Zounds, Farmer’s Market, Bean Brownies, August 30, 2009

Friday we had an appointment at a Zounds office about 30 miles from where we are staying in Silverton, OR.  This is the company where Bob purchased his hearing aids back in December.  They have offices all over.  The left  hearing aid  just stopped working and come to find out it just needed a new link, took all of two minutes for the repair.

Also on Friday we received a call from Sandy at RV Pro saying our new AC unit will be ready to install on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  Originally they said it would take 1-2 weeks, but we thought it would be closer to the two weeks, but we were wrong.  We are going up on Tuesday (9/1) to have it installed, then coming back to where we are now in Silverton, OR until after Labor Day.

On Saturday we checked out the local farmers’ market.

It wasn’t very large, but we did buy some tomatoes, peppers, squash and a cucumber.

Today I baked some Chocolate Black Bean Brownies.  This recipe uses no flour and you do use a can of black beans-blended up.  If you want the recipe email me.

In this special moment in life…Gazing at stars

Happy Birthday Jenny – August 30, 2009

A special Happy Birthday wish our beautiful daughter Jenny!! We LOVE You!!

Build in Toilet Brush Set – August 27, 2009

My beloved dish drainer has been used so much, 3 years now, that one of the plastic tabs broke off and now I need my shredder positioned just right to hold up the one side.

In my search for another one, I came across this one. The description says,

S07136ST-1 Dish Rack with Compact Structure and Built-in Toilet Brush Set

http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/Dish-rack/p/sm/1008434891.htm

I think something was definitely lost in translation!!

Camping World used to carry it, in fact that is where I bought my originally, but it is no longer available in their online catalog. (Item No. 4971 – Folding Dish Rack). My only hope to get one would be if I could find one in one of their stores. I have checked the store near us in Wilsonville, OR and they do not have one in stock. If anyone finds one or two, I will gladly reimburse for cost + shipping.

Same diagnosis for the AC – August 24, 2009

Well, today at 9 am was our RV appointment to check out the roof AC unit.  By 10 am Clint from RV Pro confirmed we needed a new compressor, or a new unit.  Bummer, that was what the fellows in Idaho had told us too.  The next bad news was the cost, although time will tell what our extended warranty will cover, and then the worst news, the unit is on backorder and expected to arrive in 1-2 weeks.  So for the time we have to wait, we decided to head south towards Silverton, about a hour south of Portland to Silver Spur RV Park.  They accept our Passport American membership, so instead of $30 per night we pay half price.  Nice large sites and we face the trees out the back.  Already have the hummingbird feeder out.  Planning on hanging out here until the AC unit arrives. 

Shopping Day with Bob, August 21, 2009

With the GPS programmed for a day of shopping,off we went.  First to Fry’s to find a hard drive enclosure case, $25.  Now you are going to ask, “What is that?” well, my original CPU died after we came back from Europe but we thought the hard drive was still okay, so with this case we can take the hard drive out of the old CPU, plug it in to this case and then into my new CPU through a USB port and it should work.  I will jump ahead a little and it does work great, no lost data, yea!!

While on our way to Fry’s we saw a Camping World, so we stopped and bought some material to replace the dicor sealant on the roof, (where the end caps and the body meet).  This will be a job for Bob as I don’t go up on the roof.

By this time it was past lunch and it just so happened our next stop was at Bob’s Red Mill Outlet.

What a fun place, nice restaurant and all of the Bob’s Red Mill products you could ever want.  We had a nice lunch, 1/2 sandwich (Bob’s roast beef and mine egg salad) and lentil barley soup.  Then we got to meet Bob himself.  Here are the two Bobs together – same name, both wear hats, and both wear hearing aids.  Bob “Red Mill” is 80 and a delightful ‘young at heart’ gentlemen. 

Our next stop was at Trader Joe’s.  Our freezer is or was a little empty, not now.  We stocked up on salmon, halibut, and some albacore tuna.   While in Europe we were introduced to Greek Yogurt.  Trader Joe’s sell their version of this yogurt, it is delicious!  So a couple of containers are now in our refrigerator.

  In this special moment in life…see beauty everywhere.

Waiting for AC Service, August 20, 2009

On Tuesday morning (18th) we left Silver Cover RV Resort and headed to Vancouver WA to wait until next Monday (24th) for our service appointment for the coach’s front roof AC.  We had another service center in Idaho look at it and they said it needed replaced, so we will see what we find out here on Monday.

Found this photo on the camera from Monday night, it is just too pretty not to post. (Taken behind the coach at Silver Cove)

Also love this photo of Zach eating corn off the cob.  Didn’t know it could be so much fun.  You can almost see his braces in this photo.

To say we have a snug site at the Vancouver RV Park might be an overstatement!  What do you think?

We do have a lovely view outside our window of our neighbor’s blue awning.

In this special moment in life…Laugh heartily

Family Visits – con’t, August 10-17, 2009

About a mile from the RV park was a nice fishing dock, so we spent time there so the boys could try to catch some fish. Bob and I sat and read while Rich and Zach try to catch something, anything.

They both caught small ones, don’t small ones count as fish.

Here is Zach with one he caught. He sure was full of grins.

Before we knew it, the time for Rich to fly back to Sacramento was here. But before we dropped him at the airport, we went by a HobbyUSA store and he helped Bob buy a new toy.

It is a Traxxas Slash (short course, off-road race truck) 1/10 size, electric remote controlled. Boys and their toys!!

Here we are outside the hobby shop. We sure had a great visit with Rich.

Between the times that Rich flew home and Meg arrived, we had cloudy colder weather. One of those days we took Zach to a Mt. St. Helens visitor center. He was very fascinated by this display of a volcano. He really was.

Here is Zach doing tricks.

On Friday (14th) it was time for Megan to fly in, here she is getting her hugs, but not too busy to smile for a photo.

Zach wanted to take his Mom fishing (what else). He caught over 20 fish (small perch, and one bass). Meg even caught a few, but the elusive catfish never got on her hook!!

Before we knew it, it was time for Meg and Zach to fly home. We so enjoyed her visit and Zach’s visit was for 11 days.

Rich, do you know anything about how this creature got in our coach??!! Dad actually found it!!

Zach and Rich’s visit, Aug 6-17, 2009

Zach’s visit, Aug 6-17, Rich’s visit, Aug 6-10.

On Aug 6th, Rich and Zach flew in to Portland, about an hour away from Silver Lake, WA.

Rich brought his short wave radio and here is his setup on the front seat of the coach.  This was his first chance to talk on the 20 m band.  He also brought his antenna and had set that up on top of the coach attached to the rear ladder.  It all worked as he was able to talk to Iowa, Pt Reyes, CA, and Hawaii.

On Saturday, the 8th, we drove to see Spirit Lake and Mt. St Helens (if the clouds cleared).  Here we are on top of Windy Ridge which is over 350 steps up-great views, cold and windy. The clouds did clear for a few moments and this it what we saw of Mt. St. Helens.

Then it was time to hike down to Spirit Lake.  Look what we found along the way, salmon berries, and boy were they good!

Here Rich is holding a handful. 

He did share with him Mom.

 

 

Rich and Zach on the edge of Spirit Lake, it is full of downed trees that were blown down during the May 1980 eruption.

This photo shows the logs in Spirit Lake from up on Windy Ridge, all the white area are blown down trees.  Amazing!!  It is hard to comprehend the power of the volcano. Zach was very interested in the “miners car”.  This car was tossed about like a toy from across the road where it had been parked.  Owners of the car were in their cabin at a nearby mine and were killed when Mount St Helens erupted.

On Sunday it was time for some fishing at a nearby dock.  Other fishermen were catching small catfishes, but Zach and Rich caught some perch.

The boys also had fun driving Rich’s RC 1/10 car he brought with him.  They are checking it out here.

Then you have to test drive it.  Rich is even writing down the times for the time trials.

Happy Birthday Abby – August 4, 2009

Happy Birthday to our granddaughter, Abby, today she is 8 years old and will be starting third grade next Monday.  We love you very much!!  Have a fun party!!

From Salem, OR to Silver Lake, WA – August 3, 2009

Today was a travel day, did not have too far to go, about 120 miles.  We like to travel through large cities on a Saturday or Sunday, so traveling today (on Sunday) was perfect.  All went well until we were greeted by this road about 1/2 mile from the Silver Cove RV Park.  They were redoing this road,  now dirt and gravel.  So much for washing our Explorer!

When we called to make a reservation at this park they assigned us a site number, but this site did not have a clear view of the southern sky for our Motosat internet satellite to work,  so…we found another site that would work and asked to change, no problem.  On the two loops we can see there are only 3 RVers . 

Here is the view out behind our site.  Bob even put out our bird feeding tower-thistle seed, regular seed, and hummingbird feeders.

 

Our almost full moon view last night.

 

 

 

And our sunset view out the back.  The best part about this park is that we are having cooler weather, a blessed relief.

Games are over - Saying Goodbye – August 1, 2009

Well, today at noon was the Folsom Freedom’s next game.  As it turned out, this was to be their last game of the three day tournament.  They all did their best, but the other team just had more lucky breaks.   A comment made by the umpire as our team was leaving the field actually said more about the team than winning the game ever could.  She said that Lindsey’s team had the nicest bunch of girls of any team of the tournament. 

Here are the girls,  Abby, the official ‘Bat Girl’ and Lindsey after the game today.

Jenny and Ed had already checked out of the hotel prior to the game so after a late lunch with us they headed back to Folsom, CA. 

Goodbyes are always sad, but we were so glad we were here to share in their softball tournament excitement.

Softball update, August 1, 2009

We have been enjoying watching Lindsey’s and her softball team, Folsom Freedom, play in the tournament.  First day of tournament (Friday July 31) went well for her team.  First game started at 8 am and the last game (of four games) ended up at 12:30 am (early Sat morning).  I did not see the last game as I took Justin back to their hotel and get him into bed.  A 10 pm game start is just too late for him.  Of the four games, they won, lost, won, and won and from what I hear from Bob and Jen and Ed, this last game was a power charged game, the Freedom, did their thing.

Two nights ago, Jen and family came over and I was able to give them all the gifts I had brought them from Europe.  Here are the scarves from Turkey.  They are also wearing necklaces from Murano (Venice).

Here is Justin showing his Christmas ornament from  Germany.

Abby’s 8th birthday is coming up on August 4th, so Grandma took her shopping for her presents.  We had a great time and Abby picked out some nice items – craft project, stylist tank top, small purse, scarf, nightgown, and flip flops.  Here is Abby with her loot.