Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #32 – Working on Projects, a Wedding Reception & a Concert in the Park

 

Tuesday, July 25^th., 2023…… Pointe Pest Control was coming this morning. They don’t give you a specific time so we were up and going so we could get all of the garage doors open for his access. Cathye also had to go in for her annual physical/checkup. I don’t remember if I mentioned this before but she has a new FNP (family nurse practitioner). He took over when her Dr. moved on to a specialty office. He moved into kidney medicine and we think he is in the office in Corvallis where Lydia’s nephrologist was. Also, her new guy now (Russell Wimmer) came from MY medical facility here in Lebanon!  He treated Lydia when he was there and has now moved on to Cathye’s clinic in Brownsville. She said she really likes him!  Small world!  Cathye got back and said she passed with flying colors. Yaay! And then went on to pack for her overnighter with her girls tomorrow. They are going to Depoe Bay for a night and will spend time on the coast. More on that later. We went shopping to get a few things and then rested for the day. Cathye has been troubled with some nausea and dizziness lately. Her daughter had the same issues and found a treatment. It’s called an Epley maneuver for BPPV Vertigo. It worked on Terisa so she sent us a link to the video. We decided to try it. It took two tries but it worked!  Her dizziness went away and has not returned. Yaay!

We watched tv then hit the spa before bedtime.  

Wednesday, July 26^th., 2023……  Cat’s girls (Judy and Lynn) were coming to pick her up at 10:30am so we had time to sleep in and walk and feed the dogs beforehand. I have a few projects to tackle while she’s gone. The water spigot out by Rylee’s pool has been pooling up with water, coming from underground. I suspect someone must have bumped into the pipe and cracked it below ground. I will need to dig it out and see if I can find the leak. Fun stuff!

Thursday, July 27^th., 2023…… Corey was coming over today to do some more weeding. I was up and out and walked and fed the dogs then went out and got myself some breakfast. Then it was time to head out and dig. Corey was here at 9:30am and ended up working 5 hours.  We talked a little about what more I wanted done, and he started in.  But I had my own work to do.  I dug around the faucet and exposed the pipes as best as I could. There was standing water in the hole and I had the main irrigation line turned off. So, I will need to let the water drain down before I can really get in there and check for the leak. The iron faucet pipe screws into a pvc fitting and elbows out toward the main line, so I think I know where the problem is. Later in the afternoon, the girls got back and dropped Cat off. She said it was a fun trip. They saw whales off the bay but it was so crowded with whale watchers that she couldn’t get good pics. She did get one of a spout but it was off in the distance.

Here are some other pics they took.

 

She said Judy rented a room in a lodge right on the coast and it was very rustic but nice and clean. She will go back. They spent time at the eateries and shops around there and also in Newport and Nye Beach on the way back. She had brought leftovers from pizza and we had that for an easy meal. Then it was tv and spa before calling it a night.     

Friday, July 28^th., 2023……  Since Cat wasn’t here yesterday morning for our regular gym workout, we decided to go this morning. We always see the same ‘gym rats’ there so it was no surprise to see them again today. There were a few new faces. But we don’t have conversations with anyone – we just get in, do our routines, and get out!  Of course we still went to Kristi’s for breakfast after!  Last week Cathye had made an appointment for another massage to have Emily work on her vertigo problem. It was fixed but she decided to go anyway!  Duuh!  I found the leak was the 45 elbow that was cracked. I cut off the feed pipe and headed off with the old parts to replicate. I found all of the fittings and connections and the pipe with no problems. I found that I could just replace the whole steel water hydrant assembly (for $81.00) so I opted to add that in as well.  I was out of there and came home and glued up the pieces and installed them, supporting everything with the remaining stakes in the hole. I had Cat watch and I re-opened the shut-off valve. There was an overflow drain valve pre-installed that was designed to allow standing water to drain from the assembly to prevent freezing during winter months. It was shooting water out at a high rate to drain the assembly as designed, but that drain would be covered up and would just flood everything again.  So, I went back and bought a plug for that line and we were in business. I still will need to let all of the water drain from the hole to double check for leaks but I think it’s good to go now. Later, after showering and resting, it was time to dress for Teri and Ron’s wedding reception. They weren’t getting married until tomorrow, but it will be a small venue at her mother's farm with mostly family so she wanted friends to come celebrate tonight.  She is a partner in a local winery with some friends and she chose to have it there. They had pizza and cake and pies and of course wine! Terri and Cathye used to work together and a lot of their mutual friends were there so it was ‘old home week’ for Cat! 

We got back home and changed into comfortable clothes. Corey and Vikki (and Brandyn) were here and worked some more on the weeds. I have decided to have him come by on his days off as he can and continue more weeding (and other chores) to make some extra money, which everyone can use. He is a good worker and I don’t mind paying him for his time.  He worked until it got too dark. After they left, we settled in and watched some tv and then went out to the spa for a while before bed.       

Saturday, July 29^th., 2023…… Nothing on the agenda until tonight. We are going to an Alzheimer’s fundraiser (we have gone every year since this one is special to Cathye).  They are having a Fleetwood Mac tribute band playing so it should be fun.  But first up was some work around here for us. We wanted to weed some around her Shasta, so we both put on kneepads and gloves and set out for an hour’s worth of work. We made a small dent!  I remember when I had the gravel spread out around the carports being told that “no weed will grow through that stuff”!  Yeah, right!   But we did have a very wet winter and spring and everything just took off – weeds included! Like I said, we did a nice large patch but Corey has a ton more to do and we just made a dent. But we will eventually get a handle on it and I will start a schedule for spraying to help in the future. Oh yeah, I noticed earlier that the water in the hole around the new faucet is not going down! I have to leave it open and maybe even draw out the water to see if I have my connections tight.     

Ok, it’s later now – we went to the town square and got parked and Judy had saved us places. We found Penny and Maraglee in the shade.  They ended up moving over to the alcohol only area a bit later. You have to stay inside there if you are drinking. In the pic below that Cat took, you can see I am the lone guy!

                      Front row l to r: Judy (with her eyes shaded), me, Cathye’s chair, Lynn

                                  Back row l to r: Barbara, Nance, Lona, Misty, Robin

The main band was called Taken by the Sky. They are a Fleetwood Mac Tribute group and they were pretty good. The female singer sounded pretty close to Stevie Nicks!  

They had the crowd up and dancing!  In this pic, you can see Cathye (in the turquoise top), with Judy and Lynn dancing just off to the left of the stage.

We made our donations to the Alzheimer’s fund in the form of tickets and food and settled in and enjoyed the concert. We left early but we found out they only played a few more songs after we left. We got back and let the dogs out and rested and checked Facebook. Teri had posted a pic of her and her bridesmaids. Very nice!

They will be coming over next week for a bbq so we’ll have time to visit more with them all.

We watched a taped show (Restoring Galveston) before going out to the spa for a bit before bedtime.

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #31 – Fun Time With Family, an Anniversary, and More Trip Planning!

 

Wednesday, July 19^th., 2023……  Today, Cathye had an adventure with her girls. They were going over to Harrisburg to get peaches and lunch. But first up for me was getting up and going. I needed to go back to Emily’s massage studio to pick up my prescription sunglasses that I had left there yesterday. She wasn’t in today so she hung the glasses on her doorknob so I wanted to get there before the bldg. got busy. Cathye walked the girls so I stopped at Starbucks on the way home to get her a chai latte from Starbucks!  She left before 11:00am and left me to work on my blog. They stopped at Dietrich Farms to get fresh peaches. But they weren’t quite ready yet so they ended up with a few other items, including some really delicious nectarines. She also brought me a mini blueberry pie. I would eat that later after dinner!  They stopped at the Junkyard Extreme Burgers and Dogs for lunch. Guy Fieri put this place on the map several years ago.

But I still haven’t been!  They got back and Cathye showed me all of her purchases. We pretty much settled in for the rest of the day. Early dinner (blueberry pie) and tv until spa time. While we were relaxing, watching tv, we got a text message from Randy saying they had made it to Klamath Falls and had a little ride. Now he was in the ER with Steve, who has some kind of bite or something. He was swollen but feeling ok. He would text me later in the evening to say they didn’t think it was a spider bite (good news!). They gave him an antibiotic and they were on their way. Long day but good news for all!  

Thursday, July 20^th., 2023…… I had acupuncture this morning so I was up and out of the house, leaving Cathye to walk and feed the dogs (again). The rest of the day I was pretty much home. Cat left to go take Jamie out for a haircut and lunch. He is doing well lately at his home. She says he has told her he is getting out of his room more now and is socializing with other residents, which is good to hear. After that, we hung around the house for most of the day. I filled up Rylee’s pool the other day for her and the kids, but now it’s pretty green. I also have discovered a leak in the outdoor water spigot by the pool. It’s probably coming from a leaky pipe but I won’t know until I dig it up.  Next week.    

Friday, July 21^st., 2023…… Today is mowing day. Penny would be coming over at 10:00am but we had work to do before that!  We were up early and had the pups out for their walk. We fed them breakfast and then we started in on housecleaning. Cathye dusts the house and also cleans the bathrooms, while I do the vacuuming. We had cleaned it before Bill and Treasa were here but not since, so it was pretty dusty. I finished up the rugs and floors and helped do a little dusting around the offices and the living room.  By the time we finished, it was close to 10:00am, so I went outside just as Sis got here. I had to get out all of the mowers and gas them up so we were a little late in getting started. Of course Cat got the first run on her new Cub Cadet!

Penny mowed the field (without the bagger) and we started in on the yard (with the baggers). I had just started in when I lost drive to my zero turn!  Penny and Cat stopped and we tried to figure it out. We pushed the mower forward after crawling down and looking under it. I noticed a large spring in the grass and we set out to find out what it was and where it came from. Either way – it was broke!  I took it up to Cascade Outdoor and they said it was a tensioner for a pulley on the cutting belt. He showed me where it came from, but most important was that he had one in stock!  I was back in about 20 minutes and we got it installed and I got going again. Cathye had kept going and had most of the yard done. Penny finished the field and I took over the yard where Cat had worked and they rested while I finished up. It was a hot day and I’m glad we got it done early, before it got really hot! Thanks, Sis.  We can always count on you for help!  Later, we heard from Randy that they got home ok and were doing well.      

Saturday, July 22^nd., 2023…… HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RANDY & MARYANNE!  We were hoping for an early start today. We were going to the Farmer’s Market in Corvallis. We thought they opened at 10:00am so we loaded up the dogs and left with time to stop by McDonald’s for breakfast.  We got there and tried to find a parking place. Turns out they open at 9:00am! But we found one and walked through it all with the pups. It was super crowded but we weren’t looking for too much so we didn’t need to stop at every booth. Cat was looking for zucchini for bread, and we always look for bread and fresh fruit and veggies! We found everything we needed and got out of the crowd and back to the car and headed back home.

While we were at the market, we did a Marco Polo for the kids anniversary. We heard back later from Maryanne.

Sunday, July 23^rd., 2023…… We had plans today!  So, we were up early and walked and fed the dogs and ate breakfast. We left around 9:15 and took my truck to the car wash. I wanted it clean (since the boys had put a lot of trail miles on it last week!).  After that, we headed up to Portland. Josh has moved out of his apartment and into a room in a house in Beaverton. He will be sharing it with two other guys. Good news is that it’s way cheaper than his apartment and he also will have his own bathroom. We picked him up and headed over the river to the Hawthorne district (east Portland) known for eclectic shops and small bistro type restaurants. He took us to Tea & Tea Boba Shop, where he knows the two owners. We all had bubble teas of some type. Tait Ubered over to meet up with us for tea and then a walk down to the local Italian place for a nice lunch. Thanks Josh!  

 

We got back to his place and loaded up a few things he wasn’t going to need and headed back home. The drive was long and it took a while because we hit that usual congested spot on the I-5 in Wilsonville where the traffic really backs up.  But we made it a 5 ½ hour day and were home in time to let the dogs out and then relax for the rest of the day.

Monday, July 24^th., 2023…… Corey and Vikki were coming over at 9:00am this morning to do some yard work in payback for some insurance funding. So, we needed to walk and feed the dogs, go to the gym, eat breakfast and be back by then. No problem – we were done with time to spare! Turns out the kids would be delayed and would come this afternoon. No worries.  But meanwhile, Cathye helped me with my new plan – I wanted to move out all of our trailers and carts and put them in the field, since it’s been recently cut back. The areas around the trailers and carts were overgrown with weeds and needed to be worked. 

Trust me - there is a boat trailer in the grapevines in that picture above! That was the task I wanted C&V to work on today. I also decided to go out and dig around the water pipe to try to find the leak. The plan was to leave the water on so I could see where it was leaking. But as I dug, the water kept filling up the hole!  So, I shut off the irrigation system and will need to wait a few days until the ground dries out a bit before continuing. Did I mention I hate yardwork!  Later, Cathye made her zucchini bread and I got a hot slice! Yummy! I worked on my checkbook and matched up the charges from the cruise and stuff I have ordered on Amazon. We also spent some time booking our next adventures. This Wednesday, Cat and Judy and Linn are going over to the coast for an overnighter but that’s already booked. She talked to daughter Terisa and set up our next Boston/New Hampshire trip. We are going the first week in October. They also made plans for an overnighter for us while there for an additional side trip to the Mount Washington Cog Train in the northern part of the state.  Plus I want to schedule the Kennedy Presidential Library and a Fenway Park tour while we are in the Boston area.  Fun stuff and we got rooms and a car and airline tickets all completed and confirmed today. While she was working on that, I also booked us a trip closer to home. I got a reservation for a motel close to Crater Lake. We are doing that 3-day adventure the third week in August. We plan to take our ebikes and ride around the lake.  Of course we had to reserve our time with Penny, who will come over to watch the house and take care of the dogs for both trips. 

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #30 – Family Time and our Annual Vintage Trailer Rally

 

Wednesday, July 12^th., 2023……  We were up early and had the girls out. I spoke with Mark, who was here today working on cutting back Rich & Linda’s field. Rich told me he was coming this week so I contacted him and he will be coming back here on Saturday to cut our field. We fed the dogs and then ate breakfast. After that, we headed out to the trailer and got everything ready to go. We hooked up Cat’s truck and she loaded some stuff in the truck bed and I loaded other things in my truck. We set off to go park the trailer. I followed her and took a quick pic! 

When we got there at around 9:30am there were already 20 trailers in place. Wade said they opened the gates at 8:00am and there were folks who were parked there at 6:00am. Anyway, we found a spot (same as last year) and got parked and leveled and hooked up. 

We unloaded everything and as we were leaving, another trailer came in next to us. We met John and Tammy and welcomed them as our neighbors. He wasn’t sure if he had enough electrical cord to reach the junction box so I offered him my extra which I wasn’t going to use. And we left. We got back home and did some chores. We will go back later with a few more items we forgot and see how many more have some in. They accepted 132 trailers this year. That fills up the area but doesn’t make it congested so folks have room between trailers. The main grassy field was still open when we got there but they are mostly filled with highly restored trailers. We call it the hoity-toity row! Campers with attitude!, so, we didn’t want to park there. I’ll add pics of that area later. 

We do plan to put up a for sale sign on the trailer while there. Cathye is ready to sell it. She says we don’t use it enough and wants someone else to enjoy it. She won’t give it away, so we’ll mark it at $12k and see what happens!

We got back to the park after we watered and did some other chores around the house. Boy, it got busy and filled fast while we were gone!  Events don’t start until tomorrow. We’ll come back with the dogs after breakfast in the morning. When we returned to the house, I did have a chance to work some more on our new tractor. I cut the wooden crate away from the wheels so it would be easier to just drive off the bottom section. That worked well and I cleaned up the mess. Then it was time to start her up!  I had already added gas and I spent some time working on the battery connectors. They don’t give you a lot of wire length to work with so I had to maneuver the hot wire around a few times to get it to lay in there just right. But, when I got everything done, it started up right away!  Cat came out and took a turn around the driveway. This is actually her tractor!

Next step is to install the bagger, which I did. I still need to speak with Home Depot about the seat. It’s got two small fray marks in the upper back part. I want to find out if they will just do a swap out for me. That means I can’t install the armrests until I get that resolved.  

Thursday, July 13^th., 2023…… We were up and going pretty early this morning. We already had most everything at the park but there were a few other things to load up. We took the Acadia this time because we needed room for the butthead. We got there and unloaded the dogs and the other items and took stock of what we had and what we forgot. Needless to say, I went back once more. I have been coordinating with Mark, my lawn guy to mow the field and he said he would be there on Friday to do a partial and leave the mower, but might be there finishing up the neighbor’s fields. He wasn’t there yet.  I had no problem getting back home and loading up some of the things we had left. Good thing it’s only 11.6 miles from our garage to the camp site! We have her truck and the Acadia at the park and they are right across the road from our space. We have one of the shadier spaces and folks have been driving by looking for spots in here as well. They don’t allow you to park your tow vehicle at your site unless it's vintage. There’s one guy with an old suburban who has parked it in front of his trailer right out in front of us, but it’s still pretty open for other vehicles to get in.  That nice lawn area with all the ritzy trailers has filled up. Here is a pic at night and also one with some really nice old vehicles. I like the Studebaker truck the best of anything I saw this weekend!

Later in the day, Judy and Lynn came over for dinner. I cooked hot dogs and chili and we had a nice easy meal!  After they left, we walked around a bit then took our chairs and the dogs over to the area where they had set up a movie screen and projector. If you look past the screen on the left in the bottom pic below, you can see our trailer!

I think this was the first time they had tried showing movies They chose Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which brought in both kids and adults. It was cute but the mosquitos were out in force so we came in early and settled in for the evening. Rylee has taken claim to my bed!

It is still warm at bedtime but I found I would need to close the windows when it got chilly later in the early morning.  Of course, Butthead had to get me up to pee so I took them both out at 3:26am! Too bad I didn’t see anyone around because we found out next day that Wade, the event organizer, found that his ebike was stolen in the night! Bummer!  But he said he was tired and just put it in the storage area and forgot to lock it.     

Friday, July 14^th., 2023…… Wade was by this morning and told us the news. We suggested he go out to the homeless camp just out of town and check there. Sorry if that sounds judgmental, but they have a reputation of prowling this park looking for articles they can use or sell. Still pretty sad though.

Randy is due in today sometime. He and his riding buddy, Steve, spent some time riding mountain bike trails on their drive up here from SoCal. They stayed last night in Ashland and got up and rode this morning before heading on up. He called later in the afternoon and said they got to our house and were going to get the motorhome unloaded and set up.  He said they would come visit later.  He also said that there was a guy driving up our driveway with a tractor. Yaay, Mark was there!  Mark got unloaded and started out on the perimeter around the field. Randy and Steve got the motorhome hooked up and they got my truck out and drove down to visit. We already had Rylee out in the Calapooia River swimming and having fun. Plus, it is really hot outside (90°) so it was refreshing for all of us. We even had Jama in the water!

We were back at the trailer and relaxing when the kids got there. Penny had come by a few minutes earlier to join us.  We did another round of chili dogs and then they left for the evening to catch up on some needed rest. I had a few beers and then later, we opened up the apple cinnamon whiskey and had a small drink before bed.   

Saturday, July 15^th., 2023…… I was up and out around 9:00am. My plan was to go back to the house and touch base with the boys and with Mark. Plus I needed to pay him for the field work.  Neither were there. The kids went out again. There are trails all around this area and I forget where they go each day.  I got the cash for mark and put it in an envelope and used painter’s tape to attach it to his tractor, which he had left way back behind the rv building. He said later that he was called away but would be back later to finish. He only had 1/3 left to do and it looked great!  I needed to remind him to scoop up on each lap, the previous grass in my pile so he could spread it out as he mowed (I saw later that worked well). I headed back and we joined the neighbors for the ‘open house afternoon’. They give you a sign – one side says open, the other closed. Anyone who wants folks to peek inside leaves the open sign out. Since we have a for sale sign on ours, we got some interest. We wanted to see if there was someone who might really want to pay up for one at the rally. So, we marked an, “I really don’t want to sell it” price on the sign. No one has yet made any offers but they said they have friends who were looking and may call in the future. We’ll see. No worries, we can store it away and, maybe we’ll change our minds and fix it up (either a complete or partial restoration). Who knows…   

Anyway, more drinks and visits with campers and then we called it a night. We did start putting a few things away in prep for leaving tomorrow morning. It was a nice outing. 

Sunday, July 16^th., 2023…… After a nice night’s sleep – yes I do fit in there and now actually I find it quite comfortable for sleeping! – we were up and going around 7:00am. We fed the pups and I loaded them up in the car and added a few things that would fit there with them and made a run home. Cathye relaxed and had coffee and then worked on getting things ready. The kids were out for yet another ride. I unloaded and headed back. When I returned, Cathye had the truck out in front of the trailer 

and we hooked up and loaded up the rest of the stuff and I drove the trailer home and she took the car. We got back and I backed the trailer back onto the gravel driveway and found we were pretty much done. Did I mention it was hot!  We removed the perishables and I did a few more little things and we came in and relaxed for the rest of the day.  We were planning on going out to dinner later in the evening after the boys got back from today’s ride. I think Randy says he has tracked over 85 miles in the three days here!  Later in the evening, Penny met us at Tallman Brewery for dinner. This is our local food truck court so each of us picked our dinner truck. Cat and I chose the new seafood truck and had their shrimp boil. It was pretty good and you got a ton of food!  We all sat inside and had beer and hard cider. Pretty relaxing. Later, we went back to the house, and Steve, who has been a musician almost all of his life, pulled out his guitar and entertained us for a few hours.

 Thank God we only had to walk in the house! Needless to say, we were asleep in a few minutes.     

Monday, July 17^th., 2023…… The boys left early to head to Eugene to ride in Oakridge. They spent all day there, so I had time to relax and recoup. But I did take the seat off of the new tractor and took it in to Home Depot. Yeah, that went well! NOT! Their customer service person told me I would need to contact the manufacturer myself to resolve any issues. She said to call, quote “Club Cadet”!  It’s Cub Cadet, you moron!  When I came back to tell Cat, she assumed I went off on the lady, but I did not. I was frustrated but I held my tongue. I did as she suggested, called Cub Cadet and ended up on the phone (on hold for one hour and 7 minutes between routed calls!) with two very nice people who eventually took my model and serial number and said the seat was in stock and a replacement would be shipped within a few days. Plus, I can keep the old one, which isn’t really that bad. So, now I have a spare! Later in the afternoon after the boys got back and cleaned up, Corey and Vickie brought Brandyn and Bailey over for a bbq. They brought pork loin and we already had New York, so we had plenty of meat. Steve got out his guitar and played more songs, some of them just for the kids! Lot’s of fun!      

Tuesday, July 18^th., 2023…… Today, we were split up for most of the day. Randy and Steve headed off to Salem and then to Black Rock to ride. I went off for my massage and Cathye went in as I was leaving. Later, when the kids got back, Penny came over and we left for dinner at the Point. Cathye had tickets for us for the movie The Sound of Freedom, playing in Sweet Home. But, since the boys were here, she took Judy instead, so I could go with the rest. We had a nice meal and then made a loop around Foster Lake and then around some of the areas around town that Steve had never seen. He was especially excited to see the monster rainbows in the holding pen at the Santiam Fish Hatchery! There were only a few salmon around that had come up the river and I was able to point them out headed to their birthplace. We came back and they went out and fixed the driver’s window on my truck that had lost a bolt and fallen off the track. A 5 min. fix. They also adjusted the headlights that they said were way too low. I don’t drive the truck much at night so I guess I never noticed!  Thanks, guys! They leave tomorrow.  Since they were planning on a super early (5:00am) departure, they both stayed in Randy’s motorhome. So, we said our goodbyes and turned in. It was sure nice to see Randy. Maryanne is planning on coming up later in the summer. Randy is also planning on coming back up again as well. He wants to order us a new ac unit for the house. Ours is working but it’s getting louder and he says is old enough to be replaced. He can get one at cost in Calif. and he and Perrin can come back up and install it. Yaay us!     

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #29 – The Cruise! Part 2…

 

 This is part 2 of our cruise!  Be sure to read part 1 first!

Thursday, July 6^th., 2023…… We got into Sitka a few minutes early. But we had already been up and out and had breakfast up in the Lido Market. I found the omelet station again and today was the same. When we got back from breakfast, the guys had done the room and left this elephant for us!

We gathered up our stuff and made our way offshore. Our tour today was with B&T. We took the Historic Sitka Bus Tour. Our driver took us the 5 miles to the city, where our first stop was the Russian Orthodox Church – the oldest on the west coast. It was very beautiful.

Next up was a drive around the city to see Mt. Edgecumbe (a volcano). On the way, we saw the location where the US signed the possession of Alaska from Russia. William Seward paid 22 cents per acre and everyone thought that was ‘Seward’s Folly’! Try that these days! 

Such a deal! Next stop was the National Park. We walked the nature trail and saw and learned about totem poles. Fun fact – the most respected position on the totem was at the bottom, so if someone says you are low person on the totem pole, take it as a compliment!  

From there, we were dropped off at the dance center where we saw interpretive dancing from Sitka’s history. They only had 5 (female) dancers, but they did a great job!  We walked around the 2 blocks of the city and did some shopping, then caught a shuttle back to the ship. It was around 2:00pm so we went up and had a light snack and some cranberry juice cocktails. Dinner was again at 5:00pm in the dining room. Casual tonight. But for us, we don’t wear shorts! 

After the meal, Cathye headed back to the room to lay down. She was a little seasick. Bill and Treasa and I went up and got seats for the show tonight. Cathye showed up just before the show and said she was much better. Good thing for her – the comedian – Jose Sarduy – was terrific!  I now have a new favorite show! He kept us all in stiches with some of the funniest stories. After that, we made our way to the Rolling Stone Lounge to see the Country Crossroads Show. Or so we thought!  Here's the marquee in the lounge...

Yeah, it says Country Crossrads!  

We were surprised to see and hear a black rap group on stage! They were contracted for the cruise and probably were told to ‘mix it up for everyone’ so they tried country music. They failed miserably. They weren’t our favorites, but It was entertaining to say the least!    

Friday, July 7^th., 2023…… Today’s port is Ketchikan. We had an early arrival time today – 7:00am. So, we were up and out early and headed the one flight up to the buffet. I noticed an older gentleman wearing his veteran cap. It said Veteran World War II  !  So, after we finished, I went up and thanked him for his service. We started talking. Turns out he is 97 and enlisted when he was 17. Very eloquent and sharp. Bob also worked 55 years as a major league umpire. He said he was east coast and was mostly working Red Sox and Yankee games. What a life! 

                                   Cat tried seaweed something or other. Didn't like it!

Then it was time to head off ship. We all four had tickets for the package tour today. First up was the Lumberjack Show @ 8:15am. This was very close to the docks. This is a staged event, with bleacher seating under cover for the audience. Kind of reminds me of Knott’s Berry Farm! But it was very entertaining! They divided the 4 contestants into two camps. Each side of the audience supported their team and booed the other! They competed in several events, winners scoring flags for their teams. They kept the audience entertained with a high skill level. I especially enjoyed the pole climb. Boy, are they fast! Our guys won!  After the show, and as folks filed out, they went over to the wall for photos, and as we left, Cathye inadvertently cut in front of at least a dozen people in line and got a pic! I just snapped the picture and when she rejoined me, I told her what she had done. We both had a laugh. Oops! 

    

We went from there and boarded a bus for a short drive to the Saxon Village and Totem Pole area, where we got to go into a replica of an Alaskan clan bldg. They performed various tribal dances with dancers of all ages.  Very nice!  After that, we saw how totems are carved and more about their meanings.

Once we got back, we did some shopping until we had to rush back to board ship before our departure time!

Tonight was dressy again. We had them take more pics, this time of the four of us at dinner.

Tonight I chose lobster. Remember I said I would not comment on the quality of the meal unless … Well, my lobster was a 15 oz monster! Problem was it wasn’t the size – it was the taste!  Not the best one I have eaten. That big boy was a little overcooked and a little tough! After that we headed to the stage to see the second appearance of the dance team. This show was better than their first! We hit the Rolling Stone Lounge again but didn’t stay long. B&T went back to their room but we stopped at a quiet little bar along the way and had a drink before calling it a night. But while we were there, we spotted (and heard the cheers) as about 20 staff servers were making their way to the stage with carts and carts and trays and trays of chocolates!  They were nice enough to have several of the staff stop in our lounge and serve us 4-5 different treats! Delicious!  We go back to PST so we lose an hour tonight. 

Saturday, July 8^th., 2023…… We are at sea until late this evening. Next port is Victoria Island in Canada. We don’t arrive there until 8:00pm and have to be back on the ship at 11:30pm. Not a lot of time, so we booked a horse drawn trolley city tour.  But that was later. We stopped for a few minutes and I had all of us change into the shirts Cat had bought for the cruise. We went outside to the elevator lobby and grabbed a nice gentleman who took a quick shot.

Bill doesn't wear t-shirts and the girl's shirts weren't ones they wanted to wear, so it was a change back to normal wear for the day. But at least we got one shot! We went to the dining room this morning with B&T and enjoyed a brunch. After that, we checked in on our latest photos in the gallery. We found the ones from dinner and bought those. Then we went down to guest services and registered for the ‘On Deck for the Cause’ 5k walk around the deck. They gave us (for a $25.00 ea. donation, which goes to The Alaskan State Park System) a t-shirt and a wrist band and we went back to our room and rested before meeting them in the Ocean Bar for a talk and photo op of the 25 or so of us who were walking. 

We set out and did 9 laps (3 miles) and were just finished in time to go clean up and dress for afternoon High Tea, in the dining room with Bill and Treasa. They served us tea and one small 3-tier tray of tiny bites. Not enough to spoil our dinner!  Because there are no calories on a cruise ship, we went back to the dining room for dinner. Our last one on this cruise!  We dressed (casual) for dinner. Tonight was Cat’s chance for lobster. They were serving two 5 oz lobsters tonight and they turned out to be way better than mine!  

After we ate, we changed into comfortable clothes (yeah, shorts and sandals for me!) and made our way to the main stage to hear our crew talk about the workings of the ship. Between Kristin and her teammates, and the video, it was a great presentation! I learned so much about what it takes to power the ship, get freshwater, manage food service and laundry and waste. Fascinating!  Later, we made our way to get in line to get off the ship. It was pretty hectic as all of us had places to go in a short timeframe! But we were in time at our pickup point, which was close to the pier. The others lined up by the hundreds in the shuttle bus area. They were just being transported into the city. Our trolley driver, had Jake and Donner pulling us through the neighborhoods and into the city.

We passed the legislative hall and made a turn just before the Empress Hotel. That thing is massive! 

We were not allowed there with the horses. I think they must make too much of a mess and that area is jam packed with people so they got banned from going there!  Just a guess!  The entire loop trip was about an hour and we still saw a lot but found we had plenty of time to get back on the ship. There was no customs search or questions which we were glad about!  Once onboard and back in our room, we got busy packing our luggage. We saved clothes for tomorrow and loaded everything we could in the two large bags we brought. We set them outside the room and settled in and went to bed. They would be in the terminal in Seattle when we disembark tomorrow morning. We would only need to take our carry-ons with us in the morning. All as a courtesy. Nice!  We tried to sleep but our other-side-neighbors were pretty noisy outside in the hall. It quieted down and we quickly drifted off to sleep.       

Sunday, July 9^th., 2023…… Our dock time was scheduled for 7:00am this morning. But since Victoria is not 6 hours away from Seattle, I suspected we were docked a lot earlier than that! When I was up using the bathroom a little before 6:00am, I checked out the window and saw that we were tied up to the docks and there were no deckhands in sight and the engines were off!  We chose a later disembark time since we didn’t have a flight to catch like most of the others. We went up and had a last omelet (and hashbrowns, sausage, juice, etc.) and then hung around on our veranda and watched the action below. From deck 8, we had a great view. The bags were the first things we noticed. They had 4 forklifts working in concert and they used two rotating cranes to swing large container carriers back and forth from the ship. Each had rolling carts with bags, which were shuttled into the terminal. Then they began moving in the supplies for the next cruise. That cruise will be boarding around 3:00pm. It was only 8:00am and they had all of the pallets loaded in short order. We got our disembark announcement earlier than scheduled and made our way off the ship. Getting into the terminal, we were directed to the pickup point and quickly found our luggage and headed for the last checkpoint. All we had to do was display our passports and they passed us through!  Easy!  We went out together to the loading area and dropped the bags. Treasa has handicap parking so I was able to get the truck and get back to that area without all of the other traffic. We were loaded and out of there by 8:30am! It was truly a fun adventure. For Cathye and I, we both agreed that the highlight for us was the helicopter ride. It was our big spend excursion but it was definitely worth it! Of course we loved the scenery. We loved life on the ship. It was just ok dealing with other passengers, especially those who feel they are the only ones on the ship and we are their subjects. But those folks are everywhere anyway so we dealt with that with little issues. The drive home was long though. We stopped for snacks and to pee and then once more for lunch. We found a place in Tualatin called G-Man Brewery & Sports Bar. The food was pretty good. We may look for it again when coming and going to Portland. We stopped for gas and made it back home a little after 2:00pm. Penny had fed the dogs and stripped and remade the bed and left but came back later to let the dogs out one more time. We unloaded our bags and started laundry. Of course we all rested and some took short naps. I went through the mail and then went out and stripped all of the crating from around the new tractor. It will need some more reading to learn about steps to take before I can start it. But that’s for another day. We left and went out to Pizza Schmizza for a light dinner and then came back to work on more tasks at home. Treasa worked on her blog, Cat picked blackberries, I downloaded my pictures to my computer and Bill got caught up in a History Channel program. We all called it an early night!             

Monday, July 10^th., 2023…… Today was a recoup day. We still have a few things for B&T to go see and experience. First up was The Point. We decided to go there for breakfast. We got a table by the window looking out on the lake. It was a nice outing. We got back home and rested before it was time to leave for our linner. We made reservations for wine tasting and lunch at the Willamette Valley Vineyards. It was a 1:15pm seating and we made it with time to spare. We enjoyed a very nice relaxing meal, complete with wine. I am so lucky that Cat and I like the same wines (white, light, and on the sweeter side). Cat has a favorite from there and we ordered a bottle. Treasa chose the elite flight with her meal. Bill sipped some of hers. He’s not much of a drinker! Cat and I only had one glass so we brought the bottle home. They have to bag it and staple the bag to stay out of trouble!  We got back home and went out to the deck for a while. I hung back for the most part and worked on my blog. I still had several more pictures to upload and that’s a process in itself. Luckily, I made notes on my phone during the cruise so it was pretty easy to go to those when it was time to write everything up.  I decided that since I had many, many, photos to post, and I would try not to break the internet, so I would post in two parts. Now I think I will post mid-week so I can get the cruise part out there. Anyway, I was stuck in my room for a few hours to work. But we wanted to play a board game or something so Cat set up a charcuterie board with snacks and we played Mexican Train for a few hours. I kept score and of course the scorekeeper always wins! Yaay! We had a lot of fun. Later, we all felt tired and went to bed early. They needed to spend some time to get their luggage together. They shared their flight info. Two flights to do. They won’t get in to Cincinnati until super late at night. Plus the drive back home. She says she expects to be home at 1:00am or so! That will be a long day so they turned in early!    

Tuesday, July 11^th., 2023……  Happy Birthday in Heaven, Jeff!  He would have been 53 today. Miss him so much! I wear his watch on his birthday and his day of passing.

The plan today was pretty much made a while back. We wanted to take Bill and Treasa to The Prairie Schooner in Eugene for breakfast before their flight out. We gave Penny a time (9:00am) and she said she and Butch would meet us there. They would be driving down South today for a day trip to the Wildlife Safari (a drive-thru animal park) in Winston and the timing was perfect to meet us beforehand. Bill & Treasa’s flight out was at 1:15pm and they wanted to be at the airport a few hours early.  They were packed the night before and we hung around the house until 8:15 or so. We met Butch and Penny and had a nice meal. They left us to go on their adventure and since we were in no big hurry, we hung around and had more coffee and talked a bit more before driving over to the airport terminal where we said our goodbyes. It was sure nice to see them and we enjoyed our time together on the trip. Since we each had our own preferences, we were able to spend time on our own exploring and shopping and enjoying different things sometimes. So neither of us was dragging the other around!  Not sure when we will be seeing them again, but we do have an rv trip in work that will take us through where they are in Ohio. Hopefully, they will be able to join us for stops after that! Just got to go to work and get it on our calendar!

We drove back home and immediately shifted gears. Our landscaper was coming today to get caught up after missing a week. Plus, we are now in vintage camper mode!  We already have the Shasta trailer out and ready to load. We leave tomorrow and will make the short drive down to Brownsville for The Rally on the River. They allow parking starting on Wednesday so we will go down and register and get a site and get set up. We don’t plan on staying until Thursday but this way, we can go get everything set up and see what else we might want to bring back on Thursday. I also got a chance to work a little on the sprinklers and got the one problem valve working again, so now I am able to catch some of the dead spots to help green them up. I stopped my blog prep and we left to go have dinner and a beer to celebrate Jeff. He loved his beer.

Cherrelyn is traveling back up here from SoCal, but she said she was having one for him at dinner too! 

When we posted a group text, Penny surprised us when she said she would be there in a few! We thought she would still be out with Butch but it turns out she was just getting back into town. So she came by and we had a nice meal together. Gonna stop here and get this blog posted. Will do the rest of the week after we get back from the rally.