Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #34 – Prep Work Continues & then a Big Wedding!

 

 

Sunday, August 18^th., 2024…… Today is the anniversary of Jim’s passing. Cathye went out to the cemetery to lay flowers on his grave and spend some time with him.

Today was also Charlotte’s Picnic and Bridge Dance! She is our caller and has retired now but always has hosted a picnic at her lovely home out in the boonies. There is a bridge just down the street and it’s tradition to have a ‘bridge dance’ there each year. This time Shaun called and we had three squares going through the motions. It was fun!

After we left and went home, it was time to get into our wedding frame of mind. We still have a lot to do before Saturday!

Monday, August 19^th., 2024…… First up for me today was a dental appointment. Just a cleaning so I was in and out in no time!  Since it was an early appointment, I stopped and got us breakfast and coffee on the way home. Plans today are to clean up some of the flower beds and pull weeds from the gravel drive – again!  Corey will be here later to do all of that. We did have a communication problem about the time. So, it turned out that they got here in time for Corey to work, the kids to play (and help a little), and Vikki to work on her table arrangements. She has colors chosen for the wedding and brought them all to arrange today while out on the patio deck.  She also spent some time working on her nails. But the weather was nice so she could sit outside for that too!  Before that got here, I sorted out the chairs we had and got all of the tarps and poles and popups out and staged in the garages for later in the week. Later, I bbq’d hot dogs and hamburgers and we had a nice easy meal and talked about the final layout and he said they upped the numbers. There are now 69 folks on her list! I will have to rethink the parking! Tv and spa after they left.     

Tuesday, August 20^th., 2024……  Nothing on the agenda today. We moved Rylee’s pool out of line of sight for any wedding pics. In the afternoon, we headed off to our workshop. Charlotte always uses cards for her choreography and today she found some we have never seen! It’s fun and satisfying to go through a series of calls to get back to your partner! Cathye sat out most of the afternoon but did one later in the day. She has been doing ok managing her heart rate. When she gets winded or tired doing anything, she stops! Nothing much for the rest of the day. So I worked on getting the trailer lights working on the little utility trailer that Corey will be borrowing to bring Vikki’s mom’s wheelchair here this weekend. After that, we hung around the house and relaxed for the day and evening.     

Wednesday, August 21^st., 2024…… I was up and out again early this morning. I left Cat and the girls to sleep and left for my labs. I have a follow up with my doctor next week and she wanted them done beforehand. Later in the morning, we left with our little trailer and went off to Cat’s church to pick up chairs for the wedding. Robin met us there (with the keys) and she took 10 for her birthday party this weekend. We ended up with 44 chairs and got them home and the trailer parked.

Thursday, August 22^nd., 2024……  We wanted to set up everything today but the kids didn’t so we will wait for their help. Besides, Josh is coming in (by train) from Portland for the wedding and will be here to help later. But I did get everything down and ready. We have two big swap meet-type tarps, plus three popups. I wanted them out and sorted just off the lawn where they would eventually go. I want to try and mow tomorrow so I need to leave room for now.  I worked this morning on the ramp that Vikki’s mom requires to get in and out of the house for the restroom. I already had one and knew it would work and just had to get it out and re-install it on the front porch. I added some more support for the wheelchair weight and it was good to go.

Later, we had dinner and then headed off to meet Josh’s 8:50pm train in Albany. It’s way easier for him to travel by train. He recently bought a motorcycle and we expect he will be brave enough soon to ride it down and back. We’re not thrilled with that, but it’s his choice. We did spend the drive home asking him about it. He has never ridden before and just completed a training course. He needs to get his license first. Plus he needs to get some safety equipment for the bike (helmet, riding gear, crash bars, etc.) before he gets it out on the road. We got home and settled in for the night. Tomorrow the work starts.  

Friday, August 23^rd., 2024…… The kids were supposed to show up at 9:00am but were running late, so Josh and I got started after breakfast and coffee. I think we had all of the items up except the large canopy, which we needed final layout approval from Vikki, to complete. But all was good and once we got all of the chairs out and staged, and all of the deck furniture under the smaller of the canopies, my job was pretty much done. Corey worked some more on the yard and they went home.  We took Josh and went out to the Le Cirque Café and Confectionary. This is a rather new place here in downtown Lebanon, and is based 

  on a ‘Harry Potter’ theme.

They even have butterbeer on their menu! Josh had brisket mac and cheese and both Cathye and I had the soup flight. We each got three samplers of their soup of the day and liked them. I did swap out my chicken mushroom with Cathye for her chili, which she said was a little too spicy for her taste. Later, it was tv and dinner before calling it a night.

Saturday, August 24^th., 2024…… WEDDING DAY! The wedding is set for 2:00pm. Corey and Vikki and family, plus their attendants got here around 10:30am. Penny got here early to help as well. She has been working on getting a new car and they told her it was in and ready for pickup today. So, she will be leaving after the wedding to go get it. She’s excited for Corey and Vikki, but also for her new ride! Corey and his guys did the draperies and the girls did Vikki’s nails and set up the tablecloths and flowers. The guests arrived for the scheduled start time, but they had to wait. Vikki wouldn’t be ready to come out until well after 3:00pm. But, everything went well and Cat did an excellent job officiating the services. The kids chose the ‘humorous’ option for their script and Cat had fun with that!  And they are now hitched! Here are pics from the day.

 

 

                        CONGRATULATIONS Mr. and Mrs. Corey Elliott-Pierson!

 

The five chairs in the front are for those from their lives who have passed….

 

After the food and cake and music, everything winded down and the guests left. A few of the guys stayed and helped stack chairs and take down the tables and popups and canopies. That was great for me!  I will put the parts and pieces of the canopies back in their bags tomorrow because I need to do some work on them before I store them. We came in and rested from the hectic day. As I said, Cat did a great job as minister and as host, and as requested by me, took it nice and slow for the day. But she was pooped after the long day and we went to bed earlier than usual!

Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #33 – Heading South for the Week

 

Sunday, August 11^th., 2024…… It was a quiet Sunday for us. Cathye headed off to church and I spent most of the day watching tv. We leave tomorrow so I loaded the bikes and parked the Honda in the shop garage where it will be easy for tomorrow morning. I had to remember the locks and chargers and water bottles and helmets but I think I’ve got everything!  I don’t expect to get satellite service at the park so I made sure I had all of my shows ready to tape this next week. Later, we watched some more of our taped shows then hit the spa and called it a night.  

Monday, August 12^th., 2024…… We were ready this morning to get going!  We walked and fed the dogs and I went out and moved the motorhome out and got the car hooked up. I think it was around 9:30am when we left. The trip went well. We stopped for fuel before we left town and then again at a rest stop to walk the dogs and we got into the park and checked in around 2:00pm. Once we got parked and everything set up

we rested for a while, then took the girls out to explore the area. Of course Rylee had to go in the river!

After that, I wanted to pull the bikes off the car and lock them up. Problem was when I went to get the locks out, my bag was completely empty!  We got hit!  We went back through the process of where they were stolen. Could be when we got fuel, or maybe at the rest stop, or possibly when we took a walk with the dogs at the river. Either way, we lost one lock and chain and some tools. Luckily, we had the other lock in Cat’s bag, which was untouched. I took off and went to get another lock and cable and we were able to get both bikes secured in camp. Then, when I was walking around the coach, I had our second shock!  I noticed the front tires!  One was really worn out! I knew I had an alignment or shock issue with the front end, but I didn’t expect it to wear the tires out after only 4,000 miles!  I contemplated going out to search for a local tire dealer to see if I could get it in.  But I thought I would be able to get home ok if I slowed down and was careful. Then I could find a place close to home to get the tires replaced and the suspension worked on.  But I was still worried and it would bother me at night when I was trying to sleep. We also couldn’t get a satellite signal so we had to make due with dvds for the week. We will be checking out a day early because we have a commitment on Saturday, so we have 4 days with no Directv.  

We decided to go out to dinner with our little group here this week. We chose the Black Bear diner and had a nice meal. When we got back, we took the pups out for a walk and then settled in for the night and watched an old Rock Hudson movie (Man’s Favorite Sport). I think we were in bed by 9:30!     

Tuesday, August 13^th., 2024……  This morning we took the bikes out for a ride. Cathye is trying not to do anything that would exert her too much, and she used the electric assist and had no problems and we had a good ride. The rest of the day was spent just lounging around. There are four rigs in our group at this campout. It is the first time we have been out with The Roaming Gnomes so we are getting to know them. Pat is the organizer and she will be the one who coordinates future campouts. They are heading out in September for a 2-3 week trip through Washington and Canada around the Osoyoos loop. We have too much going on for that long of a trip so we will pass. Next up for us is a trip to the coast to Osprey Point park. We suggested that one so we will go. Jackie and Sheryl are the other two with us this week. Both have camper vans. Sheryl is full time in hers. Not for us, but she likes it. She busies herself going around in a loop visiting her kids scattered around the northwest. Later, we met up with them for a potluck dinner. Pat made tacos and the rest of us brought fixins or fruit or dessert. We went back home and started our firepit and they came down and sat with us for a while. We talked about future trips and Pat shared how hard it has been trying to organize the group trips. We had a few suggestions but don’t want to get too involved because we have so much else going on in our lives to take this on right now.  Later, we took the dogs out for a quick walk, then bed.   

Wednesday, August 14^th., 2024…… Nothing this morning. Cathye was invited to go up to Jackie's rig to paint rocks. I found one earlier that she liked. We had breakfast and hung around the campground and while she was gone, I had Rylee down for a swim again. I stopped by and checked out the rock work. Nice! 

The weather is super nice today, with temps in the low 80s. The water temp in the river is also very nice. There are a few folks using the boat launch here in the park. We saw a couple of guys putting in their little skimmer boats that run the river and race here. They also put in kayaks or float tubes and head downriver. The girls are floating tomorrow. Cathye and I don’t have our tubes this trip but she doesn’t feel comfortable going right now anyway. Later, we all headed downtown to the Hellgate Jetboat Tour bldg. We had all booked a two hour ‘quick and scenic’ tour downriver. We had taken the Rogue River tour from Gold Beach inland, but never have done the river from this end before. While we were getting ready to board, I heard a, “Hey, Terry!” It was Merrilyn, Penny’s long-time friend, with her husband Brad. They were coming back from their Alaska cruise and were staying in another rv park in the area and just happened to book this tour!  They were in line behind us so they sat in another area on the boat, while the five of us took the front row. I took pics of them and they took a few of us.

You can see Brad (with the white beard) and Merrilyn several rows back!

It was super hot while we were loading and sitting at the dock, but it was nice and breezy when we got going downriver. The trip was fantastic! Our driver/guide was excellent, with his 24 years of doing this, and he made the ride a lot of fun. There were enough folks booked that they used two boats. We didn’t see the second one until the trip back. We ended up in the driest seats because we had the front windshield to ward off most of the water that came in! The folks in the back got soaked! Our driver talked about some of the fantastic homes on the water. He said they were in the 4-5 million dollar range. They were sure nice!

We saw eagle’s and osprey’s nests and deer on the ride.

Also, geese and cranes and egrets.

Turns out we ended up right about the same place that Jerry’s boats in Gold Beach come up to. So we now have seen the entire river system from Grants Pass to Gold Beach. We especially liked the area called Hellgate, where the rocks form a canyon with a small area to pass through on the river.

When we were on the way back, the second boat showed up. Our driver and the other boat played, ‘soak the boat’ with each other. It was fun and cooled us off!  

Once we got back to the dock, we hooked up with Brad and Merrilyn and got caught up a bit. We invited them to come by but they had to take care of their dog, who got bit by something and had a reaction. They took her in to a local vet and got treatment. She posted on Facebook to show how swollen Piper was.

After we got back, we rested and ate a light dinner and watched another movie. Tonight, it was Bailey, the Lost Puppy. Another dog walk in the dark and then bed.         

Thursday, August 15^th., 2024……  Today, the girls will go floating. Like I said, we couldn’t go this time, so I volunteered to watch Pat’s dog. She brought him over and then I drove them in Pat’s car down to the put in point above the bridge in town. We filled up the tubes and they got going. I took a couple of pics...

and then they were off.  I took her car back to the park and we waited to hear from them if or when they had any issues getting back to shore at our park. No problem and they showed up earlier than we thought and walked back to their rigs. Later, we all went out to Casa Flores for Mexican food. We had been there before so we wanted to go back and enjoy the food and drink. It was tasty.  TV and relaxing with the dogs...

then an early bedtime.

Friday, August 16^th., 2024…… We were up early and got going. We head home today. I had already put the bikes on the rack and got a lot of the gear put away last night, so today was pretty easy. I think it was 8:30am or so when we left the park. I was really nervous because of the bad tire, but the farther we traveled, the more I felt we would be ok. We got home around noon and unhooked the car. I backed the motorhome in and we unloaded everything. I found we were lucky because I now have metal cord showing on the inside of that one tire!

But at least now I can search out a place to take it for repair and new tires. As I said, we unloaded and Cat got laundry started and I got the bikes and bike rack off and put away. We came in and rested for most of the day. Next on our list of priorities now is prepping for the kid’s wedding here. That will start tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day resting and watching tv. We settled in our own rooms and watched our own taped programs. For me it was racing and little league games. I got some watched but I’m not near caught up. Cathye did a little to clear her list too. Then we got together and watched America’s Got Talent. Of the eleven acts on the first round, we picked our favorites. Tomorrow we will watch the results show to see how we did.   

Saturday, August 17^th., 2024…… As I said, we have the wedding to work on today. But first up is our backpack giveaway. We try to do this every year. The local churches and volunteer organizations around Sweet Home collect funds and buy school supplies for the low income/underprivileged kids in the school district. They host a day at the high school where they have all kinds of booths and giveaways for the school kids. Our church does the backpack truck. This year they a U-Haul truck loaded with crates of backpacks. The kindergarten through 6^th grade kids get a filled backpack, and the jr. high and high schoolers get an empty one. I am told they will all get Chromebooks when their classes start. Cathye and Penny worked the little kids and I had the older ones. It was interesting to see the enthusiasm (or lack of in some cases) of the kids coming in with their parents to get their packages. After a few hours, we got relieved by the next shift, and headed home. Thanks, Penny for all your help today! Cathye got a little overheated and was happy you stepped in to help out for a while!  

When we got home, we sat out on the deck and made plans. We are getting chairs (and a dais) from the church but we will wait until Wednesday to get those. I wanted to put the fire pit on dollies so I could check out the gas connection. We want to move it out to use that section of the deck for the wedding party. Turns out I put it in with a quick-connect and was able to move the fire pit out of the way pretty easily. Then I figured out a way to lower the flex line under the deck and I put a cover over the hole so we can use the entire area now.

 

I put away all of the sanding tools for the bar and got that area squared away. We originally wanted to have the bartop epoxied and finished to use as a serving table at the wedding. But I am worried that the coats of epoxy will not entirely cure in time. So, we have decided to just use it as-is for the reception. Later, I went out and got us burgers and fries from Jack in the Box. We watched the AGT results show. We did ok but were surprised by a couple of the viewers votes. We skipped the spa and went to bed. We were both tired but I think we are still catching up from day and the trip.