Nelsons Travels Journal 2014
A new year and resolutions to do lots of stuff. Little things like losing a few pounds,
exercise, clean up the office desk, finish all the projects we started, lose a
few more pounds, but also to keep this blog up to date. In that effort, January is here. Only measurable snow and we need lots more.
Early Jan found
us back in Beaverton
for a week and another donate life presentation to a Rotary Club. Shopping in the big city. Home and one more Donate presentation to the
La Grande Soroptimist Club… Nice
people. This might be our last for a
while.
Bob escaped for a night and drove back to Portland .
For some foolish reason, he agreed to a third term as Rotary Club
President and needed to attend a training.
Heads out again in Feb for a follow up training in Seattle .
Our truck has had some problems over the past few months and
is eating money. But, heck…. It’s just
money. Too bad it’s not a tax
deduction.
Will load up the camper on Friday for a quick camping trip
to some property north of La Grande (a party of course).
February 2014
Other than celebrating 44 years together, Feb was pretty
boring. Spent most of the time at home
just working on stuff. The truck had
some mental and physical issues so it visited the mechanic. In the past 4 months, we have invested close
to 10k on the truck. But considering a
new one would cost over 65k, we could say we saved 55k. Live rich, die poor.
March 2014
Christmas Trees in March….
We took the camper /trailer and tracker over to the wet-side of Oregon and did some
shopping.. First stop was in Brooks,
just north of Salem and we bought 100 seedling
Christmas trees and 25 Washington
Ash. This was two weeks before spring
break.
Most farmers have a back 40 (acres).. We just have a back one. It now contains some Christmas trees which we
hope to sell when we are in our 80’s and become millionaires. At least we got a few nights of camping in,
even if it was in the city.
April 2014 We drove up to the Fraiser-Winom OHV park and
checked out that campground and a few other camping spots… We intend to do some local camping this
year. Still lots of snow in the lower
elevations.. Quick trip back to Seattle
for Betsy’s 2 year check up. All is
well. We are scheduled to go back up in
August for some additional testing.
Downstairs bathroom is undergoing a minor remodel.
Betsy had a minor issue, but not lung related… slipped and
fell getting into the hot tub. Spent the
rest of the eve in ER… Broken
wrist.. Surgery the following week,
plate and a few screws and back home for rest.
Cast is now off and she is hard at work on the honey-do list
I created for her.
Friends Richard and Libby are goofing off in Hawaii so we have their dog Bell .
Bob is spoiling Bell
so that R&L will have extra work to do when they get home. He has been teaching her to get up at 3:30 am
to P.
Bob had to finish the bathroom painting that Betsy had
started prior to her wrist issue.
We have two camping trips scheduled for May and more events
in June.
May showers.
Betsy is healing well after wrist surgery. Bob did some work for United Way Donation
Campaign.
And then we went camping..
For some reason we chose a campground up high in elevation and fairly
remote… Had to drive over a couple of
small snow berms to get there, but found a nice camp at the USFS North Fork
John Day River . About a hundred miles from home. Spent a few minutes setting up camp before
the first nap… Gotta have the nap time
built in for every camping trip. After the first nap is a glass of wine or two,
or?, then a great camp fire. About 7 PM two ladies came into our camp. They had
been walking all day (about 8 miles) because their car was stuck in the
snow. They had stayed with the car the
first night, but decided to get some help.
We invited them into our camp gave them water, food, and
blankets around the fire. We eventually took them into the camper for dinner
and a place to sleep for the night. Sometime around 10 o’clock the younger one Stella,
age 73 indicated she was having angina attack and her heart was in a-fib.. Bob put her in the car and we headed for the
hospital in Baker
City . It was a 76 mile trip over back roads and he encountered
no other human being along the route. About halfway through the trip Stella
died in the front seat of the car. She was confirmed dead at the Baker City
Hospital . After consulting with law enforcement, it was
determined that Bob would go back and notify the 81-year-old sister that the
younger sister had died. At first light the next morning we got the car unstuck
from the snow, wished Sue safe travels, and she drove back to Baker city to
take care of the arrangements. 24 hours
later, that snow had cleared enough for us to pass through the spot she was stuck in..
Stella and Sue seemed like really nice people and we wish we
had known them earlier in life. The story was picked up in the news media and
eventually on Channel 12 news in Portland .
The following week found us boating on Jim and Marci’s yacht
on the Columbia .
Cassie was along and this was a great family outing. It was also fun to be on
the water
June 2014
This month we did some local exploring and drove up to look
at the Northwest Union County .
Had a chance to try out the winch and then eventually drove to Troy
and Flora in Wallowa
County . This was a very
long day trip and violet was glad to get home.
As we were getting ready to attend the annual Northwood RV
owners Association rally, Jim, Marci and Cassie were vacationing in France and had
fun.
The rally was good and it gives us a chance to spend time
many friends. Betsy spent many hours
with the sewing ladies and Bob spent the time with stories and lies.
On the last day of the rally the first of what we hope to be
an annual
The month of July
brought in some unique changes for us. Good friend Richard had a heart attack
in Boise Idaho .
We had planned to travel to Portland
with them for some boating time. Instead, we spent that time taking care of
their dog Bell .
They were away from home for about two weeks while Richard got a quadruple
bypass. Bell
has spent many days in our house and this was probably the most comfortable
place for her to be. Richard is home now and doing well.
We spent the rest of the month getting ready for our annual
beach party on July 19. Small crowd, great music, and good friends. A highlight
of this event was a chance to meet Marci’s father and stepmother. It was
amazing how much alike the grandparents are.
Bob installed a lift kit on the tracker and raised the
suspension about 2 inches.
Late July also brought renewed friendship with a couple from
Abbotsford , BC , who were touring the area on their
motorcycles. Great conversation, some good wine, with Carol and Sheldon. Wish
Sandy and Andy could have been here also.
Granddaughter Cassie is here and learning to drive. Doing
well even with grandpa slightly yelling at her. Of course with each raised
voice incident, we have to get an ice cream cone. Grandpa and grandma are
confident she will be a great driver.
November 5 we purchased a new truck, 2015 GMC Sierra, dual rear wheel, long bed,
crew cab. It was time to trade in the
old one which had over 200,000 miles and was 14 years old. Got tired of investing more and more money
into it.
Our granddaughter turned 16, has her driver’s license and a
blue PT Cruiser. She will be a Junior in
the fall. So proud of her….
Christmas in Cove with snow.
Turned out it was the only snow we had all winter!
2015
Did some camping in February at Wallow
Lake and Minam State Park . Cold but beautiful weather! In fact the only winter weather we had was a
spell of below 0 temps in November and a bit of snow in December and that was
it. Making for a very dry summer and
concerns about fires. Have been working
on getting well water to our trees since the irrigation ditch will probably be
dry sooner than usual which means mid August…
Took a trip to Seattle
in April for my 3 year check-up. All was
well and I don’t have to return for a year.
We then spent some time with our friends Bill & Mary Zawlocki in Gig Harbor
and on to the Olympic National Park for some camping and sightseeing. Also spent a few days in Astoria so Violet could play on the
beach.
No beach party this summer.
It was a lot of work and we aren’t as young as we used to be! Did attend my 50th class reunion
in Aumsville/Turner area and that was fun.
Bob spent time in the peanut gallery with some of the other old pharts, commenting on all the hot 68 year old HS babes...Had a great visit with cousin Betty and she spent a few days here in
Cove on her way to Montana to visit her sister.
Looking forward to seeing our friends, Sue and Russell, from
New Zealand
next week. They purchased a small used motor
home that they will store here to use when they visit.
Still have not lost those few pounds. Gotta keep trying...
Planning a trip to the east coast mid-August for about 2
months so we will be posting more on our blog then.