Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #67 – One More Trip to Portland, Lawn Mowing & a Wedding!

  

Thursday, July 18^th, 2019……  We got up early today. The new flight time was 11:55am. We left the house just before 8:00am and stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast on the way. We got to the airport a little after 9:30am. Again, I said my goodbyes and headed to park. Since they already had tickets and were checked in, they only had to check their bags and then go through TSA. Lydia was able to stay with them through that and then said her goodbyes and they headed off to their gate. They had a 4-hour flight to Dallas, an hour layover, and then another 3-hour flight to Ft Myers. It would be a long day for them!  I went back and picked up Lydia and we headed home. All was going well until we slowed to a stop on I5. There was a car pulling a small travel trailer on fire ahead of us! We were all stopped a ways away when the fire truck got there but we could see all of the flames. It took 40-45 minutes before we were able to get going again. We drove by and saw the car was toast but the trailer was fine! Still a bad day for that couple!

We got home and did nothing for the rest of the day! I had driven the 200+mile trip twice in twelve hours! I was glad to sit back and watch tv and rest for the day! 

But we sure did enjoy these kids! They are smart, respectful, and pretty quiet (unless you count them ragging on each other!) I think they enjoyed most of everything we showed them and let them do (like driving tractors!) and we definitely want them to come back again soon. I think the whole family ought to make a road trip and drive up next time! I know with work schedules and such that probably won’t happen next year. Maybe we can figure out something….    

Oops, I did do something!  Today was delivery day for the dining room table and server. I helped the guys with a few items and they got everything set up and were gone. But wouldn't you know it - they found a divot in the leaf. Now this is rustic wood and has barnwood wear and tear in it, but we all thought this one was a little much! So, they went ahead and noted it, and called the office to let them know, and then went ahead and set up the table with the leaf anyway and will have to come back soon with a replacement for the leaf.  

Friday, July 19^th, 2019…… My sister was off and running early this morning. She had already brought Quincy over yesterday and headed off to the Oregon shuttle. She parked and headed off to catch her flight to Long Beach. She is going down for a memorial service and also for some visiting with family and friends, plus a meeting with her financial team. Meanwhile, I got up, showered, and got Quincy out for her walk, then took Rylee out for hers. Once we had that done, Lydia and I headed out. We wanted to go to Kevin’s for breakfast. It was closed because they were working on the street out front. No worries – we’ll go to Shirley Mays. Closed as well (not sure why). No problem – we headed in to Albany and went to Sweet Waters Family Restaurant for a nice breakfast. I dropped Lydia off at the shuttle so she could pick up sis’s car. She was then off to get her new replacement glasses, which had come in. While she was doing that, I took off to go to Lowe’s and then Fisherman’s Warehouse. I wanted to add to the sprinklers for the blueberries/grapes and then go try to find the plastic fastener for my boat cover. I found one! Yaay! Plus, they had a reel on a sale table and I couldn’t resist! Lydia met up with me at my sister’s house and she got the car in the garage while I worked on a window in the guest room that was off the track. I fixed it the best I could but it still needs a specialist to repair it. But at least I got it where I could lock it for now.

The plan for tomorrow is to mow again, so this afternoon I went out and did the weed whacking ahead of time. The weather is really nice this time of year – maybe a little hotter than I like – but it’s still ok to be out. The grass seed fields around here are now just about ready to be worked. They have cut and harvested the seeds but the grass needs to be picked up. Then the fields get turned over and supplements added for the next season. All of this means that every harvester and tiller in the area will be out working for the next couple of weeks. It makes for a lot of dust and really turns the air from nice to nasty. It reminds me of California smog! Lydia made some parmesan encrusted chicken for dinner along with some mac and veggie mix. It was all yummy! We settled in and watched our programs until bedtime.      

Saturday, July 20^th, 2019…...  Today was the 50 year anniversary of when the astronauts walked on the moon!  I'll bet everyone knows exactly where they were and what they were doing when this event happened. For me, I was in San Antonio TX at Lackland Air Force Base. I think it was day 18 or something, of basic training. I remember that our training instructor let all of his squad come down to the break room and crowd in and watch on this tiny old round-screen tv.  Lydia said she was at her mom's house and watched it there. Hard to believe that was 50 years ago! One small step for man - one giant leap for mankind!

I got up early and got going. Once I got both dogs walked, Lydia fed Quincy and I fed Rylee and then took off to get breakfast/tea. We wanted to start mowing early before it got hot but the grass was still too wet for that, so I watched some of the Tour de France and then got the mowers out. We both started out in the field because that was dry and then moved on to the lawn. It took a few hours to complete everything. It was Lydia’s first outing on the mower for almost a year. No worries – she did great! I have been shopping and now have the right types of goggles for each of us to choose when mowing that works for us. So, no problems with dust or grass.  I left the clippings for tomorrow to help dry them out. We were done for the day.

Our neighbors (Paul and Cori) across the cul-de-sac have been working on their front and back yards for a while now. They are hosting a wedding this evening. One of their kid’s friends asked, and they have such a nice place, they were happy to do it. They spent many hours getting things ready and set up and last night they had a run-through with the wedding party. Paul has made it possible to park everyone out in the field just east of their house. But folks have to drive across the lawn to get there! We were glad we got the mowing done early because we didn’t know what time everything started over there. Turns out the wedding was at 6:00pm so no worries. They must have had 50 cars in the parking area. We could hear the music and we got to watch as the wedding party walked from the front yard to the back and down the aisle. The party lasted until after 11:00pm but it wasn’t too loud for us. Quincy could hear it and was antsy for a bit but finally settled down.