The Last Three Weeks

I know, it’s past time. Where are those weekly blogs? Where are the updates? After all, I’m retired, right? I have all this spare time to write blogs to keep family and friends informed, inspired, and in… well, in something. But, alas, it hasn’t happened. The weeks have slipped by, now I’m older and busier. Between Joyce and I we have been 1) visiting people which is what I am being paid for, 2) organizing a Christmas luncheon for which I’m putting down my time, 3) hosting a staff open house which has been really tiring, 4) unpacking and setting up a household, 5) wrestling with pickup and RV problems, and 6) simply being on staff at Salem First. I’m sure there are a bunch of other things, too.

Want to see some pictures of the house? These are taken with the decorations in place for the Christmas Staff Open House. Oh, let me explain that. All four of us on the staff hosted one part of a progressive open house. We did the appetizers, Pastor Doug and Linda had the soup, Rachel (Children’s Director) had the main course, and Pastor Kyle and Christina had the dessert. People did not necessarily go to each place in order. This happened today between 3:00 and 7:00. We forgot to count but I think about 50 or so came to our house. Okay, pictures.

Top to bottom: our living room. I guess it’s a living room because we mostly live there. The TV is in one corner with our couch and recliner opposite. Next is our hutch looking from the fireplace room into the kitchen. Then a table along one wall, and finally the food table for the open house.

Top is the lady of the house stirring her brew, next is Billie helping with the food preparation. She and her husband are neighbors and attend Salem First. Then comes some of the people at the open house. One shows our kitchen in the background and in the picture at the bottom the drapes behind the people are where the sliding door to the patio is located. The fireplace is just to the left in the picture.

This is the “fireplace.” We can’t use the real fireplace because the chimney is not good so we put an electric one in front of it. This was in Ginger’s house when she bought it and she didn’t want it. Now I know why. It isn’t electric. It just has a phony log which doesn’t do anything. So we put small battery powered candles all around it. They worked really well.

A week ago we helped organize the Senior Adult Christmas Potluck Luncheon. One of the highlights was opening the toys they brought. We did the usual gift exchange except everyone brought a wrapped toy. They were exchanged, played with, cooed over, then given to a local group called Family Building Blocks. They enjoyed it and the gifts were fabulous.

Did you hear about the tornado? A force 2 tornado went through Aumsville last week. This tiny community is about 15 miles SE of where we live and is about 5 miles from our church conference center at Turner. The tornado totaled a plumbing company’s building, totaled about 10 homes, damaged many more, and uprooted huge trees. We drove over there 3 days later – after the immediate crises was over. This is a “big deal” for us because we NEVER have tornados! Fortunately no one was killed and only a few with minor injuries.  We took a couple photos of the damage. The bottom one is the plumbing building.

And finally, since this happens only once in a person’s lifetime… Joyce took me out for breakfast for my 70th birthday. Just so you know how bad it is, she had to take 4 pictures to get even a halfway decent one.

Later, Ginger took us to see “Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”  and then to dinner at Home Town Buffet.

I mentioned the pickup and RV. Well, I guess these things happen. The RV leaked around the air conditioner so I took it in for repair. On the way home with it after the fix job, the pickup died. Dead. I managed to coast to the side of the road. Good Sam Roadside Service to the rescue. They brought the RV on home (it happened only 2 blocks away). They took the pickup to the repair guy. The easy, cheap fix he thought it would be, wasn’t. So, a small fortune later we have the pickup back and the RV in our driveway. Now there is another leak in another spot. I covered it with a tarp!!! We’ll worry about it later.

Come and see us. We might be home. We night not be. Better call first. I’ll try to be more consistent in blogging so until next time… hang in there.

We’re Salem Residents

I guess it isn’t really official because I’m not changing my driver’s license and we’re not registering to vote here – at least not yet. But on Saturday, November 20, 2010 we moved into our temporary home in Salem. I say it is temporary because we intend to buy a house here when our house in Grants Pass sells. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. Here is some of it in pictures.

We arrived back in Grants Pass late in the evening of the 14th. What wasn’t already packed started going into boxes – most of it. There are still a few items left and we will go back from time to time to see how everything is doing.

Friday morning four friends showed up and we started loading the ex-U-Haul (see last week’s blog for details of this). That little thing can hold a lot! We intended to leave items we had marked for storage but between the truck and trailer we brought most of them.

Ken, Wes, Joe, and Joey were great helpers. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. The black pickup belongs to Mike. He worked graveyard the night before so he was home sleeping. His contribution to getting Gene and Joyce moved to Salem was to supply and drive the pickup.

One activity was meeting with John Jones, the realtor to list our house. Of course he put a sign in the yard. We had to get a picture but it was really heart wrenching. Our home of 18+ years is going to be sold. Lord willing. He describes it as a “Tidy Home Near Allendale School.” If you want to see the listing and pictures go to www.c21jcjones.com, near the bottom of the left side it says “search by MLS number.” Enter 52918644; press search.

Friday evening about 28 former Allen Creek Neighborhood Church people showed up for another AC Gang potluck. This time we actually had it at Allen Creek Church. Kind of neat. They want to keep meeting so Joyce and I will have to time our drives down to GP to coincide with these get togethers. They just can’t do it without us, you know.

The caravan started out at 8:15 Saturday morning with Mike and the trailer taking the lead. He had Shiloh and Sadie in their car carrier in the seat beside him. They are the new additions to Mike and JoAnn’s family – 3-month old Schnauzers. I was next in the truck; Mike served as my speedometer since the one in the truck didn’t work. That little Ford Econoline pulled the hills really well and it drove better heavy than empty. JoAnn was driving our car with Joyce as her passenger – with the backseat and trunk stuffed full of the precious breakables. For those who know the area we were driving north on I-5. At Sexton mountain we hit snow – but fortunately it was only roadside snow. Very pretty but no problem for us. We had this delightful scene for about 20 miles until we got over Canyon Creek Pass.

We were greeted in Salem by a great group of folk to help us unload. Unfortunately this part of the journey was not documented on film … er, I mean on little camera chips. Here is our house. You are welcome to visit. Give me a call and I’ll tell you how to find us.

Tuesday we awoke to this scene. We are experiencing a cold front – quite cold for our part of the universe. Our temps are down into the low 20s. I hope the RV is okay. I blew all the water out of the lines but one never knows for sure.

Someone asked why we are moving to Salem. Well, two reasons, I guess. One, our daughter Ginger is here and this would put us closer to her. We’ll be able to look out for each other and especially so if we can buy a house with dual living or a duplex so she can live in the other portion. Yes, this would be a good thing. Two, I am working at the Salem Free Methodist Church 10 hours a week as Minister to Senior Adults. This pays a little so we can afford to rent while we look for a suitable house and wait for ours to sell. The time at the church is flexible so we can be gone when we want.

On a later blog I’ll tell about the church and post some pictures. By that time, I hope we’ve thawed out. Stay warm.

We Got One

Last week we signed papers to rent a house in Salem. Yeah! Sorry I don’t have a picture. Actually Joyce has a picture in her camera but getting it into the blog is more than I can handle right now. We left Salem Sunday after church. The first stop was in Lebanon to pick up a truck which in the flower of it’s youth was a U-Haul. That was many years ago. It is the small truck – 14 foot. Dave, in Lebanon volunteered to loan it to us. He bought for his business. We were going to stay for the Lebanon Church Thanksgiving Dinner that evening but decided that maybe the wise thing to do was head to Grants Pass. It was late in the afternoon, good chance of rain, and I would be driving a strange (to me) diesel truck. It drove okay but certainly handled differently than my pickup – and sounded MUCH louder. Anyway we got here safely about 8:45. Our pickup is in Lebanon.

The week has been a constant whirl of finishing packing, cleaning, doing odds and ends, running after this and going after that. And… (get this) we listed our house with J.C. Jones Century 21. I’ve known John for many years so much of our together time was simply talking. Which meant it took 4 or 5 hours to go through all the papers and sign on all the lines. But there is now a For Sale sign in our front yard. Kind of sad.

Tomorrow some friends are coming over to help load the truck and a U-Haul trailer. Mike and JoAnn are going to help drive vehicles to Salem. Saturday, we’ll drive up and some church people will help us unload. And we’ll be semi official Salemites. We will still have the Williams Highway address in Grants Pass – our mail will be forwarded. We will also still have our same phones numbers. When our house sells we will get real serious about being Salemites.

Next time some pictures but we’ll internet deprived for a few days.

Salem

Time for an update, isn’t it? The last few weeks our lives have mostly revolved around getting the house ready to sell. That meant painting the inside, which we have accomplished. That is, all that we are going to do. It also meant doing some repair – a frame around the bathroom vent, redoing the kitchen cabinets (some being sanded down and re-stained, the rest being thoroughly cleaned), and fixing bad places in the sheetrock. We have also been eyeball deep in packing boxes – filling some for a move to a rental, some for storage, and some for a future yard sale.

Then, of course there has been a lot of little things like replacing the dishwasher which decided to smell like burned wires as it quit in the middle of a cycle. Also replacing the bathroom light so it looked more modern and replacing the porch light for the same reason. And a bunch of other little things that seem to go on and on. Enough of that. You’re bored already.

We painted the living room in colors that can be eaten in an emergency – sourdough for three walls and sautéed mushroom for the wall around the fireplace. Here is a picture of it – the mushroom color is pretty close but the sourdough doesn’t show its true color in this picture.

The fireplace is going to need a screen here and a cap-with-damper on top. We will have to go back to finish the packing and call a realtor.

But… we are in Salem now. We drove up Saturday with a stop to have lunch with my niece, Betty. Then when we got here it was a quick disconnect and run out to Stayton to say goodbye to Eric and Rhonda. They left Sunday afternoon for Japan for 3 years – missionaries, you know. We are in an RV Park directly across the street from the church – probably about a 500 yard walk (if it wasn’t raining!)

Here we are backed into our snug little cubby hole. We are in the adult section and each site is quite private.

We are now looking for house to rent, working for the church, and doing MEG Board stuff for the Conference. I know this week is going to be very busy, maybe the ones to follow won’t be quite so intense.

And so it goes. In Salem. In the rain.

The Three Ps

Our theme of life right now is “prepare to move.” That means painting the inside of the house – not every wall (I hope) but most of them, including the hard ones like kitchen and bathroom. We are also packing boxes and trying to figure out where to put them so we can still paint and clean. Also figure out what to store and what to pack for a temporary living situation (rental in Salem).

So we are on track to be Salem on October 30, live in the RV for 2 weeks to a month (or more), find a place to rent and then see what the Lord has in store. At some point along here our house will be for sale but not at a give away price so it may not sell quickly. Or it might. We’ll see.

One big item we are working on is how to refinish the kitchen cabinets in the easiest but best way possible. We are not doing expensive things like re-facing everything. Whether or not we can refinish with something similar to what is on them remains to be seen. Stay tuned. If not, we might have to paint them which means lots of work in prep and then in actually doing it.

Mixed in with all the painting and packing is a bunch of medical stuff. Nothing serious but let try to elicite some sympathy with my tale of pain. In August my shoulders hurt after I scrubbed a wall to get it ready for refinishing. That was normal for me because I don’t do a lot of that and I often hurt for a couple days after doing something strenuous. The right shoulder quit hurting after a couple weeks but the left remained painful. I still thought it was overworked muscles. We were gone most of September and during that time I started using some pain relievers to make it a little more tolerable. When I got back I saw the doctor who diagnosed it as bursitis. Imagine, bursitis! And at my young age. I don’t know anyone else in my family who has or has had bursitis. The doc said it had affected the rotor cup and muscles and tendons and all kinds of stuff in there. So I have been going to physical therapy (at this point 3 times a week) and doing my home exercises.

Meanwhile Joyce is scheduled for a colonoscopy in a week or so and is going to the dentist to get a couple teeth crowned. So we are doing our part for the medical community and keeping our schedule complicated enough that we have to refer to the calendar each day to see what we are doing. For instance, tomorrow we will paint for an hour or so, go to a paint store to see about stain for the cabinets, drop off pre-op papers regarding the colonoscopy, take Joyce to the dentist, leave her there while I go to physical therapy, go back to get Joyce, go home and paint some more (or sit back and recover!).

So don’t worry about us. You know where we are and what we are doing. We’re painting, packing, and providing income for the medical professions.

Beautiful Weather

It’s been awhile since I blogged. I believe the last we communicated we were at Glacier Campground just outside Glacier National Park. Of course, the trip must continue but let’s do it in pictures. I didn’t get to show you all our  pictures last time because I wasn’t sure about the capabilities of the WiFi. So let’s back up a little.

The area in Northeast Oregon is known as the Alps of America. I’ve never seen the real Alps but these mountains are magnificent. Nasty weather moved in while we were at the top of the Wallowa Lake Tram. This picture and the one below highlights the clouds (fog?).

This is what it looked like as we descended the mountain. Kind of eerie, isn’t it?

Going north on Highway 3, just before crossing into Washington, we passed this canyon where Chief Joseph of Nez Perce fame as born – or so it is said. The Indians would winter in the canyon because they were protected from the harsh winds and snows. Chief Joseph was born in a cave down there somewhere.

In Glacier National Park we witnessed a multitude of majestic mountains.

This is the only glacier you can see from the Going To Sun Road and it is much smaller than years ago. There are a few on another highway but we didn’t go there. One that you used to be able to walk on has receded so far you have to hike to an overlook – and can’t get to the glacier. The glaciers in Glacier National Park are almost gone!

 

The boat ride on Lake McDonald gave some nice reflections. The Bighorn Sheep and the Mountain Goats were “roadside attractions.”

This is a momma and her kid. Another kid was left in the parking lot just below where I’m standing. It looked like he was eating gravel but maybe he was getting salt from the rocks left from some construction. I don’t know, but it sure looked odd.

Enjoying the good life at Glacier Campground. We had absolutely wonderful weather the entire trip. Yes, there was some rain but, hey, we were in the northwest and this was September! The rain really didn’t hinder anything that we wanted to do and it made for some interesting pictures as you’ll see below.

After Glacier we made a one day drive to Spokane to see some of my relatives. On the left is Ric (his wife Melode had to leave earlier). She is my second cousin. They just bought a new house for both living and business. Of course, we had to visit – in fact we were the first visitors to use the formal dining room! We camped in their yard; Mike and Joann went to an RV Park. I am standing between Howard and JoeAnn. He is my first cousin on my dad’s side.

Then it was off to Grand Coulee Dam. We went to the visitor’s center and watched the evening light show. It is a laser production projected onto the face of the dam. Beautiful. The next day, Mike and I took a tour of the powerhouse at the far left of this picture. Then they took us to the top of the dam. Very interesting.

It was at this point that we parted company with Mike and Joann. They needed to start pointing toward home so they could be at work on Monday. It was 1:00 Friday. They headed south and we headed west on the North Cascades Highway through North Cascade National Park. We stopped for the night in Twisp, Washington. It rained so the next day was a little rainy and foggy.

I don’t know the name of the waterfall but this is Diablo Lake in the North Cascades. Too many beautiful pictures to post all of them. And there is family to brag about.

Our first stop in Western Washington was at Joyce’s sister’s house in Bellingham. Her sister, Sharon, is between us. Next is niece Sharla, and Fallon, nephew Dan’s girlfriend.

Then it was down to Everett for a visit with more of Joyce’s relatives. The lady sitting in the middle is Aunt Margaret. She is 98 years young and insisted on making breakfast for us before we left. The others are various cousins.

A fun side trip while we were in Everett was a ferry ride across the sound to Port Angeles to meet baby Grace. Her parents are Marissa and Josh, another niece.

Then down to Auburn to visit with Rick and Bess. They have been friends of Joyce’s since high school days. We were able to camp on the street in front of their house but what wonderful hosts they are.

On Thursday we drove down to Salem to stay for 5 days. We had lots of fun with Ginger and I attended a board meeting on Tuesday. After the meeting, it was off to home. Wow, we were tired. So this week has been a little rest, a little cleaning up from the trip, and a little painting. The painting will intensify as we get the house ready to put a “For Sale” sign out front. Life is interesting so stay tuned.

Reporting In

Gene Mumau here, reporting from Glacier Campground just outside the west entrance to Glacier National Park in the northwest corner of Montana. It has been a fabulous trip. We are traveling with Mike and Joann and are having loads of fun seeing the wonders of God’s creation. Let me give you a brief rundown.

Joyce and I left home Thursday, September 2 – stopped in Salem for a brief meeting with the Superintendent and another man, then headed over the mountain to Redmond. We “camped” in Duane and Sonda’s back yard (they have 20 acres just east of town). Friday, Mike and Joann joined us and on Saturday we headed east to Baker City for two nights. Sunday we worshiped at the Baker City Christian Church, visited the Oregon Trail Interpretative Center, and rode the Sumpter Valley Railroad – all in one day! Weather was gorgeous.

This doesn’t look like much does it? About 150 years ago it was the road to Oregon. A portion of what is left of the Oregon Trail near the Interpretative Center is pictured here. It is hard to believe all those people – thousands and thousands of them – left established homes, put all they could in a wagon, and headed into the unknown. This part of the road of easy. Think about the mountains!

I think I better warn them I’m taking a picture. Joyce, Joann, & Mike are on the Sumpter Valley Railroad in an open car with benches along the sides. Many years ago the railway was used for hauling logs. Every chance I get I try to ride one of these local trains. I didn’t think we would have time for this one so it came as an added bonus.

Monday we moved north to Wallowa Lake State Park just outside Joseph, Oregon. We snooped around Joseph, toured the Valley Bronze Foundry, and Mike and I rode the Wallowa Lake Tram. It is a 15 minute ride in a 4-person gondola to the top of 8,150 foot Mt. Howard.

The only rain we have had started while we were on the mountain. We got to see most of the vistas before the weather moved in.

From there we headed north on highway 3. The road gradually goes upgrade for a few miles, then DROPS down to the Grande Ronde River, crosses it and CLIMBS out of the canyon. Notice the emphasis on “drops” and “climbs.” The ole F-250 handled it real well.

We were on our way to Lewiston, Idaho where we toured the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center. Then we turned east on highway 12 making a stop at the headquarters of the Nez Perce National Historical Park. They are 38 sites spread over Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. It is the only National Park named for a group of people rather than a geographical place. We chose highway 12 because much of it parallels the Lewis and Clark Trail and also the Nez Perce flight from soldiers in 1877. An sad commentary on how the whites treated Indians is that in 1805 the Nez Perce saved the Lewis and Clark party from starvation and befriended them in their travels; 70 years later the whites were stealing their land, forcing them onto tiny reservations, and killing them when they tried to flee.

 

We camped at the Lewis-Clark Resort at Kamiah, Idaho on highway 12. We chose this place because they had a spa and nice dip in a hot tub sounded good. Okay, we did get to do that but I’ve come to the conclusion that the word “resort” is used by places that cater to RVers as another way of saying, “if you’re desperate you can resort to staying here,” or “you can resort to this if you really, really want to.” This place was okay; nice cafe with good food, grassy sites, full hookups. The hot tub was just that. A 4-person hot tub sitting in the corner of the pool area. But it was HOT.

The next night (I think we are to Friday now) we stopped at Lolo Hot Springs. This was a natural springs now commercialized into a hot pool. Mike and Joann went on to Missoula to meet with friends while Joyce and I stayed to enjoy more of the hot springs. We rejoined Mike and Joann Saturday, camping in the street in front of their friend’s (Steve and Barbara) house. Steve is a amateur metal smith with a really great shop. He likes to teach people how to work with iron so he took me on as a pupil. I have a lot to learn but in one evening – with a lot of his help – I made a leaf on a long stem. It was interesting to see (and use) the process of taking a round rod and making a flat leaf.

Sunday was worship at the Free Methodist Church and then on to Glacier – oh, with a stop at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant for lunch. That is a big deal to us far westerners because we don’t have any of those places where we live!

Yesterday we did the Going To The Sun road through Glacier NP. A few clouds, most of which blew away, plenty of sun – great weather. Even a little dusting of snow on the high mountains from a storm about a week ago to give a little contrast. We will do some more of the park today, then head west.

When we leave the RVs behind and do tours like this, we ride together in one rig. This was Mike’s turn to drive. Logan Pass is as high as the road goes. We saw Bighorn sheep right at the visitor’s center. In fact they walked through the parking lot. A little lower we saw a mother mountain goat with two little ones.

The day before, on a short excursion into a different part of the park we saw a momma bear with two cubs foraging for berries beside the road.

And so it is – a day in the life of Gene and Joyce. Or is it a week? Or a month? I don’t know, time passes so quickly. I’ll sign off leaving you with these words of wisdom gleaned from traveling the Going To The Sun highway: “the higher you go, the narrower the road.”

Another Adventure

It is Wednesday evening. Tomorrow we leave on another adventure. Our destination is Glacier National Park in Montana with stops at the Oregon Trail Museum in Baker, Oregon, Willowa Lake in NE Oregon, and stops in Idaho to explore Lewis and Clark history and Nez Perce history. After Glacier we will stop in Spokane to see relatives, visit Grand Coulee Dam, and see relatives in western Washington. In addition, I have a board meeting in Salem tomorrow as we leave and one again on our way home.

Jana, Korak and kids left Friday. We were in the middle of a yard sale (yes, another one) which kept our minds on something other than "the kids are leaving." By Saturday evening grandma and grandpa were tired! This week has been catch up, clean up, and prepare to leave. Lots to do; very busy. Sorry, no pictures.

I'm not sure when I'll have internet. Wherever I can catch a WiFi, I guess. Might be the end of the month before I can post again. Stay tuned. We'll just have to see what happens.

Some Weeks Are Like That

The temptation is to ask “why?” Or “why me?” I suppose we all ask that question from time to time and I was tempted to ask it last week. It began Wednesday, the day after Jana and family arrived with a load of dirty laundry. The dryer decided to go on strike and stopped producing heat. A couple of trips by the repairman and it was fixed – at a price that caused me to consider purchasing a new one. But the clothes came off the temporary line and back into the dryer.

All’s well… until Saturday. This was birthday party day. We celebrated Joyce’s and Lilly’s birthdays in the evening. Ginger and her friend, Debbie came down from Salem for the weekend and we invited Mike and Joanne over for the festivities. Korak fixed a dinner of Carne Asada, chicken, salad, beans, chips and watermelon. He made the chips -- yummy, good. All of it. About the time we ready to serve strawberry shortcake someone announced, “we don’t have any water!” The usual simple fixes didn’t fix it. So here we are, Joyce and I plus 6 overnight guests and no water. I’m thinking, this is getting old. Remember last winter when Ginger, Joyce and I were on our way to LA? No water. And this has happened before. What to do? Simple. Run a hose to the neighbors, fill the RV tank so anyone who wanted could take a shower, and fill a bunch of buckets for the house bathroom. This worked nicely and Sunday afternoon – after church and after a nice brunch at The Brewery (a restaurant, not a drinking hole) – we installed a new capacitor and relay at the well head. Again… all is well.

In addition to all this excitement, this has been a work week. Korak has about worn me out!!! Last week we spread 10 yards of bark and today we spread 10 yards of gravel. And in our spare time we put in a nice rock border along the ditch in front of the house and some 2x4 borders in a couple other places. I’m tired. Let’s look at some pictures.

 There was time to take in the Josephine County Fair and let the kids ride and ride and ride.

Debbie, Princess Lilly, and Ginger at the Great Early Birthday Party.

Joyce liked her new camera. It is a Nikon Coolpix and hopefully is easy to use – and it has a Lithium Ion battery. No more AA stuff.

Jana is holding a life-like rubber 22-week fetus. Tiny isn’t it? She is 17 weeks in the picture and is at 19 weeks now.

There is a forest fire burning near Cave Junction – about 25 miles from us. A couple days ago the wind was blowing just right to give this rather dramatic view. You can see the smoke rising up and blowing off to the north.

And then let’s close with this one. It speaks for itself.