NWTrucker

New Front Portch

2011-01-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

There have been a couple of things happen lately that I need to post here. This is the first one, a new front porch.

This was all Kevin's idea, and funding was all Kevin. He designed the new porch on his computer and did all the measuring and ordering of the materials.

Following is a picture out our front door with the old porch gone.

Here are a couple of pictures from the outside with the old porch missing.

The new porch is being framed in here. Kevin got a lot of help from a friend of ours.

Here is a picture of the work area that was set up on the driveway.

The steps are getting installed here.

Now comes the stringers.

Yup, they even did some work at night. Here, they are mounting the steps. The actual deck has already been put down.

Here is a shot showing the steps in place.

And a couple of shots from the driveway, showing the steps in place.

Here, the railing has a pretty good start.

Sorry to say, but I don't have any pictures of it being completed, but it is finished and it looks real nice. They did a wonderful job on it.

Latest Project/Improvement

2010-07-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ever since we bought this camper, I have known about a cubby hole in the left rear corner. However, access was in the closet, right down near the floor through a small door. It was next to impossible to really access this storage space. One really had to get down on their hands and knees just to see what was in there. For this reason, we never used it.

I finally decided to do something about it. For several years, I thought about cutting a hole in the outside of the camper and installing a door. So, a few days ago, I got around to ordering a door. I did my best to take some measurements to figure out what size door would work the best and found that a 14 X 18 inch door would work the best. I took some more measurements to try and center the door front to back in the compartment. I then drilled a hole from the inside where I wanted one of the corners to be and then went outside to mark out the size of the hole. I marked it all out with tape, made some more measurements and then, with great trepidation, started cutting into the side of the camper.

Below, you will see the results of that cut. As you can see, the door to access this from the inside is very small compared to the size of the compartment.

The next step was to frame in the opening by inserting wood all the way around the opening. I didn't need to do much across the top, but the rest of it all need to be framed in. As can be seen below, I am all set up to cut some wood and frame it in. I used some scrap 2X2 I had laying around the garage, because the space between the inside wall and outside wall was 1 1/2 inches. After cutting to the correct length, I then used my air stapler to attach the wood, both outside and inside.

After getting it framed in, I then cleaned up the inside of the compartment. Since it never saw any use, it was full of spider webs and a lot of dust and such on the floor. Below, you can see the hole all framed in and the compartment all cleaned up.

The next step was to install the door. Below, you can see the door laying on my portable workbench. I had to run some caulking tape all the way around the edge before I could install the door. After doing that, I then installed the door and screwed it down with my battery powered drill/driver.

And, TADAAAAAAAA, here is the final result. It has a key lock installed, so it will be semi-secured. We plan on storing the small propane bottles, some blocks of wood (I use those under the jacks when raising and lower the camper) and the trailer stabilizer jacks that I use when setting the camper on the ground. We will have to see what else might fit in there once we start using it.

Springer Fishing

2010-04-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hi all;

It has been a while since I put anything on here, so I thought I would put up something that I did recently with Kevin and a couple of friends from work. I was invited by one of my friends from work to go fishing for "Springers" (Spring Chinook) with him down on the Columbia River. We drove down on Thursday afternoon and spent the night in Clatskanie, OR. Early the next morning, we drove down to Vancouver, WA, launched the boat and proceeded to go fishing.

Here are the other three getting the bait ready for the day of fishing, and getting the poles ready. On the left is the boat owner, Doug. Gotta tell ya, he is a master fisherman, he knows what he is doing. Next is another driver, Dave. And then, on the right, is Kevin.

These are the two fish that were pulled into the boat. I got the one on the left and Kevin got the one on the right. When we were ready to start, Doug told us to drop our lines to the bottom. Before he had a chance to get his line in the water, my pole started bouncing real hard. Not really knowing what the bottom of the river was like, I asked Doug is that was the bottom causing the bouncing. He yelled that I had a fish on. Sure enough, I had a fish. About 1 minute after dropping the line, I had a fish. Guesstamite was around 11 to 12 pounds. At this rate, I figured we would only be on the water for a hour or two. Wrong!!!! It took about 2 hour or so for the other fish to be hooked and then pulled in by Kevin.

Here are the two of us holding our respective fish.

When we got home late Friday evening, we did the cleaning of our fish, bagged all the entrails and heads and stored them in the freezer to keep them from smelling. On Saturday, we proceeded to process the fish. They were cut up into steaks and then vacuum-sealed in bags and frozen.

We did have some of the steaks the following weekend, and I gotta tell ya, I don't think I have ever tasted better tasting fish. They were laid on foil with slices of lemon and onion on top, with a dash of lemon pepper sprinkled on top. Then the foil was sealed around them and baked in the oven till done. It was DELICOUS!!!!!!

2009-07-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

I am sure that many of you have heard of the heat wave we have had in the Seattle area. Well, take a good look at the picture below, and you will see that it was hot here.

These candles just couldn't stand up to the heat.

Oregon Coast - 2009

2009-06-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

I had vacation during the week of June 7, 2009 and Jennie & I had decided to do a little reconnaissance of the Oregon Coast, especially the Oregon Dunes area around Florence OR for an upcoming family reunion. I had the whole week off, but Jennie had to work Monday and Tuesday, so I, with the help of Kevin, got most everything ready to go. That meant loading the camper onto the truck and getting that all ready to go. Jennie had already got most of the food and such ready, all that remained was to load it into the camper. Most everything was ready to go by the time Jennie got home from work. We finally left the house about 6:00pm on Tuesday, with the goal of getting down to Kalama, WA that evening.

We got to the Kalama Campground just before dark. It is just east of I-5, right on the Kalama River. No one was in the office, so it was self-register. We found a spot somewhat away from the others who were in the campground. Below is a picture of our campsite.

We found out, though, that this is not really a campground that we want to stay in again, for one primary reason. The restroom/showers are locked up at 9:00pm every night and don't re-open again until 8:00am the next morning. The reason? The sign said "because of vandalism". Below is what is set up for campers to use if needed during the night. No thanks.

After leaving Kalama on Wednesday morning, we made good time down to Salem, where we stopped in at Neil and Sarah's, just so Jennie could see baby Abby. Below is a picture of Jennie holding Abby.

After leaving Salem, we drove to Florence OR and decided to stake out our campsite at Honeyman State Park. Below is a picture of "our" little slice of heaven for a couple of nights. The canopy was only to protect the table from falling needles and such from the trees. It never rained while we were there, although when we woke up Thursday morning, the ground and everything else was wet, like a somewhat heavy fog had gone through during the night. Everything was nice and dry when we woke up Friday morning. The hill behind our site went right up to the dunes. There was a trail that we used to hike up to the dunes and back again.

The next day, Thursday, we went down the road just a short ways and rented a Polaris Ranger for an hour of absolute fun out on the dunes. Below is a picture of Jennie sitting in the machine. That little thing would go just about 30mph, and that was in low range. It was also 4-wheel drive, so it would go just about everywhere we wanted to go.

Here is the two of us sitting in the machine.

Below is a short video that Jennie took of me climbing a small hill. What a hoot.

I thought this next picture would turn out a little better, but it didn't. I decided to include it anyway because it will give you some sort of idea of the Dunes area. Beyond the island of trees is a line of trees and it is beyond that line of trees where the ocean is. We found out that the ocean is about three miles from the campground, and there is no trail to the ocean. We were able to find another spot further south where just a short hike over a short dune would put you right at the ocean.

We spent the rest of day scouting out likely camping spots for the family reunion. But it seems that the likely spot will be Honeyman State Park. As it is with all the Oregon State Parks that we have been in, it is a lovely place, with plenty of amneties.

Friday, we packed up our stuff and left Honeyman State Park for our journey home. We drove north from Florence to the town of Newport, where we left the coast and headed back to I-5 and the trip north. We made one stop in Wilsonville at a Camping World, where we made a couple of purchaces (no sales tax in Oregon). From there, we continued north to a spot just north of Battle Ground, where we spent the night at Paradise Point State Campground. Nice place, but too close to I-5. It was very noisy, but we were still able to get some sleep that night.

We drove on home on Saturday, making it there about 12:30pm. After driving to, and spending a few hours, at a graduation party in Marysville, we went back home and got the camper unloaded and removed from the truck.

All in all, it was a very pleasant trip, although, as usual, it was too short.

LeTourneau University Graduation

2009-05-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

The Date: April 30, 2009.
The Occasion: Kevin's Graduation from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.

Below is a picture of Jennie and I at SeaTac Airport, preparing for our flight to Dallas, TX.

After arriving in Dallas late Thursday evening, we stayed at a hotel close to the airport, returning Friday morning to secure our rental car. We then drove to Longview and met up with Kevin at his Society House, KZX. Later that day, Henry showed up, and just before the Graduation Celebration Banquet, Stephen showed up. Once again, we are together as a family, even if only for a short time.

Below are two pictures taken at the "meet and greet" reception just before the banquet. This was an opportunity to meet some of the staff of LeTourneau and also to meet some of the other parents.

Below is a picture of the upcoming graduate just before the banquet started.

The following morning, Saturday, the 2nd of May, 2009, was the graduation ceremony. Below is a somewhat fuzzy picture of a page taken from the graduation program. The page heading was School of Engineering and Engineering Technology. The column heading is Engineering--Mechanical Concentration, B.S. Towards the bottom of the column is Kevin's name.

If you look real close, just to the left of the cap with the letters ZA, you should be able to just make out another cap with the letters KZX on it. That is Kevin.

Here is a short movie clip of Kevin's moment, the moment he spent 6 years looking forward to. Take a couple of seconds and watch the video. Just a few seconds of his life, but it is the beginning of many years of better opportunities for him.

And now it is my honor and privilege to present to you, Kevin James Haveman.

Here is Kevin with his proud mother.

And here is Kevin with both of his proud parents.

And here he is again with the whole family.

At this time, I would like to give a brief history of Mr. LeTourneau and LeTourneau University.

Le Tourneau University is named for its founder - R. G. LeTourneau. World famous inventor, engineering genius, designer of heavy duty earth moving equipment, huge off-shore drilling platforms, and the electric drive wheel, he was, first and foremost, a Christian. He acknowleged his responsibility to God by investing millions of dollars in missionary development projects in Liberia, West Africa and Peru, South America, bringing the Gospel, education, and medical aid to thousands.

For over thirty years, he traveled across the US, Canada and other foreign countries sharing his testimony about the satifaction and joy of serving Jesus Christ. Each time he spoke, he began by saying, "I'm just a mechanic that God has blessed, and it seems He wants me to go around telling how He will bless you, too."

Probably his most significant ministry will prove to be the school he and his wife, Evelyn, established in Longview, Texas. While flying over the area in 1946 to select a manufacturing site, Mrs. LeTourneau saw the sprawling complex of a vacated Army hospital consisting of over two hundred frame buildings. When told that it was no longer in use, she asked about establishing a school to serve the many GI's returning from the war.

The site was secured and LeTourneau Technical Institute was established. From 1946 to 1961, more then 7,000 men received technical training in the new school. By 1961, the institution had outgrown the tech school mold. In 1961, LeTourneau Tech became LeTourneau College as the school became a four year college, broadened its curriculum to include many technical and non-technical majors, and became co-educational. In 1989, LeTourneau College became LeTourneau University, reflecting the quality and diversity of academic programs, the aptitude and international flavor of the student body, and the service orientation, research capabilities, and the professional nature of the curriculum.

The LeTourneau University of today is an accredited, interdenominational, comprehenseive Christian university, offering four-year and two-year programs in engineering, technology, the liberal arts, business, aeronautical science, education and the sciences, plus graduate programs in business and education. In the legacy of R. G. LeTourneau, the University today prepares professionals of ingenuity and Christ-like character to serve in the workplace of every nation.

The life verse of Mr. R. G. LeTourneau was Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

After the graduation ceremony, and after changing our clothes, we all went out for lunch at a place called Texas Roadhouse. Gotta say, the food there was excellent. Then it was time to say goodbye to Henry and Stephen, as they had to return to their respective places, one in Houston and one in Shawnee, OK. Kevin had arranged for one of his friends to take Jennie and I on a sight seeing flight in a Piper PA28-180, a four place, low wing airplane.

Below, you will see an aerial picture of the LeTourneau University campus.

Here is a photo of the three Society Houses on campus. On the right, you can see that one of them has some letters on the roof. Above and to the left of that one is a brown colored house. Between those two, kinda hidden in the trees is the house that Kevin lived in, KZX.

After spending Sunday with our son, Jennie and I returned to Seattle on Monday.

Shrimp Trip - April, 2009

2009-04-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all. Once again, it has been a long time since I have updated this blog. Nothing has really happened to warrant posting anything since the last time. Nothing but working, eating and sleeping. That is, until just over a week ago.

I was on vacation the week from April 13 to April 17. While checking my e-mail on April 16, I saw an e-mail from a friend of mine in Sedro Wooley, Steve, asking if I was interested in going on a shrimping trip, on Saturday, in Canadian waters. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? OF COURSE!!!! I have never been shrimping and it sounded like a lot of fun.

Besides the normal things to bring along, like a lunch, snacks and coffee, I had to get a Non-resident Canadian Tidal Waters fishing license. Great, there is a web-site to get that from. So that was taken care of, but to be on the safe side, I had better bring a passport or birth certificate also. No problem.

So, Saturday morning, I picked up another friend from Marysville, Dan, at 4:30am and drove to Coronet Bay to meet up with Steve and his boat. Coronet Bay is just east of Deception Pass. Steve was just setting up his boat, so we helped him launch it, got it loaded up with our stuff and got going.

Below is a picture of us approaching the Deception Pass bridge. It is about 6:00am.

Here is a picture after passing under the Deception Pass bridge. As you can see, it is looking to be a perfect day for some fishing. The sun is just starting to top the Cascade Mountains.

Here is a shot of the fishing grounds. The other boat is a shrimping buddy of Steve's. His boat was the only other boat out there. We had the whole place to ourselves. One can also see some the shrimp pot floats on the water.

While letting the pots "soak", we happen to see this big freighter going by in the distance. We also looked at it through my binoculars and that thing was sure throwing up a huge bow wave, but it was far enough away that it didn't really affect us.

Here is Steve demonstrating how to hook up the pot line to the winch to haul the pot up from the bottom. We were fishing in about 350 feet of water, so there was no way we could pull the pot up by hand. He has a little gas motor with a pulley system to assist in pulling up the pots.

Here, Dan is taking a turn at pulling up a pot. After going over a pulley on the arm, the line is wrapped around a pulley on the gas engine, the engine is fired up and the operator has to feed the line into the garbage can as the pot is coming up.

After the pot comes up, the engine is shut off, the pot is grabbed and swung on-board and set on top of the garbage can.

Then, the pot is opened up and the shrimp are dumped into a bucket. Our first "string" of four pots yielded 177 shrimp. Not bad for four pots.

Here is a shot of a bucket full of shrimp.

Here is Steve demonstrating how to eat shrimp sushi style. NOT. They still have the head on and the tail is covered with its shell.

After the pots are brought up, unloaded, rebaited and spashed again, it is time to "clean" the shrimp we caught. About all that means is that they are "de-headed". One has to be a little carefull when reaching for a shrimp from the bucket because, what I didn't know, is that each shrimp has a sharp barb both on their head and between the "fins" on their tail. Now, these things are still alive and they are flipping their tails, so one could get stabbed by one of their barbs. It is really nothing more then a pin prick, there is nothing on their barbs that will sting a person.

Here are a couple of shots of the two rookies "de-heading" the shrimp between pot soaks.

After spending about seven hours out there and pulling all the pots four times, we had about 550 shrimp on board and decided to call it a day. The limit in Canada is 200 shrimp per person, so it was a very successful day. But....

On the way back, Steve decided to go on the west side of San Juan Island and then shoot straight across to the Deception Pass to get back to the boat launch. Well, we were just out from Roche Harbor when the engine just flat quit running. We popped the engine hatch and nothing looked out of place, except that the oil dipstick was showing way too much oil. Now where did that come from? Steve tried to restart it, but it was turning over real hard, and it didn't start.

Steve then made a phone call and about a half hour later, another boat showed up and gave us a tow back to the boat launch. What should have been about another hour of cruising back to the launch turned into a four hour tow back to the launch. But we just got to sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Here is a shot of the tow boat towing us through the San Juan Islands.

I did hear from Steve the next week and he told me that one of his co-workers had that happen to him last year. It turned out to be a cracked manifold which filled the oilpan with water and also filled a cylinder with water, causing hydro-lock, which bent a piston rod. So this fun-filled trip turned out to be a somewhat expensive trip, but it was still a lot of fun and I will definitly do it again, if invited.

DEC, 2008

2008-12-21T16:19:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I know that it has been a very long time since I have added anything to this, so here goes.

It is Sunday afternoon and church was cancelled for the second week in a row. Because of weather. It was cancelled last week because of a lot of ice and cold weather that made travel for most people very tough.

I did work all week though, because by Monday morning, the roads were pretty good. Thursday night, Stephen was due to fly in, so I stayed at work so I could pick him up at the airport. It had started snowing on Wednesday, so by Thursday, there was at least six inches of snow on the ground at work, but luckily, most of my runs were on pretty much flat ground. What made it really weird was that in the yard, there was six inches of snow on the ground and three miles south, there wasn't any. The roads were pretty much bare and wet.

Anyway, Stephen was due to fly in about 11:30 pm, so I just stayed at work. About 8 or so, Stephen called and said that his flight from OKC was delayed and he was booked on another flight from DEN to SEA that was supposed to arrive about 12:30 am. Ok, just another hour to wait. Then he called from DEN and said that the plane was late arriving and he missed his connection to SEA. They rebooked him on a flight the next morning, due to arrive about 10:30 am on Friday. So I went home. And then went back in the morning, but he did make it to Seattle before the major storm hit again Sat. night.

On Thursday, while I was working, Kevin decided to have a little fun.

Actually, what he was trying to do was to run down the driveway with a wakeboard as a snowboard. He said it wasn't too bad. but there was really no place to put his feet.

What you see above is a measuring stick stuck in the snow on our back deck. This was taken Sunday morning. As you should be able to see, we have nine inches of snow on the back deck.

These are a couple of planters that we have on the back deck and you can see that there is quite a bit of snow piled on them.

Here is another picture taken from the back door towards our camper. There was so much snow that the cover was sagging down quite a bit. I did go out there and knock most of the snow off, because we started getting more snow and I didn't want the cover to collapse.

And this final picture was taken out the front window down the street in front of our place. If you look real close, you should be able to see the little stub on an antennae sticking up out of the snow on the back of the car in the bottom right of the picture.

Pun'kin Chuckin'

2008-10-05T14:23:00.001-07:00

I tried to download the video, but unfortunately, I was not able to. So, I have to do the next best thing and that is to post a link.

Yesterday, Jennie & I went to Snohomish and watched another round of Pumpkin Tossing (Hurling, Chucking, Pitching, what ever you want to call it). Again, it was a lot of fun, but it was pretty windy and there were rain showers hitting us while we were out there.

Anyway, here is the link to the newscast that did cover it. http://www.king5.com/video/?z=y&nvid=289691

I don't know how long this link will work, since it ties into the King 5 website and I don't know how long this link will be up on their web-site. But watch it if you can and enjoy it.

Burlington Fall Festival Pumkin' Pitchin'

2008-09-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

It is the last Saturday of September, 2008 and it is time for the Burlington WA Fall Festival. Part of the festival involves destroying pumpkins using medieval type machines called trebuchets (treb-u-shay).

Here are three video's I took with my camera of three of the tosses.

For the last few years, the contest has been distance throwing, see how far you can toss your pumpkin.

This year was a bit different. Instead of seeing how far one could toss the pumpkin, the object was to hit your target. With practice on Friday and Saturday morning, the teams had the opportunity to set their targets where they wanted to for the "official" tosses during the competition.

It turned out to be a lot of fun watching the different teams attempt to hit their targets. In fact, there were a few direct hits and several very close shots. And, of course, there were many far misses.

The targets were small stacks of hay bales with a flag mounted on it. The formula for figuring the winner was something along the lines of this... distance from the flag divided by the distance of the shot gave the accuracy percentage. The team with the highest accuracy percentage was the winner. The second video was scored a direct hit, because they actually hit the pole that the flag was on.

I apologize for the quality of the video's. They were shot with my digital camera and not with a video camera. (I gotta get me one of those.)

I hope you enjoyed watching the video's as much as we had watching the actual thing.

Cousin's Get-together

2008-09-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, the 13th of Sept., was our second Cousin's Get-together. It was started last year and was held again this year. Dave & Bev live on the south fork of the Nooksack River and they have built their own beautiful little park on the river bank. That is where we all gathered. We all had a lot of fun getting caught up with each other's lives. Here are just a few pictures that I took while the food was being prepared for serving. We all brought a hot dish and a dessert or salad. There was plenty of good food enjoyed by all.

We were also very pleasantly surprised to see Don & Arlene there. It has been a very long time since I have seen them and we had a good time visiting with them again.

Making a Game

2008-09-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

In the past few days, I have made a Ladder Golf game out of PVC pipe and golf balls. This game can be made with two 10' pieces of PVC pipe, one 1/2 inch and one 3/4 inch. Of course, the necessary connections are also needed. Below, you will see all the pieces after they were cut, along with the necessary connection pieces.

I spent most of Saturday cutting the PVC pipe into the necessary sizes and then I drilled holes in the golf balls. I bought a bag of reclaimed golf balls from Fred Meyer. It had 36 previously used golf balls in it. Afterwards, the bag makes a very nice carry case for the bolo's that I made for the game. I also painted the golf balls with some paint that I had in the garage. I needed six golf balls in each color to make three bolo's.

Here is the golf balls that I prepared, along with the bag they came in and the clothes line I bought to make the bolo's with . It is 1/2 woven line. Wrapped line does not work as well, because it can become "unwound" while playing the game.

Here is a close up of some of the golf balls with the hole drilled through them.

After cutting all the PVC pipe into smaller, precisely measured pieces, all that remains is to glue and assemble the pieces. Great care must be taken to make sure that the pieces are flat so that it makes a nice looking target. It is also designed to be taken apart for easier transporting. Each of the rungs comes apart and the base is built to part in the middle, below the rungs.

Here are all the bolo's, after taking great care to make sure that they are all reasonably close to the same length. They have to be long enough to wrap around the rungs, but not too long, so they don't wrap around two rungs.

And here is the whole thing, disassembled and ready for transport.

To play this game, all that is needed is two to four people. The distance from the target can be mutually agreed upon, but it must be far enough to make it challenging. Generally, the target will be 5 to 7 paces away. Each person takes turn throwing, under-handed, all three of the their bolo's, one at a time. After each person has thrown their bolo's, a score is taken. The top rung is worth three points, the second rung is worth two points and the bottom rung is worth one point. The person with the highest score goes first on the next toss, working down to the person with the lowest score. The first person to get to 21 EXACTLY wins the game.

During play, bolo's can be knocked off and then those points are lost to who ever had that bolo. If a player happens to go over 21, then the points earned on that toss is subtracted from their score at the beginning of their toss. For example, Player A has 19 points and he needs two to win. His first throw is on the 1 point rung. He now needs another 1 point to win. His next toss wraps around the three rung. He now has 4 points for the turn and he started with 19. He then will "short throw" his last bolo, so as to not get any more points. He now has to subtract the 4 points from the 19 points he had and he now has 15 points for his next turn.

During play, anything can be done to distract the thrower, except touching. It is not allow to touch the thrower in any way.

One interesting "rule" we added for playing this game at Lake Roosevelt this past year, was that if a player landed on 13, he (she) had to go back to 0. This can really make the game exciting.

If anyone wished detailed directions on building this game, please e-mail me and I will send them.

A Work of Art

2008-09-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

After looking at all the food that Ri, and Lorrisa and Renee keep adding to their blog, I just had to post the following.

Now.... Isn't that a work of art? And delicious? You bet it is. Really, there is nothing better then home-made bread. This loaf will spend the night in the refrig. and then it will get sliced tomorrow. After that, it will be used as toast and for making sandwiches for lunches.

I really wish you had smell-a-vision, so you could have smelled this thing as it came out of the bread maker.

Motorcycle Ride 8/14/08

2008-08-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

Man, oh man, what a day yesterday was. It all started right towards the end of our stay at Lake Roosevelt. Kevin told me that he and Mike wanted to go on a bike ride and they wanted me to come along. The only problem is that I don't have a bike. Soooooo, Kevin and I rented a ride. Well, I rented it and Kevin is chipping in to help pay for it. Wednesday, after getting home, and having a couple of minutes to rest, I made a phone call and put in my reservation for the next day.

Check out the next couple of pictures. It is a 2008 HD Heritage Softtail Classic. All 97 CI of a nice sounding engine. 6 speeds.

The next picture shows me sitting on it at home. Jennie brought Kevin and I to the motorcycle shop, because he needed a helmet, and the only way to "get" a helmet for him was to register him as my rider for the day. After getting home, we HAD to get some pictures.

This is Kevin sitting on the bike.

And, believe it or not, here is a picture of Jennie sitting on it. She even let me take her for a short spin around the neighborhood on it.

Here is a picture of the three bikes that were ridden on our short ride. On the left is a Honda Nighthawk. In the middle is a Honda Interceptor. Both of these bikes belong to my friend Mike. Kevin's ride was the Nighthawk and Mike's was the interceptor. And of course, don't forget the HD on the right. That, to refresh your memory, was my ride.

After meeting Mike at his house, we headed north on Hwy 9 to just north of Clearview. We swung into another friends place and he got so jealous that he decided to come along with us. The only problem he had was that he doesn't own a motorcycle. So....he decided to put the top down on his 'vette and follow us!! We then headed southeast on a very nice cycle road that ended up at the Woodinville/Duval Road. We turned left into Duval and turned right onto Hwy 203. In Carnation, we all stopped at a gas station and bought something to drink. Below, you can see that we have the 'vette blocked in.

After a quick refreshment, we continued on Hwy 203 to just past Fall City, where we stopped at Snoqualmie Falls. That place is always beautiful, as can be seen by the next two pictures.

Below is a picture of the other riders. On the far left is Bob J. Next to him is his wife's daughter Emily. Then comes Mike and then, last, but not least, is Kevin. I tried to frame the picture so that the falls is between Emily and Mike. Turned out pretty good, even if I have to say so myself.

I then asked Bob to take a picture of the "Three Amigos". Myself on the left, then Mike, then Kevin.

After visiting the falls, we returned to Fall City and grabbed a bite to eat. From there, we headed back, using Hwy 202 to head back through Redmond and then back to Mike's place. Kevin stayed on the Nighthawk and we headed home.

All in all, it was a very nice day for a bike ride. I will definitely do it again.

The rest of Lake Roosevelt

2008-08-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

Ah, what a day today was. But, before I get into what happened today, I have to get everyone caught up on our vacation, including pictures. I had a bit of problem, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, with the internet connection not being the best at the campground. I finally had to give up on trying to keep my blog updated and ended up just checking my e-mail and such. Several times, while doing that, I would get some sort of error message saying something to the effect that the connection to the satellite was lost. So, we are home now and it is time to finish updating this thing.

Back now to the 6th. Marie and Henry arrived safely on the 5th. On the 6th, Marie wanted to go waterskiing, so, below, you will see a picture of Marie on two boards, skimming across the water with the greatest of ease. Note the look of complete relaxation. "Oh yeah, this is the life."

Meanwhile, back at the beach, what is happening? Not much, as can be seen in the following picture. We are back from giving Marie the waterski ride of her life. Jennie and my friends wife, Becky, are completely oblivious as to what is happening on the boat. They are just lazing around in the water, without a care in the world. But....something must be holding their attention, they both seem to be looking in the same direction. What gives with that?

Okay, later in the day, Marie decides that waterskiing is just too boring for her to do any more. Time for a new challenge, THE AIRCHAIR!!! Ah, ok, now things need a little explanation here. "I gotta do what? You mean this thing actually has a seatbelt? What happens if I fall? You mean, you really mean, that I am NOT supposed to separate myself from this thing if I fall? You mean this whole contraption stays with me? OoooKaaaaayyyyy, if you say so."

"Hey, waddya know, this whole thing floats. This might not be as bad as I thought. I think I got this thing licked already. Say what? you mean I gotta hang onto the rope and get towed behind the boat? You never mentioned that part before I agreed to try this. Oh well, since I am already strapped in, I guess I can give it a try. Ok, assume the relaxed pose."

"Hey, this isn't so bad, in fact "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.""

"Hey, this is easier then I thought. Look at me, I am actually skiing this thing on top of the water, and this is only my first time at it. I don't know what all the fuss was about, why all the instructions. I think these people around here just try to make it difficult, so maybe they can keep all this to themselves."

"Hey, WHAT THE HECK!!!!!! How.... what.....where am I going..... WHOA, STOP THIS THING, IT IS GOING UP IN THE AIR!!!! I NEVER AGREED TO THIS!!!!"

Meanwhile, once again, back on the beach, what is everyone else doing? Playing "King of the Hill" on a giant, inflatable Fun Island.

Ah, the end to a perfect day. Everyone is safe and sound and the boat is safely tied up again in the marina, ready for use on the morrow.

August 8, 2008

Ok, it is the next day now, and Marie wants to try something new again. "Hey, I want to try wakeboarding." Ok, Marie, here is what you do, get in the water, put your feet in the boots on the wakeboard, grap on to the handle and yell HIT IT!!! He He, let's all watch Marie as she flounders in the water, trying to get up on the slippery banana called a wakeboard. WHAT THE HEY, she got up on the very first try!!!! And here is a video to prove that she was up on the wakeboard. You will just have to take my word for it that she did get up on the first try, or ask her yourself if you don't believe me.

On Friday evening, we watched a lightning storm approach the campground, go over top of us, with quite a bit of rain attached to it, and then when the rain let up, we watched the storm head out away from us.

On Saturday, after Andrea showed up, Philip asked me if I would take them on a boat ride. I said sure, climb in. We took off and headed straight north, up a part of the lake called Sanpoil River. (Just a side note about this arm of Lake Roosevelt. When Grand Coulee Dam was under construction, the original town of Keller was located somewhere in this region. Since it was going to end up under water, the town had to relocate futher north.) About 8 miles up this arm, is another campground called Sanpoil Campground. Almost directly across the water from this campground, as we were just drifting and talking about the lake and the slight difference in terrain from further south, Philip spotted a young bear cub cruising the shoreline. We tracked him from the boat for about 20 minutes as he kinda kept an eye on us and also fed on huckleberries. At one time, he actually came right down to the water to get a drink of water. Very cool. It was a real bummer that none of us had a camera to take a picture or two of it. A few years ago, we saw another bear slightly south of this location and on the same side of the river as the campground. This one was fully grown and didn't stick around very long after we spotted it.

The next day, Jennie, Kevin and I went back up there to see if we could find it again. We didn't see it, but we did find a Bald Eagle nest up in a tree right on the shoreline. We couldn't tell for sure because we didn't see them, but we think there were some young eagles in the nest because we did hear a lot of "crying" whenever one of the parents was nearby. This time, we did have a camera, but because of where the nest was located, we couldn't get a real good view of it with the camera.

On Sunday, while sitting down on the beach, we had a deer walk right by us on the road, head towards the nearest bush and start browsing on it. Kinda cool, except that we see a lot, and I mean a lot, of deer in the area. One morning, I was withing about 20 feet of a deer while it was browsing on some bushes, right across the street from the campground.

On Wednesday morning, we packed everything up and bid good-bye to all our friends at the campground and headed home. We got home about 4:30, got most of the stuff out of the camper and called it a day. Tomorrow, I will post another blog about what happened today, so TTFN.

Camping at Lake Roosevelt

2008-08-07T07:11:00.001-07:00

Here it is, the umm, well, um, ah shoot, I can't remember how many days we have been here now. We have been here a number of days now.

Here are a few shots from down by the lake.

Here are a few at the picnic table learning and playing a new card game.

Here is Henry playing Ladder Golf with a few others, even if they are not in the picture.

This is kinda what our beach camp looks like. Vehicles parked by the road, chairs parked on the beach, sunshine shining through the trees.

Now for a few shots from out on the water.

Here is Matt H. clearing the wake on a wake-to-wake jump with the wake board.

Another one of Matt clearing the wake.

Here are a couple of shots of Philip V. actually boarding on the wake board. He was pretty pleased with himself, and we were all happy that he got up on the wakeboard.

I have more pictures from yesterday, but they will just have to wait for tomorrow morning. Getting time for breakfast and then heading down to the beach for another day of fun in the sun.

Third Day of Camping.

2008-08-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

It is now the third day of camping, and things couldn't be better. The water and the weather have been just fantastic. Sorry, but I don't have any pictures for this issue.

Henry and Marie showed up today, right about 7:00pm. Just in time for dinner. Grilled steaks tonight. The tent is all set up and Marie is all set, all by herself. In fact, she just asked me what time it was, I think she is thinking about getting ready to hit the sack.

It hit 103 to day for a short time and the water temps got all the way up to 79 degrees. Man, couldn't get better then that.

And for those of you who are wondering, yes, that is full size refrigerator sitting next to our camper. However, it is not ours and it will be disappearing on Friday. I will tell you one thing about having one of those things around, it sure cuts down on the purchase of ice. Our friends brought it with them in the back of their pick-up truck.

Time to go sit by the fire and maybe roast some marshmellows.

2008-08-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the second full day at our camp and I am already updating this thing. No, it is not that boring around here. It is just that it is just after 7am and no one else is up and about yet. Here a a couple of pictures for all the throngs of people who are chomping at the bit to see what we are doing here.

This is our rig, all set up and ready to go. We are down at the Albertson's parking lot waiting for the other two families to show up so we can leave. We stopped at a scale house on the way over and weighed it, and the total weight of the whole thing is 14,820 pounds. Didn't slow me down one bit. We really had a good trip over. We left Albertson's about 6:20 in the morning and we pulled into the campground right at 12:15 in the afternoon. Got our camp set up, launched the boats and did a bit of boating yet on Sat.

Here are couple of shots of our gypsy campsite. Our home away from home.

The weather here has been great. Not real hot yet, but that is supposed to be coming in the next day or so. The water temps are in the low 70's right now, but they are supposed to be coming up too later on. It isn't too bad though, once one gets into the water, it does feel great.

Not much else is going on right now. The camp is starting to stir with some activity. There are a few others that are starting to emerge from their "cocoons" (tents). The sun has been up for just over an hour now and sitting in the sun is very warming. Even this early, it is nice sitting in the shade.

Well, I am going to close out for now and get on with the business of getting my first cup of coffee down and then having breakfast and then heading on down to the beach. I will try to get some pictures from down there and get them posted soon.

Definitly Time To PANIC

2008-08-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! It is definitly panic time around here. It is the night before we are leaving for our vacation to Eastern Washington. If you look above, you will see our p/u, camper and boat, looking like they are ready to go. But are they? We are thinking that most everything is ready to go, but then again, is everything that we want to take along packed? AAAAAHHHHHHHH. Well, Henry will be coming over early next week, so I guess if we forgot anything important, we can get ahold of him and have him bring it.

We wanted to get some of the stuff done last night, but by the time I got home from work, it was raining, and raining too hard to really do anything. Soooooo, we had to wait until this morning to get everything we wanted done last night done. But we did get it done. Just about the only left to pack is the last minute stuff. There is still some stuff in the refrigerator that needs to get into ice chests for the ride over there. We still have some clothes to pick out and pack for our stay over there. And, of course, there is the personal stuff that we still need for tonight that will have to get into the camper tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow morning, around 6am,we will be meeting with two other families down at the bottom of the hill, grab some coffee to go, and then hit the road. We will be stopping in Ellensburg for breakfast, then stopping in Ephrata to gas up all the vehicles that need gas, and then on to the campground. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

The campground does have WiFi, but since they are only tied into one satellite, the internet connection will be kinda iffy. But, I will try my best to keep this thing updated with pictures and all the interesting stories that will be taking place over there every day.

Getting Ready for our Vacation

2008-07-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it has been awhile since I have done any updating to this thing. So, sorry to the couple of people who do actually look at this.

Well, it is that time of year where we are starting to panic a little bit, what with the short time left before we leave on our annual vacation trip to Eastern Washington.

This past Saturday, we got a couple of the somewhat major things done. Below, you can see the two tents that will be used this year by family and friends. The girls that will be coming will be using the purple tent and the boys will be staying in the blue tent.

We set these up in our backyard to air them out and just to make sure that everything is there. The purple tent is new, so we just wanted to make sure.

We also got the boat out of the garage and parked in the back yard. I wanted to make sure that it would still run, and it does. It fired up pretty quickly for having sat in the garage since last year. I just wish that we had time to get out more often to use it. Where does all the all the time go?

I do hope to do some updating while we are on vacation, with pictures and events that happen. However, the internet coverage is kinda iffy where we are going. The campground does offer free wireless, but they are only tied into one satellite, so all I can do is try to log on at different times of the day to see if there is coverage.

Nuttin' Much

2008-06-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here it is, Saturday, the 7th of June, 2008. What a miserable day today. What a different week this past week.

First of all, today. Right now, I have a loaf of bread rising in the bread machine. We are just about out of bread, so I decided it was time to make another loaf, or I will not get any lunches this coming week. Because of the hours I worked this past week, I was in bed at 9:00pm last night. Didn't get up until about 8:00am this morning. Got a pot of coffee going and then went outside to get the paper. Right there, on the front page, was the following......Average temperature for the first week of June for the past 60 years-59.2. Average temperature for the first week of June, 2008-52.5. It is cold and raining outside right now. Really starting to get tired of all the cold and rainy weather we are having around here. It is supposed to be SUMMERTIME. Yeah, I know, summer doesn't officially start until the 21st of June, but still.......it is supposed to be a whole lot warmer then it is. But........I guess we are not the only ones having this kind of cold, wet weather.

Now, this past week. The regular dispatcher in the morning is currently on vacation, so I get to fill in for him. So, instead of working my regular shift, which is 0400-1400 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I am working 0300 to 1100, or 1200 or whenever I want to go home, five days a week. That means I have to get up at 0130 in the morning in order to be at work by 0300. That means going to bed early in the evening, like 1800 (not gonna happen, too early), 1900 if I can, but must be in bed by 2000. Anyway, getting back to work. The company I work for is installing a new computer system for the trucks. It is called XATA (pronounced za-da). I have learned quite a bit about it while working in the office, so I have also been teaching drivers how to use it. Right now, it is kinda fun and exciting to be learning some new technology, but I am sure that after awhile, it will become quite routine and boring. One of the neat things about XATA is, if a store calls and wants to know where their freight is, I can go to the computer and bring up the truck that the driver has and have his exact location pinpointed on a map. I can also get all kinds of other information about that, or any of our other trucks, also. Like how fast he is going, what direction he is traveling, if he is stopped, how long he has been stopped, if he is stopped at a store, rest area, or any thing else like that. There are some drivers who think that this is nothing but a "Tattle-tale", but they thought the same thing about the last computer system we had in our trucks and, to tell you the truth, I don't know of any one who got into any kind of trouble because of what the computer recorded.

Is this some kind of "Big-Brother" thing? so the company can keep track of everything we do and everywhere we go? Well, I guess it could be looked at that way, but after all, it is not our equipment that we are driving, it belongs to someone else. With the high cost of everything these days, and no relief in the foresee-able future, I kinda think that any tool an employer can use to cut costs will be used. And that is kinda what XATA is designed to use. For example, if XATA shows that all the drivers drive the same average distance between point A and point B, but there is one driver who drives a longer distance between those same two points, then they can talk to him and find out why he is always taking a longer route to the point. At the same time, if all the drivers take about the same time to do a particular route, but one driver always takes a considerable longer time, Why?

The employers job is to be as efficient and cost effective as possible. But he can only do that if all the workers are doing their jobs as efficient and cost effective as possible. I kinda think that XATA can be used to weed out those people who are constantly dragging the conscientious workers down. This way, instead of making rules for all the drivers, good and bad, the company can talk to those who are not pulling their weight, and get them straighten out, or maybe even get rid of them.

At this point, I am going to try to lighten up this post a little bit. I know, it got kinda heavy there for a while, but while writing this post, the following e-mail came in from a friend of mine at church..........

Post Turtle
While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Texas rancher, whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up aconversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Obama and his bid to be our President. The old rancher said, 'Well, ya know, Obama is a 'post turtle'.' Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was. The old rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle'.'The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain. 'You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of a dumb ass put him up there!.''

I wasn't going to post any pictures on this, because of all the wet and miserable weather we have been having. But I just thought of one I can post, but first, I have to go and take the picture. So, if you will excuse me for a couple of minutes, I will go take the picture and then come back and post it. BRB.

This is a plant that Jennie and I picked up last year, using a gift certificate that we received. I looked for the plant tag that came with it, but could not find it. Sorry, but I can't tell you what kind of plant it is. I thought it was in the pot with the plant, but nope, not there. Last year, when we got it, it had two tall stalks on it, covered with flowers. This year, it has, or will have, four tall stalks on it. I was hoping for more, but so far, I have only seen four. Anyway, once the flowers on this thing start blooming, it is supposed to attract Hummingbirds. And we did have a few of them stop by last year, so I am hoping that we will get quite a few of them again this year.

Anyway, I guess it is time to wrap this up till next time, so Good-bye till next time.

Beautiful Flowers

2008-05-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

Isn't this just the most beautiful Rhody you have ever seen?

I think the color of this plant is just gorgeous.

And the blooms on this thing are just HUGE!!!!!!

Here is another Rhody that we have in our yard. The blooms on this thing are a very pretty purple. They aren't as big as the red ones, but they are still very pretty.

Well, when these blooms drop off, our Rhody's will be done for another year. I will just have to wait until next year to view our Rhody's.

That Pesky Squirrel, Again.

2008-05-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have no idea how he did it, but this pesky thief has once again managed how to figure out how to get to the bird feeder. All I know for sure is that I saw him jump from our backporch light to the feeder. I got this picture of him as he was gorging himself on BIRD FOOD. Well, they are seeds, so I guess they are also appealing to him too. But.............after watching him eat a few of the seeds, he jumped off, so I continued to keep an eye on him. He jumped up on the railing and just kinda sat there looking around. I saw him eye the feeder a few times and I thought he was going to go back up there, but he finally jumped down to the ground and took off for the woods. I am going to have to really keep my eyes open out there and see if I can figure out how he gets to the lights to get to the feeder. This is sure starting to get frustrating.

And the saga continues...........................

Updates

2008-05-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here is an update to a couple of previous posts.

First of all, our Rhody's. Below is a picture that I took on the 20th of May, 2008. As you can see, the buds are starting to pop out. This is my favoritetist Rhody of all of them that we have. It will eventually flower out to beautiful, big red flowers.

And here is another picture, taken from the same place, showing more buds starting to open. I just took this picture a few minutes ago to show the difference between the two.

I will take some more pictures as this thing gets fully blossomed out. It is really beautiful to see.

Now, on to something I observed yesterday that was quite funny to watch. I know, I wish I had some pictures to show, but one never knows exactly what is going to happen or when it will happen. Anyway, this concerns the squirrel I mentioned earlier. After I discovered that he was jumping from the deck railing to the bird feeder, I moved the bird feeder just a little further from the railing. Later, I heard a strange noise from the kitchen area, and when I walked in there, I saw the squirrel hanging on the feeder, helping himself. I scared him off, but I stood there, watching. Pretty soon, he was back and on the railing again. I just stood there watching him, and then, by clinging to the window screen, he was able to crawl across the bottom part of the window frame and then jump to the feeder. I then removed the screen and kept on watching. Sure enough, here he came again. But now, the feeder is just a bit too far for him to jump directly to, and the screen is gone. At one time, I saw him all tensed up, back feet just twitching, getting ready to make a flying leap, but then, all of a sudden, he must have decided it was just too far to jump to, because he relaxed and just stared at the feeder. Then, all of a sudden, he jumped for the center frame of the window, tried to get a grip on it to jump to the feeder, but couldn't, so he had to bale off for the deck. Back on the railing, looking for a way to the feeder. Then, once again, a leap for the top of the window frame, hoping for a leap to the feeder, but there just wasn't enough room up there for him and down he came to the deck again. Now, from the deck, he is still looking at that feeder. "Maybe, if I can jump to the side of the house, I can bounce from the house to the feeder." Yup, he gave that a try too, but no go. Bummer. "How in the heck am I going to get to that feeder?" I gotta give him this, he is determined to get to that feeder. But I gotta say, he has provided some entertainment for me, watching to see how he is gonna get to that feeder.

If I see more hilarity from the little determined squirrel, I will pass it on to all of ya.

Tuesday, May 20,2008

2008-05-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been awhile since I have updated this thing, so here goes. It is a perfect day for working inside today. Yesterday was the first day of my one week vacation and it was a really nice day around here, with temps in the 70's. I started the day wishing Jennie a good day at work as she left for her work. Then, about 8am, I went outside and mowed the lawn. Got that done about 9am and then, working with a borrowed (from a neighbor) pressure washer, I went to work cleaning our back patio, driveway and sidewalk. After getting that done and getting everything cleaned up and put away, it was about 3pm. I was beat, wet and dirty. I got myself cleaned up and then decided that is was time to call it a day. I didn't completely veg out though. I still did a bit both inside and outside the house. Today it is raining, so like I said earlier, it is a perfect day to update this thing.

Not much is going on around here. We are starting to get things arranged for our trip to Lake Roosevelt in August. Henry is currently back in Houston after spending some time out in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of LA. Both Kevin and Stephen are now done with school, but Kevin is taking some classes on-line and Stephen is getting ready for his summer job. Both Henry and Kevin are planning on coming home for a short time this summer, in August of course, for Lake Roosevelt. Stephen will be missed this summer, since he is not coming home. He will be working as a counselor at Camp WOW (Walk On Water) near Gerty, OK. http://www.campwow.com/

We have plagued with a thief around here lately, and I think I finally figured out who it is. Check out the following photo and let me know what you think.

Yup, a squirrel has learned that he can jump from the railing of our deck onto the black-oil sunflower seed feeder that got from my dad. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THE BIRDS, but this dumb squirrel seems to think that it is for him. He does have a bit of difficulty getting the seeds out because of the small holes, but he seems to be able to get them out, one at a time.

Here are some other pictures that I have taken of creatures that have been coming to our back deck.

These are the birds that the feeder was intended to feed.

Here is that pesky rodent, checking out what is on our deck. I think that he was reconnoitering the scene, looking to see what was available, and how he was going to get it.

DOGBITEIT, THOSE SEEDS ARE FOR THE BIRDS, NOT SOME PESKY SQUIRREL!!!!

I guess it is back to the drawing board to see what I can do to get rid of this little thief from stealing the bird food.

Well, that is all for now. Hopefully, I will be able to keep this up better. Hope all is well with all who look at this pitiful blog.

Sat., April 26, 2008

2008-04-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

All of you saw the pictures I recently posted of the Rhody buds ready to pop out.

Well, here are a couple of pictures I just took of that same Rhody, in all its splendor.

As more of our Rhody's bloom, I will try to get pictures of them also and get them posted here for all of you to see.

After the cold snow that we had last Saturday, it is sure is a beautiful day here today. There are a few very thin clouds, there is no breeze to speak of, and it is supposed to get up near 70 degrees today. Really couldn't ask for a better day around here. And we have to enjoy it today, because who knows what tomorrow will bring, except that it will be Sunday.

Snow in April

2008-04-19T07:39:00.000-07:00

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, take a look at this picture and make up your own words for it.

This picture was taken from our back patio door about 6:45am this morning (Sat., April 19, 2008) There is about 3 to 4 inches of snow on the railing. The temperature is just under freezing. It is supposed to warm up a little bit today, but there is more snow in the forecast. All together now...........let's sing "Winter Wonderland".

Now, compare this picture with the ones a little lower down, that were taken last Saturday, when the temperatures around here were in the high 70's, and I went fishing with my friend Mike. What is the biggest difference between these pictures? I will give you three guesses, and the first two don't count.

2008-04-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, I would like to address this to Al Gore and all his "Global Warming" henchmen. Here it is, the 18th of April, 2008, midway through the month of April, about one month after the official start of Spring, and we are getting snow in Seattle. Well, actually, Bothell.

It is being prognosticated that there could be up to an inch of snow around here by tomorrow morning, and there is supposed to be one to two feet of new snow up on the mountain passes. Now...........is this Global Warming? or is this being caused by Global Warming? I want to know, so I can start preparing for.....................something.

Lake Conner

2008-04-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was such a beautiful day around here, that our good friends, Mike and Becky, decided to make a run up to Lake Conner (just east of Lake Stevens) to check on their motor home. While there, Mike wanted to do some fishing in the lake. They invited us to come up there too. So, we packaged up some food and met them up there.

Here is Becky and Jennie visiting while Mike and I set up for fishing.

Here I am, all set up and waiting for the pole to start vibrating, indicating I've got a fish on.

Here is Mike, all set up, fishing line is wet, and he is waiting for the pole to start vibrating.

There is my bobber, floating in the water. I am keeping an eagle eye on it, waiting for it to dip in the water, indicating that I have a fish on the hook, dangling down in the water.

While we were waiting for the fish to discover our bait and decide that it was good enough to eat, a Bald Eagle flew over us and around the lake to perch on a tree on the other side. (I know, not a very close picture, but it was kinda hard to keep it in the view finder as it was flying around.)

Well, I gotta say that the fish didn't seem to be too interested in what we were dangling down in front of them. We didn't catch anything, but then, is that the entire purpose of fishing? Sometimes, it is just being in a beautiful place with good friends and just visiting and chatting with each other. So.............in that sense, it was a perfect evening and a close to a very good day.

Springtime in the Northwest

2008-04-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I think spring is finally coming to the Pacific Northwest. I took these pictures of some of the blossom buds on one of our rhody's. We have four rhody's in our front yard, and they sure are pretty when the blossoms pop out. They are all different colors and so they all blossom at slightly different times.

2008-03-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday, the 29th of March, 2008, was a special day for me. Jennie and I went to the Muckleshoot Indian Casino for the 2007 Drivers Award Banquet, put on by Ruan, my employer. Social time was from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, with the dinner starting at 7:00pm. After the dinner, the award ceremony started. The first awards given out were for years of safe driving with Ruan.

Here is a picture of the award I received for 4 years of safe driving with Ruan.

Following that was the awards for miles of safety.

Here I am receiving the award for Two Million Miles of safe driving overall.

This is a picture of the award.

I also received a few other items from Ruan.

This is a picture of a hat that was given to all the drivers who were to receive awards, whether they were able to make it to the dinner or not.

As you can see, this hat has a special feature. It has headlights built into the brim of the hat. There is a "hidden" switch that turns the lights off and on. Really useful when having to work in the dark.

This is a picture of a flashlight that was also given to all the drivers who were eligable to receive awards.
Every flashlight was engraved with the drivers name, along with the phrase "Safety is First".

We had a fun time attending the dinner. The food was excellent and the company was great. And no, we did not go out on the floor for any post party gambling. We came straight home afterwards. And I am kinda glad we did, because there were spots where we were getting a lot of snowfall on the drive home. There were several areas that received a lot of snow overnight, but there was very little here at home. It all disappeared by Sunday morning.

Need I say more?

2008-03-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is, the end of March. I took this picture on the 28th of March, shortly after coming home from work.

Snow? In Seattle? At the end of March? Whatever happened to "Global Warming"? Just because Al Gore says it is so, doesn't make it so.

Global Warming

2008-03-27T16:23:00.001-07:00

Where is this "Global Warming" I keep hearing about? Here it is, the 27th of March, 2008, and because of "Global Warming", there were several accidents here in the Northwest, with one fatality this morning. And what was the cause? "Global Warming?" No!!! it was so cold last night and this morning, WE HAD SNOW. Well, acutally, I didn't see any snow on the ground, but I sure saw a lot of cars with a lot of snow on them this morning. It seemed that most of the snow was in South King County, Pierce County and over on the peninsula. And weather prognostications for tonight is for more of the same, probably covering a larger area this time.

Bring on the "Global Warming". I, for one, am sure ready for some warmer weather around here.

Shawnee,Oklahoma - March, 2008

2008-03-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

In January, 2008, Jennie and I decided it was time to visit Stephen at Oklahoma Baptist University, located in Shawnee, Oklahoma. So, in March of 2008, we did that. We arrived in Shawnee on late afternoon of March 5. We found out that he had a ping-pong game scheduled for later that evening, so we went to watch. After warming up with me, he played his game.

Notice the concentration as he takes aim at returning the volley.

Good return!! That just goes to show you what concentration can do for you. If you look real close, you can see an orange streak just coming off the paddle.

Waiting for the next serve.

The following day, Kevin showed up from Longview, TX. He had a couple of days off from school, and the next week was spring break for him, so do you think he was going to miss out seeing his folks and his little (?) brother? I think not.

Anyway, that evening, we went along with some of Stephen's friends for a fun night out. We drove to Stillwater, OK, and just outside of town is a place called Tumbleweeds. Thursday nights is "College Night" and the place was packed with mostly college kids. And what do they do there? Why, two-steppin' and line dancing, of course.

Stephen out on the floor with one of his friends.

The song is over and they are leaving the dance floor.

It was kinda fun watching all those people two-steppin' and line dancing.

This is Kerr Hall, where Jennie and I got to stay during our visit to Oklahoma Baptist University.

The next day, Friday, while Stephen was in class and Kevin was still sleeping, Jennie and I drove to Oklahoma City to do "the tourist thing". Hey, why not see some of the sights in places where one has never been.

Our first stop was the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing. It was very interesting being in a place that one hears about in the news and see pictures of on the nightly news when it happened. It really helps put things in perspective from a more personal point of view.

This is a view of the Reflecting Pond. This was put in place to help people heal from the hurt of what happened. After some regrading of the site, the reflecting pond was put in where NW 5th Street passed along the north side of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. I believe the bomb was set off on this street. The above picture is from the west side of the block, looking east.

Again, from the west, looking east across the field that once was the Alfred P. Murrah building. There are 168 chairs in nine rows. Each row represents a floor, and the chairs that are in each row represents each victim, corresponding to the floor they were on. On the near, or west, side of the field are 5 chairs that represent the five victims that were outside the building.

This view is from what was a parking lot on the east side of the site and across NW 5th Street from the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. This view is looking SW across the Reflecting Pond at the field of chairs.

After viewing the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing, we went on a short tour of downtown Oklahoma City and what is called Bricktown. We walked along the River Walk that wanders through Bricktown and got to see the Bricktown Ballpark.

And then, while walking back to our car, what did we see in the distance? Why, it is Ford Center.

Could this be the new home of the Oklahoma City Sonics? Time will tell, I guess.

We returned to Shawnee and later that evening, Henry showed up all the way from Houston. He wasn't going to let his little brother, Kevin, outdo him in seeing the folks. For the first time since August, 2007 at Lake Roosevelt, we were all together again.

On Saturday, all six of us (including Henry's girlfriend, who came up with him from Houston) went back to Oklahoma City again. This time, we went to the National Cowboy Museum.

Me posing with John Wayne. Well, at least a statue of John Wayne.

Kevin and Stephen goofing off with the statue of John Wayne. One would think that with them being college students, they would have done SOME growing up.
This is our whole family, together once again. Who knows when this will happen again.
This is Jennie posing with Ronald Reagan. Well, at least a statue of Ronald Reagan.

We had a very nice trip to Shawnee, OK, getting to see where our youngest is going to school and meeting a lot of his friends. Time to head back home and back to reality.

Lake Roosevelt, July/August 2007

2008-03-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

Our favorite spot for our family and friends to vacation at is Lake Roosevelt, located in Eastern Washington. Created by Grand Coulee Dam, Lake Roosevelt has just over 150 miles of navigable water, with about 450 miles of shorline. We camp at the River Rue Campground, located just one mile south of the Keller Ferry, where the Martha S goes back and forth across the lake, providing free service from one side to the other for all vehicles.

Getting the tubes inflated and ready for use.

Our friend Shari surveying the goings-on down the beach.

"Do you know where the fill hole is? I wanna get this thing in the water, it is getting kinda warm out here in the sun." By the way, that is my friend Mike's boat on the left and my boat on the right.

Our "beach camp", complete with picnic table and shade. All we need to provide is the beach chairs and, of course, FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to cool off in the nice warm water.

Getting ready to try and get the "flying wing" going and up and out of the water. It turned out to be somewhat successful.

Matt Hogan cutting up the water on the wakeboard.

Now it is Kevin's turn to cut up the water.

Kevin just completing a near wake-to-wake jump with the wakeboard.

There is nothing but fun in the sun when we are here. Air temps generally run 85 to 95 degrees and the water generally runs 70 to 75 degrees.
Our motto for when we are there.....Eat, Sleep, SKI!!!!

Denver Trip - Sept, 2006

2008-03-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

In September of 2006, Jennie and I traveled to Denver, CO to attend the graduation of our son Henry from the Redstone College of Aviation Technology. While there, he studied all aspects of aircraft repair, including engine repair and airplane repair.

Listening to the boring graduation speeches.
Receiving his diploma.
Proud GRADUATE!!!!!!!!
Proud parents with the proud graduate. (Is it OK to be proud of your kid's accomplishments?)

While in the Denver area, we did a bit of sight seeing. Here is a gold mine (still somewhat active), that we were able to get a deep underground tour of. The part that we were able to tour is no longer active and we were able to see some of the old tools that were used in this part of the mine. The entrance to the Phoenix Mine underground tour
One of the many wooden pillars used to support the roof. The reason wood was used is quite interesting. If the mine starts to collapse, the wood will start to give way, warning the miners of impending doom, where steel will not,
One of the chutes used to drop the gold-bearing ore from an upper vein.
A look down into one of the played out shafts.
A look upwards to a shaft that is no longer being worked.

After touring the gold mine, we set out on our own adventure, called Geocaching. Check out www.geocaching.com for more information. This adventure took us all over the mountains above, and to the west, of Denver. In the center of this picture is Interstate 70, that runs west from Denver.
A picture of the fall colors from one of the geocache sights that we found.
Another picture from the same sight. The elevation of this sight is about 6500 feet.

Lake Chelan, March 2006

2008-03-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

View of snow covered hills from just outside Manson.
Another view of snow covered hills surrounding Lake Chelan.

Overlooking where we stayed.
Another overlook.
View of snowcovered hills surrounding Lake Chelan.
Jennie standing in snow covered parking lot on a hilltop way above Lake Chelan.
Our transportation to the hill top way above Lake Chelan.

Oregon Coast, Sept 2005

2008-03-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Jennie standing in the bow of a wrecked ship.
At Cannon Beach.
Elk standing along the road

2008-03-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, my very own blog. I guess I now have to come up with something to put in it.