Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #32 – A Picnic and the Shasta is on the Road!

 

 

Sunday, August 17^th., 2025……  Today was Charlotte’s picnic. Charlotte was our Club caller. We went last year and had a great time, and dancing on the covered bridge down the road. This year we gave Frank and Maryanne and Larry rides to save parking space. Charalotte went around asking if folks wanted to come again next year?  I think they said the final count was 35 people, all of whom said Yes!  They had a ton of food. But before that, we walked the ½ mile down to the covered bridge just past her place. Shaun called and we also got to dance to a new caller. Marlana  learned to dance just last year and has really picked it up!  She has gone on to Plus and also can dance as the left hand dancer (boy’s part). She’s been taking calling classes online and this was her 2^nd chance to call. It was a fun day.

Monday, August 18^th., 2025…… Today was Jim’s passing (5 years ago). We had no trailer pickup today so we were able to get out of the house and take the dogs to the cemetery so Cat could put flowers on Jim’s grave. We had made an appointment for our guy to come out today to reprogram our garage doors to the new Buick. Seems Penny’s remote wasn’t working either. He will do her house and ours on Wednesday.  We ended up getting a new fixed unit for the garage door since our old unit could no longer be programmed. Oh well!  Later, it was more baseball games for me. They go into elimination games this week, ending with the final on Sunday. 

Tuesday, August 19^th., 2025…… Nothing on the agenda today. Cat got a text from Barb telling us that they have pears at her rental house that are ready to pick and free. So, we headed over and found the place. We got a large plastic bag and filled it for us then helped pick for boxes for others.  Later, I went to the square dance workshop. Last night Rich and Linda brought their cars over for a bit while their driveway was being resurfaced. Should be 24 hours. When we waked the dogs we saw the crew out and getting to work over there. Later in the day they were almost done. Turns out they ran out of material!  Rich and Linda have a curved driveway and it goes on forever, probably twice the square footage as we have.    

Wednesday, August 20^th., 2025……  A pretty good day for us!  We were up super early and left the house and went to Albany to my doctor’s new office so I could have labs drawn. We were there at 7:00am and it only took a few minutes. We then headed over to Rogers for breakfast, then went home. We needed to be back in time for the garage door guy to come. On the way home, I got a text from our shipper for the trailer. He said they have a driver coming today!  We double checked to make sure it wasn’t a guy coming to try to flat tow it. Nope!  He sent a pic and it was a big trailer!  We got back and went to work to make sure we had everything done on the trailer. Cat said she wanted two items out of it so I had to undo the wires I had affixed on the door, plus unscrew the screw holding it closed. We got what we needed and added another item and we were good to go. Meanwhile, Tony showed up to redo the codes in the car. Penny had him at her house because her car remotes didn’t work either. Plus, she wanted to have him program our door to her car as well. I ended up buying a new unit for the outside of the garage, but he did manage to get all the cars remotes redone and so all is good. After Penny left, we rested for a while and later the guy who was going to take the trailer showed up. We liked him from the start. He was driving a nice ford F450 with a super long trailer which was perfect for the task. It took him a while to get everything set up but the system worked and he winched the Shasta up and on that trailer carefully and safely. Did I say we were impressed? 

He was off and headed to Sweet Home to pick up a car to take on the trailer as well.  Estimated 4 days to get back to Michael in Missouri. We sent Michael pics of the guy and his truck and Tony told us he would be in touch as he gets into the state. We relaxed and came in to get out of the heat. It’s 80° here today but it feels warmer. The weather report says we will be getting another heatwave, starting tomorrow. They say another 100° day on Friday! We relaxed and watched tv and I caught up and posted last week’s blog, and worked on this one. Tv, spa and bed. Good day!    

Thursday, August 21^st., 2025…… We are hosting dinner tonight. Frank and Maryanne and Mike and Cheryl are coming over for bbq and cards. So, after walking and feeding the girls. we headed out to Albany. After breakfast at Rogers, we went on to Costco and got pork ribs, corn, and baby potatoes for tonight. When we got back home, we put the ribs in the crockpot to precook for a while. I have done this before and it makes it so easy for later when all I need to do it put them on the bbq and lather them with sauce and heat them up to get a little char. We were given a new way to cook the corn on the bbq. Cathye wrapped bacon on each one and attached with toothpicks and I put them on.  We learned later that we were supposed to wrap them in tinfoil first!  So, we will have the bacon – that came loose! – another day!  But I think everyone liked both the corn and the ribs!  We played cards (swoosh) for a few hours until we all got tired and called it a night.    

Friday, August 22^nd., 2025……  We have a dance planned for tonight (and tomorrow night). The club in Springfield is hosting a weekend festival with national caller Hunter Keller calling. He is one of my favorites so I wanted Cat to get to hear him. I have been nursing a pulled muscle in my lower back but it’s getting better. But later in the day, we found ourselves lazy and decided to pass on tonight and go tomorrow night. We hung around the house, used the spa and I rested my back.

Saturday, August 23^rd., 2025…… The weather is supposed to get up to 99° today so we are staying in for the most part. But – we will still mow today. I chose 11:00am before it got too hot. Penny came over and we had everything done and cleaned up in 30 minutes and we were back inside for the day!  Later, we left for the dance. We had a few of our Club members there.  Hunter calls rather fast. I like the speed and we danced for a few hours before he wore Cathye out and we called it for the night.  

Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #31 – Hot Days & Trying to Get the Trailer Moved!

 

Sunday, August 10^th., 2025……  Hottest day today so far.  It will get up to 100° later today. Cathye decided to skip church today. We headed to Albany and went to Elmer’s for breakfast before hitting Lowes to get rock salt and weedkiller. I wanted to start on the trailer but it was hard to breathe in the heat!  So, we called it a day and stayed in the house all day and watched our taped tv programs.  

Monday, August 11^th., 2025…… This morning we walked the girls then went straight to work on the trailer. I had added a dolly wheel so it can be rolled up on the flatbed without too much trouble. I moved it out where they could get to it easily. After that, Cat went inside and got everything out that we wanted to keep. I did the storage compartments below. We have an issue with the key mechanism for the door, so we decided to load up everything we wanted to send with it inside, and then wired and screwed the door shut. I don’t expect anyone to be going inside during the transit, and this will help in case the door may open while travelling. I locked the main keys in the outside compartment and will forward Crystal the extra key to that. We will wait until they pick it up just to confirm if it might need to be accessed. Oh yeah, Michael has decided to keep this  a secret from Crystal!  We are shipping to an address in town (where they have a large lot for unloading). He has plans to surprise her after that. I am told she doesn’t read this blog -  so we should be ok with the secret!

Later, I got a call from the shipper, asking if pickup can be on 8/18, with delivery on 8/22 or 8/23. That will work for both parties!  Michael is excited. I’m guessing Crystal will be too! More inside stuff and tv until bedtime. I think we will be skipping the spa for the next few days!      

Tuesday, August 12^th., 2025…… I made an appointment to go see my dr. for today. She has moved from one practice to another and I am choosing to follow her. She was in town but is now in Albany so I have to drive a bit further but it’s worth it. We discussed my meds and general health. Her new system does not talk to the old one so they have to request to get my records transferred. The only thing I worry about is whether or not her new office will be out of network. She told me that her mother in law has my insurance and so far she is covered. I will start with new labs next week.  Cathye is also having to scramble as her dr. has moved on (out of the gp field). She has called a prior dr. to see if she can get back there.

After my drs. visit, I went next door to my optometrist’s office and made an appointment for Thursday. It’s been many years since I’ve had my eyes checked. Tv and the spa (it was cooler outside and really nice!) and then bed.

Wednesday, August 13^th., 2025……  Ok, now for the drama!  We were woken up at 2:30am by the smoke detectors going off here in the house!  Not one – but all of them!  They went on for over 10 minutes. They are hard-wired into the house and I don’t know which circuit they are on. I called 911 and they sent out the fire department (with 4 guys). No lights and sirens so maybe we didn’t wake the neighbors. They asked a bunch of questions – how is it wired, how old are the sensors, did all of them go off….  I remember when we did a final walk thru back in 2017, there were boxes of detectors on the counter (which I assumed were later installed). They took one down and verified they were 2017 units. They last 10 years but they advised they probably should all be replaced, which we will do. We went back to bed and it took me a while before I fell asleep. We’ll see how we do today. Penny is coming by and we will mow today, but after that, we can both relax for the day.

Ok, it’s later. We have the lawn mowed and everything put away and we are in for the day. The Little League World Series starts today, so I will be watching that. Cathye napped. Later, I hooked up the trash trailer and backed it in close to Cat’s potting shed. She has a lot of stuff to dump so this will make it easier. But we will do that another day.      

Thursday, August 14^th., 2025…… We both have appointments today. Cathye went off to her dental cleaning and I left for my eye appointment. It has been a while (5 years?) since I had new glasses. The prescription was very light so I found I would rarely wear anything but the prescription sunglasses. My left eye vision has really changed so it’s about time!  After my exam, we decided to put light changing lens in one pair of glasses that I rarely used. I just needed to go find them and bring them back in!  Cathye got back before me. I spent a while looking around and eventually found the glasses. I will be taking them back to them tomorrow morning.   

Friday, August 15^th., 2025……  This morning we were going to Enchanted Forest. It’s an amusement park just south of Salem. It’s been around since 1971 and was a love affair for its owner and founder Roger Tofte. The park has gone through some tough times in the past, barely surviving. But it’s a very nice place for kids, especially the younger ones, and has something for the adults too. After we dropped off my glasses, we left and met Corey and Vikki and family at the park. We had Cathye’s little wagon which she said she would pull through the park. Of course, the kids had the double stroller and all of their stuff for the day. The park has brick pathways that go up and down the hills all around the park.  We started out and they both noticed it was a rough go on the hills. After struggling a lot, Cathye decided to give that up and had me take the wagon back to our car. Corey did the pushing on the stroller and we made it through the day. We hit the rides that the kids wanted to go on. Some with mom, some with dad. We stayed with the littles. It was a fun day. 

We got back home and rested from the long day!  Not sure how many miles we walked (up and down the hills!), but we were both going to feel it tomorrow!  Later, I got a text message from my shipper that they were not successful finding a driver for the trailer move!  So, it most likely won’t be Monday. I responded that I was disappointed but will wait a reasonable amount of time before moving on. Stay tuned….     

Saturday, August 16^th., 2025…… Today we had backpacks on the agenda. We were doing the first shift at the function at Sweet Home High School. We got there and helped set up tables, banners, and such. I was in charge of the junior and senior high school bags. As we have done in the past, we spread out the color choices on tables and we were good to go. It’s always interesting to see the different personalities on these kids. Some were super nice and appreciative – others were like ‘whatever’. 

We finished up our 3 hour stint, then left to go run our own errands. We stopped at Walmart and then the pharmacy. The rest of the day was spent for me watching the baseball games I had recorded, and for Cathye, working on her meds. Oh yeah, no more fire alarms – so far!     

Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #30 – Dealing With The Heat and Making Shipping Plans

 

Sunday, August 3^rd., 2025……  A quiet Sunday. I was up and out to go get us breakfast and coffee while Cathye took the girls out then fed them. Later, she left for church and I spent most of the morning working on last week’s blog. We have the irrigation guy coming tomorrow so I want to get a hole drilled from the inside of the garage outside so he can run a wire to the new controller he will be installing. More on that tomorrow. More catch-up on our tv programs today. I have started taping Little League Baseball. My favorite and I always enjoy watching these young men show off their talents on the field. These are playoffs to see who goes to Williamsport next week. I especially look forward to seeing the regionals on the San Bernardino field where Randy played when he was 12. 

Later, we worked a bit on weeding out the raised bed. We have plenty of water going in there now and the plants (and weeds) are doing well!  We are now actively checking into getting Cat’s Shasta 

shipped back to Crystal in Missouri. We don’t want to tow it back there – Crystal could drive here and tow it back but she doesn’t feel comfortable doing that. Michael is too busy to come get it. We are about out of options. So, I started an inquiry about shipping it on a flatbed. I went to a site (Shiply) and have already received over 30 quotes! It looks like it will be a bit more than we want to pay, but we are still thinking about it. It’s easy and we can get it done as quickly as we want.

Monday, August 4^th., 2025…… Today was busy in the morning. We walked and fed the girls, then left for the gym, followed by a trip to the hospital for Cat’s lab draw, then breakfast. The last stop was at the post office. Steve had left his watch in our motorhome and we needed to get it mailed back to him. After that, Cathye worked on weeding the gravel area around the raised bed while I changed out the tongue on the Shasta. The bids have been to use a winch to load (and unload it) on a flatbed trailer. That will work if the tongue has a wheel underneath. So, I had one and changed it out. The rest of the day I worked on addressing trailer move quotes and Cat worked on her bills.  My irrigation guy showed up to update our system. Last year we had him update one of the controllers and he put in a bluetooth based system one it. Turns out it doesn’t work well unless I was almost standing out in front of it. Plus, Cathye doesn’t have it on her phone so I was the only one to be able to use it. He came back today to install one like the other two we already have. I drilled a hole for him to run the wires into the garage and he installed new valve sensors in the ground box and ran wires to the new box he installed. I programmed it for the four zones on that box and we were done for the day. He was late coming today, so they will be back tomorrow to work on fixing all of the drip lines that Justin hacked through when we was weed eating last month. Plus, there were two popups in the yard that needed to be replaced.  Later, Cathye made us zucchini boats for dinner. Never had them before but aside from the rice that she added that needed a little more cooking time, it was ok.  

Tuesday, August 5^th., 2025…… Nothing but the irrigation guys today. I went off to the workshop but Cat was here if the sprinkler got here while I was gone. Ok, it’s later now… I made it back in time to help George identify and fix all of the busted lines. He got everything fixed or replaced and was gone in 30 minutes. I would get the bill for everything via an email!  Later, we watched America’s Got Talent. They are finally down to the semifinals. We were late to bed.      

Wednesday, August 6^th., 2025……  I was up and going early to make my 7:30am dental appointment. After the cleaning, I got an inspection by the dentist. He asked about any pain and I told him I was having issues with my upper left tooth. It had a root canal over 20 years ago, but I have had issues since. Once, probably 15 years ago, in SoCal, the cap was removed and the canal cleaned of infection. I had it worked on again here in 2018 when I was sent to an endodontist. They pulled the filling and cleaned again. Today, the dentist told me my discomfort again was likely an infection. He gave me a referral to yet another endodontist. Waiting for the referral and to get on the schedule. Afterward, I stopped and got us breakfast and coffee. Just some chores today. Laundry and draining the spa. With all of the activity we have had around here last month, we haven’t used it much, nor added chemicals. So, we needed to drain and clean and set up again. I got a call from the endodontist and got an appointment. It’s not until Oct. 8^th! And that’s just for a consult!  Good thing it’s not too painful! 

Thursday, August 7^th., 2025……  This morning we were up and going a little later than normal. Justin and Skyler are coming this morning to work on weeds. We were just finishing up walking the dogs when they got here. We got them going then went off to breakfast and then on to Walmart. After that, it was time to get the pups in for grooming. After our camping trip, they are a little shabby looking. We talked to Corey about going up tomorrow to see the kid’s summer camp presentation. We are excited to see the littles too!

I mentioned it above, but I’m not sure how much I shared already about Cathye giving her Shasta to Crystal, her daughter-in-law, in MO. We have been trying to figure out a way to get it to her. Since it’s a 1964 model, and only has a single axle, we really aren’t keen about us (or anyone) pulling it all the way to Missouri!  So, I started looking into having it shipped. It’s not the cheapest way to go, but it solves a lot of issues about how it will get there and by who. If we hooked it to our truck, we would have the full two way trip cost. If someone rented a U-Haul and towed it, it would cost and we would have to add airfare back. The shippers I have been in touch with are asking questions and after a lot of them, we will get a company to come put it on a flatbed and drive it there. I had over 30 bids and will settle on one after we talk to Michael to see how and when he wants to receive it. We will need to coordinate pickup and delivery days with the shipper since both of us need to be there for that. More on this later…      

Friday, August 8^th., 2025……  We planned on going up to the park in Salem where Baylee has her cheerleading camp. We had the address and got there in time to see them practice. There were probably 15 or so and they had worked on a cheer for us!  It was fun and when it was over, Baylee got her Skyhawks Merit Award!

Of course we got to hold the great grandkids too!

After we were done, we took them all to McDonalds for lunch before coming back home for the day. We were lucky – today was pretty nice weather!  The rest of the weekend it is supposed to hit over 100°!  When we got home, it was definitely warmer!   

Saturday, August 9^th., 2025…… It was warm but not too bad this morning when we got the bike out and went into town to see the car show. It was down Main St.  We got parked up close and walked the three blocks and saw some great cars! 

After that, we went to Kristi’s (they sponsored the show) for lunch.

 

When we got home, I worked on getting my chosen shipper’s contract booked. He called and we talked about concerns and questions from both sides. He said they now will need to award to a local driver/company and will get back to me next week when he knows more. The only thing left is for us to empty out the trailer and prep it for shipment. The door lock doesn’t work well so I will need to address that soon. Since it’s so hot now, we will do it in the morning. But I did keep the bike out long enough to put the last of the two pneumatic shocks on the bike. This last one was going inside the rear cargo door and it took a bit to disassemble the compartment to get to the fixed points. But I got it! The rest of the day was spent inside in the ac!  Tv and bed.