Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #36 – A Rainy Trip to Crater Lake & More Family Visiting

 

Sunday, August 20^th., 2023…… The plan today was to mow the yard. Since we are leaving tomorrow morning for Crater Lake, we need to get several things done today. I was up and out early after we walked and fed the dogs. We went to go get breakfast for us and dog food for Jama. After that, I got the mowers out and gassed up and ready.

Penny came over and we started in. It only took about 40 minutes to get everything done since the grass is pretty dry and there’s not too much to cut. We got most everything packed and we are ready to go tomorrow. 

Problem is that we will get rain from Hurricane Hilary. Yes, it will get up to us in the Cascades probably tomorrow night!  It won’t be anywhere near a tropical storm and they say most of it will go more east into Idaho, but they say we have a 70% chance of rain while we are in the Crater Lake area. Oh well, we are still going. We took it easy after mowing and packing and stayed in and watched tv until bedtime. I did make a run out to the well just to check on everything. Looks good and it’s dry!      

Monday, August 21^st., 2023…… We were up early but in no hurry. Our check-in time was 3:00pm at Eagle Crater Lake Inn. But we left around 8:45am after we had the pups out and walked and fed. We drove to Eugene and went east on Hwy. 58. We stopped for breakfast at Sunrise Café in Pleasant Hill along the way. It was just ok. We made it to the tiny little town of Chemult (on Hwy 97) around noon. Even though a call to them revealed we could check-in anytime, we decided to drive to the lake first. We hit the north end entrance and waited in line for several minutes to get to the gate. It was $30. per car, but Crater Lake is a National Park and I have a senior pass so it was free with id. Yess! We drove to the first lookout point and saw the crater. Even though it was overcast and smokey, it was still magnificent!

We drove around to the main viewing point and took a look. Earlier, I had shown Cat my pics when Lydia and I came up here. It was super foggy and the snow was still all around so we never could see the lake!

She showed me her pic of Jim when they were here last.

We took a selfie at about the same spot.

Later, the sun peeked through and we could see some blue water. Wow! After that, we hit the restaurant/café and had a sandwich and chili fries and a coke. We went over to the Crater Lake Inn (right off the crater) to see where we couldn’t get a room. Too bad – it was super nice! Bummer!  We headed back down and checked into our room. We were not the least bit impressed with our “no tell, motel”!  We knew it was an older motel (picture one from the 40s out on old Route 66 in New Mexico or Arizona!), but when we first saw it when we drove by earlier, we could see it was run down and very much not what we expected. I had visions of a refurbished old place – and the inside was very well done and clean – but the outside left a lot to be desired. They have an old plane and a firetruck on the property – we guess to maybe attract folks – but it wasn’t even close to being an attractant. We took some pics out there  

 

and, also when we got into the room. As I said, the room wasn’t that bad and everything was clean and painted and neat, so we will make the best of it!  

We unloaded and stored the bikes in the room. The room was the biggest they had and had a little alcove in the back, so the bikes did fit nicely.

 

After the drive around the lake today, we decided that it wasn’t conducive to riding around up there (sharp cliffs on the roads and no bike trails at all) so we will try something else later.  After we got everything unloaded and settled in, we set off again, this time headed north - about 20 minutes - to Crescent. A few weeks ago when Pastor Nick and his wife, Anita, were visiting at our home, they invited us to come up and see their log home since they would be vacationing there at the same time. Even though the drive took us a few miles on unpaved roads, it was worth it to see them and their place!  Nick was a contractor so he knows construction. He took a course on log home building and when the opportunity came up to buy one (in kit form), he jumped on it. Good choice!  He has spent the last 4 years going there to work on it. It’s probably 95% done and looks amazing. Big log beams and a rustic feel. I love the log cabin look and since this one is probably 3000 square feet and well laid out, I was duly impressed! 

After the home tour, we spent some time visiting and then came back toward our room. We stopped at The Chalet Restaurant, just next door to where we were staying, and had a drink and a light dinner. Very good! We went back to the room and were in for the night.

Tuesday, August 22^nd., 2023…… The motel had a complimentary breakfast and we went. Simple, continental (bagels, oatmeal, coffee) and filling. We hit the road again and went back to the park. That was where we first noticed our little ‘problem’. I forgot to stop for gas!  The light on the dash popped on, showing I only had around 15 miles left!  Damn!  We stopped and looked at a map of the park and found that there was one gas station in the park, at Masama Village. I soft pedaled the throttle and we made it with 5 miles left! Whew!  Problem 2 – they ran out of gas late yesterday! 

They said, “A truck was coming but not today”!  So, I used a hiker’s phone and called AAA. After a few dropped calls, I had an order in for gas to be delivered. But it would be a few hours. I did find cell service tapping in to the village wi-fi and gave the guy back his phone. Thank you sir!  He hung around and we chatted about his adventure. He, and a small group are here from the UK, and are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. They started in Truckee, Calif. And were heading up to the end of the trail, in Canada. Wow! He and his group were staying in the village area waiting for pre-mailed supplies to reach them via UPS. As I mentioned, it would be a few hours so Cathye decided to go take a little hike. She found a trail and some nice scenery.

Meanwhile, I was sitting in the car at the pumps. I kept having to tell each of the cars trying to pull in behind me that they were out of gas. So, I moved over to an area and parked there. It was maybe 45 minutes later, when I heard a large truck pull in. It was a gas truck!  Yaay!  But before I called off AAA, I needed to make sure I could get gas. I waited until they had 4000 gallons in the tank and they had turned the pump back on, and then filled up. 

I was on the phone with AAA when the guy pulled up with a gas can! Oh well!  We drove back up to the rim, with the idea of taking the tram we had seen yesterday. Problem 3 – it was closed due to the smoke. We drove back up to the viewing area where we were yesterday and the water was not visible at all. You could just barely see Wizard Island in the distance. Bummer!  So, we decided to head back down, this time taking the south gate and continued on (another 50 miles) to Klamath Falls. The plan was to have dinner there. We settled on bbq and found Wubba’s 

on Google. It was easy to find and they were not crowded. Plus, the food and drinks were excellent! We split a St. Louis Rib/Tri-Tip dinner and still had food left!  After that, we spent a few minutes driving around the city before heading back home.  We made plans for tomorrow and then settled in and watched tv until bedtime. No spa here.    

Wednesday, August 23^rd., 2023…… We only saw a little rain yesterday and none was forecast for today. We  were up and going around 8:00am. We needed to move our car because the parking lot (gravel) was getting paved today. We loaded the bikes and went over to the office and got coffee and checked out. I need to mention here that the guy running the place was super!  He knew folks would be negative about the place and was very nice and accommodating. When I do my review, I will make sure to mention that. I think he hopes to make some serious changes and we wish him well.

Since we didn’t get a chance to ride our bikes, we decided to stop at Diamond Lake on the way home. Cathye knew about the great bike path they have, and I had never been, so we drove that way out of the town. It was only 30 min. away and not even out of the way (there are several ways to go back over the Cascades). Plus, Nick said they had a good breakfast at the camp lodge. We found the place and went in for breakfast. Very good. We got a map of the lake and also the paved bike trail that went all the way around it. It was 11.2 miles. We unloaded the bikes and geared up and headed out. It was fantastic! The trail was easy to follow and was indeed paved blacktop (although there were leaves and dirt on most of it – still ok). We took it easy and got used to being back on the bikes again. But no worries. We made it and the bike’s batteries were plenty capable of that range. 

We loaded the bikes back up and headed out toward home. This time we would be on Hwy 138 which took us west and came out on the I-5 at Roseburg. From there, it was about a 2 hour drive to get back home. It was a fun trip. I checked and found we put over 600 miles on the Honda. We got the bikes and the bike rack unloaded, washed, and stored away and then came in for the day. We do have a few things to clean up today and tomorrow morning. Her stepson Chris and his wife, Angie, will be flying in from Phoenix tomorrow. We did all of that and had a light dinner and watched some tv then hit the spa before calling it an early night.          

Thursday, August 24^th., 2023…… We were up early and found a few more things we wanted to work on before driving down to the Eugene airport to pick them up. On the way home, we stopped at The Junkyard Dog (a Guy Fieri Dinners, Drive-ins, and Dives choice), and had lunch. We got back home and they got set up in the guest room. A bit later, we headed up to Dos Arbolitos for dinner.  They are here because Sunday is brother Jamie’s birthday. Chris also has plans to see his other brother, Mike, who lives in Tillamook. Not sure the logistics but I think he is planning on coming here with his family.  Only thing I know is that we have made plans for a bbq tomorrow. We visited a bit before they called it a night after their long day.     

Friday, August 25^th., 2023…… The plan today was breakfast out. We wanted to take them to Kristi’s and they really enjoyed that.  I had to drive my truck and join them there because after breakfast, I left them and went over to pick up my sister to go to the Lazy Boy store in Eugene. Her couch was in and ready for pickup. We made the trip down and back and Jeremiah met us at the house and we managed to get that heavy beast inside!  I left pretty quickly after that because I had to be back in time for the guys to come to service our water filtration system. I just found the paperwork on the equipment and Cathye said she used to have a system at their house so she knew a little about them. She said we should get that done asap. Turns out she was right!  They gave me an over-the-phone guesstimate for worst case scenario of just short of $800.00. They came with all of the materials to renovate the system. Turns out it could have been worse so the bill was only $380.00. Meanwhile, Chris and Angie went out and explored some of Chris’ old haunts. We were all ready later for the bbq. We had chicken and kielbasa ready to cook. Penny and Cherrelyn came with stuff, and we had chocolate cake for Jamie. Corey and Vikki and Bailey came early so Corey could spend some more time working in our yard. Brandyn was with his mom today.  I found the misters that I knew I had stowed away in the shop garage and Corey and I hung those up. It was a little on the hotter side so they sure helped. Mike came with his three kids – Jace, Jordan, and Audrey. I haven’t spent too much time with them before, but it was nice to see kids playing and riding bikes and skateboards around here. I filled up Rylee’s pool and the three of them, plus Bailey, braved the cold well water and had a blast. Rylee didn’t mind sharing and ran and played until she couldn’t anymore!

The food and drinks were good and later, Mike got out his guitar and played a bit for us.

 

Fun times!  He and the kids are staying at his mother’s house, not too far away so he and Chris made plans to get together again.               

Saturday, August 26^th., 2023…… We ate breakfast at the house and then Chris and Angie left to go meet up with Mike. They said later that they went by the old house and then went out to McKercher Park to go swimming.  Corey and Vikki and Brandon and Bailey came over again, this time to work in the yard. Later, Chris picked up Jamie on the way back and we took the kids and Corey and Vikki finished cleaning up and met all of us at Abbey’s Pizza in Albany. Jamie’s favorite place and he always asks to go there on his birthday. We bought several pizzas and gave all of the kids money for the arcade games while we visited.

(left to right: Chris, Angie, Cathye taking pic!, Terry, Corey, Vikki, Brandyn is hiding!, Bailey, Audrey, Jordan, Jace is hiding!, Mike, Jamie).

Jordan and Jace love to mess with each other!...

 

After a bit, Mike packed up the kids and headed back home to the coast. Corey and Vikki and their kids left too. Chris and Angie took Jamie back home and came back here and we rested after another active day!  

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #35 – Running Errands & Dealing With Plumbing Issues!

 

Sunday, August 13^th., 2023…… Hot again today!  Temps expected in the high 90s. I guess it’s bad all around the country though. At least it cools off nicely at night up here! We had the girls out for their walk and back in before it hit 70°. I left and went and got us breakfast and coffee. Cat took the car and went off to church. She took some watermelon that we just bought yesterday from the Hermiston truck that sells on one of the corners in town. Hermiston is a region up in the Columbia River Basin east of Portland, almost to Pendelton. They have the best watermelon in the state!  Anyway, she cubed it and will freeze it for later. Or eat it quickly! I worked on my blog and watched my races and before I knew it, she was back! She brought ribs and scalloped potatoes and apple pie from their meal. Always yummy!  These church ladies know how to cook! I went back to relaxing for the rest of day and got caught up on all of yesterday’s races. I am also watching the Little League games. They have completed the regionals and there are 10 US teams now in Williamsport for the LL World Series. That starts on Wednesday. Always fun to watch these kids. I remember fondly when my boys played little league and went to the San Bernardino regionals to see them play. Randy’s team was sooo close!   Cathye went and visited Lona, who wasn’t feeling well.  After that, we just hung around the house and relaxed. There are several fires up here and around us. Nothing for us to worry about, but we are now starting to see smoke. They say the winds will be sending it our way tonight or tomorrow. Tv and spa and then off to bed.

Monday, August 14^th., 2023…… We were up early with the dogs and had them out before it got too hot. Temps in the high 90s today! We decided that after our workout we would go down to Eugene for breakfast. We hadn’t had The Original Pancake House’s apple pancake for a while now, so it was time to take a drive! It was a good idea but we didn’t account for the smoke we would find when we drove down the I-5. It was pretty thick

but we went ahead anyway and had a nice breakfast. We got back home and decided to stay in for the day. Just too hot!

Tuesday, August 15^th., 2023…… An early morning for me. I was up and out and took Cathye’s truck and headed off to Corvallis for my 8:00am acupuncture appointment. I like going early but Cathye doesn’t like it when I leave. That means she has to walk the dogs by herself!  I finished up my session and stopped and got McDonald’s then drove on back to Lebanon and stopped by the car wash and had the truck washed.  Cathye said it was a lazy morning and she decided to just let the girls out in the yard and they all walked out to the property line to check on the blackberries growing wild back there. She found that some were ready to pick!  Maybe tomorrow. I had an appointment for the second half of the rain gutter work on the deck. Today they will be installing black gutters on the gazebos. Turns out that two of the sides of each gazebo drain down onto the patio deck and we would like to prevent that. So, now is the time to get that done before those guys get busy. We were their second appointment of the day so they showed up around 11:30am. No real ladders involved so they had an easy time of it for our job! They were in and out in less than an hour. Not bad and the black matches the gazebo roof and blends in nicely. We added rain chains to the ends since it’s only a short run and there’s not much water to deal with. They hang over the flowerbeds so that will work nicely!   They were a gift from my sister! Thanks Sis! 

After they left, we were pretty much done for the day. It got to 100° on our back deck! Nobody should have to be outside in that heat! We let the dogs out but only through the back door so they can avoid the super-heated driveway.

Wednesday, August 16^th., 2023…… Nothing on the calendar today. We did see a little drop in the temps today. It only got up to the high 80s. We needed to water the flowers though. We have noticed a drop in water pressure these last few days. We are on a well so whatever is going on, it’s only us, not the city or county. I finally called the water service for the soft water filtration system. It hasn’t been serviced in 6 ½ years. My bad!  I was never told about it when we bought the house but I know things have to be serviced every so often. They won’t be here until next week so we will deal with it until then. So we water anyway…

Cathye has found 1883 on tv and is binge watching the series. She only needs the last two which haven’t shown up on DirecTV yet.  Hot tub and bed.

Thursday, August 17^th., 2023…… We decided to get things going early today since it’s still pretty hot. We hit the gym and then went to breakfast at Kristi’s, then Cathye went off to Jamie’s while I worked a little more on my bar project for the deck. Cathye has made up our mind – we need to make the thing four boars wide, instead of three!  So, I need to come up with another way to attach the boards. Remember, these are 12 foot long boards and are thick and very heavy. The tongue and groove will give them extra strength so we hope they won’t flex. But I still want to add reinforcement to the underside for more stability and I’m thinking that through. We made plans to return to Stayton tomorrow for one more board. Later in the morning, Cathye dropped off Rylee and Jama at the groomers and then ran some errands.      

Friday, August 18^th., 2023…… Today is three years since Jim’s passing. The plan this morning is to head up to Stayton to pick up that one board we need for the bar. She tells me there is a place that she and Jim went to for breakfast and it was a nice little place with good food, so we decided to go there first. It took a little searching but she found the place and she was right – it was really good!  I tried their chicken fried steak and the gravy was good enough to make us want to put it on our list for another time!  Cathye recalled her time there with Jim and shared a few stories. After that, we stopped and got the lumber and headed back home. I hung around the house then left for the first of our massage appointments with Emily for today. Mine was at noon. My job was to pay for both of the massages. Cathye will go at 4:00pm. Her job is to make appointments for next time, plus stop by next door and get us teriyaki for dinner. After the massage, I headed off to Albany and went to Harbor Freight. I needed some items, especially some pipe clamps to add to my collection. I don’t plan to do too much else today but I need to get the posts on the gazebo anchored and they have twisted a bit since we built them. They will need a little persuasion and the pipe clamps will give me that leverage I need to twist them a bit.  I went out and bought some iron pipe for the clamps and assembled them and then set them up on the columns. It only took a little bit of tweaking and I had them lined up enough to look pretty straight again. Once bolted down, they line up now for the bar top.   

Saturday, August 19^th., 2023……  The plan today was to walk the girls, feed them, eat breakfast and then go over to Sweet Home to help with the school health fair for students there. We worked this last year and volunteered again. On the walk, I noticed that Rich’s large French drain was pushing out water into the ditch out by the road pretty heavily. I got curious and went to investigate. I thought it might be from his little pond but that was unlikely. I found water on my side of his fence line and figured it out! I came back and got the truckster and drove out to our well head. Yep, it was spewing water, with high pressure. Water was everywhere!  I came back to the house and shut off the pump. I texted Russ since he worked on it last. He said he would be over as soon as he could. Cathye left to go and work the school event, 

while I stayed to deal with this. Russ and Carrie got there an hour or so later and I already had the pipes disassembled. I knew what we needed and we headed off to Wilco to get materials. We made the connections (with pvc like before) and we got it reattached. Meanwhile, Corey had gotten here and was working out in the yard pulling weeds, so I asked him to flip the breaker back on to the well pump. I’m sorry to say it leaked a little. So, we needed to redo it one more time. This time we decided to use metal unions which would give us a little leeway for the fittings. We cut the one pipe too short so we had to make another trip back to the store for more materials (did I mention I hate pvc!). But the second try was successful and we had no leaks. 

It was important to fix it quickly because we have absolutely no water without that pump working! Russ and Carrie went home and I cleaned up from all of that while Cathye took my truck and went out to get a load of wood chips for Corey to spread out in the blueberry cage. We had done half of it already and found that worked well to help control weeds, so we needed to get the rest done while we had Corey here. He got that done before calling it a day. 

He is such a hard worker! Love you buddy!  After he left, I came back in and rested for the day. Cathye headed over to Lona's where they were celebrating Nancy's birthday with a get together.  Because we leave on Monday to go to Crater Lake for a few days, I wanted to get a few things done before we leave. When Cathye got back, we got the bike rack installed on the Honda and loaded the bikes.  Tomorrow we plan to mow. At least the weather is cooler.        

 

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #34 – A BBQ and a Birthday Picnic

 

 

Sunday, August 6^th., 2023…… We woke up after a great night’s sleep! Don’t know if we were relieved after the car deal or what, but we both felt great! We walked and fed the pups and Cathye made breakfast before heading off (in her new car!) to church. I hung around the house today and worked on my checkbook and the last blog and got that posted. Then I turned on my taped Nascar race and looked through the Buick owner’s manual while I relaxed. I think I figured out a few things. But boy – there are tons of features that I knew very little about!  More reading to come!     

Monday, August 7^th., 2023…… We headed off to the gym after feeding the dogs. We needed to go to the store to pick up a few things for later tonight. The job today was to clean up the deck and make sure everything was watered. Since the deck construction, we have areas now that water isn’t hitting. We lost the one main garden line around 50% of the house so I have tried to adjust the lawn sprinklers to reach those areas. But it’s not working out too well. We’ve hired the irrigation guy and we do have a date now when he is coming to install everything – not until Sept 11^th!  I just hope we have thought of everything and that he will be able to get it all done before fall. The deck cleanup is because we are having some guests over for a bbq tonight. Laurie, Melinda, & Teri and Ron are coming over. We got everything done and Cathye even had time to run into urgent care at her doctor’s office to have her knee checked out. She twisted it doing something she can’t remember doing!  She did only exercises today at the gym that didn’t put any strain on her knee. But, she’s been in a knee brace and wanted to make sure it was nothing serious. It wasn’t. Just needs time to recover. Laurie and Melinda came together. They and Teri all are or were health care providers. Ron and Teri just got married last week. Teri came a few minutes later. She was by herself. Ron has had some issues with dizziness lately and had another bout earlier today so he decided to stay home and rest. Cathye and I had put the boneless ribs in a water bath and had them in the oven at 250° for a few hours to pre-cook. They were then dumped in a bbq sauce mixture to marinate a bit and were ready to bbq. I had also gotten everything to make my ice cream sandwich dessert for after. We had an hour or so to have a few drinks and relax out on the deck. They each brought dishes to share and we certainly had a great meal!  It was a fun evening and I think everyone enjoyed the fun. We had so much fun we forgot to take pics! The only one…

Tuesday, August 8^th., 2023…… The weather is still hot. Mornings are perfect though for our walks. The girls perk up when it’s time to go. It’s not a long walk but it gives them a chance to get out and explore the sights and smells a bit. We got back and fed them and had breakfast before leaving to get our haircuts. Dianna schedules us together and we try to get the first appointments of the morning.  We were in and out pretty quickly and had the rest of the day. We had no plans so Cathye asked Judy if she wanted to go to Dietrich Farms again to check on the peaches. She went and picked her up in the new car and they had a nice outing. Meanwhile, I worked a little on the spa cover. We have discovered that there is a crack in the metal arm on the lift cover mechanism. I think I can add a piece to reinforce it. I have material and cut and fitted and painted up a couple of arms and got those installed. It works! At least so far.

We may need to come up with another plan or look into buying another complete system for the cover.  Later in the evening, Cathye headed up to meet with Judy at Academy Square for another concert in the park. I passed. When she got home she said it was pretty good and they had a good time. TV and spa and then bedtime.     

Wednesday, August 9^th., 2023……  Not much on the list today. Cat is waiting for mail order prescriptions that are slow in coming and was on the phone with them while I went online to see if I could find and order a few things for our ebikes. I looked into a communication system so we can talk to each other while we ride. Sena has them built into their helmets but also offers a unit that retro fits. Since we have helmets we like, I chose to order the aftermarket product, even though they are a bit pricey ($99.ea!). Reviews looks good so I sure hope they work as advertised! I also want a pannier bag for my ebike. We are planning on using them in a few weeks so we need quick delivery for both items. I found a bag I liked and ordered it. Both the headsets and the bag will be here tomorrow with Amazon Prime!   

Thursday, August 10^th., 2023…… We had nothing on the list for today. We walked and fed the dogs then headed off to the gym for our workouts. After that, we went over to Kristi’s for breakfast. After that, we spent most of the day inside. Cathye will make sliders for Misty’s  birthday party tomorrow but I wanted to make my death by chocolate for her as well and needed to do that today. Cathye made the brownies and the mousse and they needed to set. Once everything was together, it only took a few minutes to assemble.

Later, I went out and got the bicycles out and got the batteries charged up. We plan to take them when we go to Crater Lake in a couple of weeks. I needed to air up the tires but I think they are good to go. The items came in today and I struggled to get the radios paired up with Bluetooth and then to each other but I finally figured that out and we are good to go! The bag was a little smaller than I expected but I think it will work well (Cat already has a bag on her bike) for stuff we need when out on longer rides.

Tv and spa before calling it a night.      

Friday, August 11^th., 2023……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTY!  Today we are going to Misty’s 50^th birthday party at Foster Lake. They decided that since it’s still super hot, they would do a beach day at the lake. We brought out and loaded the truck with the sliders, the death by chocolate, our chairs, and some drinks and headed out. It wasn’t too crowded and we got good parking and got unloaded and helped others with their gear. I think there were a total of 4 kayaks and 4 float tubes. While others would use them, we would be content to just swim in the lake. They had a nice spot in the trees with the water only about 90 feet away. It was a fun day!  The food was really good and the water was a little cool but once you got in, it was great! Next time I might just bring the boat!  

 We left in time to get back and feed the girls. We needed to water since the sprinklers are goofed up right now. The weather is in the 90s. I think I saw it would be over 100 next week! Wow!    

Saturday, August 12^th., 2023……  Been watching the Lahaina fire the last couple of days. I feel so bad for everyone over there! Prayers being sent out! It is really hard because my whole family was there for our 50^th back in 2018. I revisited a few pictures of us in the town. One of my favorite spots was Cheeseburger in Paradise, right on the water.  We took pics of it and of us on the upper deck stairs.

 

 

We saw it when they panned the waterfront on one of the news show. It’s gone. So sad…

The old giant banyan tree

was hit hard.

 

But, they say it might come back. Sure hope so. Again, prayers to everyone there.

We had a few things to do this morning. I needed to clean the bbq. Cathye decided to clean the oven today. I got my job done while she read the directions for cleaning the oven. I helped get the racks out and we cleaned them in the sink while the stove was on auto clean. While that was going on, we decided to leave and head over to Stayton. We are looking to buy the material for the bar we want to build. This is going to be over 12’ long and will be installed across from the bbq. I had asked Russ a few days ago where he got the tongue and groove for the patio roof. We will use three of those for the build. He said from his supplier in Stayton, so we took the truck, along with my saw and headed out. They had what we needed and let us go through the pile to pick out what we wanted. We cut the boards down to 12’ 6” and that made them easier to load in the truck for the 20 minute drive home. 

When we got back home, we took one of them over to the deck and saw how it would look. I think we are both anxious to see this job get finished! I hope to start work on it on Monday. We finished up the day just kicking back around the house, watching tv and staying cool. I asked Cat if she would like to go out to dinner and we did. We decided to go look into Kento Hibachi Express.  Our friend Rick, from Kevin’s, left there and bought the place several months ago. But this was our first time. We will definitely go back! The food was really good and it was nice to see Rick again!  

We came back home and watched tv until it was time to go out to the spa. We forgot to put chemicals in so we did that tonight and so we decided to pass on the spa time. Definitely tomorrow!