Thank you all so much

Just wanted to say a big, heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who took the time to send your condolences and make a comment on our loss of Poppy.  I tried to respond personally to those I have an email for.  For those who have a “do not reply” on their comment profile, I wanted to be sure you know how much your comments have meant to Russ and me.  Susan, thank you for the sweet poem.

Poppy, August 2007, Harbor Vista Park on the Oregon coast

We are doing okay but never far from tears.  We know we will be okay, it just takes time.  Poppy was very much our little girl and we miss her terribly.  It’s doubly sad because we have made the decision that Poppy was our last.  We don’t have the energy to keep up with another one and it wouldn’t be fair to the dog.  But we will always treasure every moment we had with Poppy and with Rusty too.

We have a houseful of grandkids here this week so are staying busy with that.  I guess that’s a good thing but it’s kinda hard too.

Again, thank you all.  It really does help to know others care and are sharing in our sorrow.

Goodbye Poppy

We said a sad goodbye to Poppy today.  I will write a more complete tribute later but I wanted to let Poppy run free on this blog.

Poppy was most assuredly Russ’s dog but when it came to games, she was mostly mine!!  We had a couple of favorites…one was “Fight over the blankie” and the other was “Run, Poppy, Run.”  That was our favorite.  The game was played with me clapping my hands and hollering, “Run, Poppy, Run.”  Her part was to tear through the house at breakneck speed – from the bedroom, through the hall and the living room, to the kitchen, where she would skid to a halt and turn around and race the other way.  She never did like to play this game much outside, but she sure liked to tear through the house.  Even within the last month or so, she would make little attempts to walk fast on the straight shot through the living room, pretending to play “Run, Poppy, Run.”

Poppy was camera shy and regardless of how I tried to get a picture of her running through the house, she mostly managed to avoid the camera.  I have one shot clip in the middle of this video that shows a small part of her house run. 

So Poppy my love, this is for you.  Run, Poppy, Run….I will catch up to  you some day and we’ll play a few rounds of “Fight over the blankie” too. 

Run, Poppy, run; run wild and free
With legs that are strong now and eyes that can see
Run, Poppy, run with the wind in your face
Run Poppy run, to a happier place

Can’t Beat That!

Son, John, made a video today of Bekah’s progress on the drums through the years.  Just wanted to post it cuz I’m proud of them both.  Feel free to skip this post as it has nothing to do with travel or hiking or any of the things a travel blog might be about.  It is simply about family and about love.  If you do watch the video, that crazy drummer on the paint cans at the beginning is none other than our very own Mr. Russ Krecklow!!  He gave Bekah her first drum lesson when she was about 1 year old – improvisation at its finest.

We Have a WINNER!!!

Remember my post about entering our photos in the fair?  Well, guess what?!?!?!  I didn’t win a thing and Russ didn’t win the $5 first place prize either.  Instead Russ won the Marques Miller Special Award and a prize of $25!!



I don’t know who Marques Miller is or how he picked his award winner, but we are sure pleased.  First time ever for entering a photo in the fair…and here’s our proud winner now…


How about that!

40 years and Counting

Wow, can’t believe it’s been 40 years ago today that Russ and I said our vows and joined our lives.  GOOD LORD, WHAT WERE WE THINKING??? 


We were young and dumb some would say.  A couple who had only known each other for a very short time, both with a couple of kids.

Russ, a widower for only 6 weeks with two tiny boys, and me, the young divorcee with two young children.  It will never last, they said!




But they were wrong.  I’m pretty sure we’re going to make it!





We’ve changed a lot through the years.








 
Don’t know if that’s good or bad!!








1975










                                           1977







1978










                                           1980







1985










1989










1995









                                          2003





And it went downhill from there!!















Things have not always been easy.  We’ve had our troubles and shed some tears along the way.  But overall we were so happy with our decision that we did it all over again on an Alaska Cruise in 2004.


I guess that really seals the deal – no getting out of it now!  So since we’ve made it to 40, we may as well hang in there and go for the golden 50! 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RUSS - I LOVE YOU!!!

Curb Your Enthusiasm!

We are finding, as we age, we are very easily entertained.  Just a bug in the backyard can keep us entertained for a long time!












So imagine how entertained we were when the workers began laying in our new curb!  It started with the rumble and growl of the big cement mixer early in the morning.



Then we heard a mysterious clanging sound, like metal on metal, but the truck was just sitting there.  Russ went out to investigate and found there was some kind of problem with the whatchamacallit or the thingamajig.   First the guy in the orange vest tried to fix it, then the guy in the green vest took over but it still wouldn’t work, so the guy in the orange took the job on again.



Which all goes to show, if it doesn’t work, just get a bigger hammer!!  They did eventually get the doohickey fixed and the truck started to roll.



There are actually two parts to this process.  The concrete truck in the front sends glops of concrete up a conveyor belt and where the glops are dropped into a bin on the extruder.  The extruder then lays a two level ribbon of concrete and the men go along and smooth it out with trowels.  That’s gotta be back breaking work.

The yellow arrow in the picture below shows a level line and the guide that the truck follows.  The red arrow shows where the concrete is extruded into the desired shape.


The concrete truck and the extruder move independently.  The extruder goes slowly along and when it starts getting too close, the truck inches forward.  There is a very brave man who stands between the machines to tell the truck when to move, or maybe it's to keep the concrete spout in the right place!  At any rate, I don't think I would want that job!  Here’s how it all works.



Once the concrete ribbon is extruded, it looks like this.





They will finish off the street side to match the height of the curb and on the other side will be a narrow planting strip (what a waste!!) and then the sidewalk. 







The last step was a guy going along in a truck spraying water on everything.  I guess he was the rain-man!




This is what our driveway looks like now.  No ingress, no egress!!



It could be as long as two weeks before we can use the driveway again but we are hoping for a shorter time frame.  It all depends on when the work gets done and then how long the concrete needs to cure.

See, I told you we are easily entertained and I’m sure there will be more excitement next week.  Stay tuned to the Concrete Channel for the next episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Land-Locked!! (almost!!)

Our morning started early with the rumble of equipment scraping gravel in front of the house.  We weren’t worried because the supervisor had told us yesterday that we would need to move the car on Thursday so we wouldn’t be blocked in the driveway.


I went out to take a photo of the action and the nice man on the backhoe said we might want to move our car out of the driveway.  Told him we were aware and we would move it first thing in the morning.  “Well,” he said, “The driveway is going to be inaccessible in about 30 minutes!”  Gee, thanks for telling us.  Did it ever occur to someone to knock on our door and let us know???  Just glad I went out to take a picture and got the lowdown!


That nice gravel pad the backhoe is sitting on is now gone.  Don’t really understand why as they are only pouring curbs tomorrow and there won’t be a curb across the driveway!  At any rate we got one car out and parked across the street for the next several days.  David and Nola, if you are reading this, they promised to be done by the 25th…but then they told us three weeks ago they would be done by the 15th.  Hope you can get your rig out when you return!!


On a happier note, we had three visiting grandkids today.  The girls are spending the night while their mom is out of town since dad works nights at the hospital. We threw some burgers and dogs on the grill for lunch.


Corbin is a growing teenage boy and he was HUNGRY.  Take a look at his plate – and then add in a big serving of watermelon.  I think that hollow leg stuff must be true!


They also ate a big piece of Blueberry Dream Cake. That’s Corbin, Cailin, and Emmie holding the cake.  Corbin did the blueberries on top.


Good thing Grandma loves to feed the grandkids!!

A dip in the pool for them and a siesta in the backyard for us made for a great afternoon.


Yes, the sky really was that blue and it was an absolutely perfect day.  No bugs, just a gentle breeze, cool in the shade, and warm in the pool.  I think I’ve said it before but in case you don’t know – I LOVE OREGON!!  Guess that’s why I’m still here.  Now if they would just finish up the sidewalk project and give me back my driveway, I’d be a happy camper!!

When the Grandkids Are Away, The Grandparents Play!

For many years, our house has been grandchild central for most of the summer.  The out of town grands would come and spend several weeks at a time. They camped in the backyard, went swimming, and put on musical productions.  This year that has slowed down considerably.   The “out of towners” have spent just one week here so far, with another two weeks planned for August.  The “in-towners” have had some day visits now and again, so we still get our “grandkid fix.”  It's all good, they are growing up.

So what have we been doing with all this “spare” time?  Aside from the normal day to day and taking care of Poppy, we have had some fun times.  In May we spent several days at Sunriver with my sister Laila and her husband, Brian.  We had an unexpected guest join us for dinner on the patio one evening.  That’s a SMILE folks, not a snarl…no, really!!  We kept our distance, just in case.


We visited the High Desert Museum in Bend, OR and Brian found his “starter” RV.



We drove up to South Twin Lake in central Oregon.



We have made a couple of day trips to the coast.  Poppy has faithfully ridden along in the third seat and graciously given up the middle row of the van to Brian and Laila…although we can tell she is not REAL happy about it LOL.





We’ve even had a couple of trips to the Roaring Rapids Pizza Parlor, on the banks of the Willamette River.



This pizza is good, but not my favorite, although in a setting like this, everything tastes great.  The river is just to the left of this photo.


A little house sparrow waited patiently for any leftover crumbs of pizza crust.











But when he got those crumbs, he forgot to use a napkin!  Just look at that messy beak.


So with all the pictures we have all taken so far this spring and summer, we decided to do something none of us has done before.  We are entering pictures in the county fair!!  While we don’t expect to win…


…we certainly expect to have fun trying!!

I’ll let you know how it turns out!!  And that is…

THE END!

I Love a Parade

You all know we have kids and grandkids around most of the summer.  Sadly, but naturally, they are growing up and have lots of other things to occupy their time.  They even want to spend time with their own families and friends – can you imagine!!  Bekah and Anna (Portland area granddaughters) got to have a lot of fun on the 4th, in Hood River, Oregon.

Mt.Hood was putting on a good show for the parade goers.

View from the parade route.

We were not able to make it up to the parade so all pictures are from John and his wife Joni (used by permission).  It’s one of those things where I really wanted to go but then what do we do with Poppy while we sit in the sun for a couple of hours.  Sometimes it’s hard, but we had a good day here at home anyway.

Our oldest son, John, (Bekah’s dad) volunteers at WAAAM, an antique car and plane museum in Hood River, OR.  He was privileged to get to drive a 1938 Model A  in the Hood River 4th of July Parade and then across the river in the White Salmon, WA parade.  His dad, Steve, also drove a Model A with a rumble seat and Bekah and Anna got to ride in the rumble seat.

John’s ride for the day.

When John was about 3 years old, his grandpa got him a steering wheel – a REAL steering wheel.  John “drove” that steering wheel around for years and in fact still has it.  He LOVES to drive – can you tell by that contented look on his face?

Steve actually re-built this Model A from the frame up for the museum.

He really got into the spirit of things by growing a beard and dressing the part.  The girls had a blast.


After the Hood River parade, they crossed the bridge into White Salmon and did it all over again.



And there you have it – THE END!