Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday/Thursday. . . . . .I did not arrive home until after 11PM last night, way too late to post anything on the blog. This morning I got started too late even to turn the puter on so here I am Thursday evening trying to get both days reported. Wednesday Terri and I ran off to Silverton Falls to take a few pictures and that was after we had stopped at a couple of Flower Farms to see what they had growing. We walked through acres and acres of flowers. I must have snapped 200 pictures, some of which will turn out fine but many others will not because of the cloud cover we had to contend with. I believe the most interesting part of the day was watching a wedding couple near the foot of the two hundred? foot waterfall posing for pictures. The couple was walking around in the water, barefooted and the man taking the pictures was positioning himself as well as he could wearing his street shoes in water well over ankle deep. The wedding dress had to be a mess. It was hard to tell because we were at the top of the falls looking down on the proceedings. They certainly were making memories down there! After leaving there Terri phoned Aunt Jean and Ben to see what they were up to and Jean invited us to stop in for Stir Fry and we stayed way too late. It had turned out to be a fun day!

This morning, Thursday, I got up late and had a hair appointment at 9:45 so I rushed to that then returned home long enough to make a survey of the refrigerator, noting the shortages on a grocery list. I then rushed to the hospital lab for my Protime check, 2.6, and got to the bowling alley in time to order a chili dog and a dinner salad. I barely had time to finish that when our annual bowling meeting started. After the meeting and the paying of our annual dues the team I am on decided to do some bowling. It took almost three hours to bowl 2 lines each. I had a 120 and a 148. It was three o’clock by the time I got to Safeway to purchase enough to  stock up the fridge. I had some cookies and milk while watching O’Reilly, that was dinner, before finally sitting down here to get this little report off to you all. Terri has a little family gathering in Hawaii this December so she feels perhaps she may not be able to go to Mazatlan with me after all. I am thinking of January, February and March or part of those three months. Anybody out there want to share expenses and go along? I will have a small apartment with two double beds, Oh, yes, I snore quite loudly these days, keep that in mind. I have no idea what the Airlines charge but I was told by a friend that it is about the same as flying to the east coast. . . . .  I have not heard back from Jiffy Lube, he told me he would call Monday or Tuesday. That was 4-5 days ago. You best not do business with that company.

Tuesday

. I received a response from Veronica Tostado in Mazatlan, Mexico today. Do you believe that name? It is just tooo funny! She apologized for sending the rates per Peso and putting the Dollar sign in front of it. So it turns out the 9400 Peso apartment will cost $751.00 per month. That split in two is not bad. The renter must also pay utilities if staying more than a week or so. I guess the real expense will be airline tickets. Food can't be considered because we gotta eat even if we stayed home. . . . I got that email right after ChiChi and I returned from our one hour walk. He was really ready to go once he discovered what was happening! I had spent the morning working on my Alaska Pictures and broke from that at 2PM for lunch. We left the house shortly after 3:00.

I actually wore a sweatshirt and was happy to have it on. Boy, I will never get used to this Cowlitz County weather!

Monday

. Today was laundry day at my house, I also found that the comforter that I took on my drive to Alaska also fits in my washing machine so I got that cleaned up and ready for the next adventure. I turned my bedroom around a bit this afternoon. The bed is now placed in one of the corners. I feel that gives me a little more room to wander around in. I am not sure it will make the vacuuming any easier, but no bother, I don't vacuum that much anyway.. . . . I got a response to my information request from The Melville in Mazatlan. The lady quoted $9400.00 per month. I doubt Verda paid that much so I wrote back for clarification. I asked if perhaps they meant to say 9400 Pesos. More on that when I get the answer. I found myself getting out of breath while pushing the bed around this afternoon, the doctor always asks me about getting out of breath; now I have something to report when I see him on the 8th of September. . . . .I spent a lot of time working on my Alaska pictures today, I have edited more than half of them and could place them on Youtube but I am going to wait until all of the editing phase is wrapped up before moving on. . . . .Gave some thought to fishing today but got lazy instead, never did take a nap though; that's sort of rare for me.

Sunday

....The weather was cool around here this morning but it changed a lot by noon. I was lazy until close to 1PM when I decided to hit the road and get my bod to the bowling alley. I threw 5 lines and one of them was 157 and another was 105. I don't recall what the other three were but it all worked out to a 133 average. If I had not slumped so bad during that one game I might have had good scoring day. After bowling I phoned Verda and asked if she wanted to go to lunch. I told her I wanted to pick her brain regarding the place she stayed for a few weeks during last winter in Mexico. She brought a brochure from a place called The Melville [boutique-hotel] in Old town Mazatlan. I have sent them an email requesting information about rates and availability. Verda told me she paid more than $400 per month but she feels a two bedroom would not cost a lot more than $800. If that is the case it still works out to $400 per person. It will be interesting to discover what the actual cost will be. She also gave me the name of her American friend who lives across the street from the Melville who knows an honest taxi driver for delivery of friends to and from the airport. I am interested to see how far this little search goes.

I was back at the house by 5PM to feed the dog but he is still too used to Hamburgers in the afternoon to jump right into his dog food bowl. It will be all gone in the morning but he will not let me catch him eating it. He wants me to think he is starving. Lots'a luck, little doggie! I ended up having a late lunch today so I am not sure I will have popcorn this evening. Perhaps if I find a really good commercial free movie I might break down and pig out anyway!

Saturday

The fish were not biting today but the time at the river was really relaxing. Doggie got in my lap and I laid the book down before falling asleep for almost an hour. We sat in the shade and the temperature was just right. Very few boats came by so it was really quiet for the full three hours we were there.. . . . Certainly not anything else to report, came home and turned on NASCAR about 5PM. . . . Tomorrow I will be going to the bowling alley to see if I can break the 140 average I have developed.

Friday

The reunion of cousins went well. Donald, Kenneth and Coya each brought their spouse. Aunt Coral was there with Mary and Caren arrived with a new baby to hand around. The little girl is only a month old and never made a fuss about a thing during the entire stay. Caren left a bit early because the baby had a doctor appointment this afternoon in Longview. Ron had stayed home with the two boys. The rest of us visited until 3PM. That is when we all called it a day. The drive both ways was nice and quiet, the car is running like a top these days.

The weather was much warmer than I had expected it would be but I am not complaining. It was good for my soul to soak up some warm sunshine, good stuff, that vitamin D. I was home about 4PM and had sliced apple and cheese for a snack before O'Reilly came on. It was a good day. Perhaps I will go fishing tomorrow, with such good weather it would be a shame not to.

Thursday

I left for the bowling alley about 11:45, the doggie was unhappy because I didn't ask him to go along. I did leave the door open to the garage so it was possible for him to get outside if he had a need to. I started off really well with bowling but slowly went downhill after the first game. The 176-146-104 did produce my average so I didn't have a lot to complain about but I was not too happy with the fact that I could not continue releasing the ball as well as I had in the first game. More practice, I'm afraid! After leaving the bowling alley I stopped by Jiffy Lube to fight with them some more about that radiator they destroyed last February. The Regional Manager in Portland had told the local manager that it was all taken care of but in fact it was not and he has since left the company. Now the local manager has made copies for the third time of all the paperwork and is to send them to the new Regional Manager. So the process starts all over again. Jiffy Lube is not a great company to do business with, I think. I got home about 3:30 and had some apple and cheese with my famous trail mix. Later today I'll have some peanut butter and cookies with a glass of milk. About bed time I am guessing. I am bringing my weight down a bit and would like to see that continue. Good luck with that.

It was toasty warm here today, I just love it!

Doggie is not complaining one bit but I remember last year about this time he was developing 'hot spots' ; so far that does not seem to be a problem for him.

Wednesday

. Terri and I drove to the beach today, actually to Astoria first for lunch then a hike to the top of the Astoria Column. This was our fourth attempt to see the view from atop the large circular stairway structure. It amounted to about 160 steps of [I felt] larger than usual dimensions. The view was spectacular and as you might have guessed I forgot my camera. Luckily Terri had remembered to bring hers but the battery was dieing. All worked out fine though and after leaving there we drove to Cannon Beach for a long walk in the sand before Terri bought us some ice cream and we sat on a bench watching people walk by and occasionally petting a little doggie as the crowd ambled by. After leaving the beach we drove back to Beaverton and visited the Borders store. They are in the middle of going out of business and it was a sad time for us because we had spent many happy hours there in the past four years. I guess we didn’t spend enough money because they filed  bankruptcy a few weeks ago. Another  victim of the electronics age. We parted about 8pm and I drove home to a delighted little doggie. I had left the door to the garage open while I was gone and Roy had adjusted the large door to a height that ChiChi could use so he had the run of the yard while I was away. I had my Chocolate cookies with peanut butter and a glass of milk and went to bed. Never even turned on the puter to post this until Thursday morning.

Tuesday

I think the flea shampoo works really well when it is used properly. In the past I have failed to follow directions and allow the shampoo to kill the bugs before starting the rinsing part of the procedure. When in doubt, read the instructions, good advise.

I had the car at R&R Motors at 8:15 this morning and they got right on it. The motor unit inside the door has a chipped tooth in one of the gears and that was the reason It would not rise and fall like a good window should. I also had the oil changed so all should be good to go.

After leaving R&R I drove home and fixed some lunch before loading the dog in the car and going to the fishing hole to catch up on my reading. It was a nice day at the river, warmer than yesterday and very quiet except for a boat or three that came by around 3PM. I stayed two hours and decided that was enough for the day. After getting home I watched History channel until O'Reilly came on then turned the TV off as soon as that was over.

Monday

For some reason I found myself running a bit late today and it was after noon before I got to the fishing hole. I had to stop at the 4 corners store to buy a new fishing license. Dang thing doubled in price from last year. $16.75. I wonder who's pocket that is lining? There were other fishermen on the river and none of us caught anything but I did have a good book so it worked out fine with me. I was expecting the fog to burn off and let the sun through but that never happened. I took a sweat shirt with me but never put it on, some of those breezes that came roaring by tempted me though. I doubt the temperature ever went above 72 all day. I left the river at 4PM and came home to eat something before watching O'Reilly and settling in for the evening. All in all it turned out to be a good day, they usually are though, except for the lack of sunshine. The flea shampoo did not do really great on the dog so I have run water in the kitchen sink to put him through that ordeal again. He knows running water is a bad sign so he is hiding under the bed as I type this. He is smart when he wants to be. After I get the car out of the shop tomorrow I may stop by the fishing hole and try it again. I had fans running inside all day but have turned them off earlier than I did yesterday, oh, oh, the doggie just walked in the living room, gotta go!

Sunday

This was a good day for me; I finished with the detailing of my car before it got too warm out and got in some reading before leaving for bowling practice. My results were not too bad considering it has been a while since I have had that type of exercise. My scores were 138-149-134. That works out to a 140 average. I can improve on that and when Thursday arrives I will put my best foot forward and see what happens. On the way home I stopped at Safeway and bought some ice cream along with a bunch of other stuff. I am set for a while, I think. I watched TV this afternoon thinking I might fall asleep but that never happened so I turned to the computer and continued with the editing of my Alaska pictures.

That is fun but it does take time and can be messy when I 'lose' a picture occasionally. Such is life.

Saturday

. . . .I kept my promise to myself and completely emptied that car of everything possible before going through it with a fine tooth comb cleaning and polishing. It was fairly easy working inside because I did not replace the front passenger seat until after  the cleaning was completed. The trunk is looking good too. I eliminated a bunch of unnecessary stuff that I had been hauling around for no reason and made room for my bowling ball again.

Washing the car was next on the list but that was some time after I watched an hour or so of Fox News and sort of recovered from the previous workout. Washing the thing was not too easy, the wheels were a true mess. And that was after running through three car washes during the trip. After the car was shining again I went inside and spent more time in front of the TV. When the mood struck me I loaded the washing machine and started my laundry. That was fun and by the time I had complete the job I laid down to ‘read’ and woke up over an hour later. This afternoon turned out to be nice and warm, Summer has arrived, folks! I have been told the salmon are entering the river so things are working out peachy-keen in my life. Perhaps tomorrow I will try my luck at bowling and wait until Monday to go to the river for those fish. My investments have hit almost bottom but I find pauperism is not too hard to accept. The fishing hole is still there and the gas tank is full, can’t beat that!

Friday

Friday, Just arrived from the great trip to Alaska. I added more than 6,000 miles to my odometer and had a ball in the process. Doggie was really excited to be home, he was beginning to suffer from cabin fever being in that car for hours at a time. I made it to Fairbanks, Anchorage, Denali, Homer, Palmer, Valdez, Tok and too many other places to mention. The weather was wonderful and awful. The high temp I remember on the trip was 73 and the low one morning was 43. That changed when I got back to Vancouver, Canada, the high there was 86 two days ago. The car is filthy and that is after being washed three times during the trip. Tomorrow I will clean it up and thank it for doing such a wonderful job on the trip.

Right now it is almost bedtime, I will start regular postings tomorrow. G’night.

Wednesday 7AM

I'm out the door, be back in 2-3 weeks.

Tuesday

The new tires are on the car and they are very quiet, the car is running as well as when I first got it. Having those rattles removed really helped my heart! It feels like a new car going down the highway. I was home about 3PM and installed my bed and loaded most of my stuff in the car. It should not be a lot of trouble getting away in the morning, doggie and I are both ready to hit the road. I will be staying with Sharron and Virgil tomorrow night and will begin the serious part of the trip the next morning. Right now O'Reilly is coming on TV so I am going to tune him in and get something to eat.

Monday

 I spent the morning finishing my Sand Carving pictures and loading them on the You Tube Site. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeewpa21L5o. Now the computer is free to start again with my Alaska pictures once I return from my trip. Today was the day that Caren and Ron visited Barb’s place for the last time. I arrived a bit earlier and took a stroll around the property. They went through the house and retrieved all that Barb had intended for them to have. I have a lot of good memories after living there for  7 years. It is difficult to say goodbye but that is what the visit amounted to for me. The new owners will soon be taking over and we will all move on, it’s a life thing. . . I promised myself last night to watch a movie and have a bowl of popcorn but I ate too much other junk food to do that so I will try again tonight. I am feeling a bit hungry and I am sure popcorn is not the best thing for me but what can I say. Brother Leonard phoned me this afternoon and wished me a nice trip to Alaska, it was nice hearing from him. He had watched the YouTube presentation and told me I did a good job. He is a good brother. Believe it or not I gave some thought to driving in to the bowling alley to try my skills again but went home and took a nap instead.

Sunday

I washed the doggie this morning after I had breakfast and worked on my YouTube pictures until about noon when I had lunch. After lunch I decided to go to the bowling alley to confirm that I am as bad a bowler as I think I am.

I was right, I bowled 6 lines with an 84 being my starting line. The next three were all over the place but by the time I got to the fifth I found my groove, such as it is and got a 144. I could not let that stand so I continued with one more just to see if I could improve and I did. My sixth line was 149. The more I bowled the more I realized what I was doing wrong and by the end of the session I felt pretty good about how I was doing. Now I must remember how to throw that ball when I get back in 3-4 weeks. Winter league starts again September 8th. I am hoping I can work up to a 150 average by next spring.

On the way home I filled the gas tank so it will be ready to go Wednesday. Tuesday I have the new tires put on the car then I'll come home and start packing for the big trip. I plan on popcorn and a movie this evening but before that I may attempt to post the first half of my Sandsation pictures on YouTube.

Saturday

 I got in the mood to continue on my Sandsations pictures but made so much work out of the project I doubt I will get it finished before leaving for Alaska next week. I am feeling much better health-wise and intended to visit the fishing hole for a while today but time just slipped by too fast. Tomorrow I plan on practicing bowling for an hour or so and that may help make up for the fact that I got no exercise at all today. The weather in this neck of the woods is not too bad, may have gotten to 80; certainly is nice, I'll say that. Anchorage was 69 today, expecting 49 tonight. They are having lots of rain this season.

Friday

ChiChi and I were tire shopping most of the morning. After lots of looking and pricing the decision was to buy four new Cooper tires right here in Castle Rock. The work will be done Tuesday afternoon and doggie and I plan on leaving Wednesday morning for the big trip North.

My plan after shopping was to stop by the fishing hole and help clean it up for the new fishing season. Things just did not work out that way; I found myself not feeling well and could tell the chest congestion was trying a comeback so I took the doggie home, had lunch and took a three hour nap. I was feeling much better when I awoke and turned on O'Reilly. Laura Ingram was sitting in his chair so I lost interest after a half hour and decided to get things caught up on the puter.

I did get my laundry caught up yesterday so the 'packing' part of my trip is going to be quite easy. I will be able to get all of that done Tuesday afternoon and install my sleeping arrangement before loading the car. If all goes well I will be arriving in Abbotsford, BC in the early afternoon Wednesday and spend the night with Sharon and Virgil.

My hope is to be back no later than the 26th because I do not wish to miss the Henion Family Get-Together in Olympia on that date.

Thursday

I am feeling much better today. If I were so inclined I could use my bowling results as an excuse to feel next to pretty bad but I won't take the trouble. I bowled 88-114-124. There is no way I am going to worry about it because I knew while I was there that I should have stayed home. Not because I was sick but because I was not feeling well enough to really give a darn how the bowling went. My muscles refused to cooperate with my brain so I just did the best I felt like doing and forgot about it. I was slowing improving my score and that is the most I can say for my results.

After bowling I stopped by Safeway then drove home. When I pulled in the garage I found Roy had the way blocked with a love chair he was trying to find a place for. I agreed to place it in my living room. He also had a small bedside table that needed a home so I put that next to my bed. One of these days I will get on the ball and rearrange furniture in the living room.

I'm really happy with the results of the work done by R&R Motors. The car is quieter than it has been in the past couple of years. Next week, if not before, I am going to put new tires on it and that will quiet it even more. My Cousin, Sharon and her husband Virgil phoned to let me know they are expecting me to stop by as I cross the border into Canada. She also reminded me that ChiChi needs up to date Rabies shots, which he has, and to not try to carry firearms into Canada. I assured them that there was no problem on either count.

I had eaten a large Burger earlier in the day so when dinner time rolled around I just had sliced apple and an ounce of Cheese. I think the lunch was just too much for me and I hardly touched the French fries that came with it.

We are enjoying very nice weather around here today, I'm sure it got above 80 degrees, not too shabby for Cowlitz County. Bring it on! I would like to see summer last until at least next May.