Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #60 – Working on the New Trailer, Rain and More Shopping

Thursday, June 27^th, 2019…… The plan made last night was to head out to Albany this morning and hit Cork’s Donuts. We had watched The Great Food Truck Race and they had everyone design and make their own donuts. Of course we were hungry for donuts!  But we got up later than usual and by the time we both got showered and ready to go, it was close to time for Lydia to go do her labs. I suggested that we go there first then head over to Kevin’s for breakfast, which we did. Kristi and hubby Reese have both left there to pursue other interests. We will miss them. But Rick is a new (to the area) cook and has a great personality. I’m not sure if the laid-back folks in Lebanon are ready for his boisterous style yet but we are! Jennie is new too and is a lot of fun. After we ate, we headed over to Walmart and I went to the boating parts area and picked up new flotation vests, new drain plugs, a new portable air horn and then to the trailer parts section and got what I needed to rewire the new trailer. Once we got home, I went out and started in. I took out all of the old wiring as well as the lights and installed all new parts. I had to have Lydia come out at one point to help feed the wires through the frame. It was a little work but it’s a nice clean look now. That took a few hours because I came in and started watching today’s tape of the Barrett Jackson auction. They are in the Northeast and will be telecasting for three days, and I wanted to start on the six-hour show today to try to keep up as much as I can.  I got all of the junk cleaned up and came in for the day. It has been an interesting one, weather-wise. It would be sunny one moment, cloudy the next, and then rainy for a few minutes, then the sun would come out for a while and then the rain again. There was one time that it came down really hard for about two minutes and we even got small hail.

Tonight was a quick meal and Lydia had called me in for that and I went out afterward and closed up everything for the evening and came in and we watched tv until bedtime.     

Friday, June 28^th, 2019…...  This morning I had plans to hook up the new trailer and drive it to Sweet Home and show it to Jon, where I got the boat. I wanted to pick his brain about how I can get the boat up on the new trailer to test it and make adjustments. I think the only way is to park the new trailer at his business, which is about 3-4 miles from Foster Lake. Then go home and get the boat and its trailer and go launch it on the lake. Lydia and my sister can stay with the boat while I go back and exchange trailers and come back and load the boat on the new one. Jon may have a better idea but we’ll see. Of course, the easiest way is to take everything to a larger boat facility and have them winch it over and fit it on dry land. I expect that might cost me but it may be the way to go. Anyway, I hooked up the trailer and took off. When I got there and parked, the door was closed. Turns out he is out on business this morning. Oh well, I’ll go back another day. When I got back, I helped Lydia do some housecleaning.  I also watched some more of my taped Barrett-Jackson auctions. She had earlier gone to the store and got stuff for the week. She made sloppy joes for dinner. Yummy!   

         

Saturday, June 29^th, 2019…... This morning I got up early and got in the shower. Lydia usually takes her time and lets me get out with the dog or maybe even out to breakfast before she even thinks about getting up and going. She surprised me this morning by getting into the shower as I was brushing my teeth! So, I walked Rylee and then came in and found her dressed for the day. So, I asked her if she wanted to go to Albany and get donuts. She did and brought her banking info with her so we could go on to Corvallis and get that done. Our car and home insurance both are due the first of the month and it is set up to come directly out of my checking account. Lydia keeps this insurance money separate in her credit union account. We need to fix the auto deduction to come out of her account, but we’ll do that later. So, we just transferred it to my account for this time. While we were out, we stopped at Ace to look at the wicker rocker they had there. I saw it the other day and they had the chair and a side table for $49.99. When we got there to order two sets, they said the $49.99 was for the table only! The chair was separately priced at $199 ea!  We said “never mind”. We’ll wait until they get those other 4-pc sets in, like the one we already have, to finish our ordering. Once we got home, we decided to go ahead and make the trip to Eugene to pick up the second order of drapes for the living room. We had ordered 8 scalloped valances, which turned out not to be enough. We found them again and reordered 8 more and they came in yesterday. So, we asked if my sister wanted to ride down. She met us at the house about 40 minutes later and we had already let Rylee out and were ready to go. It was a nice drive down to Eugene and we got in and went to the pickup desk and then shopped a bit. We even walked down to Macy’s. Both girls were looking for new purses. Penny bought two and Lydia bought one. I got a t-shirt!  We planned to eat lunch while we were out but we decided to just have ‘linner’ so we went to Newman’s Fish Grotto.  We all had their scallops, which were huge! It was a great meal. We drove back home and we were done for the day. I took butthead out to let her run in the water and play in her pool. I think I wore her out because she plopped down in the water and wouldn’t get out for the longest time! Later, after Sis went home, Lydia napped in her room and I may have too, for a few minutes!  But, for the most part, I got some of my races watched.  Rylee woke up and made me play tug of war with her and I did take her out later for another run in the backyard. We each had a few snacks and watched tv until bedtime.         

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #59 – Testing, Shopping, and Another Boat Trailer

 

Monday, June 24^th, 2019…… After walking Rylee, I headed out and got my truck washed, got breakfast, and managed to dump two of my 4 remaining grass bags into the local closed Chinese restaurant dumpster. I was back home before 9:00am.  While I was gone, Sis came by. She was heading off to Bend this morning to spend today and tonight with her ex sister-in-law, Paula (and Gina) so she brought Quincy over for a sleepover. Meanwhile, I set up shop on the laptop this morning. I need to get my Oregon Boater’s License in order to operate my boat. You have to take the test online and its chapter-oriented, meaning that you have to read each page (which stays on screen for 25 sec. before the ‘next’ button appears), before you can continue. It’s not hard material but just takes so much time to get through. I did the first three chapters and can login again to continue whenever I want. So, I stopped, ate lunch, then watched some tv, then went back to it again. I stayed with it and got the next four chapters knocked out, then jumped right in on the final ‘quiz’. Quiz my ass, it was 75 questions! It was mostly what was in the chapter tests but they threw in some others for the first time. I got a good passing score and proceeded to print out my certificate. What I really wanted (and needed) was the Oregon Boater’s Card. Turns out you had to pay $11. for that to be mailed to you. Next up was the transfer of title. I need to go into Salem for that. Maybe this week.

We got both dogs fed and I cleaned and refilled Rylee’s pool so she could play in it. Q’s not interested and wants to stay as far away as possible when Rylee gets going out there. We finished up the evening with leftovers and watched tv until bedtime.

Tuesday, June 25^th, 2019…...  This morning I got up early and got Quincy out for her walk. Then Lydia fed Rylee then let her out and to run with Quincy for a bit. Both my sister and I go through some ‘training for treats’ when we’re out there with them and before bringing them in, so I did that. Then we fed the Q dog and she then headed off to her bed for her day of rest.

Today I was supposed to go look at that trailer. The guy wasn’t going to be back in town until later in the day and he had sent Lydia a message on FB yesterday that it was a go for 7:00 this evening. No problem for us, it doesn’t get dark up here until after 9:30. He did say he now needs full price for it and, if I say no, he would move on to the next person who was waiting for my decision. I thought it was worth the $300. but hey, you gotta try, right? I took some more pictures of my trailer and did some measurements to compare when I got there. Sis got back and stayed for a while, then took Quincy and headed on home.    

Later, after dinner, we heard from Jeff and Krista. They were telling us that Shelby and Kate were looking forward to their trip to visit us next month. I think Jeff and Krista are going to be glad to have them leave so they can relax for a week!  We talked about stuff to do and meals they like. Shelby, who we’re told, is quite the chef, wants to cook us dinner while they are here so we will need to go shopping as soon as they get in. We also discussed sleeping arrangements. The girls are 16 ½ and have their own rooms so we probably will use the blow-up bed in Lydia’s room in addition to the guestroom.  They could both sleep in there as they choose.  Jeff mentioned that we should take them for a motorhome trip but I need new tires for the front of the coach before we can go anywhere and I am not going to cough up $2000. bucks right now. But he said the girls would probably at least like to sleep out there in the coach if we could do that. That works but we’ll show the girls and see what they want to do.  We left the house still on the phone with the kids because it was time to go to see the trailer. We hung up with the kids and got there with time to spare and met with the guy, who walked me back to where it was parked.  Turns out this one is way bigger than mine! But there are so many places where I can adjust it, I think it will work and I still think it’s a great buy. Even if it doesn’t work out, I can always sell it for what I paid for it. We got the wiring plugged in (one side didn’t work for the brake/turn signal) and I brought it home and backed it into the garage. I tested the wires and I think I’ve got a bad ground on the right taillight. It’s pretty crust and rusty so I’ll just get new taillights for both sides.

I quit for the evening and left it as it sat for tomorrow. I came in and we watched America’s Got Talent and then we went to bed.

         

Wednesday, June 26^th, 2019…... Today we planned on heading up to Salem. Lydia had her two Macy’s gift cards and I needed to go get the boat title transferred. Turns out Macy’s and The Oregon Marine Board office were less that a ¼ mile apart! I dropped her off and went to get my task completed. It was easy – sign, pay, and leave! No one was in line!  I drove back and parked and eventually found Lydia shopping and when she exhausted all of her funds (and then some), we headed to Firehouse Subs for lunch and then to Costco for a short hit and run shopping trip, before we headed back home. I went out and rummaged through the garage looking for a trailer wiring harness I was saving for the utility trailer, but couldn’t find it. I think I’ll just head over to Walmart and check out what they have and pick one up and maybe get some new lights there if they have those.

We didn’t do too much more today after all of that. My sister stopped by to give us an anniversary gift she had ordered and just got. It was a portable ‘cornhole’ game! Now we’ve got one more small thing to entertain the girls!  Lydia made ravioli and we binge-watched three hours of Guys Grocery Games in my room before heading in to the living room to watch The great Food Truck Race, Master Chef, and then the two-hour season finale of The Amazing Race.  

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #58 – Planning for More Company, Mowing Again, and a Grad party

 

Friday, June 21^st, 2019…… Today I slept in. Both of us went to bed after 11:00pm last night (rare for us!) so we slept in and amazingly, Rylee didn’t bother us in the middle of the night! She did want her breakfast when I woke up close to 7:00am to go to the bathroom. I fed her and went back to bed until almost 8:00am. Sis came by with Quincy. She had kept the Q away while Rick and Janie’s dogs were here, just to be careful. Now she can bring her over again. I also went out and got breakfast and visited Starbucks for Lydia’s chai latte. So, we are back to our regular schedule, but it was sure fun to have R & J here to visit. We are expecting another visit next month – this time it will be our grandkids, Shelby and Kate. They are flying by themselves from Ft Myers and we will meet them in Portland, and they will be staying with us for 8 days. We can hardly wait!  It’s the first time anyone from Jeff and Krista’s family (including them) have been up here to see us.

Today was mowing day. Lydia headed off to get her nails done and Penny came by and we started in – almost!  The Husqvarna pto switch was faulty, and wouldn’t engage the blades. I took it out and found that it must have gotten hot and one terminal melted in the plug. I sent Penny to get another one while I kept going with the other mower. She got back and I got the part installed and we started in again. I decided to go ahead and attach the grass catcher and went back and got all of the clippings picked up and dumped to bag. Sis got all of that done. Instead of 24 bags, this time we only had 9! It pays to keep up on the grass mowing! We got cleaned up and rested until dinner when sis came back and we took her out to Pizza Schmizza for a nice meal. She drove so I got to try a ‘flight’ of 4 5oz beers of my choice ($7). They were tasty and the price was right. Once we got back, I started in on my Mecum Auction that I taped today. They are in Portland this weekend but I had no desire to drive there and see it live. Maybe another time. I also sent a text to the guy with the boat trailer. He is in Corvallis. No response yet.      

   

Saturday, June 22^nd, 2019…... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!  This is number 51! It is impossible to top last year’s 50^th in Hawaii!  Our plans today only included going down to Eugene to have dinner and take in a movie. We started the day with breakfast in. Then I headed out to run a few errands. I got everything done and came back to the house. I had heard back yesterday from the guy with the trailer. He still has it and although he has it listed for $300.00, I inquired if the price was negotiable and he responded that he would take $250.00 for it. Sweet! He’s out of town until Tuesday evening so I hope to make contact then and arrange to go see it. Penny went to a yard sale by her house and while there, called Lydia and then texted her a picture of an outdoor patio heater for $30: 

We went there and looked around. We bought the heater (w/propane tank) for $20. plus a few other things that were really well priced. I loaded it up and we headed home. Sis went on to a local furniture store and ended up buying a twin bed for her guest room. They didn’t have one in stock, so she bought the floor model. She called me and I went there and we loaded it in my truck and took it home and set it up in her room. Easy peasy! I went back home and rested for a bit. It turned out that Lydia had some chicken in the fridge that had to be cooked today (she made a chicken and noodle casserole), so we decided to postpone our dinner/movie trip to another day. But that was ok with us and it turned out to be a nice, quiet anniversary at home.      

Sunday, June 23^rd, 2019…... Today, we had nothing planned until an event to go to later in the afternoon. I walked Rylee and then went out and made some adjustments to the stationary gear driven rotary sprinkler heads out in the backyard. There are several that are installed 4-5 inches above ground for the best coverage, but Butthead keeps getting her rope

Hung up on them. They tend to bend once an 82lb. dog pulls on them! But with a few tiestraps I had them back to normal and ready to fight another day! I watched my races until later in the afternoon when we got changed to go over to our neighbor’s house for a get together. Paul and Corie’s had a little party to celebrate their youngest daughter, Kaitlynn’s recent high school graduation. They have a nice manicured backyard with trees and everything was really pretty. They also have a huge parking area off their driveway and there must have been 20 cars parked there! But all of our neighbors, like us, walked over. After talking with Kaitlynn for a bit, we spent some time meeting Paul and Corie’s mothers and then found our neighbors Rich and Linda and then Lou came over. As we were leaving, our other neighbor, Jeff, and his two girls were coming in. Autumn, the oldest girl, surprised us by saying that they were selling the house and moving to Salem. These are the folks in the Victorian home to our right. Jeff works nights and sleeps days and, up until last week, had let his grass grow to 3-4 feet. Now we know why he had it cut! Like I said, we were leaving the party but we’ll get more info soon. Anyway, it looks like we’re going to have new neighbors soon!  We left the house and met my sister at Ixtapa’s for dinner, which was very good, as always. When we got home, the party was breaking up and everyone was leaving. We changed back into comfortable clothes and settled in for the evening to watch tv and relax.   

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #57 – My New Boat, A Pizza Run, and Saying Goodbye

 

Tuesday, June 18^th, 2019…… This morning I was all excited to go look at the boat!  I walked Rylee and Rick came up to the house and we got going. The girls wanted to see it too but I needed the truck to tow it, so they would take their time and drive up later. We got there and Jon set up a barrel under the motor to run it in water. It sounded really good. I was still concerned about all of the rust on the trailer. He showed me one exactly like this one on Facebook Marketplace for $300.00. The owner was asking $3500 for the boat and I offered $2700. He called him and we settled on $2850. I think it was a pretty good price, and I have the option to go look at that other trailer, should I choose. Once we made the deal and I got the ownership papers and bill of sale, we had to change out the wiring so we had running light and brake lights before we hooked it up to the truck and left. The girls got there just as we were doing that so they could see it. We all got back home and I got it parked. 

I’m not going to work on it while we have guests here, but I will soon. I took some pictures (what I could see anyway) of the trailer and later matched them up with the one on Facebook. They are close! I have to weigh what I would spend on cleaning up and painting this trailer versus buying that one (which also needs a little love).

Later, sis came over and we headed down to Eugene. First stop was Penney’s for the valances for the living room. I got those and we all shopped there for a bit, then headed over to the Coburg Pizza in Springfield for dinner.  We get coupons so we each got a free basket of wings with our pizzas.  We saw that they had a new dessert pizza special (peaches and blueberries) so we had to try that. The BEST!  After dinner, we drove back via the country roads so we could show them the area. The weather couldn’t have been nicer since they arrived! And the seed grass cutting hasn’t really gotten started yet which can put tons of dust in the air – looks like Calif. smog – so they were lucky to miss that! We made it back home and sat around and watched Master Chef and The Amazing Race until bedtime.         

   

Wednesday, June 19^th, 2019…... Nothing really on the agenda today. We thought we would take them to Shirley May’s for breakfast. I know they enjoyed that place! I asked them if they wanted more touring and they were good with that. So, we took hwy 99 down through Harrisburg and Junction City and back to Eugene. Since they ae motor home owners, they know that most all of the Monaco family of coaches were built in and around this area. In Junction City we stopped at Guaranty RV and (besides using their facilities!) did a little shopping. I drove through their newly opened rv park (nice!).  We then continued down to Eugene, stopping at my favorite hardware store, Jerry’s. This place makes Lowes and Home Depot look tiny! If you are familiar with Menards, in the midwest and southern states, you know what I mean about a big store. We looked around (no hose splitters) and left there. We were really close to the house we really liked when we first came up to Oregon, so we drove them by that. They seemed to enjoy the tour, so I continued the next 5 miles or so, to the house in Veneta that we considered. I asked Lydia, “should we drive to Leaburg too?” and she said sure so we headed east and went to the house we liked there. It took a few hours for the tour and it was getting to be around 2:00pm or so, when we talked about dinner and that Lydia hadn’t been back to the house to get anything out of the freezer, so we asked if they wanted to got back to a favorite again (Pizza Schmizza? or Loafers? or?) or someplace new. We went to The Depot, one of my favorites for seafood. After a really nice meal, they said they want to come back here again!   

After dinner, it was more relaxing at home and watching tv until be called it a night.      

Thursday, June 20^th, 2019…... Earlier in the week, we had sat down and helped R & J map out their trip back home. They had made all of the necessary reservations and were heading out today.  Their first stop was 7 Feathers RV Resort (and Casino), which is only about 150 miles from here, and check-in wasn’t until 2:00pm, so they weren’t in any hurry to leave. After that, they are stopping in Orland, then Lost Hills for one night each, then home on Sunday. It’s sure been fun having them up here. They promised not to let a whole year go by between visits and we promised, now that Lydia is doing well, that we would be heading down to Calif. as soon as we could get our plans together. After they left, we didn’t do much the rest of the day. Lydia ended up going to the store for tortillas and we fixed tacos and rested and watched tv (and I worked on this blog) until we turned in.     

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #56 – Touring, Father’s Day, and Enjoying our Friends

 

Saturday, June 15^th, 2019…… This morning the plan was to head off to Corvallis to the farmer’s market. We left around 8:00am and stopped at Lydia’s credit union and then on to Rick’s Chase Bank readytellers to get cash, and got back on the hwy and got there after waiting a few minutes for an accident on hwy 34 to clear. We bought a few things then headed off to Elmer’s for breakfast. Then, we went by Pet Smart for them to buy dog food for Daisy and Little Bit. Then we drove back home. Rick was wanting to get another splitter for his water hose so we set off to go find some. He was looking for the guillotine-type shutoff which I had previously found only at Kmart, which, for us up here, have all been closed down. So, we stopped at eight different stores, including Home Depot, Ace, and Fred Meyer, among others. Nothing. So, when we got back, we went looking online and he found some that he’s ordered shipped. Should be there when they get home.  Lydia was going to go get pork chops but we got back before they left. I had seen that our friend, Brian, had his Vietnamese food truck out at Rife’s parking lot, so we headed back there and picked up food to bring home.  It was tasty but none of us could finish. After that, I came in to work on the blog and everyone else crashed in the living room to watch tv.  

   

Sunday, June 16^th, 2019…... HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!  I heard from both my boys and enjoyed that.  Today was a planned a trip to Oregon gardens. 

We always try to take our visitors up there to see this wonderful display of flora and fauna. I think they have one of every plant and tree that will grow here in Oregon!  The place is too large to walk through so you always jump on the tram and take the ½ hour ride through the park. Our tram driver was the same one we had last time we were there. He is very informative and very thorough.

Wild Bill…

Afterward going through the store and then to the garden store (we bought another fishing rod plant), we headed over to The Home Place Restaurant in Silverton and had lunch. I had remembered it from our trip up there in the rv back in 2012 and thought we should try it again.  It was pretty good and we got in and out in no time. We headed back toward home and when we got back to town, we stopped at the new Rife’s furniture store in Lebanon to check things out. We found a nice dining room table that I think we will go back and get soon. I had to measure the table (it’s exactly 9 feet long) and then see if we have enough room for it in the room. We do.  Later, we were watching tv and Lydia said that she and Janie would like root beer floats from A&W. none of us was hungry enough for dinner but we had room for treats! I drove us over to Sweet Home, stopping by to show them the boat I’m interested in, and then went on to A&W. After that, we headed out to Foster Lake and made the loop around it and then headed home. Once we got back, Rick brought over some Jack Daniels with honey and he and I finished off the bottle. It was good! We then came in and watched the latest stage on the Great Food Truck Race. When that was over, we were all about done for the night.     

Monday, June 17^th, 2019…... Nothing planned today. We each got some expected paperwork from Boeing and Lydia’s Macy's gift card showed up. Glad to see that! Nothing yet from Penney’s. I went out to their rig and fixed a couple of bent door knobs and we sat out there for a while. I texted Jon and asked if the boat was ready yet and he said he was testing it today and would let me know.  Meanwhile, Janie brought a load of laundry in and got that started. They went back out to their rig and tore apart their bed and found a missing earring.

Later, we went over to my sister’s for dinner.   

During dinner I got a text from Jon saying that the boat was ready for me to go look at. I texted that we would be there tomorrow morning. We sat out on her porch and then went back inside to talk for a while. Once we got home, we watched tv for a while before calling it a night.     

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #55 – Visitors

 

Wednesday, June 12^th, 2019…… Rick and Janie are coming in this afternoon. They decided to combine their trip to visit Janie’s niece/cousin in Monterey Bay area. They left Gilroy area and headed up and stayed in an rv park around Mount Shasta last night and took off headed north this morning. They are due in around 3:00pm or so. Meanwhile, Lydia and Penny and I went out to Shirley May’s for breakfast. I drove by myself because the girls were headed over to Albany to Costco afterwards. I went back home and ran the vacuum to pick up after butthead. I always get a vacuum cleaner with enough dog hair to start another puppy! I also went out and got another bag of dog food and also bought a rainbird type sprinkler on wheels. We have that spot next to the driveway by the house that doesn’t have sprinklers installed (yet). It was getting a little brown so I needed to fix that. I got it set up where it covers everything from one location and got it going. The girls got back a little later and we unloaded the car. Sis went home but left Quincy to relax here because her housecleaner was working over there today. We also left and went to Walmart for some last- minute things. When we got back and got everything put away, we just hung around until they turned in our driveway. I got them parked and Rick hooked up the rig. Janie was telling us about some issues they were having with the coach since we’d seen them last. Nothing serious – just a couple of things that will be addressed when they get back. We sat around and talked all the way through dinner time – our dinner time. It was after 6:00pm when we decided to go up to Pizza Schmizza for an easy meal.  They insisted in treating us. Thanks guys! We drove around a bit after that and made some plans for things to do and see while they are here. Once we got back home, we settled in on the back deck and had a few drinks and relaxed and talked before calling it a night.

   

Thursday, June 13^th, 2019…... Today was one with nothing planned. I am waiting to hear from Penney’s. We have some drapes on order that might be available later today for pickup at the store in Eugene. Our glider on order from Ace is supposed to come in today so we will need to go get that if they call. My guy with the boat is working on the gearcase and is installing a new thermostat. Not sure if call to tell me it’s ready for me to come see it again or not. That doesn’t mean we have to stay home. We took a drive to Albany. Rick liked our hallway carpet runners and asked where we got them. So, we went to Wheeler Dealers to see what they might have.  They found a set and bought that. Next, we headed over to the Albany carousel. We always like to take folks there to see how nice this place is. Plus, it’s fascinating to see how the figures are carved. We went down to the workshop and the docent gave them the tour. I had been following the progress of Gino, the whale, since it was a slab of wood down there. It is now almost complete and it upstairs in paint. Next step is the polyurethane coat that they have put on at an auto body/paint shop.

We took the obligatory picture in front of the carousel, plus the attendant took one for us as well inside the ride.

When we got out of there, we had decided it was too late to fix dinner so we stopped at Loafers and ate linner. It was good!  We got back home and sat outside for a while then came in and watched The Great Food Truck Race and the first part of the Master Chef Jr. finale.   

Friday, June 14^th, 2019…... Rylee has a vet appointment this morning. So, we left Rick and Janie to rest and relax in their rig while we headed out. The vet had nothing but encouraging words to say about monkey butt. He did find a little dirt or something in her left ear. He used maxi-otic, which we have at home. We will use that until or if we need more. While we were there, I got a text from sister who was at a yard sale at the big blue mansion (ok- just a nice big house) near her home. It’s recently sold and we wanted to see the inside so we decided to go over there afterward. I walked Rylee around the neighborhood while Lydia toured the home and looked over the stuff for sale. Then I went in. My sister had bought a few things and was interested in a garage storage cabinet, a yard storage box, and a file cabinet. She asked that if she bought those, could I help her move them to her house. So, we went home and dropped off Rylee. And then Rick and I took the truck and Janie drove Lydia back over in their car. We got everything unloaded and sis gave R & J a tour of her home. The last time they saw it was the day she got the keys. After that, we came back home and rested for a while. Then I fired up the bbq and got the ribs going. My sister came over with her dish and we hung around while the ribs cooked. I guess they were ok because we didn’t have too many left! We had potato salad and cole slaw which got eaten up too!  Later, we settled back in the house and watched the rest of Master Chef Jr. I wasn’t too shocked when they crowned this year’s winner. Then we started in on this year’s Master Chef and watched the first of the auditions/eliminations before calling it a night.

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #54 – Patio Furniture & Another Trip to Portland

 

Sunday, June 9^th, 2019…… We didn’t have too much planned for today. I walked Rylee and Lydia made breakfast. I put out the patio rug on our back porch. My sister found it at a yard sale for $5.00 and it works great out there. While she was here, I got the pool out and filled it up – with help from the monkeybutt! She sure likes her water! We had seen some patio furniture at Ace Hardware that we wanted to go take a look at, so we took the truck in case we bought it. Our Ace in town was closed today because they resurfaced their parking lot. We drove over to Sweet Home to the store their but they didn’t have any. We’ll have to check our store tomorrow. The weather here is getting warmer by the day. It’s been in the 70s and beautiful but now will get to the mid to high 80s in the next few days. And no rain in sight so we need to think about the sprinklers.  I first went out and set up the sprinklers I used last year to water the blueberries and grapevines. That was just three spinning heads linked with garden hose all the way to the shutoff spigot. I have a timer to set up but I need batteries for that.  I also ran the yard sprinklers to test the heads for both the flowerbeds and around the yard.  I had some adjustments and some repairs to make before I was, oops, I meant before Lydia was happy.  I even moved one of the main pop up sprinklers that was very close to the back steps and if/when I ever expand those steps, this one would be in the way.  So, I dug it out and extended it far enough away.

Lunch was leftover Chinese food and dinner was leftover Red Lobster food. Before we came in for the evening, we sat out on the back porch and planned out our week. Rick & Janie are due in on Thursday and we have a drs. appointment in Portland on Tuesday. Plus, tomorrow we have to go get money out of the bank or credit union for the boat. Still no deal made but we want to be ready, and cash in hand means I can bargain better! 

We ended up drying off butthead three separate times. I think tomorrow we will tire her out in the pool and then take her in the house for a regular bath! TV until bedtime.              

   

Monday, June 10^th, 2019…... I got up early and got showered and got going. I fed and walked Rylee, then headed off to my sister’s house. She had ordered two headboards and needed help putting them together and installing them. One was in several pieces requiring assembly. We got that one put together and went in and installed the other one, which was only three pieces. Then we planned on using some of the included hardware on the other one, but the bolts were way too long. So, we headed off to the Ace Hardware store in town and got some bolts. While we were there, I looked at the patio furniture that was in their ad that we wanted. Turns out they only got in the loveseat and the table for the four-piece set. And they were sold out on the gliders. But I will still bring Lydia back to show her and see if she likes what they have. We got the bolts and went back and installed them and everything was done in time for her to shower and leave for an appointment. I came back and Lydia was just leaving to go to the credit union to get the money for the boat. She returned to tell me that the computer system for our credit union in Calif. was down so we would have to try again later. She came back and got me and we headed off to Ace and ordered the glider (for possible pickup on Thursday). They only received a few of the complete sets on the wicker 4-pc.  They don’t expect any more to come in this season. So, we made a deal on what they had on the floor - the loveseat and table. I will go back later with the truck to pick those up. We then headed off to Albany to America’s Finest to have her glasses repaired. The screw for the side earpiece had come out again so she needed that fixed again! This was the second time on the same side!  I went in with her this time and we made sure to let them know what was happening. They made the repair and said that if it continues to give her problems, they will replace the frames with whatever she wants. Now that’s customer service!   We got back home and I worked on the sprinklers again. Turns out I only had one more to replace and I had that one in my parts bucket so I made quick work of that. The other system on the other side of the driveway didn’t need any repairs so I can now turn both of the systems back on and run the sprinklers again for the season. We will need them because it’s climbing up by 5-10º each day, with no rain in sight.  By the time Rick and Janie get here, they will think they are still in Calif!  We let Rylee loose in her pool but just ended up drying her off. Maybe when we get back from the drs. appointment tomorrow, we can get her in the bath. I ate a late breakfast and a late lunch so I skipped dinner. Lydia had leftover burritos. I had the Nascar race to watch today because it was postponed by rain yesterday (in Michigan).  Lydia is still watching her Hallmark channel shows and got some of those watched before we shut down everything and went to bed.  

Tuesday, June 11^th, 2019…... Today we have an appointment (2:20pm) with her surgeon in Portland for a follow up. We decided to drive up early because we wanted to check in with a couple of the Ace Hardware stores in the towns on the way up to see if they might have any of our chairs in stock. Before we left, she tried again at the Oregon State Credit Union and this time got the funds out ok.  We are now ready when they get the boat work done and call me in. My sister was going to come over with Quincy and spend the day and will feed the monkeybutt because we will definitely get caught up in rush hour traffic on the way out of Portland!  

The drive up was long, since we made a few stops at Ace stores on the way. We also stopped at a local building supply place. These guys have architectural pieces - doors, hardware, barnwood, etc. salvaged from old houses. We are still looking for some interesting barnwood for the sliding pantry door. None of the Ace stores had anything except one in Portland who said his system showed one set left at the store in Olympia, WA. Yeah, right!  Oh well, I guess what we have is what we have.   

The drs. meeting was just what we expected. He was glad to hear Lydia was doing so well. I asked him how many inches of colon they actually removed, and his answer was, “just the right amount!”.  He is so funny! He said they actually removed about 12 inches but not to worry, ‘you have plenty!”.  No more follow up with him.  We left there and actually had a relatively easy trouble-free drive back home. We stopped and got Taco Bell and brought it home and we were done for the day. Except for Rylee. I had to empty and clean and refill her pool again. She really likes chasing the water shooting from the hose too! Today was the first day this year that we have run the house AC, but it was definitely hot! Portland is expecting 100º tomorrow!  So, Rylee is taking advantage of the cool water when we let her.

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #53 – Birthdays & Boats & Motorhomes

 

Thursday, June 6^th, 2019…… I got up early this morning and showered and got Rylee walked then headed out to get something to eat and went on to run some errands. I needed to get some tile adhesive to reinstall that tile the guys knocked loose when they were putting in the oven. Plus, I needed to buy a new frame to replace one broken (by me) when I was helping them move out the old stove down the hallway. Lydia had two prescriptions and I got those as well on my way. Once I got back, I got all of those things fixed. We were contemplating going out and sweeping up the grass but I didn’t contemplate fast enough and it started to sprinkle. The sweeper doesn’t work well if the grass is wet. So maybe tomorrow or Saturday. I have been looking on Craig’s List at boats for some time now. I found one just listed today that is close to home so I followed up on it. I am going to drive there (Sweet Home) tomorrow to take a look.

Later, Lydia fixed steak burritos and we watched our own programs until bedtime. 

   

Friday, June 7^th, 2019…... Happy Birthday to my lovely bride! Lydia has been getting calls and texts all morning. My gift is still on its way (Macy’s gift card) but we’ll go out to dinner later. She has chosen Red Lobster. I took off early this morning and drove to Sweet Home to look at the boat. It is an older tri-hull made by SeaSwirl. 

The previous owner was in the process of fixing it up and had the boat shop in town put new seats in it, which I liked. He painted the inside and outside top section a nice grey color. You could tell it was an amateur job because the paint is checking already. I’m ok with that. The best part is that its powered by a newer model 45 hp Honda four stroke outboard, with a power tilt. That’s what’s got me interested!  The guy who bought it decided that they couldn't pass up a deal they had on a motorhome and that they didn't feel they could keep both so they decided to leave the boat there for the guy to put up for sale.  The owner hadn’t made it in with the key yet so I wasn’t able to hear it run. Jon at the shop says he will set it up and run it and pressure test it and will call me to come back. But I probably won’t hear from him until Monday, since he has to leave early for his daughter’s high school graduation ceremony this afternoon.

Ok, it’s later now… Jon did call back and said he had the key and ran the engine and it sounded ok. He wants to do some more tests but ran out of time. Probably next week.

Sis came by with Quincy. She had heard some thunder and was freaking out and our house is quieter so since we were going south to Eugene for dinner, she brought her over with her to stay here. We then fed them both and headed out to Red Lobster. Our meals were all really good. It’s been a while since we’ve been to a Red Lobster! We all had stuff to bring home, including a whole basket of their cheese biscuits!

Penny left Quincy since she’s coming back tomorrow to help me bag the grass clippings. We watched our programs until bedtime. 

Saturday, June 8^th, 2019…... This morning I decided the grass I had cut on Wednesday was dry enough after the rains we had on Thursday. So, after I had Rylee out and walked, I got the tractor out and hooked up the catcher for later. Sis came by early because we had her doggie and she wanted to take her for her walk. Then I let Rylee out for them to play. She took a few pics of them today…..

I went and got breakfast and she went back home to eat and then came back later to bag up the grass for me. I had set the mower low this time so we quickly discovered we had a LOT of grass and needed a lot of bags! We actually ran out and had to get some from the motorhome.  We filled over 20 of the giant Costco black bags. She took several home to dump in her bin. We don’t have a yard waste bin like folks in the city. They expect us to burn all of our yard waste, but I choose not to. I will put as many as will fit in our regular trash bin each week. I think that since the lawn is cut pretty low, the next time I mow we won’t need as many bags.

Later, after I got cleaned up, we took a drive to the Linn County fairgrounds in Albany where the FMCA rv rally was going on. We wanted to check it out. We got there and drove around the rv rows and checked them out. These were the ones dry camping with no hookups.  We then parked and no sooner got into the main hall when we saw our fellow Camping Squares club member friends, Jack and Jennifer Ting! They had driven their rig up from their home in Alhambra CA for the event. We talked and walked with them for a bit and saw the vendors room (maybe 20 at this show) and then they took us out to the other side of the building to show us where they were parked - in the area with power provided (but no water). They said they had come in on Tuesday but since they don’t tow a car and don’t move their rig, they hadn’t been anywhere. So, we took them for a ride to show them the area.  Of course, we drove them back to Lebanon to show them our place!  Jack said they really like the area and they might be interested in property up here in Oregon one day. Once we got them back to the rally, we said our goodbyes and left and headed back home. We hadn’t had lunch so we decided to stop at Wing Ming Chinese for linner. Once we got home, we fed monster puppy and I took her out for some exercise and then we both came back in and we all rested for the day. I had some races to catch up on and Lydia slept, oops, I mean watched tv! No dinner so I went out and put my truck in the garage and closed up for the night. We have no rain in the forecast for next week so I think I will get butthead’s pool out tomorrow for her to play in.