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.

A Quick Away Time

Korak and family arrived last Wednesday. By family, I mean 13 of them! They got in real early in the morning after driving all night so they immediately crashed. There were people sleeping all over the house – I think every inch of carpet was covered with a body. The people were his mom and dad, brother, sister, their kids, and… well, let me simply put “etc.”

Korak and his brother fixed breakfast for us – actually more like a brunch because they slept for a few hours first. A couple of the teen age boys (from LA!) had fun going out and picking wild blackberries – and Josiah had fun showing them where. After brunch they loaded up and left for Portland and a wedding up there. After that, Joyce and I crashed!

Friday evening we realized there was a reunion for Joyce’s high school class at noon on Saturday in Springfield. This is something her class does every year but she had never been to one. So… Saturday morning we threw a change of clothes and a toothbrush in the car and headed north. Joyce had fun meeting some people she remembered and learning about others. There were about 13-15 class members there, plus spouses. We met for pizza along side the Willamette River (Roaring Rapids for you who know the area) under a tent outside. It was really very pleasant – not too hot at that time.

We got a motel, took it easy for the evening, and then attended church where Joyce’s nephew is the pastor. We had not had a chance to be in his church for a Sunday morning worship, so this was fun. He is a good preacher. Joyce’s brother and his wife attend that church and none of them knew we were coming. Great surprise!

Now we are waiting for the kids to return tomorrow. We have a list of jobs for Korak to help me with plus a some days of fun.

Sorry there are no pictures. I didn’t even think to pick up my camera. But good memories all the same.

Back From Camp

The last two weeks have been camp. Two weeks ago it was preparing, last week was IT – kids camp at Fir Point Bible Camp in Glendale (just north of us). This is the camp that our area Free Methodist Churches run for our kids. We rent the facilities but do our own cooking and run the program. We have two camps going at the same time – one for grades 3 to 6 and one for grades 6 to 10. Joyce, Jana and I did the Bible story for the younger group (known as Kids Camp) which involves a lot of “setting the stage” with backdrops and props, then getting the kids involved in the story. It was fun but also a lot of work. There were 41 younger kids and 53 youth. Plus LOTS of staff.
We went up last Sunday afternoon to set up. This year we used a 12 by 20 canopy (the kind you might erect to put your car in) as our meeting place instead of rearranging the back of the chapel. It was set up right next to our RV which made it really convenient. It was also easier on everyone because the long walk up the hill was eliminated. My favorite day was the“shipwreck” the Apostle Paul was in. We had a “ship” backdrop complete with a gangplank to walk up, a sail to raise, and cargo to load (and later toss overboard). The sail is not up in this picture – we are just getting started.
Josiah was a camper this year for the first time. That meant staying in a cabin with other campers and it also meant his mom had to cut some apron strings to let him have a little freedom. He did great – so did mom, though there were moments. Wednesday was not a good day for him and he was a little teary but Jana let him work it out. He had one good cabin leader and one kind of so-so leader. But all in all it was a good time for him. Lilly was a precamper. The speaker for our group was a lady we have known for years. Peggy came with her 3 preschool granddaughters so they and Lilly spent a lot of time together. Peggy watched Lilly while we were doing the Bible story and Jana/Joyce watched her brood in the evening when she was speaking.

I like this one also. This story follows the shipwreck. Paul is now on the island and he gets bitten by a poisonous snake (see it in my hands?). Don’t you love the look on those girl’s faces? I waved it around and hammed it up about being bitten and then threw it in the “ocean.”

Here’s Lilly, Joyce and Jana in the lunch line when they served outdoors

One more of me and then we’ll get to the kids. On the last day Trevor challenged me to ride the Orca down the slip n Slide with him. Well, I couldn’t pass that up. At the bottom we crashed but the Orca wasn’t hurt – neither were we.

Josiah’s cabin. Some of them were trying to make faces; Josiah is the front left guy.

Fun singing the songs and doing the motions.

This group is on their way to find their breakfast. A tradition is that one morning the kitchen staff takes breakfast to some unknown place; everyone has to find it and then eat outdoors.

A group of the campers gathered for a photo-0p. Lilly is in front of Josiah – he is in the blue.

I love this one. Lilly is outside the swimming pool fence on a day she did not get to swim.

Peggy and the Princess Munchkins. The picture tells it all,  doesn’t it?

Mom isn’t “showing” much in this picture but Lilly is anxiously awaiting the arrival of a baby brother or sister next January.

Jana did the presentation the first day. She is Rhoda telling about Peter getting released from prison. Lilly is barely visible in front of Peggy. Oh, by the way… the Munchkins went to a couple of the morning activities – ones they could handle, then Peggy did other things with them.

For the last picture, here is our camper chewing on his shirt while he listens to one of the leaders.
Camp was a blast and it was tiring. I wonder how long I can keep doing it. This coming week Korak arrives and the whole family goes to a wedding in Portland. They will be back later. So stay tuned.

As Our World Turns

As you can imagine, our world revolves around three grandchildren – two very active ones and one unborn. Here is your first glimpse of the unborn one:

I know, these ultra sound images are hard to see. The head is on the right and he/she is sort of looking our direction. It was a whole lot more interesting being there in person. I took Jana to the Pregnancy Care Center to get some literature on how big the baby is and what features are developing because she left all this stuff at home. They loaned her a book and then asked if she would like to have an ultra sound. Normally they do not do this but they need models (i.e. guinea pigs) to practice on. Actually the nurse was very good and very skilled but she hadn’t done a lot of ultra sounds on 3-month fetuses. So we made an appointment and they let all of us into the room to see the actual thing up close and personal. Very amazing!

Before I forget… if you happen to get Highways Magazine, look in the May issue, page 13. In the picture at the top promoting the 2010 Rally in Louisville is a picture of our RV. Its not hard to find -- the little diminutive fifth wheel in the midst of all the BIG Class A’s – right in the front row of the picture. That’s us. Kind of neat, huh? If you don’t have the issue and you want to check it out, go to this web site. I think the link will work for anyone – not just Good Sam members. It will take you to an Acrobat version of the May issue, then scroll down to page 13.

http://d7wompu62zbx1.cloudfront.net/digitaleditions/highways/2121895_DigitalHighways1005.pdf

Weather? Hot! In the 90s and sometimes high 90s. However, for my friends in the east, the humidity is low – you don’t boil to death in your own sweat, you just melt.

One day we went to a children’s festival in Jacksonville. The kids enjoyed it and it gives me an excuse to post a few more pictures of them.

Mother Goose is talking to Lilly and Josiah. I have to admit she really looked like Mother Goose – however that is supposed to look.

Lilly is a ham when it comes to pictures. She can bat her eyes, tip her head and get whatever she wants. I hope she outgrows that.

We tried out a new playground last Sunday evening. Josiah is pretty proud because he can go from one ring to the other without being held up. Lilly still needs help.

But she’s getting pretty bold about reaching out for the bar and sliding down.

The BIG project for us was the yard sale last week. Even though we – mostly Joyce – had sorted everything out weeks ago, it still took lots of time and effort to lay it all out – and I mean ALL. Look at this mass of stuff, from one house.

Back under the tree are a couple sales ladies. Josiah and Lilly sold water, juice and sodas. They did pretty well because it was a hot day. We got rid of a lot of stuff and gave the rest to a family having their own yard sale. At least it is out of the closet and garage.

And so it goes. As I said in the last post, aren’t grandkids wonderful? Yea, they surely are.