Day 394, Flying to Oklahoma



Horizon to Portland



My started at 6am to get up and get ready to be picked up by Tracy at 6:40am.  I was awake before my alarm and Tracy was right on time.  I got to the airport and checked in with no problems. 

My flight went Redmond to Portland, then to Salt Lake and the flights were smooth and ontime.  When I got to Salt Lake, there was a monitor right by the gate and I looked up Oklahoma City and I had two hours to kill before my plane took off.  I walk from to the next gate and sat down several yards from the gate where I could plug in my lap top in and check email.  After about 30 minutes I looked at my ticket and it said my plane departed at 1:50 which was in 5 minutes.  I must have miss read the monitor getting off the plane and I had missed my flight.  I have no idea how I did this.  I'm a seasoned traveler, but the plane was gone.  I check with Delta and the next flight was 6 hours and I was booked on that. 



Salt Lake City International Airport



I spent 6 hours in Salt Lake airport and my flight departs at 7:20pm.  I will arrive in Oklahoma City at 11:18pm.  I lost one evening with my friends, but I guess in the long run it wasn't a huge deal, I'llstill  get there and I'll enjoy their company.  The current temerature in Oklahoma City is 105 and they have huge fires east of the city that has shut down the interstate.

Day 393, Tuesday

The air outside is smoky from all the forest fires burning just north of us around Madras and Warm Springs, but I still left the windows open.  It seems every year we have one big fire and there is at least a week when the air quality is really poor.

Today at work was more of the same, preparing for Leadership and trying to get everything lined up to start the program in a few weeks.  It's also Tuesday, so that means workout day with my trainer.  I actually really look forward to working out and it's pretty much the highlight of my day.

My trainer only had time for 45 minutes today, so I was done by 5pm.  I figured since I was in Bend I should stop off and see if they had started working on my trailer.  To my surprise it was back  outside and nothing had been done to it.  There seems to be more trailers in front of it and other priorties are taking place.  I guess I just need to be patient, but at some point you just have to say REALLY?!  I left dissapointed and headed to Safeway to by cat food.

At home I mowed the lawn, cleaned the house, vacuumed and got ready to go see my friend Robin in Oklahoma.  I went to bed at 11 and only left two windows open as the temperature started to drop and the low was expected to be around 32.  We always have a frost in August, so tonight is its last chance to freeze before September is here

Day 392, Monday, Ughh

It was your average Monday, with the exception of it was time for my routine visit to the dentist for a cleaning.  It seems like I was just there here, but it was actually 6 months ago.  Luckily, I have great teeth and I take good care of them, so the visits are relatively quick and pain free.

Following the dentist I had to drive to Bend to drop off some flyers for an upcoming event that we are sponsoring and turn around and head back to Redmond.  My morning was shot, and I worked through my lunch again!  My lunch consisted of some leftover trail mix from our golf tournament, which I ate at my desk.

Harvesting 40 acres of red wheat

After work I went to the feed store to buy some cracked corn for the chickens and I was starving, so I stopped off at Sonic for a burger.  When I got  home they were harvesting the red wheat on my parents 40 acres. On my side of the street my neighbor Steve was turning the fresh cut hay on his and my property.  I went in and changed cloths and went to move the wheel lines, so he didn't have to stop the tractor and could keep going.

It was great to see the combine cutting and processing the wheat and I had flash backs to the family farm in Iowa when my Uncles would be harvesting corn and soy beans.  There is something very humble about growing and harvesting something.  It was a slice of Americana right in my front yard.

Day 391, Church and chores

I had another great night sleep and I didn't have anything pressing to get up for so I laid in bed until 8am.  I was so content to just lay there and soak up the morning.  Even my two cats had no intention to get up and just laid there.

I finally got up and started cleaning up the kitchen and tossed in a load of laundry.  Church is at 11am and I figured I would take the Packard and then wash it when I go home.  I stopped and picked up my buddy Doug on the way and he had a belated birthday gift for me.  It was a incubator for chickens.  I guess I'm going to have to get serious about finding some hatching eggs now.  What a cool, unique gift.

Sunset on Sunday, August 28, 2011

After church I came home and it was starting to get hot, but even worse was the smoke from the forest fires was really setting in.  My sprinkler system was running so figured I should hold off on washing the car until the sprinklers were off.  I decided I would paint the window frames and shutters around the car barn and stain the potting shed in the garden instead.  I also realized I needed to do some major pruning on the apple tree in front of the potting shed and spent nearly an hour pruning trees.

Around 7pm I started washing the Packard and then the Mercedes and finally the Rolls.  The sun was setting as I started on the Rolls and the clouds were beautiful.  It was like a picture from the old west movie and it was absolutely breath taking.

I finished up with the car around 9pm, I then cleaned up the garage and went and closed the chickens up for the night. 

It was another great day.

Day 390, Terrebonne Car Show

I slept great with all the windows in the house open and clean sheets. I was so comfortable and hated to get up, but I  had a car show to go to.  The registration for the car show starts at 8am and I had already preregistered but I wanted to get there so I could find a place to park in the shade.

My timing was perfect and I got there at 8:05am and the spot I wanted was still available, so I backed the Packard into a spot under a tall poplar.  This is one of the bigger car shows and there were over 250 cars in attendance.  I entered the Packard for judging under the category of "Best 40's" and all those who entered a car could vote on cars in various categories.  For those came to see the show they could vote for their favorite car in the category of "Peoples Choice".

To my surprise there was another Packard in the show and it parked 5 cars over from me.  It was a 56 Packard Caribbean Convertible and it was huge.  It was great to see another Packard and to have Caribbean was pretty cool.

Two Packard's in the winners circle

At around 2:30pm I was notified that I had one an award and asked to move my car to the winners circle.   The big Packard Caribbean was also asked to come to the circle, so it was great to see the only two Packards get recognized.  We parked are two cars next to each other and then waited for the awards ceremony.

At 3:30pm they started handing out the awards and my Packard took 1st in Class for Best 40's and the Packard Caribbean took 1st in Class for the Orphan class.  Orphan cars are those who's parent company is no longer producing cars and is out of business.  It was fun to show people the car and to be able to let many see a Packard for the first time.

The lawn fresly mowed as the sun sets.

It was a long hot day and by the time I got home it was 4:30pm.  I needed to mow the lawn, so changed into some grubby shorts and jumped on the old John Deere.  When I was all done the yard looked pretty good.  I have a ton of chores to do this weekend, but for now I was done and ready to call it quits for the night.

It was a fun day and I enjoyed every minute.  It was a perfect summer.

Day 389, TGIF

Fridays really are the best day of the week.  You can't help but be in a good mood and I was so ready for the weekend.  I was extremely busy working on the upcoming leadership program and the day flew by.  I hadn't taken a lunch and by 3pm I was starving, so I phoned out for a lunch.

After work I headed home and I was so ready to put my feet up and even take a nap.  I was so tired, so I laid on the couch and took a quick twenty minute nap.  I was awoken by my parents calling to see if I wanted to go dinner and of course I said yes.

We went out to a new restaurant that I have not been to yet and probably will never return to.  My parents ordered small pizza and I ordered Lasagna.  After an hour and half we finally got our meals.  Something was obviously wrong in the kitchen, and they said they would adjust our ticket, which they didn't.  It was bad service and not worth the time.

Back home I put clean sheets on the bed and was ready for a good night sleep.

Day 388, Thursday workout and the Lodge

It was another busy day at work and the entire day flew by.  I had my workout at 4:15pm and my mother took her own car, because I had to go to a meeting after the workout at the Sons of Norway Lodge.

The workout was another good one and I was dripping with sweat once again by the end of the hour.  We focused a lot upper body, shoulders and cardio.   I was beat by the time we were done. 

The lodge meeting was at 5:30pm and the Lodge is just four blocks down on the same street as the gym.  Only 4 of us showed up for the meeting, so it was nice that we could move pretty quickly.  Norwegians however love to talk, so it was still after 7pm before I got out of there.

Christmas before Labor Day.

Since I was in Bend, I decided to stop off at Costco for a much needed bag of M&M's for the office and some cranberry juice for at home.  I was shocked to see that the Christmas decorations were already out.  It's not even Labor Day!  All the lights are LED, which I just can't stand.  I want to support the environment, but I get the eco-friendly Christmas blues, looking at LED lights.  By the time I got home it was a little after 8pm and it was already getting dark.  This is the third day in row that the chickens have had to spend the entire day inside.

The chickens are not happy and are only about 1 to 2 eggs a day.  I'm not sure the little buggers are worth keeping if they don't produce.  It might be time to fire up the BBQ.

With all the lightening the night before there are lots of little fires burning around Oregon and the air was smokey. 

Day 387, Concert night

Ominous sky passing by the concert.

Today is concert number 5, out of 6, for our summer concert series and there was a threat of thunderstorms for this evening.  The morning skies were clear, but it did have that humid feeling and it was getting warm quickly.  Usually around 11am we put the tent up, but today we thought we should do it first thing. 

We headed to the park around 8:45am to get a jump on the heat and it was a good thing.  It takes us about 20 minutes to set the tent up and all the banners promoting the concert.  It was already warm, so I got a little more sweaty than I would have liked, but the job was done and we all jumped backed into my truck with the AC cranked.

By 4pm it was starting to cloud over and we were wondering if we were going to have to cancel the show.  Our phone started ringing with people wondering what we were going to do, and we decided we would wait until 5 to make up our mind and if it was sunny we would go ahead.  Central Oregon storms tend to just blow through and they can pass in minutes.

At 5pm the lightening was flashing all around us and it wasn't looking too promising, but you could see the storm was going to pass.  The band wanted to play and said they were going to play, so went with their decision. By 6pm the storm had passed the skies were sunny with big clouds and people started to show up.  It wasn't a large crowd, but it was respectable.  The concert was entertaining and everyone had a great time. 

After the concert we had to wait for the band to break down their equipment before we could take the tent down. The concert ended at 7:30pm and it took the band an hour get packed up.  By 8:45 the tent was down and back at the office.  I got home at 9pm and I was beat.  I opened up the house and laid down on the couch and then I started to hear it pour rain.  What perfect timing, another storm was rolling through and the thunder and lightening was very impressive.

Day 386, Tuesday workout

Today was workout day, so I took my lunch at the end of the day.  I had three things that needed to be returned to Bend from the golf tournament, including two large rolling ice chest from Pepsi, a banner from our breakfast sponsor and a big box of golf tees from a credit union.

The workout was pretty intense, but the gym was hot with little air movement which made it that much more difficult.  The AC was set way too high, so it didn't come on a lot.  I was sweating like crazy, which I guess is good, but I have to have air movement, or I feel like I can't breath.  My Mother and I both felt like we really got a good workout in, so despite the heat we were pleased.

Following the workout I had scheduled a massage at 6:30pm.  I have had a huge knot in my neck and shoulder since the golf tournament and my back has been tight since I moved the rocks at my parents house.  The massages I get are anything but relaxing and painful is the word I would use.  Even though they hurt like crazy they definitely make me feel better in the long run.  I was a marshmallow when I was done and I managed to get myself home and just relax the rest of the evening.  I drank a ton of water and went to bed early.

Day 385, Riding in a Hudson

It's another beautiful day in paradise, or a beach in Hawaii is paradise, but Central Oregon isn't too far behind.  Today at 5pm I was going to pick up Peter and take him to look at Flyte Camp's 1948 Sequoia trailer. Peter saw it on eBay a while back and had mentioned he would like to see it.  I got his house at 5:10pm and he had been working on the 1952 Hudson Hornet all day and had it ready to go.  He asked if I wanted to take it to look at the trailer and said, YES!

I have always appreciated Hudson's but I have never ridden in one.  The engine was whisper quiet and I was blown away by the ride.  The car only has 37,000 original miles and runs like new.  I was amazed at how much fun it was to cruise down the road.

We got to Flyte Camp Vintage Trailer Restoration and they had the 48 pulled out front. It looked spectacular and we couldn't help but want to back the 52 Hudson up to the front of it so it looked like it was pulling it.  Peter was pretty impressed with the trailer and while I think he enjoyed looking at the trailer, I'm not sure he was ready to add it to his collection.

We stayed for about 30 minutes and then headed out for dinner.

When we got the Hudson back to the garage Pete did make a comment that the trailer would look good parked in the field next to the house.

It was a fun way to spend the evening, looking at a vintage trailer and riding in a Hudson.

Day 384, Sunday car gazing

Today at 9am I was invited to come look at a collection of cars that belong to a man I had met a few years back.  I think we instantly became friends over our mutual interest in cars and he owns a Packard.  When I first brought my Packard home it wasn't running well and Peter with two turns of a screwdriver and a twist of the distributor cap had the car running great.  He is a self taught mechanic and can fix anything.  He  has also collect cars from all over the United States and he drive everyone of them home.  Needless to say I was really excited to have the opportunity to see a few of his cars.

1949 Buick Roadmaster Sedanette

I figured since I was going to a car collectors house I should take something rare, so I drove the Rolls.  I found Peter's house with little trouble and it was spectacular as expected.  The triple car garage held cars double deep and with a little work you could actually get 8 cars in the garage.  My eye lit up as I looked in the garage as we obviously have the same taste in cars.  Up front was a 49 Buick Roadmaster Sedanette, then a 37 Buick Century and then a 54 Hudson Hornet.  In the back row there was a 35 Chrysler Airflow coupe, then a 52 Hudson Hornet sedan and lastly a 1937 Cadillac.  I was like a kid in a candy store as we looked at each one and talked about the design and great character of each car.  When we got to the 52 Hudson, I was in awe of the car and thought it would look really good pulling my trailer.  Peter had mentioned earlier that he might let the Hudson go and thought it would pull the trailer well.  The car is all original and has the same slopping lines as the Traveleze.  I think the two would look great together. 

A 1952 Hudson Hornet 4 door sedan.

After two hours I had taken up enough of Pete's time and headed for home.  I would really love to learn more about cars and learn from Peter's knowledge on cars.  He is a world class guy and appreciates cars for the practicality and design.

At home my lawn was desperately needing to be mowed, so I changed clothes and hopped on the mower.  With in an hour I was done and the lawn looked great.  I had to empty the bags three times, so it was really long.  I have noticed that I need to move two or three sprinkler heads, so I decided today is the day.  One sprinkler head had to be moved 5 feet and the other 2 feet.  It  only took me about 20 minutes to move the one head 5 feet and I got the second head ready but the trench was full of water, so I decided I work on it tomorrow after the water soaked in. 

Pete had mentioned that he had seen this great trailer on eBay that was from Bend and I had told him it was Justin's 48 Sequoia, the guy who is going to restore my trailer.  I wondered if he would like to see the trailer, so called Pete and he said, YES!  I texted Justin and he said he would be happy to show it so I arranged it for tomorrow around 5:30.  Justin also told me that the Shasta was gone and that my trailer had moved inside!  I was very happy to hear the start of the restoration on the Traveleze might be near.

For dinner, my folks and our good friends offered to take me out for my birthday at 6pm, so I got cleaned up and headed over.  Again, I took the Rolls and ended up driving us all into town for dinner.

It has been a fun weekend and with temperatures in the mid 90's it was the perfect summer weekend.  At 10pm it was still in the upper 70's and I had every window in the house open.  What a great night.

Day 383, Drifters Car Show

The Drifter's Car Show started today, with registration from 8-10am and I planned to be there around 9am.  It is a beautiful morning and the high today is supposed to be around 90.  By the time I got to the event, they had nearly filled all of the streets where they had planned on parking cars.  I was able to get a great spot with a nice tree that would shade the car in the afternoon.

1935 DeSoto Airflow

I put a few props out with the car and had 40's music playing on the hidden iPod.  The Packard was entered in the show under the category of "40's", so it would be competing against all the other car in that category.  I also could have entered it under the category of "convertible", but there are a lot of convertibles and the competition would be too steep.

The classic Art Deco Styling of the 1935 DeSoto.

My favorite car at the show was a flawlessly restored 1935 DeSoto Airflow, which stole the show.  It was head and shoulders above the rest and was meticulously restored.  The owner had found the car in Alaska decades ago and had told the owner that if he ever wanted to sell the car that he wanted to buy it.  The man passed away just a few years ago and the instruction were left to sell the car to the current owner.  He then brought the car to Washington and then to Central Oregon where it was restored.  I was totally mesmerized by it's shape and condition.

With nearly 150 cars in attendance and the sheer number of hot rods and customs I didn't even think about winning anything.

The running of the 8th Annual
Rockchuck Ramble

At 2:08pm there was the Rockchuck Ramble event, Oregon's shortest fun run.  Over two hundred people showed up for this 327 yard run.  There were lots of prizes and my friend Jon won a $80 gift certificate at a bakery and flower shop.  With his wife's birthday coming up, he was really pleased.  The Grand Prize winner took home $508, and the winner was a friends mother and she was thrilled.

At 3pm they did the awards ceremony and to my surprise, my 42 Packard took Best in Class for 40's.  Not to my surprise, the the 1935 DeSoto took. Best 30's, Best Interior, Best Paint and Best in Show.  The owner was overjoyed with the recognition for all the hard work that went into the car.

At 5:30pm my friend Tracy was picking me up for my birthday dinner with Wanda and Conan.  It's always nice to meet up with old friends and just have dinner.  It great to see everyone and we all our time together.

Day 382, Golf tournament and my Birthday.

At 12am I got a text from my brother wishing me a Happy Birthday.  I had probably been a sleep about 30 minutes when my phone bleeped that I had the message.  My brother wanted to be the first to say Happy Birthday on the actual day.  It made me chuckle and I thought it was neat that he thought of me.

About an hour later I woke up with really bad sinus presure, so I got up and took some sinus medication and then for some reason I could not go back to sleep.  At 5:10am after a horrible night of tossing and turning my alarm went off.  I now had to get up to be at the golf course in 35 minutes.  I am so not a morning person, especially after not sleep well.  I thought to myself that mornings are just plain ugly.

I got the golf course at 5:55am and it was time to start setting up for the tournament.  Registration was to be open at 7am with a shotgun start at 8am.  Despite my first impression of an early morning, it really was a beautiful morning.  Our tournament was sold out, but three players, "no showed", but still the event had 141 players. 

The weather was absolutely perfect and everyone had a great time.  Around 1:30pm all the players were back in and the barbecue lunch was ready.  By 2:15pm we started the awards ceremoney.  This is not a serious tournament and many were stretching the truth on their scores and handicaps.  By 3:35 we had the entire tournament packed up and it was time to head back to the office and unload.

It was a very fun day and everyone had a good time.  We were all exhausted and I headed for home around 4:30pm.

The Packard at the Drifters Car Show, August 19, 2011.

This is also the weekend for the Drifters Car Club's Harvest Run and the big car show was set to open at 6pm.  I had just enough time to go home and take a shower and come back with the Packard.  I was back at 6:15pm and was entery number 77.  There were a lot of great cars and it is always fun to hear peoples comments about the car and have them ask "what is it"?

At 8pm all the cars started up and drove a big loop downtown and there were lots of spectators lining the steets.  It was a great way to end the day.

When I was ready to go home Tracy had texted that she had something for me.  I went to see what it was and she had baked me a pie.  This was pretty amazing since she had never baked a pie in her life.  It was peach and I had to try a slice.  It was pretty fantastic and for her first pie it was a home run.

I got home around 9:30pm and I was ready for bed.  This being Friday howerver, I had tossed my sheets in the washer and dryer, so I had to make my bed my first.  The thought of fresh clean sheets and sleeping in sounded aswesome. 

Day 381, Getting ready for our golf tournament

It was another crazy morning and tomorrow is our 21st Annual Golf Tournament.  The preparation that goes in to hosting this event is staggering.  My office has been working on every little detail and my main job today will be picking up a truck load of adult beverages and tons of food from Costco.

At 10:45am I had a meeting with the City Bend and my friend Doug to talk about the possibility of the Sons of Norway expanding the kitchen of the lodge.  The meeting went very well and Doug and I had a much better understanding of what the City of Bend will require from us if we expand our kitchen by 85 square feet.

Following the meeting Doug helped me run several errands picking up supplies for the tournament. For lunch I bought Doug a Polish dog at Costco, which seemed to make him happy, and I was glad to have his help.

At the end of the day we had a Ribbon Cutting at 4:30pm and I left promptly at 5pm to run back to Bend to attend the Sons of Norway Building Committee meeting.  I picked up Doug along the way and we both gave the committee our findings of the meeting and some of the requirements that we will have to follow in order to add onto the building.

I dropped Doug back off at his home around 8pm and he had just enough daylight left to take his dog Buck, to the park to play "chuck it".  Buck lives to fetch and will literally die from heat stroke feteching the ball.  He has no off switch and will run until he drops, he's a German Shorthair and despite his lack of smarts, he's a wonderful dog.

Tomorrow will be an early day, so its off to bed.

Day 380, Mid week

After skipping my workout on Monday or Tuesday, today after work I get to go workout.  I was actually really looking forward to it.  The work day passed quickly with little drama which was nice.  At 3:45pm I left for the gym.  I had the convertible, so the drive there was awesome and enjoyed the summer sun. 

The workout was excellent with lots of cardio and upper body.  I'm amazed at how stiff in the arms and shoulders I am and spend a lot of time trying to stretch and get me loosened up.  By the end of the hour I was beat and sweating like crazy.

After my workout I stopped off at Flyte Camp to look at the progress on the Shasta and it's getting closser but it's not done.  It's going to be at least a month before my trailer gets in.

Nearly 20 years old and still looking good.

With our golf tournament fast approaching I made a Costco run and bought some of our snack supplies that we will be needing.  By the time I got home it was 6:15pm and the weather couldn't be any more perfect.  I decided I needed to wash the BMW and Mercedes, so I filled up the wash bucket and got busy.  The BMW is so small I was done in no time and then washed the 600.  This car is substantially larger and takes a little bit longer.   The Mercedes was recently waxed and I'm continuously amazed at how good looks after nearly 20 years.  The car is all original and with just 42,000 miles it still looks new.

It was another picture post card day and I continue to count my blessings.  The mountains were looking majestic as the sun started to set and I just looked at them in amazement.

Day 379, Tuesday and my brothers birthday.

This has been an amazing August, with very consistent weather and today is another spectacular morning.  My brother from Portland was coming over to work on several projects in the area and today is his birthday.  He pulled into our parking lot the same time we all did and I handed him his birthday card and wished him a Happy Birthday.  He is 2 years and 3 days older than me.

My morning was busy and I had two meetings, one in the office and one out.  I was also able to work a little on the flag trailers for the Redmond Flag Committee and some on the Leadership Redmond program.  I took another late lunch and came home and let the chickens out. At 4:30pm we had a Business After hours at Juniper Golf Course and I was there until 6:15pm.

An ornament worth waiting for.

My brother was meeting our oldest brother and his family for dinner at a local brew pub.  It wasn't much of a celebration, but it was nice to hang out.  We do nott get together that often, so it was a rare moment.  My folks already had dinner plans so they were not able to joined us.  After dinner my brother stopped by my home on his way out of town to see my new shed.   He also gave me a card for my birthday, which is Friday and a ceramic trailer ornament that was back ordered from Christmas (very cool).

He left around 7:45pm and I started puttering in the yard and I ended up pruning the potentilla along the west side of the house.  It was now getting dark, but I was determined to get the shrubs trimmed and to get a jump start on my weekend chores.  I really need a small army of gardeners to come help me, but that's probably not going to happen anytime soon.  The yard work is endless.  After I had the potentilla trimmed back and the mess cleaned up, I washed off the deck and all the chicken poo. 

I have decided that I will not be letting the chickens out until about an hour before dusk, they just make too much of a mess when they are out for extended periods.

When I was all done I sat on the front steps of the house with the cat and just enjoyed the night air.

Day 378, Monday

It is just another beautiful day in Central Oregon.  This morning was a bit cool at 43 degrees and with all the windows in the house open it was a bit chilly jumping out of bed.  It's strange it really doesn't seem that cold, but during the winter, if the house drops any where near 60, I'm freezing.

I was out the door on time and for some reason decided to take the Mercedes.  It has an absolutely amazing sound system and I heard the song "Good Life" by One Republic.  I cranked up the volume and with the windows down and the sun roof open I drove to work.  What a great way to start the day.

Today was payday, so it was nice to hand out the paychecks to everyone.  I know I had a Visa bill to pay, so it was nice to have the funds in the bank.  It was a typical Monday, but for some reason the day seemed to fly by faster than usual.  I took a late lunch and came home around 2:30pm.  I wanted to take a picture of my broken kayak paddle to see if I could get a replacement part from the manufacturer.  They had said if I could get a picture it would help them get me the correct part.  I snapped a few pictures with my phone and sent it to them, so I hope to hear tomorrow if they can get me the  part.

The end of a beautiful day.

After work I stopped off at the store to buy the One Republic CD, that had been stuck in my head since I drove to work.  I decided that I had to have it.  I came home and was ready to work in the yard and to remove the old railroad tie fence posts that I no longer was using.  I had planted them about 2' deep and in cement, but I was able to dig the three ties out and fill in the holes.  I'm really going to like having the extra space in the garden next year and will probably plant several rows of corn in the new space.

It was a beautiful evening and I enjoyed being out in the yard taking in the summer evening.  I was as about as content as I could be, watching the chickens run around the yard and Harris the cat chasing bugs and just being near me.  This really is a "Good Life" and as the sunlight started to fade I gather up my tools and got ready to call it a day.

Even though I still had energy to work, it was time to go inside.  What an awesome day from start to finish.

Day 377, Sunday and the shed project gets started.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I couldn't wait to get started on the shed project.  I really had no idea what I was going to do today, but I was ready to get going.  We had put the shed in the back pasture behind the chicken coop and my thought was I would take down a section of fence, so it would be accessible from the garden area.   I kept looking and the more I thought I just needed to move the entire fence 10' to the North.  This would expand the garden area substantially and give me a new area to plant corn and pumpkins next year.  I did some quick calculating and figured I need 5 railroad ties for fence post and I could pick those up after church.  I also needed to get a piece of glass cut fix the old window and some glazing compound.

The fence goes back up after moving 10'

before too long it was getting close to 11am and time for me to head to church.  I had my list with me and took the truck so I could haul all my stuff home after running my errands. I ended up going to Lowes and Big R, and I got everything I needed, including the 5 railroad ties, a 8' gate and 3 bags of cement, the glazing compound, tuck pins, an assortment of nails and an ice cream sandwich to hold me over.

I got  home around 2pm and got started digging holes.  By 4pm I had the 4 post cemented in and I decided I needed another 8' gate, so ran back to the Big R.   I need to have the fence back up and in place by tonight or the deer will have a field day eating the apple trees and the garden. 

By 7:30pm I was getting the fence boards back up and in place and I was pretty sure I would have everything up so the deer were not going to be able to access the garden and orchard area.  I was starting to get a little tired and and as it started to get dark I decided to call it a night.  I was very pleased with my progress and I can work on this little project all week.

Day 376, New Shed

I'm starting to think that Craiglist is one of the neatest things ever created.  Months ago I found a shed that was 10' x 20' and it came with a hefty price tag of $3,000 but it was worth it.  I thought long and hard about it, but ultimately did not buy it.  On Thursday I had spotted a 8' x 10' shed down in La Pine for $700 or best offer.  I called her and found out the shed is one year old and she had to have it gone by Sunday due to a divorce and sale of the property.  I offered $450 and shed $500, which I said deal.  Today I'm going to get the shed with my brother, nephew and my buddy Roger.  Roger has moved entire houses, so I figure he would be a good guy to have along.

The new shed/chicken coop in the back pasture.

It takes about 50 minutes to get to La Pine and I didn't have to much trouble finding the place and we all pulled up and assessed the situation.  The trailer we had borrowed belong to neighbor and it was perfect but a little tall to get the deck above the wheels.  It took us exactly one hour to get the shed on the trailer and to head back to my house.  My trucked pulled the trailer and shed pretty easily, but I could sure feel t he weight and it felt like I had a giant sail in the wind.  Get the shed off wasn't too dificult, but it took a little over an hour to get off the trailer and put in place. 

My help all needed to leave immediately after unloading, so my brother and nephew split, and I took the trailer back to my neighbor and Roger back to his home in Bend.  I gave my nephew $50 for his  help and Roger 18 eggs from my chickens.  Roger has an amazing home with horses and garden where he grows raspberries, which have been very productive and he gave me some raspberry jam. I love raspberry jam, so I scored, big time.

Since I was in Bend, my truck needed it's oil changed, so I ran passed the Ford dealer and got it done in less than 15 minutes.  I am so impressed with them and the service guy always remembers my name.

Next I want to run past the junk salvage yard, called Pakit, and look for some old windows to possibly put in the new shed and they located right next to the Flyte Camp Vintage Trailer Restoration, so I might as well stop in for a look. 

The little 1963 Shasta going back together.

Flyte Camp was busy working on the 1963, Shasta and it was getting close to being done.  Justin said they should have it done by Tuesday and they they will be onto the next project. There is another trailer still ahead of me, so the Traveleze still probably has anoher month before they get to it.  Seeing the great results of the Shasta, makes me realize it will be worth the wait.  I didn't want to stay and disturb them, so headed off to Pakit, but they didn't have any windows.

On my way back home I stopped off at Lowes and picked up some wood trim and a few 2 x 4 which I'm sure I'll need for the shed.  I called my Dad on the drive home and he said he would come over and help me level up the shed and put blocks under it.  It took us about 20 minutes to have the shed level and sitting up off the ground.  I couldn't wait to get started on the shed and my intention is to divide the shed into two rooms, a chicken coop and storage.  I talked with my Dad about a window, or two and then I remembered I still had a couple in the shop.  We went and look and the one will be perfect. It has a broken window panel, but I can replace that.  This will be a fun project, and I have lots of time to get it done.

I worked for about an hour and then headed over to my folks for dinner.  Dad barbecued hamburgers on the grill and they tasted fantastic!  For desert my Mom had rhubarb sauce and shortcake biscuits, using the rhubarb from my garden. I think I might  have forgotten lunch, so I really was starving, everything tasted awesome.

It was a fun day.

Day 375, Happy Friday

I think all Fridays are Happy Friday's.  I just can't help but wake up and feel good about the day.  I had loaded the barbed wire cactus in my truck, so I wouldn't forget to take it to work and I put my truck keys on top of my Day-timer, so I wouldn't take another vehicle to work. 

Our Coffee Clatter was at Izzy's and they were letting everyone go through the buffet line.  There was about 115 people in attendance and as always it was a great way to start the upcoming weekend.

After work Tracy and I went to see "The Help" and it was a really good movie.  It is a sad time in our history when equality was far from a reality and ignorance ruled.  The movie managed to tell the delicate story, giving it the dignity it deserved yet kept humor throughout.  It's definitely worth seeing.

It was nice to get home, get on my comfortable old shorts.  The moon was so ful I went outside on the deck and just looked at the night sky.  I say a huge falling star and I made my wish.  I'm sure it was part of the Perseid meteor shower, but it was still very cool to see.

The highlight of my day was that I had tossed my sheets in the wash as I left for work and now I had clean sheets to crawl into and to sleep in, in the morning, life doesn't get any better.

Day 374, Thursday and dreaming of Hot August Nights

It's a beautiful day, but its not the typical hot August that I'm used to.  It should be in the high 90's and maybe even 100, but today is only in the low 80's.  I guess I shouldn't complain, but I do like to experience the high 90's and 100 at least once in the year, that way I know I have had summer.

1950 Oldsmobile 88

I was at work and got a text from friends of mine who are Hot August Nights in Reno, NV.  Hot August is huge car show and thousands of cars show from around the country to show off and to hopefully find a buyer.  I received several pictures of fantastic looking cars that would look great pulling the Traveleze.  One in particular is a 1950 Oldsmobile 88 coupe.  It looks flawless and comes with a steep price tag of $29,900.  When you stop and think of what it cost to restore a car the price really isn't that bad.  Paint will run you over $10k if done right, chrome is easily $6k to $8k, interior is about $6k, engine rebuild is about $4k and then you need to buy the car to begin with.  It is so much easier to just buy a car done and not have to worry about all the restoration details.

After work I stopped off at Fred Meyer and picked up a clay pot and two rolls of wire, so I could make a barbed wire cactus for an auction benefiting Rim Rock Adolescent Treatment Services. First I needed to take a quick break and just rest my back on the couch.  The cactus take 11 pieces of 11' long barbed wire and a small block of wood with wholes drilled in a circle, a hot glue gun and two rolls of fine wire.  After about 3 hours I was finished and it was 9:45pm.  I was tired and ready to go inside.  I needed to find two boxes of chili pepper lights for the cactus but I could only find one, so it will have to do.

I was tired and ready for bed.

Day 373, Midweek and conert night

I had a lot to do today including starting off my morning with back to back meetings.  The first meeting started at 8:30am and then I had to walk out of it early and head to a 9 - 11:00am meeting over at City Hall.  Immediately following that meeting I had an unexpected walk-in meeting with an old friend who is looking at a business opportunity here. 

At noon we loaded my truck up with the tent and signs for tonight's concert and we got it all set up in short order.  The new tent is pretty spectacular and we have gotten the installation and take-down, down to a science. 

I moved my workout appointment from Thursday to today, so I headed to Bend around 3:45pm.  I was feeling super low energy and it dawned on me as I was heading to the gym, that I hadn't eaten lunch.  I had a granola bar in the truck, so I was able to eat that, but it wasn't much.

Immediately after  my workout I headed back to Redmond to go to the concert.  Tonight's concert was featuring a group called CincerBlue, who sings Americana.  The park was packed and the weather was excellent.  I was finally able to grab something to eat and I felt better after a few minutes.  The concert was over at 7:30pm and we had the tent down and back in storage at the office by 8:15pm. 

It was nice to get home and call it a day. 

Day 372, A Celebration of Life

Today was yet another stressful day at work, but putting things in perspective helps keep the stress level manageable.  Nothing brings life more into perspective then the loss of a loved one and today at 4:30pm in Bend there is a Celebration of the Life of Jean Wood, someone I truly love and admire.  After a battle with cancer this extraordinary woman, transitioned onto her next journey and passed away at the age of 66.  The event, while sad, was full of her friends and her up beat spirit for life.    We all shared stories of how she impacted each one of us and we all felt truly blessed having had the opportunity to know her.  The celebration was about 2 hours and I headed home a little after 6:30pm.

I spent the evening mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, and thinking about the last time Jean was at my home.  I couldn't remember exactly when that was, but I'm sure it was at one of my Christmas parties a few years ago.  I know if she was here, she would love the garden and the chickens.  I would often bring her carrots and other vegetables from the garden which she loved.  A fun way to describe Jean would be a worldly, eclectic, vegetarian who once a year would eat a cheeseburger with delight.  She was an awesome woman.

I went to bed around 11pm thinking about Jean.  My lawn looked great, my house pretty dang spotless, but I couldn't sleep.

Day 371, Back to work

It was a great weekend and now it's back to work.  Work has been a little stressful with lots of meetings dealing with a bunch of gossip and miss information.  Dealing with such "stuff" is exhausting and my mind has been consumed with the complexity of the gossip.  I literally have to stop thinking about it or I'll go nuts.

You wouldn't think this would be hard, ouch!

My saving grace for the day was the fact I get to workout today.  My mother was going to pick me up at my office at around 3:45pm and we would spend an hour working out with our trainer.  My back has been really acting up but I finally feel that I will be okay, and I didn't do anything to serious, like rupture a disk.  We spent a good hour working on core strength, and my ridiculously tight shoulders.  By the end of our time I was feeling pretty good and the best part my mind was off of work.

Back home I got on the computer and noticed that I had an email from the BMW dealer saying they had a new 5 series in Cashmere, which I thought my parents might be interested in.  I called my Dad and he said lets go look.  We got there around 7pm, there closing time, but they new we were coming and stayed open.  As it turns out the Cashmere  had not come in, but they had a silver and gray 5 series.  We looked them over and sat in the back seat and there just isn't enough leg room for the kind of money they want for the car.  Why car companies don't make smaller cars longer is beyond me.  They can keep the same narrow dimension, but add some space for the back seat and give the needed leg room for an adult to sit comfortably.  As we pulled out of the lot we checked out the Audi A6 and A8L, very nice cars.

Neither my folks or I had eaten, so ran out to dinner and quick bite to eat.  It was a nice way to end a stressful day.  I got home around 9pm, locked the chickens in their coop and called it a night.

Day 370, Lazy Sunday

I really  had no plans for the day other than going to church.  Usually I go to the late traditional service but today I wanted to keep my late morning open so I went early contemporary service.  I got to church right at 8:30 and was pretty much the only one in the balcony until a few other late stragglers showed up.

The message was good and I enjoyed the program, but I much more enjoy the traditional service.  Immediately after church I ran a few errands including stopping off at Lowes to see if I could find something to fix my broken kayak paddle.  I had snapped the paddle the last time I used it and I just needed to find something to fit in between the the two halves that I could glue in for strength.  With a small piece of PVC pipe I thought for sure I could rig up something.

When I got home I changed cloths and went to work on gluing my paddle back together.  Shockingly it went together very easily and I was thinking I should go try it out.  I tried calling Doug but didn't get any answers.  I knew Tracy was having a birthday party for her sister, so I thought I would just go alone and the afternoon on the lake.  I left about 1pm and got to the lake about 2pm.  The parking lot was packed and cars were lining the edge of the road for quite some distance.  Luckily I found a spot close to the lake and soon I was paddling off into the lake.

One of the coves at Sparks Lake

There were lots of boaters and people camping on the shore.  I paddled around most of the lake and even got out and hiked around a bit.  It was a beautiful day and the sun felt so good.  I feel truly blessed to be able to spend time at the lake and to live in Central Oregon.  I left the lake about 5:30 and headed home.

It was such a nice weekend I hated to see it end.  Around 8pm I got phone call from my Mom saying that there lots of fire trucks and ambulances all over their neighborhood and they didn't know what was going on.  I walked down my driveway and looked their direction and I could see lots of smoke.  It turns out that two vacation condo just up the street from them burned down.  The fire department had called in all kinds of support to keep the fire under control and to prevent the resort from going up in flames.  The fire was quickly under control with the just the two structures the only loss.

Day 369, Flash Back Cruz weekend

1934 Dodge

Today is the big car show in Bend at Drake Park called the Flash Back Cruz.  This is always a great show with many unusual cars and lots of them.  I spent my morning working around the house and texted Tracy if she wanted to go the show. She was up for it and I picked her up around 11:30am.

1957 Austin Healey

There were lots of cars as expected and even Justin from Flyte Camp was there with his 1948 Sequoia trailer.  When there are so many trailers it's kind of hard to figure out where to start, so we started in the middle.  It's amazing how many cars were there and I would guess around 300.  I'm still looking for the ideal car to pull the my little trailer and there were several that I thought would be awesome.  Two of my favorite cars were not cars you would pull a trailer with, but they were beautiful.  One is a 1934 Dodge and the other is a 1957 Austin Healey.  They were both convertibles and awesome.

Tracy and I spent several hours there and we talked with the guys from Flyte Camp for quite awhile.  The trailer was showing very well and they had nearly 1000 people walk through the trailer.

I could spend all day looking at cars and I really enjoyed the day.

Day 368, Friday night at the fair.

I do love Friday, there is no question about it.  Tonight I'm meeting up with friends Wanda, Conan and Tracy to go to the Deschutes County Fair and to see REO Speedwagon in concert.  I'm not sure any of us are dieing to see the concert, but it should be a good flash back to high school and the 80's.

4H Cows

The work day went pretty quick, Tracy picked me up at 5:30pm and we met Wanda and Conan about 5:45pm on the fairgrounds.  The concert starts at 7pm so we  had quite a bit of time to kill, which allowed us time to go look at the animals.  We all have a mutual friend who enters chickens at the fair and sure enough she had pretty much won every category she entered.  Her chickens are very impressive, to say the least and she has even been featured in an episode of Animal Planet.  We checked out all the animals from bunny's to beef.

We got to the concert a bit late and to our surprise the place was packed and there were no seats available.  We stayed for about 4 songs, had a good laugh and then decided to go check out more of the fair.  It was a fun time with friends and we were done around 9pm and we left to beat the concert traffic that would soon be letting out.

Day 367, Thursday

Yesterday I actually got feedback saying "Keep Blogging", so I will keep blogging.  Today was a routine Thursday and I was busy working on the Leadership Redmond program for next year.  Securing the Day Sponsorships, Scholarships and getting people to take the class are the first steps in being able to offer the program that will start next month.

At noon I received a call form Marshall's saying the Rolls was done.  The minor issues I had with dash lights and the passenger front side window were all quickly remedied and the car was ready to picked up.  At 3pm my staff was going to run to the store next door to Marshall's, so I grabbed a ride with them.  Today is workout day, so I asked if my mother would meet me at my house so I could drop the car off and then after the workout she could drop me off at the office I could pick up the car I drove to work.

The workout was at 4:15pm in Bend, and the thunderstorms were starting to build in Bend and I worried about my car back at the office with the top down.  My trainer has a 1984 Alfa Romero and she had the top down and I thinks she was getting worried about her car out in the parking lot.  We finished up our workout and we headed home hoping to make it before the rain.  As it turned out Redmond was fine, but Bend later got hammered by heavy rain and hail.

Seriously, how many big cars does one man need?!

Since it's Thursday, I dragged my garbage can down the driveway, started my laundry, in order to get a jump start on my weekend chores.  I then made a phone call about a 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham that I saw on Craigslist.  The guy was great, and the car sounded awesome, but what do I need with another full-size big sedan - I DON'T!  I really can't help it, I have the car bug so bad, I think I need medications.  After that, I ate small dinner and was feeling kind of restless, so I thought I might as well mow the lawn too.  It was  now 8pm and I would just enough time to mow before dark.

I was finished by 9pm and covered in lawn mowing dust and grime and was in real need of a shower.  Ten minutes later I was clean and I spent the rest of the evening sitting on the deck with the two cats and thinking life is good.

Day 366, Playing hooky

Wednesday started off as another typical Wednesday and around 9am, Tracy emailed and wanted to know if I wanted to play hooky and go kayaking.  I quickly checked my calendar and with more than 390 hours of vacation on the books I said sure.  We planed on leaving work at noon and taking the afternoon off.  It was a beautiful day and I couldn't think of a better way to spend the afternoon.

Tracy got to my house about 12:30, we loaded the truck with the two kayaks and I needed to drop the Rolls back off at the mechanics to have the dash lights worked on.  After dropping the car off we needed to get our National Forest parking permit and I was sure we could get that at Dick's Sporting good in Bend, which we couldn't.  We then had to go to REI in the Old Mill District and it was now 1:40pm, which meant we would get to the lake at just after 2pm.

South Sister from Sparks Lake

We went to Sparks Lake again and the lake was beautiful, with very few people.  This time we decided to explore the north end of the lake, but we quickly learned that's was were all the gnats were hanging out, so we paddled back to south end.  After about two and half hours of paddling we decided we had enough and headed in.  With the truck loaded we drove down the long gravel road and I had to stop and take a picture of a 50's Shasta trailer camping on the lakes edge.  It was a great looking trailer and it was in a perfect setting.

A vintage Shasta Trailer, sans wings.

Seeing the Shasta got me thinking about my trailer and I asked Tracy if it would be okay if we stopped off to see my trailer, which said sure.   It was now almost 6pm and the guys were still there working on trailers.  There were even more trailers than before and the Shasta trailer they had been working on was re-skinned and sitting outside in primer.  They were figuring another week or so, and then they should be getting to mine, so I figure at least another 2 weeks.  I am really getting excited, but it's pretty clear that it will be October before I get my trailer.

Back home I unloaded the boats and spent the rest of the evening pulling weeds and working in the yard.  The chickens were out except for two.  It seems I now have 2 broody hens and they both want to hatch the three remaining hatching eggs.  Sometime next week the three eggs should hatch if they are going to at all.

It was another great day.

Day 365, One year of blogging about the Traveleze trailer and Chickens

August 3, 2010, the day I brought the Traveleze home.

Well here it is, one year of me blogging on what was supposed to be about the restoration of my 1950 Taveleze trailer.  I bought it August 3, 2010 and started cleaning the up and assessing the work that needed to be done.  After a month of work I quickly realized that it needed much more attention then I wanted to give to it, so I looked for help.

The Traveleze is currently sitting in the parking lot of Flyte Camp Vintage Trailer Restoration awaiting its turn for restoration.  I had hoped to have the project completed in less than a year, but here it is one year to the day.  My love of restoring old cars has taught me great restraint in wanting something done quickly, it just never happens.

Throughout the year and as the waiting process began on the trailer, I turned my blog from one focused on the restoration, to that of raising chickens and my random life as middle aged guy living in the heart of Oregon.  My blog is about as random and routine as my life, but it's me, and it reflects the events that take place throughout a year in my life.  I don't know if I'm living the American dream, but I'm living my dream.  I get to travel, play with unusual cars and someday camp in an old trailer.  I have great parents, family and friends and my job is for the most part fun and rewarding.

I really did want to finished up this blog in a year and to have covered the restoration of my trailer as well as a few adventures of the Traveleze out on camping trips.  Since the restoration has not yet started, I'll keep blogging as I enter the start of the second year.  I truly hope that August will be the month that the restoration gets started and that sometime in September I'll get the trailer back, who knows, maybe I'll even have time to take it somewhere before winter sets in.

Sitting in the parking lot wait it's turn to be restored.

So as my first year as the owner of a 1950 Traveleze Trailer comes to an end, I'm still just as excited about seeing this little canned ham restored.  I'm a year older and will turn 46 in a few weeks.  I've survived another year and I'm just a little worse for the wear, but still hanging in there.  My 7 chickens are now a year and 5 months old and are laying about 4 eggs a day. 

Tomorrow begins year two and we shall see where the random life of a middle age guy, his chickens and the restoration of a 1950 Traveleze Trailer end up going.

Day 364, Monday Monday

What can I say, it's another beautiful day and the temperature is expected to reach 88 today.  I drove the convertible and parked behind my office and put the cover over the car.  I could put the top up, but I find it's easier to just toss the cover over it.  The cover does many things, one it keeps the dirt and leaves out of the car, it protects the leather, it keeps me from having to put to the top up which would fade, prevents the plastic back window from rotting and it keeps the sun off the paint and rubber, so its an all around win.  It is however some what of a hassle and I have to close the cover in the door, so it doesn't blow off, but it works.

At noon I ran home for lunch and let the chickens out and then I ran to the airport to buy my plane ticket to Oklahoma City.  I was supposed to have bought the ticket on Sunday, but I forgot to go to the airport so I called to extend the hold on the ticket until today.  My friend Ann in OKC had given me a Delta Airlines gift certificate and I needed to use the certificate by this September, so the timing was perfect.  The gate agents had a little difficulty figuring out how to redeem the coupon, but they got it done I went back to the office.

Rain storm August 1, 2011

By 5pm the weather was starting to have that black ominous look with thunderheads brewing as the afternoon temperature started to climb.  I left the office at 5:20pm and I was a little worried I might get wet with the top down, but I figured I would just make it home if I drove quickly.

I was about 3 blocks from the house when the rain started to fall, but it wasn't to hard at first and I wasn't really getting wet.  I parked the car in the garage and by the time I got in the house the thunder and lightening was really starting to act up.  Within 20 minutes it was a complete down pour, I had just made it home in time.  The chickens scrambled for shelter and I watched the rain and the storm blow through.  The storm lasted about 45 minutes and it really soaked the ground good.

After the storm passed I spent some time out in the yard and cleaned my gutters that were showing signs of being plugged.  I love a summer rain storm and the air smelled fresh and clean, with a hint of wet juniper, which for those of you don't know smells a lot like cat pee.  Yuck.

It had been a great day.