Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #21 – Taking Care of Rylee and Getting Yard Work Done

 

 

Sunday, May 22^nd., 2022……  Rylee is doing about the same. She moves around slowly, doesn’t want to eat, and is still drinking and peeing excessively. She wants to rest and sleep and we are not pushing her for anything else. I will be calling the vet tomorrow morning to get her in. As I mentioned before, the weather is looking really good here – at least for the next week or so!  Still too wet to mow but each day you can see the grass dries out a bit more, so we’re still hoping to mow soon. Later in the day, after Cathye got back from church, and with no changes with Rylee, we decided to get the bikes out and do a little ride. I loaded them in the truck we went to River Park and took off on the new trail that started just under the bridge at Gill’s Landing. This morning I had installed a basket on Cathye’s bike so we could bring Jama. We still haven’t figured out how we can take Rylee – I can’t let her run next to me on a leash, it’s just not safe for anyone, but she wasn’t able to come with us anyway today. The ride was really nice. We did that new trail and then continued on and rode around the Cheadle Lake trail. On the way back, we stopped at Penny and Cherrelyn’s and visited with them for a while. We took some pics there and, on the trail…

When we got back, I think our speedometers indicated we rode only about 5 miles, but it was still nice to get out for a while.             

Monday, May 23^rd., 2022…… I had an 8:00am appointment this morning to drop the car off for that leak problem. But first, I went out and used a urine kit to catch a sample from Rylee that I could drop off at the vet’s office.  On the way back from the dealer, we drove to the vet's office and I called from the parking lot (which is their practice) and they had a 3:20pm today so that was good! We dropped off that sample as well. We hung around the house most of the day and waited until we went in for butthead. After meeting with them, they said she had a slight fever and a slight bit of redness in one of her ears. The rest of her vitals all were normal. They did a stool sample and said they would need more time on the urine sample and would go from there. Maybe antibiotics.  The car has a transmission line leaking and a water pump going out. Parts would be in tomorrow, so that was that.     

Tuesday, May 24^th., 2022…… We needed to go to Albany this morning.  We also needed to go to Eugene. Cathye has an appointment with an eye surgeon there for a consult. She is looking at a procedure to lift her eyelids a bit to allow her to see without strain.. They need to get approval and then schedule something. We're hoping sometime in July, before our trip to Hawaii in August. In all of our activity with Rylee and the car and the surgeon, we didn’t have time to go see Jamie and give him his weekly allowance. We did that and stopped after at Elmer’s for breakfast. The vet called me while we were there and said blood and urine show a urinary tract infection. And that I can come by in a few minutes and pick up medication. We can only guess that she got into some of the stagnant water around here in the ditches and it gave her the infection. They have her on high dose antibiotics and also a pill to help settle her stomach while she takes it. She will eat but only the griller treats she and Jama get after dinner. Luckily, she will eat the 2 ½ mega-size pills like a treat!  Wow! The doctor said it would be 36-48 hours before she would show signs of improvement. But at least they found her problem and we all feel better about that.

Later, we made arrangements to go to Seeds (the Italian Bistro here in town) with Butch and Penny and Cherrelyn. We have a gift card from Butch and Penny and he is visiting her today, so it’s a good time to go out and have a dinner to remember Lydia’s passing and to celebrate her life.  It was a fun evening. Cherrelyn came back with us to the house to try out our extra ebike that is for sale.       

Wednesday, May 25^th., 2022…… Lydia’s passing – two years today…

It will never be an easy day to get through but I think I did well. Cathye went to SHEM but first dropped me off at the GMC dealership to pick up the Acadia, which was done.  I came home and spent the morning prepping the lawn for mowing. I did some string trimming on areas beforehand and also cut down some dead branches on a tree on the outermost island. It will eventually need to come down, but I wanted to be able to mow under it today. Penny came by. Corey was here. Cathye got back. So, we all took a mower and started in. The grass has NEVER ever been this high before! We all had some serious issues getting the mower through certain areas, but we managed to get it all done! I didn’t even try to use the bagger on my mower (the others don’t have baggers) because it would get clogged up within ten feet!  The plan was to mow it and leave the cuttings for tomorrow to either mulch over or try to bag. Tomorrow is also the last day before the rains come in again. But, at least, we have the major job completed. Thanks to all for your help! Oh yeah, I needed to go get non-ethanol gas for the mowers. Three 5-gal containers came to $95.! Oh well, it was worth it!

As I mentioned, I did pretty well throughout the day. Lydia was a special woman and we had so many great years together. I spent some time looking through photos. Some were good times when she was healthy and some were the later months when she wasn’t. But I needed to see them all again today. My sweet Cathye is so supportive and encouraged me to do just that.     

Thursday, May 26^th., 2022…… Rylee is showing signs of improvement. She is eating a little and has a bit more energy. Good news!  Today was another day to take a vehicle in to the dealership. This time it was Cathye’s truck. She had made an appointment with the Toyota dealer in Corvallis to have it serviced. I followed her there and we dropped it off and then went to Bed Bath and Beyond. I needed a new pillow and she needed some items. We left there and headed back. In the parking lot, I noticed I had fluid leaking from the recently-fixed Acadia!  It looked like radiator fluid from the overflow tank was dripping out a bit. We went back to the Toyota dealer and she got her truck and I headed out ahead of her with the intent to stop by Primasing on the way home to have it looked at again. Turns out I needed to give them 30 minutes for the service technician who worked on it to get back from lunch. I met up with Cathye at the local Wilco to buy flower pots and dog food. By then it was time to head back to the dealer. The guy took about 10 minutes to analyze (and remedy) the situation. Turns out he had ‘overfilled the overflow tank’ to a point where it was pushing fluid out. He apologized for his mistake (no big deal but very respectful!).  Like I said, a simple fix and it is good to go now. When we got back home, I got out my mower, attached the bagger, and attempted to pick up all of the loose grass to move to the burn pile. It was overwhelming the bagger system so I abandoned that process and used my old pull-behind catcher on the lawn tractor and that worked!  Meanwhile, Cathye went back to another section with her mower and went over and over the clippings, effectively mulching them and spreading them throughout the lawn. We worked like that until the rains started. We got everything put away before it started to get too heavy. All we need to do next is one last section, which we will have a window for maybe tomorrow afternoon, depending on how much rain we get. I cleaned up and took off to Walmart to get tortillas for tacos for tonight's dinner.  I make only two or three out of about 100 dinners around here these days. Making tacos is one of those. I think they were delicious. Cathye agrees so I guess I’ll keep doing that.    

Friday, May 27^th., 2022…… We had to take off early this morning to go to Elmer’s again. This time it was to pick up Cathye’s credit card!  She used her card the other day but when the bill came, she had me do the tip. Seems neither of us remembered to take the card from the tray! We missed it last night and called and the manager confirmed that they had it in the safe. So, we went off to go eat and get it back. We also stopped at her credit union because we now have her requisite driver’s license – required for account changes. So that is done. We came back and downloaded a form to get her passport updated with a name change. You still have to take a picture and do everything that you would do when you renew the card. She will need to go to Walgreens to get a photo taken before we can send it in. But those are two more things off our plate to do! When we were working on gathering up her passport and such, she looked at my passport and saw that it expires this month! So, I got busy myself with a renewal form and got everything filled out on that. Then we headed off to Walgreens and were fortunate that they weren’t busy and the young lady there was very friendly and completed our photos in record time!  We went across the street to Walmart so Cathye could get a money order for hers (since her new checks haven’t come it yet). You can’t pay online with a credit card we found out. We also bought some padded envelopes because you have to return your old passport. Good thing we are not in any hurry because they say its 5-11 weeks to get the new one. But at least we are in process!  We came back and rested. We are noticing that Rylee is getting better by the day!  She has her appetite back and has more energy, has been gnawing on her bones, so we know her meds are working and she’s kicking this! We spent the evening relaxing and watching programs before calling it a night.        

Saturday, May 28^th., 2022……  Plans today are to finish picking up the grass clippings on the other side of the driveway. We have one week before our anniversary party here. We expect 50 people so tomorrow Cathye is borrowing some chairs from her church. They just updated everything and the old chairs are there for the loan. We have several popup canopies which will be set out all around the back yard area. We have a space set aside for lawn games (bocce ball, cornhole, croquet, etc.). Besides chairs and tables, we are going over a list of what we have and what we need to get.  I’m looking forward to this but at the same time want to see it over!  Before next Saturday, I hope to be able to mow again and with the landscaper’s assistance, we hope to get the place the best we can. The plan today also includes finishing the sanding on the trellis and get a coat of primer on it. I think we can get it done and out in the garden before next weekend.

Ok, it’s later now. The rains came and prevented me from working on the trellis. Next week for sure. 

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #20 – TV’s and Yard Sales and a Sick Doggie!

 

Sunday, May 15^th., 2022……  We got up early because we had the dogs begging us to go out. We did our walk and Cathye made breakfast and then headed off to church. Today was another rest and watch tv day for me. I needed to continue to try to catch up on my taped races. Next week the big Mecum auction starts and there’s 20 hours of that to tape and watch!  The rains are back here today but just off and on, so later we decided to go get that arbor. Cathye had stopped on the way home from church and measured it and it would easily fit in my truck, so we decided to go get it between showers. Brittany was working but Corey and the kids were there and we visited for a while. We got back later and unloaded it and made plans to stage it outside so I could work to grind off the surface rust and get it primed for paint. Once we got it set up, we came to the conclusion to paint it the same color as our boat trailer. More important than the grey color was the fact that the trailer paint is marine grade and will be the best choice for outside in the garden. We will highlight it in gold or silver accents so it will be ok.      

Monday, May 16^th., 2022…… Today was tv install day!  Jamie had notified Cathye that his tv was toast and we needed to get him a replacement. So, this morning, we divided and conquered. Cathye headed off to Walmart and I went to Corvallis to my acupuncture appointment. The plan was to meet up later in Albany at Jamie’s. She was there when I arrived and we got the tv unboxed and prepped and took it in. It took a few minutes to figure out his wiring setup in his bedroom, but we managed to get it going and even got lucky when we spotted a recycle truck making his rounds in the apartment complex, picking up electronics and such. He was happy to take the old tv and we were done with that task!  We decided to go get a German pancake at Elmer’s before coming back home. I did make a stop at Primasing GMC to make an appointment to have the Acadia worked on. I have a fluid leak. Not sure if it’s radiator, brake, of tranny fluid but either way, it needs to be fixed asap!  We rested for a bit then took off again, this time to Corvallis. We both have accounts at BofA and we wanted to add each other. The credit cards were no problem, but since Randy is on my bank accounts, they require all of us to be together to make an addition. We are trying to get it done by proxy call and need to coordinate with a branch in CA and OR at the same time. Sheesh, what a pain!  Later in the day, with a lot of technical roadblocks (they call it account protection) we decided to just wait until we are down in SoCal in September and can all go to both our bank and credit union while we are there.         

Tuesday, May 17^th., 2022…… Today was a Costco day!  We also wanted to go to Garland’s Nursery to get a few things while we were in that area. She was looking for a wind machine for the yard. This is what we got:

Wednesday, May 18^th., 2022……  Today was Cathye’s volunteer day at SHEM. She stopped and visited with Corey before coming back home. He will be coming over later to do some yard work for us. I went out and got my grinder set up and completed sanding on about two thirds of the trellis/arbor before resting for a while. Meanwhile, Cathye got back and went out with Corey to show him what she needs. I showed him another task – working on cleaning out the ditch out front. We get these tiny green plants that love the water and they overwhelm the whole ditch and tend to slow up the drainage to the main culvert and they needed to be removed. We came up with a plan and he got most of it done before heading off to work.

Thursday, May 19^th., 2022…… Rains came again today. We are looking at the forecast and are hopeful that after this round (expected today and tomorrow) we are looking at drier days with enough in a row to allow the ground to dry up enough for us to mow!  Yaay!  Fingers crossed! We got out of the house and went to our friend, Mark’s, latest estate sale location, which is only 5 minutes for us.  He has asked us to help him out by working for him on Saturday when his regulars can’t be there. Since he was a big time help during Cathye’s estate sale, we felt we owed him one! So, we drove over to see what the place looked like and to scope out the stuff for sale. The sale starts tomorrow.  We will be going back first thing in the morning to get what we spotted! When we got back, I spent some time working on laundry and our blog before our massage appointments later today. One is at 12:30 and the other is at 3:45. Yeah, we forgot to schedule when we were there last time so they are spread apart! Oh well, it’s only a 5–10-minute drive to her.  I went to the first appointment because Cathye and Penny were going to high tea together. There is a little place in town called Bloom Boutique and Tea House that they discovered a few months ago and they took some time to go relax and enjoy the afternoon. But we both made our massage appointments and felt great afterward!  

Friday, May 20^th., 2022……  Weather is great these days!  No rain in the forecast for a whole week!  I have been watching and waiting and hoping that the grass dries out. Housekeeping came today. Cathye stayed to let them in and I left to go early to the estate sale. Penny follows Mark’s sales as well and was already there! When they opened at 9:00am, we were right where we needed to be and got everything we had wanted. I bought a barrel heater for the shop ($20), a couple of tables for Cathye’s garden ($10), a pair of Tony Llama boots that she had tried on yesterday ($40), a Ninja blender for the motorhome ($20) and several other minor items. After Cathye got there a few minutes later, she added some more items and we were done shopping for the day.  When we got back and unloaded everything, I went out and worked on a painting project to stay out of the house. Cathye spent some time with Corey and Brittany and then went out and worked in the yard. We heard from her grandson, Josh, who lives in New Hampshire with his sister Tatum. He said when they were here for the wedding that he was very much interested in moving back to Oregon! He wants to live in Portland and join the big city community life. He told her that he has found a studio apartment and is in process of getting that done. Move date is sometime in late June. That helps us with some of our yard sale stuff!  He will need a bunch of things that we had set aside for the sale and can now go to him.  One thing more today: Rylee has not been feeling well for the last couple of days. Runny nose and thirsty all of the time. She won’t eat – so you know she’s not feeling well!  We’re keeping an eye on her.       

Saturday, May 21^st., 2022……  Today was yard sale day!  We made coffee and then headed to Carl’s Jr. for breakfast on the way and got there in time to help them before open hours started. I planned to sneak away a few times during the day to go check in on butthead. I did and she was doing ok, about the same though. I left the sale around 2:45pm and was done for the day so I could be home with her. Cathye called around 4:30pm to say come and get her, which I did.  Still keeping an eye on Rylee but she is still about the same.

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #19 – More Errands and a Birthday!

 

Sunday, May 8^th., 2022…… Happy Mother’s Day!   Headed Home today. The drive for us was only 100 miles. For Rick and Janie, it would be 260 miles to Grants Pass, where they would stay tonight. They headed out a few minutes ahead of us because they were stopping for gas. We met them and headed out. The rains were pretty much with us every day of this trip, whether driving or touring. But we are used to it. Not so much for our ‘California drought’ friends!  But they all dealt with it and seemed to enjoy our travels. I’m glad we made the stops we did. I think it was very diversified in terms of seeing and doing many things. Cathye and I put the bike ride on the top of our list. I’m not sure what Rick and Janie or Mike and Cheri liked most. But we all enjoyed each other’s company for this 13-day adventure! We will miss them and look forward to seeing them again when we head down there in the motorhome in September.

We got home around 11:30. It was sprinkling but we got the coach parked by the house and unloaded with no problems. We got lucky because the sun came out and everything on the motorhome was dry when I backed it in to the garage. We got the bikes unloaded and put in the garage. They were not so fortunate!  It will take a serious wash job before we can ride them again! Once we got in and started laundry, we noticed a gurgling noise coming from the toilet in the guest bathroom. Cherrelyn, who was here housesitting heard it and asked but we had no clue until now. Turns out we have a full septic tank!  It will need to be pumped but not on Sunday. I called and checked and have several companies returning my call tomorrow. Meanwhile, we ate out and minimized the water usage.    

Monday, May 9^th., 2022……  I found out this morning that I could unscrew the cleanout pipe outside and relieve the pressure so the water in the toilets and showers went away. Cathye cleaned the main shower and sanitized it and then took a quick shower and I decided to use the motorhome since the water heater was still on. I found one pump company that had an open appointment and I got it for later in the day. Fingers crossed they make it here.

Meanwhile, we took off to get some banking done. Cathye and I both have several places to go to change our status. We quickly discovered that our first stop would need to be the DMV because almost everywhere we went (or called) said they needed a picture of her new driver’s license. So, that will take some time. She took off to the DMV and I stayed home to wait for the pump truck. I worked on the blog and caught up on some of my races while I waited. She got home after getting the DMV task completed. We’ll just have to see what each institution says about a temporary license vs the new one. Later, the guy showed up and got the system all cleaned up. Here are a few pics but I will spare you the details. Done.

 Nuff said. At least now we can get back to normal. Laundry and showers again!         

Tuesday, May 10^th., 2022…… We continue to work on name changes. Most of today was spent by Cathye online and on the phone working on that!  So much to do! Did some cleaning on the motorhome (inside) and straightened up some of the space in the bay (outside) for next time. We also did a ton of laundry!  The septic system is back to normal and we are good to go. I learned from this new company that the old company didn’t do a complete service when they were here. For two people, they say that 5 years is normal and that was when it was last pumped. But I have made a note to do a 3-year service call just to be sure.

Wednesday, May 11^th., 2022……  Today was a gorgeous day!  The sun was out and it warmed up to the mid-60s. It is short-lived however – there are more storms coming later in the week! But we’ll take it!  Cathye headed off to SHEM and I got to work on my tasks for this morning. I took the bike rack off the Honda and stored it away, then took the car to the car wash. Next up was the bikes, which got a good bath and got dried off and put away. I also rode the bike around to each mail box with our invitations to our reception next month. When Cathye got back, we decided that we needed to get to work again and schedule more meetings with facilities and institutions to get names and statuses changed. Today was Social Security. Earlier, both of us had gone online to SSA and tried to make changes. After registering, neither of us could make any changes other than address and such. %&*#@.  We would need more info from them. Cathye had called and was told the local office was open in Albany and they would accept a temp driver’s license so we drove over thinking we could get in. There was no one ahead of us in line and we both got in and got everything done. They did tell her that the temp id was NOT acceptable, even after the lady on the phone earlier had told her it was!  But they used the marriage certificate and all was good. We didn’t care – it got done! Next stop was home because we can’t do too much until the new dmv id gets here.  Later, we settled in and watched The Masked Singer and Survivor. Survivor is very interesting this season. Neither of us is doing well in guessing the Masked singers!  We have only guessed one!  We know very few of the new age singers these days. But I think it's still fun to watch!    

Thursday, May 12^th., 2022…… When we got back to town last week, we saw that our nail lady had opened up a new nail salon and Cathye made us appointments for today. So, beforehand, we spent the time working on thank you cards and getting them mailed. We left and got our nails done and then came back and relaxed for a bit. The rains have hit again. I am so disappointed that I can’t mow! Also, it is so wet that our contractor can’t come in and excavate for the deck. So, we wait…

Friday, May 13^th., 2022……  Happy Birthday Corey!   Another day of running errands. We made a list of the places we need to contact when she gets her new id. Cathye has made plans to host her girlfriends here for dinner tonight. She makes a creamy chicken enchilada casserole that everyone loves so she made that ahead of time. She also had a little time to get out to her island and also tend to the flowers in the greenhouse. It’s still too wet and too cold to transplant those in the pots out to the yard so she will wait for that. But we had a nice break in the weather so we both wanted to spend it outside. We made plans to go to Corey and Brittany’s to get a wrought iron trellis that Michael had made for Cathye several years ago. She gave it to them when she recently moved  but they said they aren’t using it and it would work well in her garden. Next week we will go get it. 

The girls got here and I was relegated to my room. No worries, I needed to get caught up on races and things. I was able to go in and fix a plate so I didn’t starve!  Seriously, they had a great time and I was glad that she gets together with them from time to time.

Saturday, May 14^th., 2022……  Today was the day we chose to celebrate her grandson’s birthday. We chose Pizza Schmizza because it was close to Brittany’s work. Corey had the kids and met us there. We had a great time and enjoyed the day. 

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #18 – Travel and Touring and Enjoying Married RV Life!

 

Sunday, May 1^st., 2022…… We shuttled back to the casino and went to the restaurant for breakfast. I said dinner there last night wasn’t my favorite so I didn’t expect much. But breakfast was very tasty!  After that, we came back and got ready to hit the road. The drive today was 215 miles to Coeur d’Alene RV Resort in Post Falls, ID.  We are probably 6 miles from the city of Coeur d’Alene. The drive was made with no issues, but I definitely have to change out the tires! They rub on corners and turns. My plan is to call the dealer first thing tomorrow morning to see what they can do for me.  Once we got in and parked, we left to go to the local cemetery. Cathye used to live here and in 1973, she lost her baby girl right after birth. She hadn’t been back since so we thought it was time now. Problem was we couldn’t find the baby section in the place we went, so we will need to research and double check other cemeteries in the area. That will have to wait until tomorrow. We came back and walked the dogs and went off to Rancho Viejo for dinner. It was really good food and drink!  We came back and checked out the pool. Too bad they close each day at 5:00pm!  Cathye found info on the lake’s dinner cruise and, after checking with the others, I booked us six seats for tomorrow night’s cruise. We were tired and went to bed early.    

Monday, May 2^nd., 2022……  The plan today was to fix breakfast in our rig for everyone. We made a skillet breakfast and biscuits and gravy. I made the call to the tire store in Pendleton and explained my situation and he agreed to switch them out – at no cost to us. He will have them in on Wednesday and we will stop by on the way to the next campground on the way back on Thursday. Problem solved!  Then it was time to tour Coeur d’Alene. We took the scenic drive about 10 minutes and got to the town. We quickly found the boat dock where we need to be later this evening, and then drove around the town and saw some of the homes along the lake!

We also made the requisite stop at the local Walmart! After we got back and rested a bit, Cathye and I headed off to another cemetery, this one closer to Coeur d’Alene. We found the baby section, and with the help of her plot map, we found Tamara Michelle. We spent a few minutes cleaning up the area and left a white tulip. Very moving and we’re both glad we did this!  When we got back, we rested and hung around with the dogs before leaving for the cruise. We got there and parked and boarded around 5:45pm. The ship got underway right at 6:00pm for a 2-hr. cruise. We all sat at the same table and the boat filled up pretty quickly. When they announced dinner, we were right there!  The buffet was really first class!  I think all of us chose both salmon and roast beef! As I said, it was all very good! We didn’t spend too much time outside because it was chilly but the cruise was fun and we saw a lot of the lake as well, including the homes we had driven by earlier. They were described as ‘elite’ living!

Once we got back to the docks, we made the 10 minute drive back home and took the pups out for a walk before calling it a night.     

Tuesday, May 3^rd., 2022…… No plans today so we slept in a bit and made our breakfast (leftover skillet) then hit the road again, this time to Spokane. Neither of us had ever been and Mike and Cheri told us about their trip here for the square dance convention several years ago and said they had a riverfront park we’d enjoy. They led the way and we got parked and fed the meter and headed off. I didn’t think it would be so enjoyable!  We hit some local stores and then walked the park. The Spokane River went through it and it was beautiful! We decided to ride the gondola (sky trams) and we really enjoyed the 20-min. ride over the river in front of the falls and back. We also saw the statues and carousel and other displays in the park.

After that, I walked back to the other side of the river and got the car. When I got there, I quickly discovered that I didn’t feed the meter enough quarters so I got a $30.00 parking ticket. Oh well!  We drove back home and had a sandwich and rested and watched American Idol and then fed the dogs and headed to Cabela’s and Walmart. We got shoes and shirts from Cabela’s and another Ninja blender for the motorhome at Walmart. Once we got back, we were done for the day and relaxed with the girls before bedtime.    

Wednesday, May 4^th., 2022……  This morning Rick wasn’t feeling well and said he was ok but didn’t sleep well last night. So, he decided to skip on the breakfast quest I had us on. I had seen a ma and pa place in CDA and wanted to try it and this was the day. So, Janie went with us. Mike and Cheri had breakfast in their rig and then planned laundry so they passed as well. We found Jimmy’s Down the Street and had just an ok breakfast. Guy Fieri had been here in 2010 and liked the pecan rolls. We passed because they would have taken 30 more minutes to get out of the oven and another 20 before they could be cut and served. We got back home and checked on Rick. He was feeling better and Janie brought him back some chicken fried steak, which I heard he gobbled up! After a bit, we got the bikes loaded and got our helmets and took off to Coeur d’Alene and parked on the street close to the North Idaho College and the University of Idaho campus. We had a very enjoyable ride and the speedo said we did 8.9 miles on the ride. We stopped and took several pics on the way, including the big white ‘mega’ house on the lake, and the shot of their private beach with newly patio pergola….

Once we got back, we decided to hit the campground indoor pool and spa. Ok, we just hit the spa – the pool was not heated. Mike and Cheri and Rick and Janie were playing pinochle while they were doing laundry and stopped by to visit and take a pic. 

After that, we came back and sat outside and shared a lasagna dinner from Janie, with garlic bread from Cheri and salad from Cathye. Very good!  Tomorrow, we leave heading back towards home.

Thursday, May 5^th., 2022…… We said our goodbyes to Mike and Cheri, who were continuing on to Yellowstone, and eventually to Michigan. They will be out for several weeks. Safe travels, guys!  Meanwhile, we headed south (and then to I84 and west). As I mentioned before, I had called the tire shop in Pendleton and they agreed to switch out the larger tires for the correct size, and they had them and were ready for us, so we split away from Rick and Janie, who continued on to the next campground, while we drove there and parked and had the work completed. It was about a two-hour delay, but I sure feel better now knowing these are the right tires!

I even upgraded to a heavier ply (at no cost to me) which I needed for the weight of the coach so I look to get a better ride and hopefully better tire wear. I will still need to get the alignment done once we get back home. Anyway, we made the drive back west and got into Boardman Marina and Rv Campground, in Boardman, OR. This place is really nice!  I would categorize it as a state park on steroids!  They have wide open rv spaces, right along the Columbia River. Everything is green and manicured but also has a rustic feel of camping. We settled in and got hooked up and relaxed for a while. We walked the shoreline and enjoyed the sunset. The dogs sure liked it here! We had dinner in and called it a night. Only one night here. Next stop is back in Troutdale at the same park as days 1-3.     

Friday, May 6^th., 2022……  We were up and going after breakfast. The drive today was only 148 miles so we were in no hurry. We timed it so we would check in around noon. The spots were are in this time are pull-thrus. But I still needed to unhook because we are driving around in our car. Once we got settled in, we decided to go to have ‘linner’ and chose the same place we went to before because they had that really good steak bites meal!  They also had something called Irish Coddle, which was a stew with sausage, served in a bread bowl. I had one and she had the other and we shared. It was really good. It has been fun traveling with Rick and Janie and they are good sports in letting us show them around up here. We went back to the rigs and relaxed and walked the dogs and then had them over for pie cookies and then later, settled in for the night. We made plans for tomorrow. We will give them a choice of ‘mountains’ or ‘city’ tours!  We’ll see what they choose.   

Saturday, May 7^th., 2022……  They didn’t choose so we did. Cathye wanted to go up to Government Pass and visit Timberline Lodge, which she said was magnificent. So, we headed up the mountain. Bad mistake!  The weather report showed no snow at all, but when we got about half way up, it was really coming down!  Chains were required (and I don’t carry them in the Honda), so we turned around and made our way to downtown Portland. I took them down to the riverfront (where all of the political rallies and demonstrations and riots happened back after the elections) and then went by VooDoo donuts, legendary in these parts, and then through the different ‘districts’ in the city and surrounding area.  We had been out long enough but wanted to stop and eat. We found Heroes Café and parked and went in. We were sitting there maybe 5 minutes and another couple came in and sat down at the next table. Cathye jumps up and says, “hey Teri!”. It turns out that her friend Teri who did the flowers at our wedding, was there with a friend. Small world! 

After getting back and walking the dogs, we had Rick and Janie over and visited with them before settling in for the night and watching tv. Tomorrow, they will follow us back and then continue on the I5 as we split off to head home.