Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #4 – A Busy Week & Then a Fun Outing!

 

Sunday, January 21^st., 2023…… Today would be busy! We were up and out with the dogs early. Temperatures are more manageable these days. Temps today would be in the 50s. Yaay!  We got the dogs fed, then ate breakfast. We hung around the house for a bit. I went in and got some items out for the upcoming square dance weekend, and then settled in to watch the football games I taped yesterday. Then it was time to change again and then got off to the Salem dance. We were by ourselves for this one. Judy and Lynn chose not to double down today, like we were doing. The dance was really fun. My favorite caller up here is Daryl Clendenin and although he wasn’t the featured caller, he did get to do a couple of guest tips, which he always makes fun. Of course we always had mistakes in our squares. These are mostly students for the beginner dances. Some haven’t finished classes yet but still it was a fun afternoon. We left a bit early so we could have some time to put our feet up before we left to go to the graduation. Boy, was that fun!  Both Penny and Cherrelyn came to see Cathye go through the graduation and get her certificate. I hadn’t said a word about the ‘fun squares’ the Club had set up for the graduates. I wasn’t sure what they had planned but I knew what we did to the classes in SoCal when they graduated. Turns out it was much the same!  They made them (and me because I was Cat’s partner) go through some interesting ‘tests’ in the squares. But all was in fun and everyone had a great time. There were 4 or 5 class members missing, but we had this pic of 12 of the graduates. (the caller and the activity chair are in this photo in case you are counting heads!).  Afterward, we had cake and sparkling cider and then cleaned up before heading off to Pizza Hut for an afterparty. And then home and a soak in the spa before bed. It was a long but fun day!     

Monday, January 22^nd., 2024…… We slept in late this morning so we decided to skip the gym. Cathye is still pretty sore from the three-dance weekend!  After we do our housecleaning, she plans on a day off today. My job today was to go out to the motorhome and run the heater. I also did some checks of other systems that we will use this weekend. I discovered that I wasn’t getting any furnace heat from my AquaHot system. Turns out it needs water and my on-board tanks are empty and the water lines to the rv garage are shut off. So, I will have to hope it works on Thursday when we hookup at the fairgrounds.  If not, we have an electric auxiliary heater and since we will be on 50 amp there, we (and the dogs) should be ok.  Forecast says no freezing lows to worry about. We also got all of our square dance ‘outfits’ out and packed in the rig. I loaded up all of my other clothes as well. Cat needs to wash and then will gather and load hers. I watched the other football game I had taped (wanted the Bills to win – bummer!) as well as supercross and went over a checklist in my head about what we need before we leave.  Cat made meatball and quinoa and mixed veggies for dinner and after we settled in and caught up on some taped programs before hitting the spa then hitting the bed.

Tuesday, January 23^rd., 2024…… We were up and out this morning but we had no agenda until later in the day. Most of our stuff is packed in the rv and we are going through our checklist of those last-minute items for later. The weather is pretty nice these last days. Rain is expected for the weekend but there are breaks which we hope will be on Thursday morning and afternoon when we head out in the rv. Later in the afternoon, we headed off to our square dance workshop. We only had about half of the normal attendees today. Guess they are getting ready for the festival! We had a light dinner and watched tv and talked about what to expect with the festivities. We can see the festival booklet online (it’s 21 pages) and we can see the days, times, events, and callers so we can plan our days. We hope to get a printed copy when we get there.  

Wednesday, January 24^th., 2024…… Not much today. We have everything loaded and we are ready for tomorrow!

Thursday, January 25^th., 2024…… We were up and going early this morning. We walked the dogs and then went to the gym and also to breakfast today because we had everything else ready. Check-in time at the fairgrounds isn’t until 1:00pm but I wanted to leave the house at noon for the 30 minute drive.  We loaded up the dogs and headed there. Since it was only 15 miles or so, Cathye drove the Enclave so we had room for others if needed.  When we got there, we found there was no one monitoring the gate so we headed in and got set up. We have 50 amp and water but no sewer. With our tanks, we can do four days no problem.  I ran into a problem with the remote satellite dish. The satellite dish mounted on the roof is out of commission and we have to use the remote dish until I put out the $2500. for a new one. I worked on trying to get a signal for well over 3 hours! No luck. I tried different cables and a direct hook up to the box. Still no good. I finally gave up. I think the lnb on the dish is bad. It has fallen over several times and even though you can’t see damage, I think it’s broke. But after all this work, I made the decision to finally get going on getting the replacement roof dish! As I said, the gate was open. There were only a handful of rvs in when we got there, but they soon filtered in. I didn’t count, but I’m guessing that almost all of the 70 spaces were filled. We walked around and checked things out. The Oregon Federation has been putting this festival on for over 50 years and they have it organized very well. The halls were decorated and easily found. We met up with a few Club members and then went back to the motorhome to rest and relax. No tv, so we went out to Walmart to get a couple of dvds. We also got some cooked chicken from the deli for dinner. When we returned, I worked on trying to get the dvd player to work on the system. I didn’t have any luck there either! Those two systems are separate so there is no common issue with the problem.  ??  So, we spent time on our phones and with the dogs. Later, it was time to get dressed for the evening’s festivities. We went to the Mainstream hall and had a great time!  The dancers there were seasoned and in each square we told them Cat was a beginner, and they looked out for her and ‘guided’ her through most of the calls. Of course she messed up! But, hey, that’s part of the learning curve. The other dancers told her they were beginners once upon a time and they had the same issues. After a bit, we left for the evening and came back to the rig and called it a night.     

Friday, January 26^th., 2024……  Judy and Lynn rested in their hotel room and we rested in our rig this morning. We made our own breakfast and then went over to see what the vendors had to offer. Of course we bought stuff!  We spent so much time there, I forgot to take pics!  We came back and put all of that away. We also plan on visiting the resale clothing building, but that won’t be open until later in the evening. Personally, I have never seen used clothing offered at a weekend festival or convention where they also had vendors there.  I think that’s an unusual arrangement, given they are competing for sales. But they set it up so they only opened the resale clothes building after a full day when only the vendors could sell. Plus, there was only one vendor selling clothing. We went back to the rv and had dinner and then went back in for another round of dancing. Our Friday outfit…

We met up with our fellow Club members and danced with everyone. We tried to go find other dancers. We took some time to go get in line before they opened up the resale room. Of course we found more stuff. It’s priced so well we couldn’t pass things up! Here are pics with Cathye and Judy including one with Charlotte, our Club caller, who was shopping there too!

We went back to the dance after that. As I said, we tried to mix it up and square up with other dancers in the room. Later in the evening, a couple came up and the lady grabbed my hand and asked me to stand and give her a hug. She had on her mask so I didn’t recognize her. It was Louise! She was a member of my beginner’s class back in 1984. Her and her husband moved to Oregon shortly after that and then divorced. Louise didn’t dance for a while but soon got back into it. She’s been very active for many years with her club down in Medford. She introduced us to her new guy and I introduced them to Cat. We danced a tip and visited awhile, before they headed back to the Plus hall. It was sure nice to see her again! We headed back to the rig to let the dogs out and then stayed in to put up our feet and call it a night. Fun day!       

Saturday, January 27^th., 2024…… This morning we were up and going early. I walked the dogs in the rain while Cathye made breakfast. The weather hasn’t working out too well the last few days. We’ve had to dodge showers going in and out all day. But that didn’t stop us. We made the rounds of all the halls in the buildings and danced on and off all day. Later, we came back and changed and after the girls got here, we all left to drive to Pop’s Branding Iron for dinner. We had reserved a room for 35 and were joined by our fellow dancers from Corvallis who had 25.

It was fun!  The Club always does a tip in the restaurant so we could all earn our Pop’s badge dangle. After that, we all headed back to our places to get dressed for the evening festivities. It was mask time! We made it to the hall in time for the first dance of the night. We stopped long enough to take some pics with our masks on…

 

then jumped into a square. This is what the halls looked like even after a long day!

Both the Mainstream and Plus halls were well attended. I think the total attendance was a little bit over 900 dancers! That’s big for Oregon! We also went to the new dancer’s hall but found that was extremely exasperating!  A lot of confusion when more than one or two folks in a square struggles, and that makes it really hard to get through. But you just smile and try to make it work!  We went back to the Mainstream hall and after a full night mostly in there, I felt Cat did great!  She worked hard and it showed. When we finally left there, she was exhausted.  We got back to the rig and sat up for a bit before calling it a night. We were both feeling the muscle aches and both took Tylenol before bed.  

Sunday, January 28^th., 2024…… (I’m adding Sunday here so I can recap the entire weekend.)  We both had a great night’s sleep last night. The rains were light and let up early this morning. The original plan was for me to bring the rig home while Cathye went directly from here to church. But she wanted to go back to dance some more for more floor time and to say she danced all four days!  They had one room in use for a dance this morning where everyone danced Mainstream level.  Cat could do that. We didn’t have to dress up for this one so we headed over. We only danced a short while before deciding to head back and get the motorhome ready. No more rain in the forecast so we got lucky when we unhooked and headed home. We got home around noon and got everything unloaded and put away and also got laundry going. Once that was started, we could rest for the afternoon! It was a great weekend, but it is nice to be back home!  We ate leftovers and caught up on our own taped shows. I watched the two championship games. I didn’t like either of them - I wanted Detroit vs Baltimore in the Super Bowl. Didn't get either! Oh well!  After that, we watched a couple of shows together until heading out for a relaxing soak in the spa before calling it a night.. 

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #3 – A Cold Start to the Week Before the Thaw & Saying Goodbye to Family

                                        

Sunday, January 14^th., 2023…… More sleet last night!  We now have a white blanket of hard pack on the driveway. We don’t plan on driving today so we hope it will diminish a little tomorrow. The girls went out and worked on planting in the potting shed. It wasn’t exactly hot as it has no insulation, so I had to go out and start up the buddy heater and put in in there. They said it was comfortable when they went out there about 30 minutes later. I watched a couple more football games and motocross and only went out with the dogs. A lazy Sunday. The girls decided to make a tamale casserole for dinner. Crystal said she liked it but it wasn’t a ‘keeper’ for us. But we did get to eat the pie for dessert! Tv until bedtime.  

Monday, January 15^th., 2024…… The plan today is to try to get out on the road. We want to go to the gym taking Crystal with us as a guest. Then the plan is to go on to Kevin’s for breakfast afterwards. Our driveway is frozen hard and is very slippery! One or two of the neighbors have been coming and going so we knew our street and the main street into town would probably be ok. And we have a 4 wheel drive truck. Problem is that’s the one vehicle we don’t have room for in a garage, so it’s been outside all of the last few days and it’s got a lot of frozen snow on it. When I went out to the truck and couldn’t even open the door, I knew we weren’t using it!  We waited a bit and had breakfast at home instead. After that, we finally got the door open. But the ice was so thick on the windshield and all of the other windows, we gave up.  Later, the sun came out so we ventured out in the Buick. I took it easy out of the driveway and took my time getting down the road. We had no issues and went to Walmart.

 

We needed stuff plus we just wanted to get out of the house for little while! After we finished up, we got back home ok. Later, the sun did help and we got most of the windshield on the truck cleared but the area where the wipers are located is still frozen solid. Crystal wants to take it tomorrow to go up to Salem to visit with a family member. We’ll see because another ice storm is predicted for some time tomorrow. We hung around the house the rest of the day and I fixed tacos for us for dinner. The girls played sous chefs and prepped the fixings. It was really good. Later, we played Mexican train

before Crystal got tired and headed off to bed. I went in and watched Monday night football and Cat caught up on some of her programs. We braved the weather and went out to the spa for a bit before coming in to bed.        

Tuesday, January 16^th., 2024…… We are still dealing with frozen conditions here. Temps are high in the 20s. Yeah, that’s too cold! The driveway is frozen solid in ice! But we have no plans to go out so we’re good. We let the girls out then fed them and Cathye made breakfast burritos.  Ok, it’s later now. Today is another blizzard watch. This last ice storm has caused power outages all around us. We are on a different power grid so we have had power all this time. Also, we don’t have too many trees that could cause damage but we are keeping an eye on them. I heard from my sister that she was holed up at her house. She has power and is ok. Cherrelyn was not so lucky. She is roughly 22 miles from us and on different city power which she has been without since yesterday. She texted us later in the evening that it was back on. But she had 43° temp. inside. Makes us glad that we have reliable equipment. But a frozen tree falling in the right spot could change that for all of us! We heard that the senior center would be closed and that class was cancelled. No worries. We are glad to be inside! Later in the day, Crystal made an apple crisp for dessert. Cathye made chicken wings and fried potatoes and green beans and we filled up and only ate the dessert several hours later when we played another round of Mexican train.      

Wednesday, January 17^th., 2024…… The freezing temps are over for the time being. It is supposed to get up into the low 50s today. The snow on the roof and the gazebos is now washing down with the rain. We got up and dressed and fed the dogs. No walk today. But we did take off to take Crystal to Kristi’s for breakfast. The roads are slushy but we managed to get through it in the Buick with no issues. We were supposed to go for haircuts today but Dianne called and postponed it til tomorrow. I was also supposed to go to Corvallis this afternoon for a follow up appointment with my cardiologist. They called and changed it to a video call instead. That works too. I am still in normal sinus rhythm and have been since my short AFIB bout in November. The amiodarone that they prescribed for me back then was supposed to help prevent going into AFIB but apparently it also puts you back into normal sinus rhythm, which happened to me.  The girls left to go to some vintage stores. Crystal also plans on going to UPS to mail some things back to MO. But she decided to wait to go until after the vintage shopping adventure, just in case something else has to go back with her!

I went online and got connected and got my appointment taken care of. The video calls are easy but I still prefer one on one. I have a few more instructions and actions going forward. I need to go get an eye exam as this medicine is known to affect vision. Also they want to monitor my labs but that will be taken care of shortly when I do those for my upcoming physical next month. She also said I could benefit from a mouthpiece for sleep. My sleep has been pretty standard these days. Cathye says I don’t snore as much now. I will not do a cpap even if they prescribe it!   But I will go get that apparatus. I need to call to get an address and set up an appointment.  The girls got back and showed me their purchases. Crystal was able to get everything in her suitcases. UPS told Crystal the price to ship the guitar. They said they would have to re-box the case and the total came to almost $300.00!  So I suggested that she just check it as one of her two allotted bags, and take the smaller of her suitcases as her carry on. We ate dinner and watched tv and then went to bed earlier because we need to get up early in the morning.             

Thursday, January 18^th., 2024…… As mentioned, we were up at 5:00am this morning! Crystal had everything ready and we got on the road pretty quickly and made it to Elmer’s in Albany for breakfast. We had plenty of time to eat and still get her to the bus pickup spot at Comfort Suites. It sure is easier to drop someone off there where they can shuttle up to Portland and be dropped off right at the terminal door. It saves us a trip as well. We waited with her for the shuttle to arrive, then said our goodbyes and headed back. We stopped at the gym and did our regular workout before heading home. We then needed to leave to make our rescheduled 11:00am appointment for haircuts. We got there and were informed that we had the time wrong. It was 1:00pm!  Oops! So we headed off to Walmart.  We have a couple square dance friends coming over tonight for dinner and a visit and Cat is making chicken pot pie. We needed a few things for that. We went back later and got our haircuts then headed back home to rest a bit and straighten up the house before prepping and then starting dinner. No worries – we had plenty of time! Later, Cheryl and Mike came over. We had a nice dinner and visited for a while. They both have been dancing for some time and shared a lot about our new club’s history. Of course, I shared my years of fun too!  Cathye can see that this is a great activity and she can see us in it for a great long time. During the evening, we got a text that Crystal had made the journey ok and was safely home with Michael by the fire!  After a nice visit we cleaned up a bit then hit the spa and then headed off to bed.  

Friday, January 19^th., 2024…… The weather has eased up a lot in the past few days. Although those up north in Portland and the Columbia Gorge as well as those in Roseburg and points south are still seeing snow, we are in the valley between them and the weather has warmed up quite a bit.  No more snow and the roads are all fully open. Of course the Coastal and Cascades are still getting some snow and those roads are still being plowed. The Portland news always covers I-84 heading through the gorge because it’s a major trucking route east and west. We see that they are still having issues with the roads. A slow warm is coming so they will eventually get things going again.  Meanwhile, we are doing well. We had the dogs out and walked, then I needed to leave to make the first of our massage appointments today, Cathye would come in later, after me.  We met and kissed and she went in and I went home and ate breakfast and got started on some of my to do list.  Since there was no rain or snow today, I went out and started up the motorhome and checked the airbags. All was good. We will load it up before I close the slides. We leave on Thursday morning for the Mid-Winter Square Dance Festival. We’ve never been and they say this is the biggest square dance event in Oregon. They tell us they get folks from all over the state as well as from Calif. and Washington. We are lucky. It is held at the Albany fairgrounds, which is only 14 miles from us! So, it will be a short trip. Cathye has outfits ready for the three days. We just need to get the rest of our stuff together.         

Saturday, January 20^th., 2024…… We slept in a bit today. No rain and the temps are down again. But, we still walked the dogs. After that, we fed them and Cathye made breakfast. The plan today was to: 1) check online to see if Cat has to report for jury duty next week, 2) clean house, and 3) head out for our new dancer dance tonight in McMinnville. I went online and found her site. She got lucky for week one – her juror number was not on the list to report this week. But we will still need to check this coming Saturday for week two. That is good news for now. She doesn’t have to worry about balancing jury duty with dancing this week. Since we did a pretty thorough cleanup for our friends last week, we had a pretty easy time getting the housework done. We spent the rest of the day resting and watching tv. Later, we ate an early dinner and fed the dogs. We dressed and headed out to pick up Lynn (Judy has family visiting), then stopped by the senior center to get Rod and Ginger, then made the 66 mile drive to the McMinnville Grange hall for our dance. It was a long drive but we made it ok. The dance was well attended. We are seeing the same folks from other classes now, and have made friends with them too.  It is always nice to go to the other dances and meet new people. We all talked about the sad news. Over the last three weeks, we have lost two of our local callers. Leonard Snodgrass and now Ian Craig have passed. Both had heart attacks. We didn’t know either of them other than dancing to them, but still, it was sad. Leonard was the Club caller for this club today. Bruce Lowther was asked to call the dance and will take over their beginner’s class.  There was also another older gentleman who has also passed. He used to be a caller (40 years around here) and has been in a care facility for some years now. Plus, just before we drove up here today, we read on FB that the last of the couple who owned and operated the Salem Dance Center has also passed away. Truly beacons of the area. Anyway, we had a great dance and everyone kept the energy up. When the dance ended, they had refreshments and announcements in the lower section of the building. What a nice facility!  After a light snack and a short visit with our friends, we loaded up the car and drove back to the Senior Center and dropped off Rod and Ginger. We got home at 11:49pm and headed off to bed after letting the girls out. It was a long but fun day!  Tomorrow we do it again – twice!  There is an afternoon dance in Salem and then Cat’s graduation later in the evening.         

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #2 – A Vet Visit & Dealing With the Weather!

 

Sunday, January 7^th., 2023…… We got up pretty early this morning. Crystal was already up and going. Remember – she’s still on Missouri time! We all went out and walked the dogs and then we fed them and Cat started breakfast. After we ate, Crystal got her bags in the back of the truck and left for her 113 mile drive to Roseburg. The plan is to come back here on Saturday and spend a few more days with us.

Later in the morning, we got dressed and headed off to our dance. The dance wasn’t until 2:00pm but we had to be there at noon to help unload and set up all of the square dance clothes. Grace, our coordinator, was ready with instructions on how she wanted the trailer unloaded and where it was to go!  We had others there as well and got it completed in quick order. We also set up the tables and chairs for the dance. Reminds me of our old times in SoCal at the Rustler dances!  Folks started showing up early because they were told that you could get two tickets good for two items for free!  Everything else was very well priced (to move!) and Cathye ended up finding a few other things and using one of my tickets as well when the sale started. As for the dance, we have learned it is better to go to a full blown mainstream dance than to dance with a roomful of other beginners!  We had more trouble with the newer dancers and Cat needs an occasional hand (or arm) from someone experienced to aid her in getting through the calls. But it was fun anyway. Next week she graduates. More on that later. After everyone left, we needed to clean up. A few more Club members stayed around and we got everything packed up and stored back in the trailer. We were done and headed back home and took off our shoes and rested for the night! Of course the spa sure helps!  

Monday, January 8^th., 2024…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!  She’s almost caught up with me in age now! 😊  Yeah right!  We will be going to dinner later this afternoon. We walked and fed the pups and then headed off to the gym. On Mondays we go to Kevin’s for breakfast. Today was no exception. We got back home and kicked back for a few hours. Cathye has a dental appointment so after lunch (and brushing again) she headed off for that. When she got back, we did some work around the house and then rested for the day. Later, we changed and left to go over to Penny’s. I told her I would help put her Christmas stuff away before we took her to dinner. We got all of that done and drove to Sweet Home to The Point, where we met up with Cherrelyn, who lives close by. We had a great dinner and then said our goodbyes to Cherrelyn and drove sis back home. We finished up in the spa. It was raining at this point. The spa is under cover but the wind was blowing so hard it felt like we were getting rained on! I bought a towel warmer last week and we have been using it and really like it!  It sure helps with the chilly air when we get out!  

Tuesday, January 9^th., 2024…… The only thing on our calendar today is our square dance class. We were in no hurry to get up this morning. We didn’t take the dogs out because it was raining pretty hard. We thought we would get a break in the weather to take them out, but it didn’t happen this morning!  We left around 12:30 and went to class. Cat’s graduation is this weekend. She still feels a little intimidated and these Tuesday workshop classes help her so much. Charlotte is really good on working on those calls that give the new dancers trouble. Each of the students has something. This Tuesday session is not associated with the Club. It is open to help all dancers. So, we also get a few folks not in our club who come for practice as well. Some don’t drive at night so this is about all they get to do. We all have fun and it gives us all a chance to practice and enjoy the activity. We made arrangements for some of us to caravan to the next beginner’s dance this Saturday in Corvallis. We now have a full car.

We got back home and ate soup for dinner and then Cat went and got Jamie and took him to get a haircut. Once back, we were in for the evening. Tv until bedtime. The winds were whipping pretty good when it was time to go to the spa so we decided to pass for tonight and went to bed.  

Wednesday, January 10^th., 2024…… More rain but we couldn’t go walk anyway because we barely had time to feed the dogs before we had to leave with Jama for her vet visit. She got her shots and Cat also asked for and got some trazodone for dogs for when she gets anxious.  We came home and hung around the house. The sun came out and I decided we should go take a drive. Cat was ready! We drove up to the Scio fish hatchery (I had never been) and made a large loop to get back home. It started raining when we were getting close to home so we timed it just right!  After dinner, Cathye went to a town council meeting. Judy is working on a project to address the rate increases happening at her (and Lynn’s) mobile home park. They present tonight to see if they can get some assistance to address the increases. Since Cat has lived there, she can speak to the subject and how the rate increases have and are going to affect the residents, some of which can’t afford and would be forced to move in the short term. I stayed home and watched the dogs and tv. She got home and said it went well. Judy was well prepared and the council said they would get behind their efforts and offered support. Sounds promising but I don’t think anyone knows how this will end, especially at this point in time, but at least they are trying to do something! Tv and spa until bedtime.          

Thursday, January 11^th., 2024…… More cold weather in the forecast. We are hearing (and seeing) on the news that they are starting to get snow at lower levels. Of course the rains are now bringing snow to the higher elevations, something that’s appreciated by the local ski resorts and chalets.  But we haven’t seen anything here yet. Temps in the Willamette Valley (where we are) are dropping and they think that next week will be the coldest yet. We are keeping an eye on today’s weather from here to Portland because we are headed up there this afternoon for another play. Tonight is The Lion King, which we are both looking forward to seeing! The show isn’t until 7:30 tonight but we are going up early, to allow time to stop somewhere to eat before the show.

Ok, it’s later now…  We made the 100 mile drive with little issues and went to a little Ramen Shop for dinner. It was really good!  We both especially liked the flavored eggs! After a nice meal, we made our way to the parking structure across the street and waited a few minutes for the doors to open. The Keller Auditorium is really nice but older. The seating is a bit more spacious which I like. We hear that they are soon to be underway with construction on a new complex which will replace the Keller. Back to the show. The play was excellent!  We had good seats on the main floor so we didn’t miss anything. They had the characters come down the aisles and it was spectacular!  The main characters were perfectly cast and they gave an amazing performance. Cat says this is one of her top three plays so we will be talking about this one for a long time.

 

We got out and made our way back home with no issues. We pulled in the garage at 11:43pm and let the girls out then headed immediately to bed.       

Friday, January 12^th., 2024…… Needless to say we slept in this morning. We didn’t get out of bed until almost 10:00am! I think that’s the latest to date! But we really didn’t have anything to do today. We hung around the house and watched the weather reports. We have a huge storm coming in and this one is cold! As I mentioned, they have been getting snow at Mt Hood and in the higher elevations, but this one they say will hit even our valley. There is a lot of activity on Facebook about preparations beforehand. There are also businesses, schools, and community services that will be closing. Later in the day, we heard back from our local square dance clubs saying that they will be cancelling their dances both Saturday and Sunday. We were supposed to go to Corvallis on Saturday but that got cancelled. They have also decided to postpone our graduation class/dance until next Sunday. But today was still clear with just a little rain so Crystal managed to make it back up from Roseburg. She changed her flight and will be with us here until Thursday when she heads back home to Missouri. I need to go online and book the shuttle to PDX. The girls planned to go out to Cat’s potting shed to prep some beds for seeding, but they got lazy and spent the day watching movies. They hit the spa and then watched more tv. I was occupied with my taped car auctions. The only time either of us left the property was later, when I had to go pick up a prescription from Walgreen’s. Tv and spa and then bed.    

Saturday, January 13^th., 2024…… We woke up to a snowy view. Most of it was icy sleet but later it stuck to the ground.  So, we just let the girls out to do their business and then stayed in. Cat made breakfast and then after a short rest, they started in on a canning project. They are making blackberry jam today. This is the before they started!

 

Once they got going, they had a great time!

 

While they were doing that, I was tasked to check in online for Cat’s upcoming jury duty. The instructions said to check in the weekend before but when I did I found out that her start date is not until the week of Jan. 22^nd. So, her info won’t be there until next weekend. Oops!  The timing sucks because on the 25^th. we move the motorhome to the fairgrounds for our square dance festival. Now we hope she doesn’t get called in but we’ll see. Even if she does, she can always just come and go from the rv. 

Back to the weather – we got more sleet as the day went by. It was a good decision to cancel all of the square dance events because we weren’t going anywhere! The girls watched tv in Cat’s office and then decided to make a mixed fruit pie. Crystal did the lattice crust and it looked perfect!  

Meanwhile, I watched football. There were two games today, two tomorrow and two on Monday. I also went online and got Crystal’s shuttle booked for Thursday. We made plans to leave early and have breakfast on the way. Later, I went in to watch tv and found that Crystal had already gone to bed. She has a sciatica that has been bothering her. I’ll give her a muscle relaxer tomorrow if she doesn’t feel better. Since the weather is below freezing out there, we decided not to go out to the spa tonight. We watched a couple of programs than went to bed.      

 

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #1 – A New Year Begins

 

Sunday, December 31^st., 2023…… We slept in yet again this morning! I think it’s the cooler weather that keeps us in in the mornings. We were up and going and while Cat walked and fed the dogs, I went out to Walmart and then to get us breakfast. Later in the morning, Cat left for church and I settled in to watch football. We would relax for most of the day. Later, we dressed and went to Seeds to meet up with Butch and Penny for dinner. After that, we got back and changed for our night out! We found a New Years square dance in Eugene. Since we missed out on the dance cancelled last time, this would be Cat’s first mainstream dance. They will go full on for the dancers so the speed will be at a level she hasn’t seen too much so far.

Dinner was fun and we enjoyed the afternoon. We love Butch’s company and we don’t get to see him too much these days since he’s got his son living with him now. We got home and changed and headed down to The Emerald Square Dance Center in Springfield (just a few minutes east of Eugene). I had never been and was anxious to see yet another hall totally dedicated to square dancing. Even though there were several roof support poles around the perimeters, they had it set up very nicely and had plenty of room for the squares. As mentioned, we did indeed see some pretty fast pace calling tonight!  And yes, Cathye struggled and was uncomfortable for a bit. But she got used to it and actually did well and had a great time!  We celebrated the New Year (albeit at 10:00pm!) with sparkling cider and headed back home.

We were about halfway home when Cat’s phone called me – from her purse in the back seat no less!  Yep, she left it at the dance center and someone saw it on the bench where were sitting. It must have fallen out of her shoe bag and she didn’t even miss it. She had me in her contacts as ICE1, so they called me. We thanked them and turned around immediately. There were some folks still on the premises who held it for us. No worries. We were just a bit later getting home.  We had left the girls home alone and both of them do not like the fireworks. But we were there before the major noise happened. There were no firework shows going on so it wasn’t too bad.  But they were glad when we got home! We went out to celebrate the new year with drinks in the spa.     

Monday, January 1^st., 2024…… HAPPY NEW YEAR !   We slept in and then took the dogs out. She fed them while I headed out to Walmart and then got breakfast and coffee. Cat needed Hawaiian rolls for her sliders for today’s party. We are going to an open house that one of our Club members is having today. Before that, we relaxed and watched the Rose Parade (that we had taped) and then part of the first bowl game. I had taped the two semi final games that I will watch later. We left at 1:00pm and went to Sherry’s house. There were only a few people there at first but it got crowded after a bit. We had a nice time and left to come back to feed the girls. We skipped dinner and snacked a few hours later. We went to bed early but I had a rough night. Not sure what caused it but I was not sleepy.    

Tuesday, January 2^nd., 2024…… I ended up with maybe 3 hours sleep last night so today we would wing it and see what the day brings. Cathye walked the dogs and I headed off to my dental appointment. Another cleaning. I got back and ate breakfast and we decided that since it was raining, we would hold off on moving the Christmas boxes from the porch today. We watched tv and relaxed for the day.  No naps so we hit the spa early and went to bed early.   

Wednesday, January 3^rd., 2024…… Good night’s sleep last night. We needed to go to Costco today, so we walked and fed the dogs and then took off.  We stopped at Elmer’s for breakfast then went on to have the car washed. When we drove through the Christmas light show last week, the path was muddy and full of ruts. So, the wheels were filthy!  No worries, we a re good to go now!  We stopped by Kohl’s and Cat used her gift card, then went across the street to Costco. Crystal (her son Michael’s wife) is coming on Saturday. She has family in Eugene so she will be spending time down there as well. We got our shopping done and headed back and unloaded everything and rested for a bit. Then we went out and tackled the decorations. It really wasn’t a big deal. But I will wait until the rest of the boxes are filled before putting them all back on the shelves. Later, I went out to get us take out from Carl’s Jr. Tv and spa until bedtime.   

Thursday, January 4^th., 2024…… The weather is still rainy and/or cloudy. We were able to get out with the dogs and stay dry. Then we fed them and headed off to the gym and Kristi’s. Cat spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up in her office. She also packed up some of the holiday glassware and such so I could add them to my stack outside. Meanwhile, I spent some time paying bills and working on my check book. We are looking into square dance festivals and weekends for planning the year. We are already registered and have rv space at the fairground for Winterfest later this month. There is also an outing with the Club at Camp Koinonia coming up in April. It’s a three-day event. It’s in Sweet Home and has rv camping but I’m told amenities are crude and the spaces are very tight, so we have to decide if we want to camp or just drive there for each day. It’s a camp her church group has gone to before so she knows the place. She says they have a nice kitchen so we have volunteered to help with breakfast on Saturday. We also have made plans to go back to Diamond Lake this year. Turns out they have a square dance weekend there as well. I was able to go online and book a pull thru site for our motorhome. I also sent in the registration form and a check so we are good to go! That outing is in July and immediately follows the Vintage RV outing which Cat has already registered us for. So, we will take the Shasta to that, then come back and park it and take the motorhome (and maybe the boat) and head to Diamond Lake. We also have a Summerfest weekend coming up just before both of these events. So it’s possible we will be coming back from that only to leave again to the Vintage Rally!  I remember telling Cat that, if she wants, there is so much to do in the square dance community that it will change your life. She’s seeing that now! But it’s a fun time for me to relive all of that enthusiasm!

When we were at the gym today, we saw on their calendar that it was National Spaghetti Day!  So, I made spaghetti for dinner. Cathye made the salad and we had a nice meal. 

After that, we relaxed from the day and watched tv and then went in the spa before calling it a night.    

Friday, January 5^th., 2024…… This morning we saw sunshine!  It was unusual and appreciated. I know the SoCal folks are spoiled with all of that great weather and although I am sometimes jealous, I have come to appreciate the seasons here in Oregon. So, when we see an unusual day in winter, it comes with a positive vibe. And the plus we receive after all that rain, is that in spring, when everywhere else in the south is dirt brown, we get a beautiful luscious green landscape!

After walking and feeding the girls, we ate breakfast and watched the 2-hr M*A*S*H Memories Special, taking a break to clean the house. After the chores were done, we went back to the program. I think MASH was one of my top 3 favorite tv shows and every now and then, I overdose on reruns of the show.  We timed it so Cathye could leave at noon to go pick up Lona. They were going off to lunch together. I worked a bit on my spreadsheets for my races and auctions for the new year.  I added them to my 2024 book. Yeah I’m a nerd!     

Saturday, January 6^th., 2024…… We were up late today. No reason! I guess we are just needing more sleep. The girls let us know when they want to go out, which we take care of first thing. But we still give them their walk each morning. We cleaned up the house a bit  Crystal’s flight wasn’t until 4:30pm. Cat would drive up to Portland and pick her up. I would stay home and feed the dogs. They ate on the way back and I had spaghetti leftovers so we were good to go. We visited for a bit then got into the spa. Crystal is 2 hours ahead and she had a full travel day, so she crashed on the couch a little later while we were watching tv. She went in to her room for a much needed sleep. Tomorrow she will be taking our truck and will head down to Roseburg to visit with her father for most of next week. We could go to a choice of dances tonight but we both were ready for a night off. Our Club’s beginner’s dance is tomorrow afternoon. We have volunteered to go early to help set up the ‘experienced’ clothes racks and tables. We relaxed and watched tv and hit the spa before bed.