April Showers

April is here and almost half gone, along with the early April snow… Time is flying.. We must be having fun.

I sent an email to The Director of Oregon Tourism today. In looking at their website, they have lots of information for people who ride a bicycle, but little for the OHV folks. Disparate treatment. I think the people who author that site mostly live on the wet side of the state and have forgotten what the rest of the state does. By doing this, the Oregon tourism industries could be missing out on some very big spenders. I will keep an update on this blog.

We will spend most of April getting ready to re-build the back porch.

Update...  Tourism responded in a positive email.   I am optimistic. and offered to get involved.  Time will tell. 

March and 'The Dunes'

Picked up Cassie after school for spring break and headed for Florence and the sand dunes.  Had a great time with friends and met some new ones.   The RZR ran well on the sand, but could have used some sand paddles on the back for some of the bigger hills.   Only got stuck twice.   Cassie spent some time behind the wheel and I think she is hooked on the ATV/UTV world.  She also met some new friends her age down there. 

Back to Cove to clean up and wash off the sand.   Will probably spend most of the next month or two around home.   Two new OHV parks in the area. 

The Start of March

February 27 found Bob attending a SAR training session in the snow. Goal of the session was to get some new members trained up for missions. We started from home about 7am and I was back in the driveway at 5. Showered and was just about to pour a wine, when the call came in that we had a overdue xc skier. Age 13. I was asked to go to our Emergency Ops Center to assist in the management team. Within an hour we moved the operations of the search up to the mountain, about 45 miles out. Arrived on scene as resources started to pour in. Mainly snowmobiles and a tracked vehicle. I was dark by then. Over the next two nights and the third day, I was tasked as the family liaison for the search. On Monday around noon, he was located, and I had the ugly task of notifying the family at the scene. About 110 people up there on Monday. We actually had to turn volunteers away because of control issues. They all just wanted to help. We got home about 6 that night after demobilization.

I have put a lot of effort into SAR and filled many roles. This by far was the hardest, but would do again tomorrow if asked.
Betsy was involved also. On Monday, she picked up 90 sack lunches and delivered them to us. She arrived about 10 after the find so people were already starting to leave. Still, about 80 of them disappeared.

So, now it is march and are starting spring projects. Betsy is cleaning house to get ready for a Bunco party on Sat night. I would rather hit the road. ;-(

Mid Feb

After a few days in Beaverton, we headed to the Coast...  Ft Stevens State Park.   Nice city.   We are just not used to camping with a bunch of other people.   Oh well...  we still had fun. 

Now we are back home for spring projects. 

Feb 2010

We are about to hit the road again for a short trip to see granddaughter (and her parents) and then to the Northern Oregon Coast.  Then back home for spring yard work. 

I am about to become an activist.  City/County Budgets are hurting and someone suggested we charge ATV folks to use the road system.   I took the concept a bit further to suggest we actually welcome this group of folks since they spend money here.   A link to the letter. 

http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/Opinion/Letters/Letters-and-Comments-for-February-8-2010

Will see what happens. 

Back to Cove for a while

Had a good time in Beaverton helping on a remodel project. It was fun, but we will be glad to be home for a while… at least three weeks… Then we might take a short? trip to the coast. We have put up with each other for 40 years, and we want to celebrate that milestone… ;-)

Starting this week we get our rent-a-dog (Bell) for a week. Will be good to have her here. The longer we go ‘dog-less’, the more we feel the urge to get puppy and start the training.

We have some mods to make to the trailer. Each time out we see the need for a few changes. If the weather cooperates, will get them done this week.

2010 start

January 1, 2010 finds us well, and sleeping in the RV again, This time we have traveled with our granddaughter to her home and parked in their driveway. For a campfire, we will be in the house in front of the fireplace. 2009 was a fantastic year for us and we hope that 2010 finds us traveling again to places that will bring new adventures for us.

However, we have a home project that needs our attention starting in March/April (once the snow stops). A new back porch/deck is in the plans. One of those “will only take a week” and will probably be two months. No rush. One of us might need to get a part-time job to pay for it.

New Years resolutions? Will be lucky if we keep the blog up to date.

2010 Starts off good

RV Changes

In November, we sold the Arctic Fox 1150 Camper (we will miss it) and bought an Arctic Fox 25R travel trailer..   A little, more room, lots of storage, bigger frig, 25" flat screen tv, DirecTV automatic sat system, and a comfy bed.  Now we need to address the truck, maybe a newer one with single rear wheels and a flat bed...  Still want to be able to haul the RZR and Portabote with us to play. 

We spent three week living in it at Jim/Marci's place in Beaverton.   We worked out some storage details and were comfortable.   Next trip will be in early Feb, probably to the Oregon Coast, to celebrate our 40 years together. 

Since Betsy Retired, 75% our nights have been in the RV.   And we still get along.   Good stuff.

December 2009

This is a copy of our 09 Christmas letter.  Some folks don't like them, some do, so we created it in both hard copy and here in the digital world.

Season’s greetings from the Nelson’s in Cove

There is a lot going on is this world we live in. We are thankful that our family is are safe and sound. Many of our country’s military are in harms way and we wish them well.

Back on the home front, 2009 was a fantastic year for us.. Betsy retired in March and we headed North in June for our long awaited Yukon / Alaska Adventure.. We saw lots of critters and had great views, met some really nice people, drove a bunch of miles, and overall had a great time. We got home in late September, stayed for two weeks and headed out again. This fall we traded in our camper for a travel trailer. Much more room and we have made good use of it.. Since Betsy retired we have spent 75% of our nights in an RV.

Are we ready to sell the home in Cove?? Not for a while. While we like to travel, we also like to have a more permanent place to land. Not sure when the next trip will be. 2010 will probably find us taking a bunch of one and two week adventures. We want to spend some time exploring Oregon State Parks, and then more of the Pacific NW.

Our UTV (Polaris RZR) will probably find us back in places like Wallace Idaho and Northern Montana. There are a lot of OHV parks in the west and we will try to explore a bunch of them.

Jim and Marci are doing fine in Beaverton. Cassie is 11 and now taller than Gma Betsy. She spent a month in Maui this summer with her other grandparents. Such a rough life she has.

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a hope that 2010 will find you all healthy and happy.

Bob and Betsy
nelsonb@eoni.com