Mary, Hood to Coast Relay, & Spaghetti

Posted on August 27, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Before getting to the cheerful stuff, I’m compelled to report that we’ve lost another friend. Mary Newell-Dickinson depart this mortal domain on August 20th. She was only 68, and passed peacefully in her sleep. Her departure was a total surprise to everyone, especially her husband, Ross. It’s a tragedy, but we rest comfortably in the knowledge that she’s just gone ahead to help us find our way when it’s our time. So, whether or not you knew Mary, please remember her and send healing prayers to Ross.

Incidentally, Mary was a member of the OMTAAMB (One More Time Around Again Marching Band). Maybe you’ve heard of them.

Our friends Jeannie, and Susan are also in the band. I’ll talk about them on another day.

Yesterday Diane and I chipped in to help daughter Jennifer prepare food for the Hood to Coast walkers and runners. For those of you who are not familiar with the Hood to Coast, it’s a relay race from Mt. Hood to Seaside. It’s about a 200 mile trek for the runners. Walkers also relay but start from Portland. The object of this event is to make it to Seaside before all those who went before you drink all the beer.

Team members take turns and each member normally runs or walks three 5 KM segments. The runners/walkers start in the morning and continue throughout the night with the last participants arriving in Seaside Saturday morning. It’s one of the largest relay races in the world, and they always come through St. Helens. One of the main stops for food is the Columbia County Fair Grounds which just happens to be located on the outskirts of St. Helens. One of the traditions for providing food is for the St. Helens High School parents and Seniors to sponsor the main food service for the Senior’s Safe & Sober program. They make lots of money doing this, but they provide some pretty good food in return. High Carb stuff to keep participants moving.

Diane and my contribution was to make spaghetti for 200. We’ve never done that before so it was an exciting challenge. During our effort we made 8 gallons of sauce and boiled up 10 double packages of spaghetti noodles. The spaghetti noodles were cooked to perfection. I know that’s true because we know who Al Dente is. He lives just down the street.

Now, here’s where I must share what learned during this evolution … when stirring either sauce, or noodles, it’s beneficial to have tools with handles that are longer than the water or sauce is deep. Not observing this rule results in repeated, painful burns to fingers when attempting to get stuff from the bottom of the pan. I only burned myself twice before opting for a long-handled spoon to finish the job. In all we had two very large pots of sauce, and I cooked the noodles 3 packages at a time in the same pots after moving the sauce to holding tanks with heaters. The hardest part about doing the noodles was waiting for the water to boil. For some reason it took an incredibly long time. Once it got going, however, it worked just fine so I just kept using it over and over, adding water sparingly to keep from cooling it down too much.

The final vote of confidence for all that work was received from the runners who complimented Jennifer and Lydia on the great spaghetti. And, they sold every bit of it. We did good.

After turning over our spaghetti efforts to Daniel & Jeran, Diane and I made ourselves presentable so we could join some of our Winnebago friends, Cliff, Susie, Carolann, & Terry at the St. Helens Elks Lodge for dinner. These folks park at the Elks a couple of times a year which gives us more opportunities to visit with them. We treasure our time with these folks.

That’s Susie, Diane, Carolann, Terry, Me, and Cliff after the end of a pretty terrific meal served by one of the happiest waitresses I believe I’ve ever seen. As Terry said, “she should smile more.” She couldn’t do that, of course, because there wasn’t a moment when she wasn’t smiling.

The St. Helens Elks Lodge #1999 sits on a hill with a terrific view of the Columbia River. I don’t have a photo to prove it, but that’s OK. I’m sure everyone believes me. Right?

While Diane and I were playing with spaghetti, Jewel went to the Portland International Airport to meet her daughter, Jessica, and family when they arrived from Perth, Australia. That, my friends, is a very long trip.

Now it’s Saturday, 1530 hours in the afternoon. This morning I mowed the entire yard, as well as one of our neighbor’s yards, edged stuff, and hauled a trailer load of debris to the burn pile. I could do that because it was only in the 80’s. I’m allowed outside when it’s under 90. I don’t know why it matter becasue I sweat just as much either way. But, rules are rules, ya know?

That’s it for now. I have some ball games to watch.

Doctor Visits, Golf, Gmail & Outlook, RV Dumping

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Last Monday I had a doctor’s appointment but gave it up so Diane could go in my place. Since I don’t go to the doc very often I was pretty sure they wouldn’t notice that Diane wasn’t me. But, they fooled me, and knew it was Diane right away. I think it’s because her hair is longer than mine. Even though they knew it wasn’t me they chose to see Diane anyway because, well, she needed to be seen. My appointment was just for a 2-month followup. Nothing’s happened in the last two months, however, so I was OK not seeing the doc. But, as luck would have it, they had an opening with my doctor right after my original appointment, so all that subtrafuge, though fun, was a total waste of time.

Diane had to see the doc because she developed a mysterious rash on her neck that was driving her nutsoid. She said it didn’t hurt, it just itched. We were concerned that it might be a new episode of shingles, and the doctor was wondering that herself. Diane now has some cream to help with the itch and it appears to be working.

Me? I’m fine. My BP was 117/68 (or something like that), HR 72, and weight 197. The weight, of course, is incorrect. It always is at the doc’s office. I wonder why that is. In addition to asking all the normal questions about any changes I may have noticed, doc checked my ear to see how the Mohs surgery went. The ear is still a bit tender, but it healed so nicely that you can barely see that anything was done. My surgeon did a fabulous job. I also had photos taken of my retinas to see how my diabetes is going. I got the good news today that it’s all normal.

Yesterday I was forced to go golfing with Junior and Doug and I had one of my better rounds (52). Not bad for a 37 handicap. Yes, that’s how bad I really am. The reason is because I’m no too concerned with trees and just pretend they aren’t there if they happen to be between me and where I want to go. Most of the time it doesn’t work, but the times it does is lots of fun.

After golf I paid a visit to Eva, one of my high school class mates, who was having trouble with adding a Gmail account to her Outlook application. I couldn’t figure it out, but had a great visit. After returning home I went to work on the internet in an attempt to figure out how to fix it. It was a waste of time because I was really wanting to be outside working but Diane wouldn’t let me because it was so hot. Running 90+ I think and I’m forbidden to be outside when it’s that hot. I don’t mind, but hot days are the ones I’d rather be inside anyway so I don’t whine about it. Well, I don’t whine about it every time. Just once in a while, to keep in practice.

No, regarding Gmail and Outlook … I figured it out this afternoon and it’s kind of interesting. I’d explain it to you but I don’t want to. If you’re really interested, let me know and I’ll tell you.

Before doing the Gmail research, I hooked up the travel trailer in preparation for a run to the dump station next to Burgerville. Regarding that … I don’t believe any of the rumors going around about Burgerville using water from the dump station to wash their pans. I think it goes directly into the city sewer system. Honest. The trailer had to be dumped because when we left Big Eddy on July 24th their dump station was no available. So, we just went on home thinking we would do it when we got to St. Helens. But, we didn’t. Instead, we just went home to visit with Jewel and the dogs. Once the trailer was parked, there seemed to be too many other things going on that made hooking up the trailer difficult. Today, however, we decided that it had to be done since we will need to have all tanks empty for our trip to Beverly Beach next week. The dump went well, in case you’re wondering. Didn’t spill a drop. I was a bit concerned that the black tank may have solidified after sitting for a month, and that I may have to get a bunch of Fleet enemas to get things going, but it wasn’t necessary. It was a complete, uneventful evacuation of all tanks. Made me proud.

Upon returning home I put on my outdoor work clothes because I wanted to flatten a portion of the front yard that’s been a lump for years. Despite warnings about temps too high for me to be working outside (98) I went anyway and accomplished the task. then I took a shower so Diane would let me sit in the living room this evening.

For those of you keeping track of Jewel, I must admit that Diane and I are having difficulty helping her gain weight. She only weighs like 12 pounds and nothing seems to stick to her. Actually, she weighs more than that but it’s a secret. She did make a comment the other day that I thought was quite funny. She said she’s just a stick figure with wrinkles. But, she’s healthy and appears to be happy, so we should probably just quit making her eat ice cream all the time and leave her alone.

Hope all of you are happy and well.

Apples, Flowers, & Weeds

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

It’s August 12th, almost 10:30 am and I’m already sweaty from my morning chores. I was up at 5 am, like normal, fed the dogs, then napped a little on the couch. The nap was terminated when Diane reported that it was 9 am and made me get up and peel about eleventeen apples for apple sauce.

Immediately after finishing the apples, and getting the pan on the stove I was encouraged to wax the truck. Thankfully it was only 86 degrees in the garage or it would have been the end of me. Still, I’m happy that my assigned tasks were indoors.

Diane did her part, too, by taking her little squirter thing into the yard to kill all the dandelions. And, we have a bunch of those thanks to all our up hill neighbors. This time of year they aren’t too bad because everything pretty much dies, or goes dormant to escape the heat.

She uses a holistic mixture of Dawn soap, vinegar, and epsom salts which actually almost smells good enough to taste. I like vinegar.

Our friend, Jewel, was up shortly after me this morning and got busy in the yard right away watering all the plants we stuffed in the ground yesterday. In case you forgot, here’s what we did:

My job was to poke the holes. Where the holes were to be poked was generally decided by a conversation that went something like this;

“Jewel. Where should I put this one?”

“I don’t care.”

Moving it a bit, I’d ask, “How about here.”

“Looks good to me, but move it closer to that rock.”

“This rock?”

“No, that one over there.”

“OK,” I’d say, then proceed to poke the hole with my Pulaski.

“Maybe it would look better by that other rock, the one that’s poking up into the air.”

It went on like that until holes were poked all over the place just waiting for something to be stuffed into them. It worked out nicely in the end. We’re a pretty good team as long as I mind.

You know, of course, the foregoing is mostly a fabrication.

Oh! I also shaved this morning because we’re going to the beach for the weekend. Jewel has agreed to dog sit while we go watch Lydia play in a soccer tournament in Warranton. We wanted to take the trailer but apparently everyone has heard about what a hard time I have parking it so denied us entry. She finally found an overpriced motel in Seaside we can use, but we have to be out of our room during daylight hours so they can rent it to their regular hourly customers who agreed to free up the nights for us. We thought that was pretty nice of them. They also promised to change the sheets which was an unexpected bonus.

Staying in Seaside will give Diane a chance to stick her toes in the Pacific Ocean, something she loves to do. The beach is where she feels her best and I’m happy for that. I love it, too. There’s nothing quite as magnificent as the Oregon Coast.

I spect I should end this and get ready to leave. I’m sure Diane is busy packing her “stuff” already. Maybe she did it last night.

Be safe.

Cedric’s a Sailor, County Fair, Camping, and Golf

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Well, we made it safely back from our latest camping trip and I have a few minutes available to catch up on all our activities. I would have done a daily ‘thing’ but we (AT&T) did not have cell service and there was no internet. We didn’t have satellite TV, either. We really roughed it this time. Those who use Verizon and Sprint were still able to communicate which made me briefly consider switching carriers. Then Diane drove toward Vernonia, to the Forest Ranger Station, to call her Mom, Jean. During that process one of the Rangers came out and told her if she had Verizon she was out of luck because there was no service. But, AT&T worked. So, we’ll be sticking with AT&T for a while.

Before all the camping fun began we bid farewell to Cedric on the 19th as he began his trip to Navy boot camp at Great Lakes Recruit Training Center, just north of Chicago. He is a third generation Sailor in our family. Graduation is September 17th, I think, and there are plans in the works to attend the ceremony. I’m not sure, yet, if Diane and I will attend because Cedric is only allowed 4 guests. I think we plan to leave that special event for the immediate family because Diane and I have non-refundable plane tickets to Connecticut on September 20th. Two airplane rides that close together isn’t financially feasible, so we’ll rely on family photos and participate vicariously through them. We’ll see him when he comes home on leave.

Duly sworn in and officially a member of the Navy. Proud Mom, Dad, and Sister.

After wishing Cedric a safe journey, we all went home. That afternoon we went to the movie and watched “The Secret Life of Pets” at the Columbia Theater in St. Helens with Bob, Steff, and Jewel. Then we had dinner at Dockside. All of us were stuffed to the gills. By the time we got home it was time for bed.

The first day of the Columbia County Fair weekend was Wednesday, the 20th. That’s the day old people get in for free so we almost always go. There were fairs in past years where we helped and earned badges for daily entrance, but those days are behind us now. We took Gilligan, Baylee, and Jerrie with us, using ride wrist bands and entry tickets that Diane bought ahead of time. She also got wrist bands for Lydia and Jeran so it worked well that the 3 little ones were chaperoned by the two larger ones. It as pretty amazing that the children chose to go see all the animals before giving in to the allure of the carnival rides. Toward the end of the day, Jeff & Heather arrived and took charge of G, B, and J then we went plant shopping. Everyone had a great time. Even the old people.

Gilligan, Jerrie, and Baylee on the way in

Lydia, Jerrie, Gilligan, and Baylee confront a T-Rex.

Lydia conquers the wall … multiple times.

Jewel and Diane with their trusty dogs.

Bob finally has Steff where he wants her.

On Thursday, the 21st, we finalized our preparations for our Camping trip at Big Eddy. For those of you not familiar with the area, Big Eddy is a county park situated on the Nehalem River that flows through Vernonia. The river begins it’s journey on the east side of the Coast Range then loops around the north end of the range near the mouth of the Columbia River. Then it winds it’s way SW, finishing it’s 119 mile journey at Nehalem Bay, which is near Nehalem, OR. The bay feeds into the Pacific Ocean.

Diane and I fiddled around long enough to be the last ones out of the chute, consequently arriving last, which was OK. We arrived without incident, got parked and connected with lots of help from those who were already there. Then we started relaxing right away. That means we huddled around the camp fire all day and well into the evening, eating when food was ready, then going to bed when it was pitch black outside. Since the park is booked exclusively for the St. Helens Grace Baptist Church kids could run free, which they did, with no fear of danger, unless they fell down, which some did. It was chilly for the first couple of days so most of the time was spent around a fire, sharing stories and eating.

Here’s the night fire …

… and the day fire …

On Saturday the 23rd Bob, Steff, Jennifer, Diane, and I made the 7 mile trip to Vernonia to see what the Vernonia Saturday Market was about. Since nothing else was going on in town, there were only 4 booths open but they all had beautiful quality products. It was good to visit the town. The most interesting part of the visit was learning about David’s story. David is the first person we encountered in a little knickknacks shop on a corner. He was extremely nice, and friendly, and pointed us to his boss’s store a couple blocks up the street. At that store Donna, the owner, told the girls about David and what a remarkable life he had survived. He has Aspergers Syndrome and spent the first 55 years of his life hidden away from contact with anyone but his Mom or Dad. They didn’t know how to deal with him so tucked him away when folks visited. He never went to the doctor, dentist, or school. When his Dad died 7 years ago, his sister took him in and spent the next 5 years cleaning him up and exposing him to social situations until he was comfortable leaving his home. Donna met David when he and his sister visited her store and was impressed with David’s willingness to help. This led to a friendship that caused Donna to purchase another store which David manages. It’s his store. He’s 62 now and doing very well considering how much he missed during those 55 years of isolation. His store is on the corner of Adams Ave. and Bridge Street. Stop in and say HI, then go to Donna’s store and thank her for her incredible benevolent spirit.

After attending outdoor Sunday service, everyone packed up to go home. Bob & Steff were heading to Pendleton where they stayed at the Wild Horse Casino. On the way they were trapped in huge traffic jam caused by accident. It took them many hours longer than anticipated to reach their destination, but they eventually made it. We made it home without incident since we didn’t have to travel any of the freeways. The dogs were extremely happy to see us and Ziva let us know that it was a dirty trick to leave her behind when we know how much she enjoys camping. So, she will be going with us on all future trips.

This morning I went golfing with Doug and JP. It was a beautiful morning and we all did really well. I had three pars, a new personal best for me. Doug chipped in from 60 feet for a birdie which was fun to watch. It was a good day. When we finished we went to lunch, like we always do. I called Diane to see if she would like to join us, but she declined because she thought we were going to Burgerville, our normal choice. But, this time we went to the Village Inn where I had a very good Chicken Fried Steak, hash browns, and eggs. It was very good and I ate it all. Diane was upset about not going when she found out we didn’t go to Burgerville. It was very good and she missed out.

On the way home I stopped at O’Reilly’s for new spark plug wires for the truck because one wire burned out against the exhaust manifold making the truck sound a lot like a John Deere tractor. I also filled the truck with gas and got a container of gas for the lawn mower thinking I’d get something done outside. But, when Diane and Jewel left to go play around in thrift stores, I was told “No working outside because it’s 90 degrees!” I can only assume the she wasn’t in the mood to go looking for me after dying from heat exhaustion, and laying in the hot sun for hours. That probably wouldn’t be any fun at all, so I’m just staying inside, as directed.

That’s it. Except for this hydrangea that grows by our home.

We haven’t figured out what causes it to come out in multiple colors like this, but it’s kinda neat.

Astoria, Soccer, Crabs, Clams, Cod, & Cow

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Today was a really good one. We drove to Astoria to watch the girls play soccer and to celebrate Jewel’s last day of her antibiotics and her return to semi-normalcy. It’s “semi” because I believe we’re all in agreement that none of are every truly normal. Something is always out of whack in one way or another.

The trip to Astoria began at noon under a dark, cloudy sky with the slight promise of a little rain. We knew the girls would play rain or shine so the weather prospects weren’t relevant. As we neared our destination, Duggar’s in Warrenton, so we could eat lunch first, the sky showed a slim promise of sunshine, but it didn’t last. Thankfully, however, it wasn’t cold.

Lunch was awesome. Lydia had chicken strips and a cup of clam chowder, Diane had a halibut sandwich, Jennie had a Duggar Cheeseburger, Jewel had fried clams, and I had my customary, trip to the beach Crab Louie. There’s nothing quite as good as a crab louie made with fresh Dungeness crab. I’m sure some of you may disagree, but that’s OK. I regret that I failed to take a photo of our meals to share. I do have this one, however, that we ate with Diane’s Mom, Jean, the other day:

It was pretty good, too. Got it from Zhen’s in St. Helens. For folks familiar with St. Helens, and even those who aren’t, Zhen’s used to be Lucky Inn.

After lunch, we went a bit further down Highway 101 to visit Petco so Jen and Lydia could get a halter and collar for their new cat, Beau. He’s all gray and very cute. His new collar has a bow tie on it. I’ll share a photo when I get one. Whether you want me to, or not.

One the shopping was done we parted ways. Lydia had to be at the field by 4 pm but the game didn’t start until 5 Diane, Jewel, and I headed further West to the Pacific Ocean. Jewel has been whining that she hasn’t seen the Pacific Ocean for years, forgetting, apparently, that she lived on an island surrounded by the same ocean for the last 8 years or so. One of us pointed that out and she rephrased her whine that she hadn’t seen the PO from Oregon in a very long time. So, we rectified that. It wasn’t hard for Diane to go that extra step because she makes up reasons to visit the coast. Sadly, we don’t do it often enough for either of us. It’s a great place to be and there’s just nothing quite as pretty as an Oregon beach even on the worst of days.

We drove through Fort Stevens to the very end where the road terminates in a parking lot on the Columbia River side of the park. Along that stretch is a very nice beach that was being put to good use when we arrived. We didn’t stay long because the object, after all, was for us to reach the ocean. Back tracking a bit we stopped at the parking lot for the South Jetty, took a short walk to a viewing tower, and got our ocean fix for the day. Here’s proof:

After the Kodak Moment it was time for us to head for the soccer field so we wouldn’t miss anything.

The game was fun to watch, but not as exciting as normal because it was just a scrimmage between the two teams. They played almost a full game during which the Astoria goalie made some pretty incredible stops. They scored against Lydia once off a corner kick. The reason they scored was because she didn’t have any defenders to help and just before the kick one of our coaches was yelling at our girls to get away from the goal for some reason. Anyway, it paid off for Astoria because they got it in the net and there wasn’t a thing Lydia could have done to stop it. It ended 1-0.

When the game was mostly done, they called it and regrouped for another round but the Astoria goalie shed her gear to play in the field leaving the keeperless. Fortunately, St. Helens has two goalies so one, Morgan, was loaned to Astoria. St. Helens scored against her once and Lydia kept the other goal clear so the day ended in a 1-1 tie, I guess. Then we went home. Diane made me drive.

The day before yesterday Jeff showed up with his three youngest children and we had a great visit. It’s always fun when they are around because they are so full of energy. That’s Gilligan, Baylee, Diane, and Jerrie.

And here’s a sunset I failed to share with you on July 10th. Sorry about that.

Now it’s late and we’re having our final visit with Cedric tomorrow before he ships out for boot camp. He has to be in Portland Monday but doesn’t leave until Tuesday after taking his official oath of enlistment. We get to witness that at 9 am Tuesday, then it’s hands off Cedric until his first leave because once he swears in he belongs to the Navy, not us. We’re all excited for him and he’s ready to go. Has been for months.

I’ll be back when my head gets cluttered with stuff I don’t want there any more.

Edited 7/17/2016: Had to change Cod to Halibut in the narrative to make the story more factual. But, I left it Cod in the title because Halibut doesn’t begin with a “C”.

Good News, Bad News, and Just News

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday was a lot of fun, sad, and brutal. Contradictory terms, I know, but it’s all true. Fun because, well, I was able to attain a vertical position, again, we were able to stay up until eleventy-thirty for a farewell visit with Ashlee and Mike, and the Walters clan joined the fray in to regain custody of their vehicle which they loaned Ashlee and Mike for the duration of their apartment hunting visit. Sad because we were saying goodbye to the newest members of our extended family. Brutal because we stayed up until eleventy-thirty then had to get up Oh-Dark-Thirty (2:00 am) for the trip to the airport.

OK – that’s all done now. Diane and I dropped Ashlee & Mike at the United sign, got goodbye hugs, then returned home around 4:00 am. We were in bed by 4:01 and both of us slept like logs. Well, one of us did. I was up at 7 to feed the dogs, who were confused with all the commotion, then went back down until 11:30. Diane remained prone until 12:30. She always has to outdo me on things like that. I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure she knows when the dogs wake up but pretends to sleep so I’ll get up and feed them. Her fitbit backs her up so I can’t really challenge her about that. Besides, it’s the least I can do, get up to feed the dogs, when she feeds me so well. I really don’t mind. Honest.

The really good news about the A&M visit is that A found an apartment to rent and will be returning soon to take up residence and begin her doctoral studies at Pacific University. Here are a couple of pics taken to commemorate the visit – Mike & Ashlee are the young ones, in case you didn’t know.

This is of all the ‘kids’ who were left standing at the end of the night from tallest to smallest.

Since we got up late enough to have breakfast for lunch, and it’s pouring buckets of rain, I’ve been given the day off. Can’t mow, can’t pull weeds, can’t trim “stuff”, can’t weed whack, and it’s too humid to mow anything so I’ll just fiddle around. So, I read the news.

With all the news about Muhammad Ai passing, a sad loss I confess, but there is a lot more happening out there in the world. And other places.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft, for instance. The JUpiter Near polar Orbiter was launched on August 5th, 2011 and is scheduled to enter orbit around Jupiter on July 4th, a mere 24 days away. That’s quite a hike. I can’t help but wonder what the citizens of Jupiter will think when they see our JUNO buzzing around their planet. Will they be happy? Will they feel threatened? Will they retaliate? Guess we’re going to find out.

Then there’s the knucklehead, and his knucklehead sister, who wandered off a designated path and fell into a very hot acidic pool in Yellowstone National Park. I wonder what their drug of choice was that caused them to think it was a good idea. There was no further news about the sister, and her brother’s death is purely speculation because there was no body left to recover. He’s probably headed for Arizona where he will hide out while his sister waits the required seven years to cash in on the 2 million dollar life insurance policy she took out on her brother just a few days before the plunge. That’s a guess, of course. It might be 3 million.

That’s enough news. I’m going to quit, now, and maybe draw something. Diane bought me a $60 set of water-color pencils (for $4 at Goodwill) and I have a new drawing pad, so should give it a shot and see what happens. Could be interesting. Never done anything like that before. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Wallow Lake, Nampa, Oil Trains

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

As I write this portion, I’m sitting in a 26-31 foot travel trailer in Wallowa Lake State Park with my First Wife, Diane. The 26-31 foot reference is because Oregon DMV and the seller were at odds as to how long the trailer really is. Of course we went with DMVs 31 foot guess because that allows us to pay more for license plates. But, I tricked them because I invoked my right of licensing one vehicle using my VA entitlements and chose to transfer them from Diane’s pickup to the trailer. Saved me $200.

For those of you who aren’t acquainted with Oregon, Wallowa Lake is just south of Joseph, Oregon in the NE corner of the state, and the Wallowa Lake State Park is at the extreme southern end of the lake. Unless you want to travel on some unchartered roads, there’s one way in, and one way out. On that road is Joseph, Oregon which is named for, and the burial place of, Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce tribe. We stopped to ponder our shadows in the stream that runs through the town. That’s Ziva on the left, Diane, then me.

The lake is beautiful, surrounded by mountains known as the Little Alps by locals. From the distance, say I-84, the Little Alps are always visible and almost always topped with snow. Very pretty. They are also visible from the lake and I’m here to tell you that the nice warm days don’t turn into nice pleasant nights. I gets down to freezing this time of year. That’s true because the Ranger told me so, and I went out side at night to see for myself. It was cold. Made parts of me shrivel right up.

The trip to get here from our designated domicile took about 9 hours. In a car it would have only been around 6 hours but we were towing a trailer, and we had Ziva, the big black dog, with us. So, 3 hours were spent stopping for gas, stopping for the bathroom, and stopping to eat.

Ziva is a very good traveller who didn’t whine one time for us to stop, and never once asked “are we there yet?” Then, after we arrived, she was perfectly content to just lay on her new cushion in the trailer all night and didn’t wake anyone up at all. Because of that we figure that Ozzie is the culprit who instigates the 5 am rise time. The big girls are OK, but he wants out so everyone has to get up. Here in the wilderness, Ziva finds the dog exercise area lots of fun. No leash to ruin whatever mood may strike her.

She also thinks hanging out in the trailer is pretty OK.

Here at the lake, Diane’s been treating me with some very fine meals. No doubt I’m going to get fatter. Currently, I don’t care. It’s all very tasty. All meals have been totally consumed, then today we had hot dogs and chili. The chili was all consumed, but there was a minor accident when I discovered some mustard had spilled on my Dickies. Fortunately, I was able to scrape and scrub it off before our trip to Joseph this afternoon. I was happy I wasn’t wearing Levis because Dickies is far more fun to say.

… here’s a pause …

It’s been a few days since I started this so please forgive me if specifics get a little jumbled and out-of-order. Then, again, it’s kind of normal that way, isn’t it?

Since I messed up my Dickies, things have happened. If I’m lucky I might remember some of them.

From Wallowa Lake we motored to Nampa, Idaho where we wound up parked in the driveway of a long-time friend of Gracie H. It’s my understanding that they’ve known each other for more years than most people have been alive. I’m sure that’s true because our hosts were pretty specific about that. Now, I’m saying Gracie is old, but it doesn’t matter, anyway, because she’s at least older than me. Considering my limited seniority, that leaves a lot of wiggle room for corrections.

We’ve been here in Nampa for two days and think our hosts are trying to tell us it’s time to move along down the road. Instead of sitting on their back patio, our chairs were moved to the front, next to the trailer. Looks like a pretty specific suggestion to me.

I took three naps on Friday (yesterday), and had a great dinner at Honkers to celebrate Bob’s birthday. No one knows how old he is so I’m just going to guess he’s 40-something. He just has the look. I ate steak, Diane and Daniel had French Dip, and everyone else had Steak Fingers. Sadly, Gracie was unable to make it so we just sat around and talked about her.

After dinner we returned to the trailer and began the process of shutting down for the evening. It’s getting really hard to visually determine bedtime because it doesn’t get dark until 10:30 pm here.

Around noon on Friday an oil train, the kind that explodes and kills people, derailed in Mosier, Oregon which sits next to I-84, the desired way to get home. Reports are that the freeway will be closed for at least the next 3 days while officials can deal with the fire that ensued after the derailment. Fortunately, no one was injured. One person, it may have been Bob, speculated that some oil official probably caused the accident so they could raise the price of gas. Wouldn’t surprise me.

Today, Saturday, Diane discovered that I-84 has been opened to traffic both ways, “with restrictions.” Perhaps by tomorrow, our required departure date from this driveway, those restrictions will have been lifted. We’ll see. Our hosts are going to church in the morning and we have been instructed to be gone before they return.

Perhaps next time we come to Nampa we’ll just stay with Gracie.

Trailering

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Finally! We’re all packed and ready to go.

So are the dogs.

Birthdays & Biopsies

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Today is our annual “Tweener” birthday celebration. The reason is because my birthday was yesterday and son Jeff’s birthday is tomorrow. We’re only two days apart but he’s a Gemini and I’m a Taurus. We do the tweener celebration because it’s much easier than doing it twice, once for each of us. Besides, we’re both getting older and instead of planned events like this we all find much joy in just seeing each other for no reason at all.

For my birthday we took a trip to The Dalles which is 113 miles up the Columbia River Gorge from home. We went to The Dalles to watch the St. Helens High softball team play their last game. It was their last game because they lost 9-7 to the The Dalles Redhawks. It was still a fun game and a beautiful drive.

We went early so we could stop and have a birthday lunch and chose the Ristorante Di Pompello in Troutdale which sits right next to I-84, the quickest way to The Dalles. The atmosphere at the Ristorante Di Pompello was very nice, and the service excellent, but the food was a little disappointing for a couple of us. On the plus side, the price was right. Daniel paid.

After lunch (Thanks Daniel) we were amazed by all the bronze sculptures along the sidewalk then stopped by the Caswell Gallery, the source of our enjoyment, to a room full of beautiful bronze art. Rip Caswell is quite amazing. Sadly, he wasn’t in the store, but he has his studio in the town and I’m sure that any of you who have a notion would be welcome to see how he does his magic. I’m just guessing on the visit potential, of course. You’ll have to call Rip at 503-492-2473 and ask if it’s OK. If that doesn’t work out, just enjoy the store. There’s a very nice lady who guards the place.

After the game we headed back home and folks decided it might be a good idea to eat again. It was going on 7 pm when we headed west and maybe 7:30 when Jennie, our chauffeur, pulled in to a DQ in Hood River, one of the premier locations in the world for wind surfers. When the wind blows in the gorge, the Columbia River is full of these folks. They are very entertaining, especially those who use kites instead of sails. Those folks get way up in the air.

Our meal was good and it was enjoyable just sitting, eating, and talking with the family, even though it was only a partial family. Lydia and Jeran were missing. When the last bite was done (mine) we piled back in the Envoy and continued our trip home. Once on the freeway it was evident that it was going to be a very incredible sunset. We continued on, gasping at the beautiful sky, the bits and pieces we could see through the trees along the freeway, until Jennie found a pull out for folks like us who want to take in the view. Here’s what we saw looking down the river …

and this is was looking up the river. Pretty nice.

I mentioned in a previous posting that son Jeff tied balloons to our paper box at 0530 on my birthday, yesterday morning. Here’s the evidence. It was very thoughtful.

Last Thursday Diane took me to an overdue visit to my dermatologist. He’s not actually mine because I know we’re not allowed to own people, but if that were possible, he’d be mine. He did a very thorough check of all my bumps and lumps and chose a few that he thought should have a closer look. One was from my left forehead, another from the top of my right ear, the left one if you’re looking at me, and the last one from just below my right knee. There are numerous spots that need to be seared off my exterior but he’s waiting to find out the results of testing on these three before heading down that road. Here’s what they looked like …

Now I have three divots that need to be filled in. I suspect there will be a larger notch in my ear before this is all done. If so, so be it. I can’t see my ears anyway so it’s not a big deal.

Funny thing. All of my wounds have band aids applied and they are supposed to remain on all night. This morning the one from my leg was missing and I couldn’t find it anywhere in the bed. Later in the day, Diane found it stuck to the inside of her leg. Since I was asleep all night, honest, I have no idea how that happened. Swear to God.

Happy Mother’s Day & NAS Lemoore to Carlsbad, CA

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

I have every confidence in the world that each and every one of you woke up this morning with your Mother on your mind. If you didn’t, shame on you. Please stop and, if possible, call her right now. I’ll wait.

***long pause***

Thank you.

My mother left us in 2001 but I still think of her every day. She is missed, and I’m sure she knows it.

We spent the morning at church, then joined four of the Walters clan for lunch at El Tapatio. I ordered the El Tapatio Burrito forgetting how huge that thing is. I did a pretty good job on it but had to take some home for tomorrow. Perhaps it will be photogenic when I dump it on a plate before putting it in the micro.

Here’s part of the church service …

That’s our friend, Nancy. She was kind of laid back during the sermon.

After lunch we all came back to the house to visit until 2:30 pm. That was the time chosen to depart for the movie that Cedric was treating everyone to. What a guy. It was for his Mom, but I was invited, so I went. It was Captain America – Civil War. Diane and her Mom aren’t so much into those kind of action movies, but I really enjoyed it. Lots of fun.

Now we must leave Lemoore, in our minds. So, close your eyes and have someone read this to you.

I think we left Lemoore around 9:30 am which seems to be our new departure time. The GPS Lady reported that the drive to Carlsbad would take about 5 hours but I don’t think she took into account that we’d be moving through Los Angeles in mid afternoon. Perhaps she did consider that and considered it a push because, as everyone in the universe knows, traffic in Los Angeles is in rush hour mode all the time. It’s quite amazing, really. Normally accidents on I-5 through LA are non-injury because no one is going fast enough to do more that dent things up and make tempers flare more than usual. Fortunately, we didn’t witness any mishaps and made it to our destination unscathed. I believe our success on freeways is due to the fact that we just get in the right lane and stay our of the line of fire. It works well and we get where we’re going in plenty of time with little stress.

On a personal note, I’m the one who drove the LA segment of the trip and I did great! I’m taking credit for that “unscathed” part mentioned previously. Diane put her book down frequently, but remained calm which helped me maintain my composure. Every once in a while, when I was behind someone going the speed limit, she would say, “take him,” so I would. But I did it gently so I wouldn’t mess up the gas mileage too badly.

The Seapointe Resort is a nice place but the photos on their website depicting the facility are a bit misleading. If you check it out the one of the pool looking toward the ocean makes one think it’s right there. What you don’t see is the four lanes of Carlsbad Blvd you have to cross. After doing that, you must clamber down a cliff (I’m sure there are stairs along there somewhere) to the beach. An easier way would be to drive and park on a low spot in the Blvd that has immediate beach access.

We didn’t do that. Instead, we drove north to Oceanside to walk their board walk. It was very restful and allowed us to get our beach fix when needed.

One day we went looking for thrift stores and/or flea markets and found one on the main road just down the street. Upon entering we were convinced that it was run mainly by children of old hippies. They were having a fashion show that was pretty entertaining. The only thing I can remember us getting was a hat for me. It’s called a pub hat and I’ve never had one. What’s interesting is that it’s 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton. I’m not sure, but I think the “organic” part means the cotton was grown in dirt. The brand name is “Hempy’s” and it’s made in the USA. I figured it would be a good golf hat. It’s very comfortable.

Mostly what we did was relax and read with no distractions. It was very nice, but a week was plenty long enough for us, then we headed back home. I won’t bore you with that part of our trip because it was pretty uneventful. Just lots of driving, something we also enjoy. We think the trip is sometimes better than the stay. It’s in our blood.

Once home my first priority was to get the lawn mowed as quickly as possible before it rained. While I was doing that out back, Diane worked on the wild parts out front. The below photo is a triangular spot, about 15 feet on a side. That’s Ziva peeking out of the jungle. She’s decided it’s kind of nice to just lay down in a bunch of foliage. Funny dog.

Now it’s time to stop. Diane said. So, of course, I will.

Bye.

First, however, I just have to say that I think Dwayne Wade, of the Miami Heat, is a totally disrespectful idiot. That’s an opinion, but it’s supported by video evidence of him taking practice shots while a young girl sang a beautiful rendition of the Canadian National Anthem. What a shmuck. Thankfully, the Toronto Raptors won the game and is up 3-1 in the series.