16th, 2018……  This morning we fixed breakfast. We planned to go out to show them Foster Lake and the surrounding area. But I got a call from another long time square dance friend, Carol. She had previously told Lydia that she and hubby Gene were going to be up in the Seattle area and might be stopping by on their way back home. Well, today was that day!  We waited around and they showed up about 11:00am. They only stayed about an hour or so but we had a nice visit. 

They headed out and we took off to go tour a bit. We hit Sweet Home and Foster Lake then went by my sister’s house. She came by later and we drove to Coburg for pizza. It was as good as always! We are registered as customers there so I get special deals emailed to me every month. This month we got, with two pizzas (any size) a free family size baked spaghetti dish. So, we each ordered a small pizza. But we got the spaghetti to go since we had way enough to eat. After the drive back home, we were ready for a rest! 

      

After pizza, we went over to Walt's for ice cream cones. They had a concert in the park so we walked over there and enjoyed that as well. 

  

Friday, August 17th, 2018……  Today we went geo caching! Mike & Cheri have been doing this for several years and we were interested in how it all works. There are websites you can go to and read all about how it all started. You can download an app on your phone and it will show you a map with spots all over it where caches are placed. The object is to use your locator on the app to zero in on the spot. Clues may be available to help you find the object. Once you find it, you write on the log in the object and log it into your files. We didn’t find the first one but found one on the way to Albany (it is in the metal post of the old famous honey sign billboard on Santiam Hwy). They logged it in and then we headed off to Albany. We wanted to show them the carousel. I think they liked it!

We were able to go downstairs and got a tour of the carving shop. I have been tracking the progress on Geno the whale. Here is a shot from a few months ago and then one from yesterday.

We walked around and enjoyed ourselves for a bit then headed off home. We did stop at the Lebanon Water Gardens (in the courtyard of the Premier Hotel in town). We tracked down another geo cache there. We came home and heated up the spaghetti dish plus all of the leftover pizza and had a nice filling dinner. Then it was time to play dominoes for a while until it was time to call it a night.       

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #107 – Weeds, Mowing and Visitors!

  

Monday, August 13th, 2018……  This morning it was back to normal – Rylee got us up at 5:15am to get up on the bed. Even though she does settle down and sleeps for a bit it still cuts up our sleeping time. Ok, so now we get up and going! Lydia fed her and I showered and walked her. We ate in this morning and then I went out and weed wacked some of the areas prior to mowing. Lydia went out to pull more weeds. I had to wait until the grass dried out a bit but I was able to get going on the tractor about 9:00am I had everything pretty much wrapped up by 10:00am. I came in and rested and then went out to help Lydia a bit. Later, I went back out with the catcher and got all of the clippings scooped up and dumped. As I was finishing up, she ended up getting everything done and we cleaned up all of her mess and called it a day. We were done by noon. Good thing – it started getting hot about then. The weather is getting warmer again and this week we expect temps in the mid to upper 90s. We heard from Mike that they will be at the Columbia River Gorge later today. They are still around 300 miles or so from us so it will be tomorrow afternoon before they arrive here.  We also heard from Frances that she will be flying up here later in the month – that’s good news - but Raymond won’t be coming up with her. Bummer – we so wanted to see him again!   After all of our yard work today, we showered and relaxed for the rest of the evening. 

      

Tuesday, August 14th, 2018……  I got going early this morning. Rylee didn’t even have a chance to wake me up! I fed her, showered, and then walked her. I went out to get breakfast but before I did that, I stopped by my sister’s and helped her disassemble one of her recliners. She had a squeak in it that we couldn’t fix so she called and they will take it back on exchange. She wanted to put it in her car so we needed to take it apart. I got her loaded and she left for pickle ball and I went to get something to eat to take home. We spent the rest of the morning cleaning up around the house. Kirk was supposed to come today to work and to drop off the tractor. He called and will be coming tomorrow. In addition to finishing up the right side island, we plan on asking him to cut the weeds down that are way on the back of the property, on the other side of the creek bed. He’s got a mega string trimmer blade that looks like it could cut down a tree! He can have Caleb do his thing out there and they can get it all knocked out pretty quickly.  Yaaayyy!  Did I mention I hate yardwork! Later, Mike and Cheri got here. They had a nice drive and made good time. Turns out they left at the crack of dawn! I got them hooked up on the new rv pad and they settled in

and then came in and relaxed with us for a while. Suzie, their 11-year-old dog, had some issues with monster puppy. Rylee wants so much to play but Suzie won’t have any of it.

We needed to hang around the house until the garage door guy showed up. It got so late and we had skipped lunch so I texted my sister and she volunteered to come house-sit so we could go eat. We hit Pizza Schmizza but we all had sandwiches. We are going to take them to Coburg Pizza in the next day or so, so we didn’t want to eat it twice. While we were gone the garage door guy showed up. Corey went to work and quickly found the problem and fixed my garage door.  It was a circuit board in the motor. He also serviced the rest of the door parts. I’ll get the bill probably tomorrow and won’t like it but, hey it’s fixed now!  Yaaay again! After dinner, we all sat around and watched tv for a bit then they called it a night and went out to their rv to catch up on their sleep. I watched tv for a while longer and then called it a night myself.    

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #106 – Pulling Weeds and Playing in the Pool

 

Saturday, August 11th, 2018……  Rylee is sleeping later now. It was after 6:00am when she wanted up on the bed. Nice for us!  Today we had nothing planned. So, we did some yard work. I hate pulling weeds – that’s why we have Kirk!   But today I went out to the back porch area flowerbed and dug down to loosen up the individual weeds so Lydia could come behind me and finish digging them out. Before she came out, I did go back and get the bigger ones pulled and filled up and dumped our trash bin. She has a little stool so she moves along pretty quickly and she got all of that one area completed in an hour or so, not counting a break for lunch! I went out and picked up all the tools and cleaned up so she was done for the day. We’ll do the other side of the porch another time. Later, I went out and picked up KFC for dinner. Then it was tv until bedtime.

      

Sunday, August 12th, 2018……  Again, we got to sleep in til after 6:00!  This morning it was 6:30am. Yaay!   I only had plans today to water the grapes/apples/blueberries and that won’t happen until later in the evening, so this was a lazy Sunday.  I think I will mow again tomorrow so we don’t have to worry about it when Mike and Cheri get here. We dumped and refilled the pool again. She was in and out of the pool several times so the white terror got her ‘water fix’ again today. I watched my games and races and Lydia caught up on some of her taped programs so pretty much that was it for us today.     

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #105 – A Brake Job and Planning for Company

  

Thursday, August 9th, 2018……  Lydia and Penny went off this morning to play pickle ball again. I decided to make my ‘run’ to the two Habitat For Humanity stores in Albany and Corvallis. I also needed to go back to Kmart to return a sprinkler that didn’t work. No problem – Habitat had four that I picked up! I also got another 5-gallon gas can for the mowers. Total was $6.50.  Once I got back, it was time to help the hot dog cool off. Lydia had left to meet up with Penny. They were going to drop off Sis’s car for some brake work. I emptied the pool and cleaned it and refilled it. This is the part Rylee likes! She attacks the water coming from the hose and I can shoot it out up to 40 feet so she gets to run and the water and then hop in and out of the pool. 

Once dried off, she gets to come back in the house for r and r with me. The girls got back and later Lydia fixed dinner and we settled in for the night.    

      

Friday, August 10th, 2018……  Lydia’s friend, Linda, had sent Lydia a text about her block yard sale that was today so we decided to go this morning. It was also a chance to head over afterward to Shirley May’s for breakfast. After a few miscues, we found the right place and got parked. They didn’t have too much stuff and we bought some storage bins and a few other things. I kicked myself later for not looking more carefully at a backpack sprayer system and a pretty decent looking gas string trimmer. I’m thinking I could have bundled those two and got a good price. Oh well!  While we were at breakfast, sis got a call that her car was done so we left for Albany to get it. While at breakfast, I also called my garage door guy and the lady told me that he would call later in the day to set up a day/time. We got home and did a few chores around the house and then rested for the afternoon. I am trying to keep up on the LL regionals plus the Tour of Utah (cycling) so I stayed in for most of the day.  Loren called me back and we set up the work on the garage door for Tuesday afternoon. We also have been talking with our friends, Mike and Cheri, who are traveling in their rv. They are planning on coming by here on their way home.  Looks like they will be here either Tuesday or Wednesday. No problem – we’re ready.

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #104 – Loose Dog and BBQ

  

Tuesday, August 7th, 2018……  I got to sleep in this morning!  Rylee wanted up on the bed around 4:00am but went back to sleep and didn’t wake us up until after 6:00am! Lydia got up with her and let her out and fed her and then came back to bed. Rylee came back to bed too and went back to sleep as well. Later, once we got all of our morning routines completed, Lydia went off to go play pickle ball and Kirk and Caleb came over to do some work on the flowerbeds. I spent some time on the bills and then worked on power washing a couple more squares on the front walk. Since the weather is warming up, it was a good day to do that. I also went out and adjusted the timers in the flowerbeds since I had them off for the work today. I went out later to check to see if the timers shut off and let Rylee walk with me. She saw our neighbor, Paul (Ollie’s dad) out so she beelined across the street to go play. I had to track her down and, since she ran over there on her own, I wouldn’t let them bring Ollie out to play. She had to ‘get home now’!  But later in the evening, since it was super hot today, we let her play in her pool before toweling her off and bringing her in. We settled in and watched tv and stayed in the cool house until bedtime.       

      

Wednesday, August 8th, 2018……  Kirk brought the lawn tractor back yesterday. We had taken it into the shop for service (spark plug, oil change, filters, etc.). They said other than the routine maintenance it needed, it was in great shape. I went out to the shop and moved things around so I could park the truck in there. It’s been outside for the past few nights. I’m still having issues with the shop door and up until now have been able to get it closed. But today I gave up and left it open. Still waiting for the garage door guys to get to us…

I started watching the Little League Baseball Regionals on tv. The eight regionals are held this week and by Saturday, the US teams going to Williamsport, PA will be determined. I always enjoy watching these games to see who the stronger teams are. If you know me, you know I have a soft spot in my heart for little leaguers. I loved my years of coaching my boys and enjoyed our vacation trip to Williamsport back in 2012.  If you ever get a chance to go there, do it!     

I also spent some more time out power washing again today. I want to eventually do all of the concrete on the property but I think it will be a long time before I can accomplish that task. Today I only got one more square done - one more completes the front walkway. Next up is the back porch, then the back walkway, which is shorter but just as dingy.

I took Lydia out to dinner tonight, just to get out of the house for a while. She chose Oregon BBQ. This place is really a mobile food cart, looks like a tiny house, and is now sitting under a carport of an older business on Santiam Hwy. The two windows on the side are for drive up and pick up. She said the rest of the older building will eventually be refurbished for a seating area. We had never tried this place since we got up here. The food was excellent! Lydia had a brisket sandwich with potato salad and cole slaw. She said it all was really tasty, the cole slaw average. I had a duo plate with sausage, pulled pork, cole slaw and baked beans. I loved it all, including the cole slaw.  We will be going back again!       

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #103 – Moving Furniture and Lydia’s Back!

 

Sunday, August 5th, 2018……  Penny brought Quincy over for her walk and for playtime with Rylee. Poor Rylee, she waits at the back door until Quincy finishes her poop/walk. Then I let her out to play and harass her.  Next on my list today was a trip to Albany. Lydia called me as I was just pulling into the Big Lots parking lot. I was there to meet my sister to load up her dresser and nightstands that had come in yesterday. Lydia said that the day was nice and everything went well. Later, she sent me a picture with her, Lyn and Sandie….

We got the furniture all set up in Penny’s guest room. I also hung a mirror and a star on her wall before heading back home. It was time to feed the puppy. Poor thing, she is so neglected!  But we had all afternoon together. Later, I left her in the house and went out and got the catcher hooked up on the tractor and made a few passes and got all of the excess grass clippings picked up. If I stay on top of the mowing, there is minimum excess grass to clean up. Meals have been easy these past few days. I have stocked up on stuff to fix so I ate and then fed super pooper. I also went out and honed down the inside of her new bone. It is a real bone and had rough areas on the inside that I took the Dremel to. Now I can spread some peanut butter inside for a treat now and then. Tonight was the first and she sure enjoyed that!  I emptied the pool the other day so I will go out later and fill that up for tomorrow. The weather had cooled off a bit the last several days but it’s getting warmer now again so she’ll enjoy that.         

      

Monday, August 6th, 2018……  I got up super early. I fed the dog and then took off. My sister is coming over later to let her out again and play with her a while.  Lydia’s flight gets in at 8:08am so I wanted to get going and try to avoid the rush hour traffic. It didn’t work but at least I planned ahead and was able to get there early enough to wait in the cell phone lot. She had carry-on luggage so I timed it to meet her at the curb and off we went. Neither of us ate as we had planned to stop and eat breakfast together. We headed back and stopped at Black Bear Diner and had a nice meal. Once we got home, we had nothing planned. Lydia needed some rest and I ended up taking a short nap too. Later, we decided to skip dinner and snack. Bedtime came early for both of us tonight.       

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #102 – A Trip for Lydia and Yard Work for Me

 

Friday, August 3rd, 2018……  Today was get-away day for Lydia. She has a 4:50pm flight out this evening. This is her trip to Henderson NV for our friend, Lee’s, celebration of life. I have chosen to stay home and watch Rylee, plus the garage door guy is supposed to come on Saturday. Yes, I could reschedule and my sister could watch the dog, but we thought we’d just have one of us go, plus Lydia can visit with her girlfriends while she’s there. Sandie and Typhanie are driving in from California and are picking her up at the airport. They are sharing a hotel room so it works out for everyone.

Forgot to mention this yesterday - I went online last evening to register for my upcoming jury duty. Yes, I got chosen after only a year in Oregon! It’s pretty much the same here except you have a two-week window that you have to call in to see if they need you or not. I will know more soon about where I have to go.

We got on the road about noon, after feeding Rylee. The drive is about two hours but we wanted to stop and have linner before I dropped her off. We found Shari’s in Oregon City, and ate a nice meal. I got her to the airport shortly after that and then headed home. Actually, I made a detour. I wanted to go find the Portland International Raceway and cruise around it. Not much to see. I also planned to drive back past the Pittock Mansion. This is on our Oregon Fun Card, so admission is free for up to four people. I decided that since I was in rush hour, I would do that drive by on another trip. The Oregon Zoo is also on our card and we plan to go there too but I already know where that is.  I headed home and got stuck in the usual Wilsonville traffic zone.  Wilsonville is a fast growing upscale burb just south of Portland and for some reason (maybe too many folks exiting and entering) there is always congestion going both north and south on the I5 through there. I made the stop-and- go adventure through there and got home about 6:30pm. Penny had fed Rylee and played with her so I got a bit of rest when I got home. Later, we went out and butthead jumped in the pool and then got out and did the Rylee 500 around the yard. I ended up wiping her down twice before we came in for the night!  Lydia didn’t call so I texted her and she texted back that she got caught up in visiting and forgot to call. I didn’t sleep well so I took a couple of Tylenol PMs. I ended up staying up until about midnight. When I did come in, Rylee slept in her usual spot on the floor but got up on the bed with me around 3:45 or so when I got up to pee.              

Saturday, August 4th, 2018……   I had a few things on my plate today. After our usual pee, poop, walk, read the paper, shower, get dressed routine, I ate breakfast and went out and worked on the inside of the motorhome a bit. There were some things to be picked up and some things I needed in the house. After that I came in and rested for the morning and into the afternoon and caught up on my latest Mecum Auctions I had on tape. Lydia called and said they were getting ready to go to the celebration of life that the Hand family had planned.  Later, when it cooled off a bit, I went out and got the string trimmer and did all of the areas I can’t reach with the mower. After a brief break, I got the tractor out and mowed the yard. This time all I did was the yard – not the field - so I was done in less than an hour. Tomorrow I will use the catcher and get the excess grass picked up. That was it for the day. Lydia didn’t call me. I ended up going to bed early. I needed to catch up on my sleep from last night.     

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #101 – More Power Washing, Shopping, and Dinner With Friends

Wednesday, August 1st, 2018……   This morning Rylee woke me up from a sound sleep. Dammit, that dog! I got up and let her out and fed her then went back to bed.  She’s then content to get up on the bed with us and snooze. I got up after about ½ hour and Lydia got up as well. Penny came by to walk Quincy and let Rylee harass her for a while outside. They really are getting along – it’s just that Quincy is an energizer puppy and Quincy’s batteries run at a different speed. But it’s fun. Rylee took a dip in the pool and we dried her off and they all came in to rest for a while.  After eating breakfast, I took off and went to Walmart and got the cleaning solution for the gutters. I chose Mr. Clean because it’s not too sudsy and it’s also not harmful to the plants. I put it into my Hudson sprayer and spritzed all of the front gutters. I let it soak and then hit it with the power washer. Wow, it worked well! The gutters are sparkling clean and good for another season now! I continued on with the walkway. Now this is another task altogether. Even though it’s not like working overhead, the sidewalks and driveways here have never been washed and it shows! The walks are roughed up for non-skid, so there are a lot of porous areas where the dirt is really embedded. It comes clean, but only with the wand being an inch or two from the cement so it’s slooowww going! I did about half of the walk today (with breaks in between) before Lydia told me to call it a day. More tomorrow. Meanwhile, she started in on her blueberry cobbler. She got it in the oven and was really upset when it came out. Even though we have a rather high end Dacor oven, she hates it!  The stovetop works fine but the oven gives her fits.  Even though she watches it, it manages to either underbake or overcook. This time the edges of the cobbler were extra crispy. But we cut that out and the rest was fine. Brian – if you’re reading this blog, please help! You and Jeff need to come up soon to visit and take a look at it for her!     

Thursday, August 2nd, 2018……  I decided that, today, instead of my normal walk up and back Oak Creek Way, that I would put Rylee in the car and take her to the new dog park in town.  It’s really the old dog park that they just renovated (benches, water fountains, etc.). It was empty all the time we were there so she didn’t get to play with any new friends. I’m not sure I liked it though. It seems that no one up here is caring enough to pick up after their dogs! There was dog crap everywhere! I picked up what I could but gave up after a bit. I put her back in the car and we went on to get breakfast and coffee/tea before going back home. Rylee went straight to the back yard and jumped in and sat in her pool! 

Later, (after toweling her off and letting her back in the house) we decided to take off and head to Corvallis (to the bank) and then on to Albany. We needed to go to Petco to get some more nylabones for Rylee. We found they now have softer teething ones that she really likes and she’s gnawed it down to the point we’re worried she’ll soon swallow it so we needed another one.  We bought two, plus another real bone (to fill with peanut butter for special treats. We also got a watering bowl that has a reservoir so we don’t have to fill it three times a day! We also stopped at Harbor Freight to get stuff I just had to have! Then we went to Big Lots to look at their recliners. I already have one from there in my room and I love it. My sister has two of the swivel recliners that are the perfect size for the motorhome so we ended up buying a couple of them.  They are now stored just outside the rig in the rv garage. We still need to have the house carpets cleaned and we want the motorhome done as well. We’ll wait until then before we put them in. We got all of our chores done and rested until it was time to go to Sweet Home to meet with Tim & Dana for dinner at Skyline. We forgot that this was the three-day weekend for the Oregon Jamboree, which is held in Sweet Home. It’s a really big event and they have some mega country stars appearing there. We had previously discussed the possibility of going but we just don’t want to fight the crowds. Plus, they only sell three-day passes and they are upwards of $338.00 just for general admission. So, we’ll pass! Tim and Dana live just up the hill from the site and they said it’s a drunk fest so they always go to the coast and spend the weekend there on their boat to get away from it all. Tonight, they had a free concert (one local band playing) so we expected the whole town to be busy but Skyline wasn’t. We had a nice dinner and a nice visit with them. They are planning on coming back over soon to see how monster puppy has grown.  They were there when we first brought Rylee home and she loves them like family - and they miss her too!  We got back and gave Rylee the first of her new bones and she immediately headed outside with it to lay in the shady grass and chew the ‘new’ out of it! 

Eventually, we got her back inside and settled in for the night.