Day 454, More fall chores

A basket of apples

Just your typical Sunday, Church at 11 am, then to the feed stores for chicken scratch and layer feed. Then home to wash three cars and put them away for the winter.  I did a little work around the coop and figure out where to put another window in the shed.  I cleaned up some yard debris and harvested all the apples off the trees.  Many of the apples were wormy, so next year I'm going to have to treat them with something (organic) to keep them from getting eaten up by bugs.  Still after tossing many apples over the fence I still had a good basket full.

Fresh applesauce

Kicking back with Harris on the Sofa.

My evening consisted of peeling apples and making two large pans of applesauce.  It was a very relaxing day doing fall chores and spending time around house.  After I finished the applesauce I had time to carve two pumpkins and then I settled on to the sofa with Harris to watch TV.

All in all it was a great weekend.

Day 453, Yard work and chores

Carting out tons of dead flowers and leaves.

I spent the entire day doing yard work and chores.  The first part of the morning I cleaned up the inside of the house and then at 10 am I moved outside.  I grabbed a rake and just started raking up leaves and pulling up dead flowers.  After several hours I had huge piles of leaves dead flowers everywhere.  After several enormous wheelbarrow loads later I had the yard looking pretty good.  Next I jumped on the lawnmower and mowed the lawn and sucked up all the lose leaves that I didn't rake up.  By 2:30 pm I had the yard looking really good, but there a lot of leaves still on the trees so I will be doing this again, probably next weekend.

I have accumulated a  huge pile of dead plant material in the back pasture and now that burning is allowed I figure now would be a good time to burn the pile of debris.  With little flick of a lighter the big pile went up in flames.  I had dragged two garden hoses back to the pasture so I could keep control of the fire if it started to get out of hand.  For the most part the flames burned as expected and I only had to hose around the pile to keep it from burning the grass in the field.  With in about 30 minutes it had burned itself into a smoldering pile of wet leaves and anything and everything that was dry flammable had burned itself up.  I was now free to start my another project.  

Next on the list was to paint the shed and cover up the blue paint.  The paint was only a year old and still looked very fresh, but I'm just not a huge fan of blue sheds.  It took me almost two hours to paint the shed and the sun was getting close to sinking behind the mountains when I finished.  My timing was perfect and the temperature was just right for painting.

I shouldn't have eaten all that candy..blaaahhh!

With the shed done and the leaves still smoldering in the back, the next thing I wanted to do was carve a pumpkin for the end of driveway by the mail box.  It took me about 10 minutes to carve my traditional "vomiting" pumpkin and then I was ready to set it up and placed the pumpkin innards out of its mouth and onto the street.  I know it's sick and wrong, but it cracks me up everytime.

It had been a long day and I was exhausted and ready for dinner.

Day 452, Friday and time to go home

The conference ended at noon and by the time I was loaded up and had said good bye to everyone it was close to 1 pm.  It was a little cloudy but it had warmed up a bit. 

Chicken's in the new coop

The drive over the mountain was beautiful and the fall color was spectacular.  In several areas I drove through a shower of falling autumn leaves, it was beautiful.  I got to Sisters around 2:30 pm and decided to stop off at this great western store called Levits and buy myself a Pendleton blanket for the Traveleze.  I have wanted the classic Glacier Park blanket and I knew they had it.  I think the store owner was a bit surprised when I walked right in and grabbed the blanket and said "ringer up". 

Sister's is a great little western town and I decided to take the time to walk around and check out the shops.  I found a few great Halloween items on sale, as well as Halloween cards for my niece and nephew.  If I got the cards in the mail today, they should reach Portland by Halloween.  I spent nearly an hour in Sister's and then head for home and the post office.

Ya gotta love Peanuts

After I ran several errands I was finally home.  I immediately went to check on the chickens and to let them out in the remaining sunlight.  They were very happy to be free and I changed their water and gave them more food.  Within a half an hour it was getting dark and the chickens were heading back to the pen.  I picked up three of them and put them in the new coop which they haven't ventured into yet.  They thought it was pretty cool and after a while I think they finally figured out the short tunnel between the new coop and the pen.  I think they will enjoy the new space and the insulated walls come winter.

Nothing makes trick or treating more memorable than Hostess!

I unpacked my suit case and kicked backed to watch some TV.  I think buying the Halloween stuff in Sister's put me in the mood and I tossed in Charlie Brown in the DVD player.  My brother texted me from Portland and he had bought boxes of Hostess Cup Cakes and Twinkies to hand out to all the kids in their neighborhood.  This was a childhood memory of our trick or treating in our neighborhood, as one of neighbors worked for Hostess and handed out Twinkies.  It's a treasured memory just like Charlie Brown.

It was nice to be home.

Day 451, More Conference

New Friends have a good time in Silverton

The best part about the conference is the accommodations at the Oregon Garden Resort.  My bed was so comfortable I think I need to go home and buy a new bed.  The conference started at 8:30 am and I was at the room by 8 am.  It was a long day of guest speakers and sharing of ideas.  By evening I was starting to get a little brain tired, but I enjoyed the day.

The evenings events started at 6 pm and went until about 8 pm.  Immediately following the dinner and awards ceremony everyone moved to the lounge for some great live music.  It was fun to get to know everyone a little better and share war stories about work.

By 10 pm I was back in my room and enjoying the comfort of the great bed,  I really do need to get one of these mattresses.

Day 450, Cold morning

Today I have to drive to Silverton for a conference and it is cold outside.  I'm sure the mountain pass is clear but figure I will take my truck just in case the weather turns while I'm gone.  I love the drive over the mountains and I enjoy the scenery.  The fall colors were spectacular and as expected the roads were very clear, however there was a lot of frost in the shaded areas.  The temperature ranged anywhere from 23 to 32, so it was COLD.

On the way to Silverton I drove through Sublimity and the famous Wooden Nickel, where I used to meet Robin, her mother and her 90+ year old aunt for lunch.  Robins lived up the road at an assisted living community.

The Wooden Nickel in Sublimity

I got to Silverton at 10:50 am and checked in with the group.  My room wasn't ready and I had about an hour to kill.  I was starting to get a little hungry, so I headed into downtown Silverton to see what I could find.  It then hit me, that I had packed my black suit, but I forgot to pack black socks, so I needed to find a store.  I happened to pass a Rite Aid and I figured for sure I could some there.  They had a 3 pack for $10 called "huskyfoot".  I'm not sure I have a husky foot but they would be fine.

The conference started at 1:20 pm and and went to 5:00 pm with buses boarding at 5:30 pm to take us to a welcome reception and a dinner hosted a local brewery.  The location was very fun and they had plenty of beer on tap.  The food was excellent and everyone had a great time networking and getting to know one another.  By 8 pm, we were back on the bus and heading back to the Oregon Garden Resort.

At the resort about 18 of us sat down in the lounge and great conversations about work and the challenges of this economy.  By 9:30 pm I was exhausted and headed back to my room.  It had been a long day.

Day 449, Fall is here

It was 19 this morning fall was definitely here.  When I got to my office all the trees around the building were brilliant orange and the leaves were starting fall like rain.  By 4 pm almost all of the leaves had dropped and the trees were bare.  It was a pretty spectacular event to watch all day and I almost wanted to go out and rake up a big pile of leaves and then jump in them.  I guess my inner kid is still alive and well.

The day was uneventful and busy, so before I knew it was time to head home.  I got home in time to clean out the chicken coop and to plug in the water heater and to fill the feeder.  There were no eggs again, so plug in the light and will leave it on all the time and see if I can boost their egg laying, if not it's time to get rid of them.

With the temperature starting to drop again, I went inside and turned up the heat for the night.  There was nothing new to report on the Traveleze.

Day 448, Not much new to report on the Traveleze

After my workout I stopped off to see the Traveleze and to see if there was any progress.  It was sitting outside and nothing new had been done with it.  Justin was busy working with a film crew that is documenting they restoration of another trailer.  It's an exciting project that is taking precedent over all other.  Eventually this project will be done and then the little Traveleze should get some attention.

With the Traveleze parked outside I took a look at the underside for the first time.  It had been sprayed with a black under coating for protection.  I noticed the plywood was not sprayed prior to being attached to the frame, so the wood was in direct contact with the frame.  The plywood is marine grade, but still I wondered if there should be something between the two?  I know wood and concrete do not mix and you always have to put a layer of felt paper between the two and I wondered if the same is true with metal and wood?  I asked Justin's brother who was standing outside chatting with me and he said he didn't know, but would check with Justin.  I just know water likes to get in where ever it can and the first place it will go will be between the frame and the wood floor and with no undercoating there, it makes me nervous.

Harris watching TV

I left the Traveleze and headed home, it was only 6:15 pm but it was getting dark and it was getting really cold.  Tonight the temperature was expected to be about 19!  When I got home the chickens had turned in for the night and collected two eggs and closed them in.  I then went around and drained all the garden hoses to prevent them from freezing.

Tonight it was just watching TV with the cat.

Day 447, The pumpkin patch

The "perfect" pumpkins...or close enough.

After church I picked Tracy up in the Packard and we headed off to the pumpkin patch.  The Pumpkin patch is at Smith Rock and the owners are Matt and Kendra and they put on an amazing show and there had to be 500 to 700 people there. 

I don't know what it is about pumpkins, but they make me smile.  Tracy and I found four pumpkins that I thought I had to have and with them loaded in the wheelbarrow we headed to the checkout stand.  Tracy found 3 perfect little pumpkins that she spent quite a bit of time selecting.  In all we spent about 2 hours walking around and checking out the activity.

Back at home I got back to work and finished up the coop and I even had time to paint the trim and the new window frames.  I spent the entire weekend working on the coop and didn't get to all the other chores I had on my list.  Now I just need to teach the chickens to use the new space and move all their feed out into the shed and out of my garage.

It was a beautiful weekend, with temperatures in the mid seventies and now it was over.  Tomorrow is new week and the temperatures are expected to drop dramatically with highs in the 50's and lows in the teens.

Day 446, Working on the Chicken Coop

Fall color

It was a beautiful morning and sleeping in until 7:30 am was awesome. I had a ton of projects on my list to accomplish this weekend, so I figured I had better get started. I really need to finish the chicken coop first and then clean the shop and garages, put the patio furniture away and lastly wash the cars and put them under cover for the winter. If I could get half this done, I'd be happy.

The air outside had a cool fall crispness to it and I noticed one of the maple trees had turned color. It was one of the reasons why I tolerate fall, all the color.  All of my leafy trees are starting to turn and three are spectacular, orange and red.

Inside the new chicken coop.

I went to the Chicken coop and got out all the tools that I had piled up in there and tried to get a game plane on where to start.  Wall paneling and insulation was the next step and I got out my tape measure and got to work.  I spent the entire day working on the coop and by dusk I was almost finished.  I didn't get nearly as far or as fast as I thought I would, but I was happy to have it looking pretty good. 

Day 445, FRIDAY!

Wow was I ready for Friday, I went to bed at 10 pm and woke up before my alarm went off.  I was out the door at 7:45 am and wouldn't get back home until after 9pm.  It was one of those days were I didn't get a lunch and at 5 pm I went over to Tracy's to get a new bed frame that she ordered for her guest room.  The box turned out to not be that big and I helped set it up and get the bed put back together.  It was now 6:20 pm and we decided to go see a movie.

Footloose was playing at the Redmond Cinema at 6:45 pm which was perfect timing.  We were both curious to see if the movie would live up to the original.  I really just wanted to see Juliann Hough, but figured it should be a good movie too.  The movie was good, but I'm not sure it has the classic feel of the first.

It was Friday night and by 8:45 pm Tracy and I were both yawning.  At home I had laundry in the wash and dryer and my sheets would need to be placed in the dryer, so I could have fresh sheets.  How sad is it that on a Friday night all I could really think about were clean sheets and going to bed, it's just sad, so sad!

I pulled into the drive at 9 pm, got the mail and picked up the trash can.  I parked the  truck, put the trash can in the garage, watered and fed the chickens, collected the egg and went in for the night.  I was so tired, feed the cats, tossed the sheets in the dryer, folded the laundry and waited to make the bed.

Tomorrow is going be a busy day, working on the chicken coop, cleaning the garage, washing the cars and hopefully painting the dining room and kitchen walls,  Let the weekend begin.

Day 444, Trailer CD's

Today I got the vintage trailer CD's that I ordered from Juergen Eichermueller in Germany.  Juergen lived part of  his youth in Florida and his parents owned or operated several trailer parks and he and his mother would go to trailer events and collect brochures and sales information.  As it turns out they kept them all and now it is the largest collection of vintage trailer information in the world.  The collection starts in the 1930's and runs through the 1960's.  Several weeks ago I emailed Juergen and asked if he had any information on Traveleze and he said he did.  I bought his "1930-1950 Trailer Brochures" ($14) and he tossed in all his info on Traveleze and and a "How To" CD as well. 

The 1950 Traveleze

The information is amazing and a lot of fun to look at.  There were so many pictures of brochures and trailers, names like, Anderson, Spartan, Westcraft, Traveleze and many more.  I looked at all the Traveleze information and while there wasn't any specific info on the 1950 Traveleze 14' they did have the 21' and 24' information.   I did find one picture that could be a 14'er and it is exactly what my trailer should look like when it is re-skinned and the stripes are put on.  Traveleze trailers had three staggered stripes which were a dark green and gave the illusion of movement and speed.

I'm eager to share this information with Justin and see if he gets any ideas for my trailer.

Day 443, Wednesday and Egg Nog in the stores

Another great day and I had to be in Bend at 2 pm for a meeting that lasted until 4:15 pm, which just in time for my workout.  My back has been causing me a lot of trouble and again we spend part of my time working on my back.  By the end of the hour I was feeling a lot better.  I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing to cause my back to hurt but it's worse in the mornings when I get out of bed.

After the workout it was over to Flyte Camp to drop off a sample of the shellac that I have use in my house before.  It  has the amber stain and shellac all in one and looks pretty good.  I wanted to show it to Justin and let him have the rest of the can to see what he thinks of the product.  He seemed to be happy to get and I headed home. 

Egg Nog in the stores October 19th!

I knew I needed milk at  home so I stopped off at the store and to my shock they already have Egg Nog in the store.  My brother and I used to be so excited as kids when the Egg Nog showed around the holidays for a limited time.  It's not even Halloween and it's already on the shelf.  I had to snap a picture of the Egg Nog on the shelf and send it to my brother.  Of course I had to buy a carton to ring in the holidays...?

I got home around 6:20 pm and it was already getting dark.  I let the chickens out for 15 minutes and they didn't lay a single egg.  I need to plug in the light in the coop and hopefully boost their production.

It had been a long day and I looked forward to just resting and perhaps watching a little TV.

Day 442, Nothing new to report

Fall color in the yard.

It was another beautiful morning and for the most part October has been spectacular.  We usual have a threat of snow before Halloween and so far, even my trees haven't thought much dropping their leaves.  I have one Amour Maple that has some spectacular color and I am sure will start to drop it's leaves shortly.

Not much new to report on the Traveleze, hopefully the flooring will arrive on Thursday and they can continue to work on it.  I spent part of my lunch time looking for vintage trailer windows to replace two of the windows on the trailer.  At some point in my trailers life it had the windows replaced on one side and not with the same style.  I'm hoping I can find a set of louvered windows to match the originals.

I got home about 5:45 pm today and there was just enough time to let the chickens run for about 45 minutes.  They had laid two eggs today, which was the first time in almost two weeks.   I spent the last few moments of a day light check and resetting my gopher traps that I have set along driveway.  For some reason my neighbor and I have suddenly been invaded by gophers after nearly none this summer.  They seem to be back in force and I'm doing my best to eradicate them from my yard.

Tomorrow I'll be back in Bend and will run by to see the trailer and to drop off a sample of the shellac I might use on the trailer.  I might be able to make some final decisions on the vinyl for the seats and perhaps the counter tops too. 

Day 441, Monday and I'm exhausted

What is it with workday mornings and having to get up?  My alarm went off and I swear I could sleep another two hours, yet on the weekend I'm wide awake.  I drug my lazy butt out of bed and jumped in the shower to wake myself up.  Even the cats seemed tired, but I managed to get myself dressed and out the door.

My workout days were changed this week to Monday and Wednesday, so today at 4:15 pm I was at my workout at scheduled.  My back has been really bothering me, so today I was hoping for a low impact workout and see if my trainer had any ideas to help me out.  We were definitely on the same wave link and she suggested we do a lot of stretching and core work today.  I was happy with that suggestion and I figured it might really help, which it did.  It was nice to leave the gym feeling better than when I came in and I was ready to head home. 

Inside the back of the Traveleze.

On my way home I stopped off and see the Traveleze.  The crew at Flyte Camp was busy cleaning up and getting ready to call it a day.    There wasn't anything new to report on my trailer, as they are waiting on the flooring before they finish closing up the front.  Justin has so many projects going that I'm amazed he can keep his sanity.  I'm in awe of what they do and how well they do it.  I constantly tell him that I have job envy and would love to restore vintage trailers all day.  The thought of taking something old and rundown and restoring back to its former glory just seems fun.

After my visit with the trailer I headed off to Costco for a supply run.  The biggest surprise was that they had oatmeal raisin cookies again.  They had stopped making them months ago and my folks and I were really unhappy.  There is nothing better than a good oatmeal raisin cookie in the morning.  I bough a dozen to take to my folks.

I got home at 6:45 pm and the sky was already getting dark.  The chickens had spent the entire day inside and they only laid one egg.  I gave them fresh water and food and called it night.  The week was off to a great start.

Day 440, Gray and drizzly morning

Today I woke up at 8 am and I felt great!  It was so nice to sleep in and wake up refreshed.  Last night it had rained and I remember falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof and my cat, Harris purring next to me.  I think the combination of the two put me into the perfect zone for sleeping.  It was still cloudy and drizzly and I wondered if it was going to clear off or remain this way all day.

By the time for church it didn't look so gray and by noon the skies were starting to clear.  I had two errands to run, one to Tracy's to help her flip and rotate her King Sized mattress and then to Lowe's to by parts to fix both my toilets.  One toilet has been running for months and my bath just started randomly filling its self due to a slow drain.

The new window in the shed/chicken coop.

I got Tracy's mattress flipped and both toilets fixed by 2 pm.  My next project was to work on the shed I bought back in August and to convert part of it into a chicken coop.  The first thing I needed to do was put in a window and I had an old door and frame leftover from the sauna that I took out of my house when I expanded my closet.  The door would work perfectly in the coop and help me define the coop from the storage area in the shed.

I wasn't really sure how I was going to put the old window in, but I figured I could figure it out.  At 3 pm my friend Doug came over to help me out and between the two of us we got the opening cut and widow framed in.  Doug had to leave by 5 pm and I needed to make another run to Lowe's to by hinges for the window and a few more 2 x 4's.  I had the window in by 6:30 pm and it was starting to get dark.  I just need one more day to finish the coop, so maybe next weekend I can get it done.

My Mom had invited me over for pork chops and applesauce, which is my favorite.  I got cleaned up and headed over.  There was still birthday cake leftover and it was the perfect way to end a great meal.

It is sad to see another weekend over and I could really use another day or two to finish up my chores.  I also need to finish painting inside, but that has taken a back seat to the outside as Fall starts turning into winter.

Day 439, A beautiful Saturday

Freshly trimmed boxwood's

I was wide awake by 7 am and I thought to myself, what the heck?  All week long it seems like if I could just sleep in, I would feel so good, but now that I can, I'm wide awake.  There was no way I was getting out of bed, so laid there for another hour.

The sun was shining and I had a ton of chores I wanted to get done outside and I was sure it would take all day.  I had so much pruning to do, the first thing I did was get out the hedge trimmers and started at the garage.  The boxwood's all needed to be shaped up, as well as the willows and I needed to cut down the last of the Shasta Daisy s.  I must have hauled 5 massive loads to the back, but the yard really looked good.  Getting the yard ready for winter is a big chore.

Corn and pumpkins at the head of the driveway

Next on the list was to harvest the corn stalks and tie them up at the end of the driveway.  I am always shocked how fast time goes.  It seems like yesterday I was just planting the corn and now it's time to cut it down.  I always think of this day when I'm planting the garden and now here it is.  My pumpkins did not grown this year, so I will have to pick up a few at the store to place at the bottom of the stalks.

The last thing I  had to do was put up the Halloween Witch and Cats.   I cut these out of plywood about 3 years ago from a Martha Stewart pattern.  Tracy's friend Marci was coming in to visit Tracy from her tour in Iraq and Tracy thought it would be a fun project for us to do.  We went shopping at Lowe's to buy all the materials and paint and then I went to work.  It was the last time I saw Marci, and she passed away the following year from exposure to toxic chemicals while in Iraq.  Every year now when I put the witch up I remember Marci and what a wonderful person she was.

Witch and cats by the pond.

At 5:30 pm I headed over to my folks house to have my Father's birthday dinner.  I brought the cake that I made Thursday and I hoped it would taste okay.  My brother and his family and Tracy were all going to meet at my folks and then go out to dinner.  Dinner reservations were at 6:15 pm and I was starving.

After dinner we came back to my folks house for cake and ice cream.  It was the moment of truth, the cake looked great and smelled even better.  My grandmother had made this cake as far back as my Father could remember and it's his favorite.  The cake was perfect.  I was happy it turned out good and I think even my grandmother would have been pleased.

It was a great day!

Day 438, Yea it's Friday.

It has been a long week and I am very happy that it's Friday.  It was the usual Friday work schedule, Coffee Clatter at 8:30 am to 9:30 am, I had a 10 am to 11:00 am meeting and a lunch meeting from 11:45 am to 1:30 pm.  By 3 o'clock I was exhausted and ready for the weekend.  I left the office at 3:15 pm to go home and switch cars and then pick up my parents at the airport.  Their flight was scheduled to arrive at 3:40 pm and I had just enough time to run home and let the chickens out and grab the keys to the Rolls.

As I pulled into the driveway my Father called and they had just landed, they were early.  I switched cars and immediately headed to the airport.  It takes me about 10 minutes to get there normally, but there is a major detour due to a complete street rebuild, so it took an extra 5 minutes.  My parents had their bags and were sitting outside enjoying the beautiful afternoon.  They had just flown in from Amsterdam and had been up nearly 20 hours, but were very happy with their travels.

I got them home and the house opened up and I could tell they would crash pretty quickly.  I had not had time to restock their refrigerator, so I headed to the store to buy them some fresh fruit, milk and all the basics.  With a few items they could have a nice breakfast Saturday morning without having to run to the store.  On the way back from the store  I stopped off at my house and picked up a dozen fresh eggs from the chickens.  I then drove back to their home and they were very happy to see me and all the goodies.  Mom was just making some chicken soup, and invited me to stay.  After enjoying the soup, I headed home and I figured they would be in bed before 8 pm.

It had been a long week and I was very happy to have the weekend ahead of me.

Day 437, Thursday and two runs to Bend.

I had a lunch meeting in Bend at noon that was just a few blocks from the Flyte Camp and I stopped by after the meeting to see how the progress was coming on the Traveleze.  They were working on another trailer and they had completely taken all the way down to the frame just like on my trailer.  My trailer was on hold, but maybe they would get back to it later in the day.

The Traveleze in the restoration process, 10-13-2011

At 3:30 pm I headed back to Bend I needed to stop of look at some fabric samples for the dinette area of the trailer.  I was running late so I only had 5 minutes.  I am horrible at fabric and colors, so I don't think I was much help.  We talked it over and we felt we should look at vinyl and leather and do something in brown and or tan.  I had to leave and Justin's wife Anna was going to run by the upholster and get some samples for me to look at.  I knew I could stop by after my workout and I could pick something out.

An hour later I was back at Flyte Camp and the other trailer that was completely broken down in the morning, was now completely rebuilt and had wiring in the walls.  In the matter of one day it went from completely dismantled, to farther along and ahead of my Traveleze.  The Traveleze was sitting outside and had no progress.

Making applesauce for  my Dad's birthday cake.

Anna had picked out some vinyl and leather and there were a few colors that look good, but both Justin and were not sure the exact color was there.  Justin and I are both on the same wave-length and think share the same vision for what the Traveleze should look like when all done.  Justin even had a 1950's Sunset "how to camp" guide which had a picture of the "1950's" camp site which captures the feel of what we are looking for, simple basic, rustic and classic camping.

I got home at 7:30 and again the chickens had spent the entire day inside.  They only laid 1 egg for the day.  I think they are a little unhappy with their confinement.

Tonight I had need to make a birthday cake for my father.  His favorite cake is an applesauce cake with brown sugar frosting.  I had stopped at the produce store during the day and bought apples to make fresh applesauce, so I got busy peeling apples.  I made a huge batch of applesauce and had the cake in the oven by 9 pm.  By 9:30 pm the cake was done and set it out to let it cool.  After it had cooled I made a double batch of the frosting and covered the cake in about 3/4 inches of frosting, just the way my Dad I like it.

I went to bed at 11:30 pm, I was beat, but tomorrow was Friday, yeaaa!

Day 436, Wednesday

This week has started off with a killer pace and I'm already exhausted and looking forward to the weekend.  I have been excited and distracted by the progress of the trailer, so the work load hasn't been that bad.  I have noticed that with the day getting shorter I haven't been getting home before dark, so there are a number of outside chores that are going to have to wait until the weekend.

At 5 pm to 7 pm I had a welcome reception for the new Executive Director of the hospital foundation in Bend.  I wanted to meet the new Director and I figured it would be a nice event.  I drove to Bend and I knew most of the people there and it was nice to chat with people I haven't seen in a long time.  The Director is very nice and I'm sure will do a fantastic job for the foundation.

After the reception I went by Flyte Camp by the off chance that they might still be there. I really wanted to get a piece of the birch interior and try painting with the stain and shellac all in one product that I have at home, left over from when I did my closet remodel.  Justin was still there working on a project.  There wasn't anything done on the Traveleze today, but we talked about flooring, counter tops and electrical outlets.  I was able to get a scrap piece of birch off the floor and was excited to try out the shellac on it, to see if it was the color and shine that I was looking for.

I got home around 7:45 pm and the first thing I did was unload the truck and go check on the chickens.  Once the chickens were fed and watered, I located the can of shellac and painted a section of the wood.  It looked great but maybe a bit too gold.  I figured I could checkout Lowes tomorrow and look for a darker color.

Day 435, More progress on the Traveleze.

I was up by 6:30 am to working on getting ready for the Board retreat that is scheduled at 8:30 am at my home.  My office team was going to be showing up at around 7 am, so needed to be ready to go.  By 9 am the meeting was in full swing and we talked about our progress for the year and the direction for the new year.  The meeting lasted until noon and I stayed home and cleaned up.  I got the office by about 1:30 pm  and spent the next few hours answering emails, phone calls and looking at my notes from the meetings.

Almost fulling enclosed.

Today is my workout day and I also have a Son's of Norway committee meeting at 5:30 pm. In between the workout and the lodge meeting, I stopped off to take a look at the Traveleze and to drop off a few things.  They had almost completely enclosed the trailer and are finishing working on the front end.

I made a selection on the flooring, and gave them direction on the counter tops.  I want a 50's lodge, rustic look, nothing to retro.  I had a Woolrich plaid blanket in maroon and black with tan fleece on the inside.  I gave it to Justin's wife and said is my direction for decorating and she loved it.  She asked if I could leave the blanket which I was more than happy to do.  I also dropped of a small AC unit that we might be able to incorporate into the trailer to keep it cool in the summer.

I was a little late to the Son's of Norway meeting, but I just missed the dinner which I wasn't going to eat anyway.  The committee was putting together a list of new officers for the next year and they were stuck trying to find 4 positions.  I texted my friend Tracy if she would be interested in serving as Treasure, since she is Norwegian and she texted back sure!  I was a hero with the group as they couldn't find anyone to do the job.

At 7:45 pm I said I needed to head home so I left the meeting.  Most of the work was done and there was really nothing else for me to do.  I got home at 8:05 pm, I closed the chickens in for the night and called it a night.

Day 434, The Traveleze has walls!

I hadn't heard anything from Justin at Flyte Camp, so I texted and ask if there were walls yet.  I got a quick reply back saying "yes" and a photo showing the progress.  It was starting to look like a trailer again instead of pile on kindling on on wheels.  My timing was perfect as they were getting ready to start putting on the ceiling panels and I wanted wood with as little marbling as possible, or all clear wood. 

The walls up on the Traveleze and new roof going on.

Justin suggested that I come down to meet and talk about the trailer.  He wanted my input on several aspect of the trailer.  It was close to 5pm and I had not had lunch so I was able to slip out and head to Bend.  First I needed to replace the nose piece on my glasses that had popped out sometime in Las Vegas, so I drove over to the eyeglass shop.  It cost $6 for the tiny little nose pad.  What a markup, I bet there wasn't 5 cents of material production cost in it.

I ran home, changed close, let the chickens out and headed to Bend.  I also grabbed my check book as I had a feeling Justin would be wanting the next installment of the restoration payment.  I got there and found Justin and his brother busy working on the Traveleze and it looked great.  I had a good talk with Justin and they were ready to order flooring and counter tops.  I also need to pick out blinds, and material for the seats in the booth. light fixtures and think about if I wanted anything else added or done to the trailer.  I also needed to write a check, twice as large at the first.  Ouch, this check reflected the increased cost to cover the unexpected complete rebuild.  I wrote the check and then quickly assessed my bank account via my iPhone and transferred funds to cover the check.

The Traveleze is going to be spectacular and my excitement more than masked the palpitation in my heart from writing a large check.  I now needed to head home and put the finishing cleaning touches on the house for tomorrows morning retreat.

Day 433, Sunday

I woke up to rain and overcast skies, which after yesterdays beautiful weather was quite a surprise.  I didn't have much on my agenda other than going to Church, working in the yard and cleaning the house.  Tuesday I will be having a Board retreat at my house so I need to start the cleaning process.

Following Church the weather wasn't as bad and I was able to cut down all the dieing flowers from summer.  I have a ton of Shasta Daisy's that every year I have cut down to the ground.  I also edge all the way around the pond and cut down the reeds around the edge. 

The chickens were out from 1pm to dusk and they only laid one egg.  I'm starting to think it might be time to fire up the barbeque.

Day 432, A nice restful day

My bed felt great and slept like a rock.  I woke up about 8 am and felt great.  I laid in bed for about an hour and just enjoyed not having to get up in a hurry.  I had an appointment for my truck at 10 am, so I got up and got ready to go.

My truck getting a new fuel filter

My F150 had a recall on the airbag and I needed to have the 45,000 mile service done.  There are only 42,000 miles but I figured since I was taking it in for the recall I might as well have it all done at once.  It took them about an hour and half and this gave me time to look at the new trucks.

From the Ford Dealer I headed to Sisters, to a clock shop that was working on a small carriage clock that wasn't working.  They had called and said it was ready to picked up and I was eager to have it back.  When I got to Sister's I was surprised to see that they had a Harvest Faire going on right in front of the clock shop.  I had to park a very long ways away and walk to them.  Since there event was going I figured I might as well have a look and I ended up buy several items including a birthday gift for my father and few Christmas gifts for friends.

After nearly two hours looking around I had my clock and was heading home.  I needed to get home and start working on the yard.  Now that we have had several nights of frost I need to start pulling out all the dead flowers and cutting everything back for the winter.  I was even able to talk my friend Tracy into coming over helping me out.  She had backed zucchini bread and wanted to bring me some.

We worked until it started getting dark and then went inside to play dice and watch a movie. It was a nice Saturday.

Day 431, Flying home

The alarm went off at 5:15 am and I was in the lobby of the hotel at 5:45 am to catch a taxi to the airport.  My flight was at 7:50 am and the request you be there two hours ahead of your scheduled departure in order to pass through security.

Flying home from Las Vegas in the last row.

The flight was on time and I arrived in Salt Lake City and quickly made my way to the next gate.  I only had 50 minutes between flights and was soon on my way home.  8 days seemed to have been a long time and I was ready to get home.

I got  home about 12:45 pm and was greeted by the leftover parts and blood of gopher on the carpet and projectile hair-ball vomit. I was not too happy and went to work on shampooing the carpet.  I unpacked my bag and started a load of laundry. I let the chickens out to enjoy the day and then headed off to the office to check in, and then to the bank to deposit my now 7 day old paycheck.  I had several errands to run and was back home by 4:35 pm.

I got back home and started a second load of laundry and laid down and took a nap.  It had been a long week and I was glad to be home.  After a short snooze I went out and mowed my lawn for one of the last times of the season.

With clean sheets on the bed I was ready for a good night sleep in my own bed.

Day 430, The last day of the conference

Today is the last day and we had more scheduled appointments with potential clients and several workshops.  My brain is starting to go numb, so I'm glad today is the last day.  The big of highlight of today will be the closing dinner and reception at Aria.  

Aria Hotel and Casino

By 5pm the conference and exhibitor area was over with.  We had 2 and half hours to kill before we needed to Aria for the reception.  We headed back to the hotel and took advantage of the time to head to the gym for a workout and then a 20 minute soak in the hot tub.

An entire wall made of chocolate flowers

The problem with staying at the Hilton was it wasn't the host property and all the shuttles were running from the Wynn and Encore to the Aria.  We opted to take a cab straight to the Aria, which ran about $20.  The Aria is one of the newest Mega Hotels in Vegas, weighing in with 4,400 rooms.  The sheer size of the property could not be captured with my iphone camera.  The Aria is massive on a grand scale with no expense spared at any level.  The Aria was part of a enormous project estimated to have cost over 9.2 billion to construct and furnish.  We were all invited to the Haze Night Club at the hotel and it was an exclusive opportunity to experience something out of this world.

A very tall cake!

Our cab dropped us off at the front door of the Aria, where guests were arriving like royalty to a palace.  You couldn't help but feel that you were about to enter someplace very special and not of this world.  To get to Haze, we were told to walk into the casino and turn left past the "futuristic bakery".  We weren't exactly sure what that meant, but when we got there we new we were there.  All I could say was wow.  There were cakes that were 13' tall, entire walls made out of chocolate flowers.  Everything was was so amazing you couldn't help but be at awe.

An impressive Wine List at Haze Nightclub at Aria.  Yes, a
bottle of Cristal Methuselah is listed at $75,000!

After our detour through candy land we headed to Haze and the very large number of even bigger body guards standing at every angle of the club let you know this was for a very discerning clientele.  The upper level balcony extraordinary, with reserved seating, provocative sofas, and crystal and sterling silver appointments.  The wine list opened that illuminated like an iPad and displayed a wine list that is second to none and the prices to match.

I think everyone was  having a great time, but soon it was time to call it a night and it was back to the hotel and another $20 cab ride.

Day 429, Wednesday in Las Vegas

The weather has not been what I expected and it is cool, windy and rainy.  The talk of all the locals is how great the rain is and happy they are to see it.  Todays conference events at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is located right at the Las Vegas Hilton.  This one of the main reasons why we booked at the Hilton, but what we didn't figure on is sheer size of the convention center and the fact that our conference is literally at the absolute other end of the center.  This wouldn't seem like that big of deal usually but the size of the convention center can only be described as massive.  We estimated that it had to be a mile from the Hilton lobby to the location of our conference.  Most of the trek could be done inside which was nice since it was rather stormy and wet out.

The Wynn and Encore Hotels and Casinos
 are the coppery buildings and over 30 stories

On one of the outside portions of the walk, I was able to snap a picture of the Wynn and Encore Hotels and Casinos which were the host hotels.  The walk to these hotels was about 2 miles from the Hilton and we had walked that after last nights event.

The conference today was very productive and we were able to meet with several potential clients.  Tonight is a "free" night and we did not have any formal events scheduled.

Back at home I have not heard anything from Justin and the progress of the Traveleze, which leads me to believe that there isn't nothing new to report.  I know he was expecting another trailer, so it might have showed up.  I also know he is expecting a big project that he told me he would have to stop work on the Traveleze for a few weeks, so perhaps that's what has happened.  I would really like to be there to watch the progress anyway, so I'm content.

With tonight being a free night we ate in the Hotel, and I played the slot machine spending my $10 in a hurry.  The weather outside seemed to be a little less stormy, so I put on my running shoes and went for run.  I ran past the Stratosphere and then down the strip for quite a while before it started to rain.  I estimated I ran about 5 miles.

Day 428, Tuesday and the Conference gets started

We got the conference center at 9am to get our registration packet and to review the list of participants.  We made a list of those we wanted to meet with and the ones that we thought would match our needs.

Wynn Hotel Lobby

The first big event would be at 3 and were boarded a bus to the Wynn hotel for a manditory meeting and then a reception. At 6pm we boarded buses and went a sport complex that featured baseball. We had a great dinner and then were alowed to mingle.  We made 5 really good contact and went searching for sport events that we thought would fit in our community.

After the reception it was back to the Wynn for another recption event that opened at 10pm and went to midnight.  We were both tired so we only stayed for 15 minutes and then walked back to the Hilton about 2 miles away.

Day 427, Fly to Las Vegas



Delta Airlines 757

 Robin dropped me off at the airport at 5:20am and I had no trouble getting through security.  My flight left at 6:20am and I flew to Salt Lake City.  The connection time was less than an hour, so I walked from one plane and right to the gate of the next.  The plane from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas was a 757 and it was packed to capasity. 

I got to Las Vegas on schedule and caught a shuttle to the Hilton.  The Hilton is massive and the casino was in full swing (it never stops).  I met up with counter part from home and we checked into the hotel.  We met back down at the lobby after a brief settling in went to look for the conference location.  The conference center is truly enormous and we finally found the check in area.  The conference would start tomorrow and will bring sporting events and venues from around the country into one location.

The Stratishere Casino

We had dinner at a small shop in the hotel lobby and called it an early night.  I watched TV for an hour and then went for a 5 mile run past the Stratosphere Casino.  It was a beautiful night, but started to rain on my run back to the hotel

Day 426, Sunday

Another Sunday and we all went to Church.  Robin and Brad's church has sum 7,500 members and is massive compaired to my church in Redmond.  We met Dr. Nick and Ann there and afterwards we all went out to brunch.  Brad's son and his wife to be were in town from Houston and Brad's nephew from joined us.

Back at home I had a lot of my tasks I needed to get done before the day was over.  We planted plants, worked on sprinkler heads and tightened towel bars and toilet paper holders.  It was a nice day and before long it was dinner time and then it was time to hit the hay.  Tomorrow I would have to get up at 4am to get ready to head to the airport.

Day 425, Saturday

I adjusted to the time change and was able to fall alseep at a descent hour and I was able to wake up earlier today too. 

On my list of projects that I needed to get done, included repairing the fence in the back yard.  there were a number of sections where the nails were pulling out and with a pocket full of screws I was able to securly attach sections of fence and vairous boards back in place.

Robin and went shopping at lowes for a few supplies that I would need latter to fix loose towel bars, spray paint to spray out the electrical box and gray plastic conduit.  We also bought automatic light sockets that will turn on and off the garage lights when it gets dark.

I got a phone call in the afternoon that my father had shown my pickup truck to the interested party from Medford.  My Dad said he really liked the truck and that he would be calling me to talk ablout it.  I knew the truck would show well and it looks as close to knew as possible.

Surprisingly Oklahoma is host to a number CREW events and this week they were hosting a Olympic qualifing event and they had a number of teams from around world and US looking to qualify for the Olymics.  Robin and Ann and I went down to the Oklahoma River to watch the event and see what was happening. 

It was another fun day in Oklahoma.