A Weird Week

Started with Denver family at our place for a while

We scouted the playgrounds for ideas.  Ryan wants something like this on their play structure.

Then we all went to Portland for a while.

The grandkids posed dutifully for the inevitable group photo to prove that they all existed in close proximity and harmony during one brief moment in time.  Actually, they get along great. It's those annoying parents that keep foiling their plans.  Spencer is convinced he would be much happier living with us and his mother is tempted to give him the opportunity to find out.

We brought the play structure along on it's evolution to Water Park/Play House/Boat/Bus, whatever.

The climbing wall will have to wait till the next phase. For now we put up a baby fence to keep Louis from stepping out the hole in the railing.

I'm working on a design for some sort of water/sun deflector over the top.

But the weird part was that grandpa was higher that a kite for most of the time.  My most sincere apologies to all my friends I meant to reach out and talk to while I was taking a week "off" in Portland. Little did I know how "off" I'd be.  Specially to Emil and Sara whose solstice anniversary I remembered, just not sure when. And to Bill in Homer, hope the roof went well. I'll bring what meds I have left.

Seems that I "strained some back muscles" moving concrete block around my back yard.  The pain was getting a little intense so I took a little detour during our family touristing outing on the Portland Tram.  Remember a couple posts back I mentioned that I rode the tram up to the VA, well this trip I decided to run over there and see if they could renew some really old pain meds that had expired. Turns out it required a visit to the ER and after three or four hours (Teri says more like five or six, probably more accurate) all they could offer me was Vicodin and Methocarbamol (a muscle relaxer) every six hours.

The problem was that the Vicodin wore off in about three hours. You know you are in trouble when you are chewing two Vicodin tablets and holding the paste under your tongue for the fastest absorption. For a better appreciation take a bite of a Vicodin (don't worry, you'll spit it right out), they make aspirin taste like dessert.

I started logging every dose in my iPad because I new I couldn't be trusted to remember my last dose.  So it was take meds then, when the pain was gone, work on the play structure, then break for meds when it came back.  Ryan and Teri filled in with the complicated stuff like driving to the lumber yard and using power tools.  We got stuff done and it was pretty much fun but I don't remember the details.

I was about ready to go back to the ER and suggest that the plan wasn't working very well ( mainly because the prescription was running out) when I remembered I had some super ibuprofen (800mg) left over from my last kidney stone episode.  It was only a little over a year old so I tried one of those along with the Methocarbamol.  Finally, 8hrs sleep and no Vicodin.  For now the ibuprofen seems to be holding the line with decreasing dosing. I'm scheduled with a phone consult with the Dr. in a few days.

So now we are packing for our San Francisco trip for the VHPA reunion.  We'll get back around the 8th and I'll repack for my trip up to Alaska for the fish harvest. Then it's back to Portland for, you guessed it, Timbers games and Dr appointments.

I have no idea what the weather is like.  Tomorrow I plan to look outside.

Game Day

Saturday morning, Timbers play Dallas at 2:00 this afternoon. The morning starts with a walk through residential Hawthorne to the bus stop. 

Been interesting to see how the yards change through the season. It started in early March when the first Daffodils were beginning their annual show for the surface dwellers. At that time Redmondites (?) are ready for Spring but still checking the forecast for the snow level predictions (we carry chains in both cars through the season but don't plan to use them). I digress.

Today is absolutely perfect weather! Really, I wouldn't lie about "mostly sunny, high in the low 80s". Got my wristband (569) and finished my coffee and cinnamon roll at Great Harvest Bread down town, so I think I'll walk down to the river for some people watching.

A brief explanation for the uninitiated. They pass out numbered wristbands for the first 1000 general admission ticket holders around 6 hours before kickoff. Then they open the gates 30 min early for those with wristbands. So for a 2:00 kickoff they start giving out the wristbands around 8:00 am. Then we come back by noon when they open the gates early and the scramble begins. There isn't much of a scramble though as the first 1000 don't begin to fill up the place.

Aren't you glad you asked?

Almost didn't get back to the game in time for the opening of our gate. It was a super day; I got to look at boats on the transient dock and watch the crazy tourists pay to paddle 20 seat canoes around the river. Got to the game just in time and got our usual seats. Timbers won, but you all probably know that by now.

Sitting on the front porch after dinner at Jakes Dogs just up the street. Believe it or not, a favorite of Ryan & Judy's. I had the super spicy sausage with jalapeños and Scottish Ale from Fearless Brewing. Thought I'd test out the extinguishing properties of one of the local brews. It was dynamite.  All appears to be in perfect balance as I try to stay awake in the porch swing. 

A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Tomorrow we get back to working on the play structure. Weather should be perfect.

Denver's Here

Molly and Spencer are here this week, along with their support unit. Some day soon (sooner than we expect according to Mom) I expect they'll show up without them and that will be fun too.

Went to the High Desert Museum.

The trout are getting bigger.  We fed them some of the tent caterpillars that are every where and they were quite enthusiastic.

 The eagle is still ready to bite your finger.

And there is work to be done on the ranch by the sawmill.

Then we went to Tumalo Falls.

 Kids and weather were perfect.

And took the short hike to the top.

Note: tiny people (Grandma, Molly and Spencer) in upper left.

Yikes!

They spent a few nights in a yurt at Tumalo State park. We preferred our own bed; although, they looked pretty plush, with a heater, bunk beds and electricity.

We stayed for dinner and smores.

We stopped at a park on the Deschutes in Bend to feed the geese; only to discover that our guide book lied to us and feeding the wildlife in is NOT PERMITTED along with a lot of other activities.

 So we played catch with a hoop thingy that you throw and catch with two sticks. Note: to five year old's, any stick is a sword.

Pretty place; plenty of space to run.

This week end we all invade Portland.  Derek has a conference to attend so they'll be there until Thursday then they head home while Teri and I stay on to see a Timbers game and visit the VA.

After that it is get ready to go to the VHPA reunion in San Fransisco over the 4th of July. Then go home, pack and leave for Alaska.

Teri's going to visit Denver while I'm away hunting and gathering, so we have a lot to get in order before we leave.  I hope to pause and post once in a while.

Remember, Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning, Green sky in the afternoon, GET IN THE  STORM CELLER, it's another #$!&%#^ tornado.

So Much For The Low Maintenance Yard

So.

I knew that the previous owner had done some shady, 0r I should say shoddy, work around here when I saw that he poured a small concrete slab using the neighbor's fence as the form boards on that side.

Everyone said we don't get enough moisture to worry about the fence rotting.  So when I noticed the other side of the house has various style paver blocks laid in a sand base, I wasn't concerned when I saw that they had laid the block right up to the fence on that side.

When I noticed that the fence on that side was leaning, I knew I was in trouble.

The base for the pavers was perfect, for the pavers anyway. Lots of sand and gravel mix with 2" of fine sand topping.

When you run that 20" up the fence, using the fence as containment. That's just stupid! He could have at least put a vapor barrier against the fence to prevent rot.

So I'm putting two steel posts to hold everything up and then building a small retaining wall to keep it all away from the fence.

Here is the retaining wall kit.

Good thing the weather is perfect or I might be in a foul mood.

The new roses are thriving.

And the other flowers are enjoying the sun as well.

Keep dodging those tornadoes.

Zig Zag

We left off last post with the grand children coming to visit, complete with support team. Louis settled in after about twenty laps around the territory showing us the things that he could now reach that he couldn't on the last visit.

He was pretty happy with himself, but he usually is.

Nina still determined to thwart the photographer, did relent to one photo while teaching dad how to make pancakes.

After a few days of perfect Redmond weather we went to a cabin in Zig Zag, a small community just outside of Rhododendron. It is around 1500 ft elevation on the west slope of Mt. Hood and the Salmon River runs through it.

 As you can see, it gets a bit of rain.

We didn't do any fishing but went for a short (2 miles and flat) walk around Trillium Lake at the headwaters of the Salmon River.

The herd of cats finally about ready to get underway.

 Off we go. Louis slept through about half of the walk.

  

There were ginormous rotting trunks

 And a perfect fixer upper, ready for it's next tenant

This one ripped a fair sized boulder from the ground when it decided to lay down for a while. That trunk is about four feet in diameter.

We finally coaxed Nina to allow a photo of her riding the sea serpent tree.

Here is the inflow end of the lake.

 We saw lots of salamanders in the shallows.

And a partial glimpse of Mt. Hood from the small earthen dam.

Back home now; discovered a new project demanding attention, more on that next post.

Weather here is absolutely perfect. Here's hoping the weather in your part of the country isn't making the nightly news.