Sunday, Sep 1st, 2019……
Last full day with family. We slept in this morning. Sis came by and was
here when I took Rylee out for her walk. She fed Quincy and stayed a while but
needed to go home and eat and shower. We were leaving when she got back here.
Raymond (with a little help from Oma) made us grilled cheese and ham sandwiches
for breakfast. They were very good! Frances set up our crockpot and put a roast
in to get going for the day. Once we had everything cleaned up and sis got back,
we headed off to Foster Lake. We had heard that the fish hatchery there was a good
place for kids so off we went. We were not disappointed! They had every tank
filled to capacity with chinook salmon. These little guys were probably only
4-5 inches long. We were lucky to be there right on time for the daily feeding.
The guy let Raymond throw feed into the tanks. The fish boiled on the surface
trying to get some food!
He told us
they would all be released in the Santiam River in November. As they head
downriver, they will smolt, which is a stage in their life cycle where they
begin to adapt for life in salt water. Eventually, they will return up the same
river to this very hatchery. There are two fish gates/ladders that they swim up
to. Some are captured and used to breed new hatches of eggs as the cycle
continues. The fish gate on the other side is open, but the one on our side of
the river is closed - they have a big iron grate blocking it off. But that didn’t
stop the salmon from trying to get in.
We also
got to feed the trout, which twenty or so are held in a couple of smaller
tanks. I think these are just for viewing. There are more contained in a large glass fish tank out in front of the office. All of these guys were huge!
We took a few more pics...
and then we left
there and headed back to town for lunch (Taco Bell). We were all going next to
the Albany Carousel. But the girls had also talked about going wine tasting
while Frances was here. I came up with an idea – Frances has been to the
carousel so Lydia and I would take Raymond there and Penny could take Frances
to the wineries. We came home and split up. Our trip to Albany was fun. Raymond
picked out two of his favorite animals (Zulu the cheetah, and Cheyenne the
horse) and rode both of those. Aunt Lydia picked a short one that she could get up on!
Next, we visited the souvenir shop and he also got to
smash a penny in the machine. He liked that so much that we bought him an album
book to collect any future pennies he gets. We came back and later, the girls
got back. We rested a bit and then they finished up the crockpot dinner. It was
tasty! They both went in to pack their suitcases and prep for tomorrow. Their
flight out of Eugene is at 6:00am. They need to check in and go through TSA and
then board at 5:25am, so we needed to have them there closer to 5:00am. It’s
close to an hour’s drive so we needed to leave around 4:00am! So, we all made an early night of it.
Monday, Sep 2nd, 2019……
I don’t
know about Frances and Raymond, but Lydia and I couldn’t sleep for hours. I
think I remember looking at the clock at 1:30am! But we got up and going and
made the drive down to the airport and had them there at 5:05am. We said our
goodbyes and then headed home to rest for the day! Raymond kept saying that he
didn’t want to go home. I think he had a good time. Frances texted later saying that they got home a little after 10:00am. She sent me one more pic she took of us with the tractor.
Like I
said, we kicked back the whole day and did nothing else. Both of us had
leftovers for lunch so neither of us wanted dinner.
One other thing
to note – we FINALLY got our Directv blacked out CBS channel back! Nexstar and
Direct signed a multi-year agreement. It was just one or two days short of 8
weeks! Thank goodness it was rerun season. We are now ready for all of the fall
shows to start.
Tuesday, Sep 3rd, 2019…... This morning I got up and going early. I
stopped and got my breakfast and then went to pick up my sister. We both needed
to go to Home Depot. I needed to get some self-closing hinges as replacements
for the broken ones on the door going out to the garage; and she needed to get
the 12 x 12 pavers that Kirk and Caleb will be installing in the near future. We
got back to her place and unloaded those and I came home and installed the
hinges and was back in business in no time. I also went out with a cutoff saw and
knocked down that big spike I used in the garden last week to tie the tree to. Kirk and Caleb showed up later and this time worked
for a few hours on the weeds in the flowerbeds and along the French drain. I
set up a date for next week with them. Instead of working on my yard, he will come
over with his truck, hook up to my new old trailer and follow me and my boat up
to Foster Lake. That way, I don’t have to make two trips plus I have two extra
guys to help unload the boat and try it out on the new old trailer. We will
test fit it and then move it all back and bring both back home. If the new old
trailer works out, I can then move it into the shop and tear it down and clean
it up and repaint it. Once that’s done, I can then go back to the lake and make
the changeover permanent. Kirk and Caleb get paid for their normal time with
me, but don’t have to pull weeds. They just have to change into shorts and
water shoes!
Sis came
over later and brought more clothes for when she stays here. Her surgery is now
set for Sept. 13th. She
anticipates she will need to be here for 4-7 days.
Later,
Lydia made baked chicken and we settled in and watched all of the Master Chef
episodes so we’re now caught up. I wasn’t sleepy so I stayed up and watched a
few of my taped shows before calling it a night.
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