Tinstafl

TINSTAFL means there is no such thing as a free lunch. It is an engineering philosophy that says a perpetual energy machine doesn't exist. Another variation is, "If it seems too good to be true then it is too good to be true." As an example, you may have received a "check" from Readers Digest saying that you've won a million dollars (almost). In small letters at the bottom is printed "not negotiable".

Well the grinches in the top floors of the Readers Digest management building have sunk to new lows. In July a letter came saying my subscription was running out. They offered me a huge reduction in the cover cost and in addition they would send a year's subscription to a friend. But wait, that is not all. If I paid immediately they would send it to a second friend as well. I mailed in my $10.00 They cashed the check the next day. A month later I get a similar offer for $14.00 this time. Having forgotten my previous transaction I send in the $14.00 plus the names of two friends. I have now exhausted my entire supply of friends' names and still have not got an issuse from Readers Digest. It is now October and I get the offer in the mail again. I tried sneaking the envelope to the mail but was caught by my sweet wife. Janeil says, "Didn't you already renew?" I looked up the check register and sure enough there were cashed checks for July and August.

Janeil contacted Readers Digest and asked them what was going on. They replied immediately by e-mail. They explained that they had indeed cashed the two checks. However the offer was for the new friends subscriptions, not for renewing mine. For the reduced price of $10.00 I could get mine renewed. Since I still had the latest October offer in my hands I carefully read it to see where I had missed the friends versus me renewal. It sure looked to me like it was me that was renewing. I answered the e-mail telling them they could kiss me goodbye as a subscriber. They replied asking me if I would like to take a customer satisfaction survey. I took the survey. I'll bet I get a package containing 12 steak knives and a bill for $25.00 as a result.

Another rip off is their book club. They send you 4 novels for 99 cents. Afterward you get novels periodically by mail for $25 each. Trying to stop this flow of novels is like paddling upstream without a paddle. It is nearly impossible to stop.

On their sweepstakes offers of a million dollars: If you multiply the chance of winning which is 1 in 25,000,000 then you get an "expected return" of a quarter. The long run return after subtracting the cost of the stamp is a loss of 19 cents. In addition you have licked a nasty envelope seal, wasted time walking to the mail box, and spent sleepless nights waiting for the winners' van to show up in your driveway with cameras whirling.

TINSTAFL has once again been proved. Whatever you do don't let them get your credit card number or your new mailing address is likely to be the county jail where you will be awaiting trial on mail fraud, unpaid bills, and obscene phone calls.

If you have ever wondered where all of the investment bankers are hiding out waiting to cash their big bonus checks you might want to search through the back halls of the Readers Digest executive rest rooms.

Touring, temple, and reunion in Utah

Friday, the last full day of our vacation, was an amazing day.

We started the day parking outside the new Church History Building. Carl showed us around. The building is massive. Lots of people said hi to Carl.

Afterward we went to the Temple Square Visitor Center. It was crawling with friendly senior couples and cute sister missionaries. Carl forewarned us about the professional pan handlers asking for change.

We then drove to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple for a session. We got an 11:oo o'clock reservation. It had 55 people on the session which required a half dozen folding chairs in addition to the permanent seats. It's a beautiful temple decorated in fall colors.

We then drove down to Pleasant Grove. We spent some time finding grave sites of ancestors in the PG cemetery, some by accident and some by asking at the office. For example, Albert and Jenav are buried 6 rows west of the flag pole. There is a petrified rock at the end of their row. We ran across Leroy Young and also Sam White by accident.




We had a terrific Asian stir fry which included vegetables from Gail's garden. She had reserved the church building next door for our reunion. We had a wonderful time rekindling old memories from our dear missionaries. We especially liked the short program which included talks by Janeil and me, singing the mission song, and watching the DVD "Called to Serve." Spontaneous testimony bearing started in which they expressed love and gratitude for us being there to take care of them. One Elder (Edwards) drove round trip from Shelby, Idaho with his wife and baby just for the reunion. Several of the Elders had worked in the office with us so we knew them better than most. Another reunion, the sixth, is planned again for next year, same place because it was easy to find. Most of the missionaries have graduated from college (BYU or Uof U) and/or are married, so they no longer live in the Utah valley. Face book was used to advertise the time and location.

It was an amazing day.

Quick trip to the coast

To escape the predicted 101 degree record weather in Corvallis we decided to drive to the Oregon Coast and enjoy a high of 64 degrees in Lincoln City. So did a lot of other people. Most of the license plates were from Oregon.

The Devils Lake State Park Campground was FULL. So was the D river parking lot. We decided to park across the street and walk under the Highway 101 bridge running along the D river (the world’s shortest river by the way) to the Ocean. A policeman was at the entrance to the tunnel going under the bridge. Janeil asked if we could get to the beach by going through the tunnel behind him. He said “You can, but it would be better if you went around.” After a pause he said, “There is a dead homeless person under the bridge.” Gulp.

We took his advice and climbed the embankment and went across Highway 101 at a crosswalk. We took a long walk in the fog along the beach. There were quite a few people in wheelchairs or on crutches on the sea shore. When we got back to the car there were three police cars at the scene.

We had a contest at the Tanger Outlet Mall seeing who could spend the most money. Janeil won but I bought two pairs of Rockport waterproof shoes and a colorful Old Navy swimming suit. Everything we bought was on sale.....of course. Janeil even bought me a birthday present for my 69th birthday which is 40 days away! We'll be at Carl's for it.

Last entry for our vacation

We went to church in the Fraser Ward in Prince George, BC. Over half of the people attending were visitors. The meetings were all very good and the people friendly.

We camped at the Sunset Campground on Green Lake near 70-Mile, BC. There was a glorious sunset. We saw buffaloe, deer, and goats.
Coming down the Fraser River gorge was beautiful. Hells Gate was an important trade route. We stopped and walked down to the Alexandra Bridge which is now abandoned.
On the last day of our vacation we started early (5:30) in order to get around the Tacoma/Olympia early morning traffic. We stopped at Mt. Saint Helens and drove up to the Johnston Ridge visitor center. We went on a hike first and saw lots of wild flowers and the valley far below with clouds below us.

The video at the visitor center had surround sound and was most impressive. On the wall they had stories told by survivors that were touching, especially Ronald and Venus who floated down the mud flow. She went under the mud five times but was finally rescued by Ronald who pulled her up on a log and they leaped on logs to safety.

We saw a small herd of elk on the road. I ran up the hill chasing them but they were long gone.

After the 1980 eruption Weyerhauser planted millions of doug fir and noble fir in the higher elevations, which will be harvested at age 45 in 15 more years. The unplanted blast zone is mostly barren thanks to environmentalists.

Our last stop is at Costco in Albany to get get an appointment to get our hearing checked. After two weeks of saying politely, “What did you say, dear?”

Coins, signs, and license plates

Sunday August 8th we are in Prince George to go to church services. It is obvious that this was a crown colony and still is. The dollar coins are called loonies because they have a loon on them. The coins and colorful bills have images of leaders on them, sometimes British monarchs.

Along the roads there are often avalanche warnings that say do not stop. Of course there are road signs with moose almost everywhere. There are also bison, caribou, mountain sheep, and deer signs. Then there are the don’t feed the bear signs that say “a fed bear is a dead bear” because they have to kill the bears that lose their fear of humans. Many signs are also in French and the Indian language.

In the backcountry the road signs show which services are available when we pass populated spots (sometimes just two buildings); for us the gas symbol is always welcome. Sometimes there is no gas for 100 kilometers. There is diesel available at every station. Most of the rest stops have no restrooms, only bear proof garbage bins. There are often nice information signs. One that occurs over and over is the mountain pine beetle kill explanation.
Yesterday we traveled through dozens of First Nation villages. We stopped at one where there was a fortified hill fort that a local chief used in the late 1700’s. It made you think of Book of Mormon time. Nekt, the chief, was invincible in battle with a double thick grizzly bear vest with slate panels. His club was called “strike only once” because he knocked his opponents down with the first strike. The battles often consisted of just the champion from each village fighting.

The villages often had full sized bill boards on the highway telling the Indian girls not to hitchhike. They were pretty graphic showing photos of girls who had been killed.


The most common vehicle plates other than British Columbia are Alberta and Yukon Territory, which are the neighbors. We didn’t see a Northwest Territory one however. Common US tags are Alaska, California and Washington State. Some rare ones we have seen are Maryland, Colorado, Oregon, New York, Idaho, and Minnesota. Nobody from Montana.

We are now back in radio country. There are highway signs giving the frequencies and call letters of the local stations. Mainly talk shows and of course, good old country western music. There is more international news than in the States. There was one radio announcer, sounded like an old guy, who announced in an Indian dialect. There is wifi at the motels so Janeil downloads indexing to do as we travel. She has done over 56,000 names since she started back in Baltimore.

Right now the the government is really strict about open campfires. The fine is $343 for every person at the site. Most of the hundreds of fires going right now are lightning caused and the firefighters just let them burn unless homes are endangered. They predict that the wilderness fires will burn on for several months. The skies are often haze overcast even in the farthest backcountry.

Through customs one more time

Yesterday we decided to get off the beaten path (if you can call the Al/Can Highway a beaten path) and headed south on highway 37. We drove all day and camped at a primitive campground alongside a swift running river. The campground was run by the Lions. We went for a walk and saw moose tracks and moose droppings. They looked like dusty chocolate malt balls.

There were 4 people in the campground ahead of us on motorcycles. As we walked past their campsite one of them called, “Want a beer?” I said apologetically, “No thanks, we don’t drink. We’re Mormons.” Then Janeil said, “But we’re friendly.” It turned out they were two couples from California.Today we crossed over the border into Hyder, Alaska. We drove five miles up a dusty road to a place called Fish Creek where you could watch bears trying to catch salmon in the stream. We got in with our Golden Age pass. The bears usually feed in the morning and late evening. We arrived at 11 a.m. just as some late riser was lumbering up the stream herding about a dozen salmon. Gentle Ben was a lousy fisherman.The observation boardwalk was elevated about 15 feet above the stream. He walked right past us. There was a female ranger there who had an industrial sized bear spray can hanging from her belt. Janeil wanted to go on a hike on a nearby trail but since the bear hadn’t caught any fish, I thought it best we leave the area.Hyder looked like a ghost town out of the 1800’s. This week was Bear Festival week but we didn’t stick around for the pancake breakfast.

The fjord was surrounded by glacier encased peaks. Rivulets cascaded down the steep rock faces. The mountains are tall and there are lakes and rivers everywhere. No wonder there are so many mosquitos. We now have blood stained curtains in the camper van.

We saw our first red traffic light in a week. After driving for a whole day with no painted stripes, it is a relief to be back with a painted center line and a 90 kmh speed limit.

We would have to rate today as one of the top days of the trip.

Teslin, Yukon Territory

It is Wednesday, August 5th and we have started heading south towards home. The drive up the canyon from Skagway was breathtaking.





This morning we hiked up the mountain on the outskirts of Skagway to Dewey Lake. It was very steep and rocky. When I wanted to quit Janeil urged me on. When she wanted to turn back, I said we could make it around the lake. The climb took 3 hours and our knees were really sore. At one spot we got disoriented but my boy scout training came in handy when I saw the sun in the east.

At the edge of town, we saw an incredible sight of huge salmon swimming up a channel. We stood on a bridge over them and watched as dozens of 20 pounders swam towards their spawning streams.

We are camped tonight at an RV park on the bend of the river in Teslin. A long bridge with metal gratings spans the river. There are four wild fires burning in the wilderness on the other side of the lake to the south. There is ash falling from the air because the wind is blowing our way. It seems like we have jinxed the areas we visit because there has been a major fire almost everywhere we have gone. The sky over Skagway was smoky from fires also. Luckily the skies have usually been clear enough for us to see the sceneryBut there is ash falling on everything.

Landscape is covered with winding rivers and long finger lakes. We see lots of kayaks, canoes, and boats on car tops but none in the water.

Janeil is doing laundry. A load costs $1.50 and the soap another $1.50 for a box the size of a deck of cards. This is the first campground with free showers in the last three days. I refused to shower last night because it cost $1 even though Janeil offered to pay. They also have gasoline, a restaurant, and a defunct miniature golf course. This is really classy. Somehow it seems un-American to have to pay $1.25 to wash your hair. There was a derogatory comment about Canada in one of the rest stop out houses. A Yukoner had written this reply: “Only an A__ H__ Yank would make such a rude remark.” I guess the ugly American image is still alive and well.

Since we are a little ahead of schedule we are going to include Mt. Saint Helens in our return route. It had better not start erupting while we are there or we’ll know our jinx is for real.

When I awake during the night I start reciting “The Cremation of Sam McGee” in my head. I usually am back to sleep within a verse or two.

We have not had to use our mosquito netting yet, but whenever we stop for a rest the hornets swarm around our grill attracted by the bug kill. That last sentence had such a nice meter and rhyme it could be a Robert Service poem about driving a motor home through the Yukon.

Gold Rush Gateway

We made it to Skagway, Alaska the easy way, going downhill in our van from the 3000 foot pass. The “stampeders of 1897” had to climb it 30-40 times to haul their ton of supplies to the top in order to pass the Canadian Mounties who also collected some tariff tax.
There were three huge cruise ships in port and the streets were crawling with overweight tourists. We took the recommendation of the RV park manager and ate at the Skagway Fish Company down on the wharf. It was spendy, but delicious.

It seems weird to be in the United States after traveling north for three days through British Columbia and Yukon Territory. We saw no wildlife today. The scenery today was spectacular with hundreds of lakes, raging icy rivers, and towering glacial covered mountains. The drop down into Skagway was breathtaking. There were numerous rivers flowing almost vertically down the cliffs. The terrain is very rocky, probably from ancient glacial scouring.

We have decided that tourist traps are not our thing. We will go back to the lonely highways with the truckers and bikers. The forests are spruce, lodgepole pine, larch, aspen, and birch. The roadsides have bunches of beautiful purple flowers.Oh yes, gasoline is still $5 Canadian per gallon ($1.24 per liter). Janeil has cooked some great meals on the trip. I’ve dumped the contents of the pantry a couple of times when I pulled off the road at rest stops, but otherwise we’re doing great as elderly road warriors.

Into the Yukon!

Today was "see the wild animals" day. We started out seeing the rear end of a caribou as it ran into the woods. Next we saw this small group of mountain sheep with several kids.
Next we saw a black bear but had no place to stop for a picture. Lastly we saw a small herd of woods bison.

On the way home we plan on dipping in the Liard River hot springs. We met a guy there from Gaston, Oregon who was very friendly. The picture is of me reading the sign at an alluvial rock area. This was the most expensive part of the Alaska Highway construction because the soldiers had to blast through solid rock as they went around the edge of the lake (which is 7 miles long). The two construction groups coming from opposite direction met near here at a place called Contact Point. It was sort of like the golden spike in Utah where the two railroads meet.
There are seemingly endless expanses of forests of stunted evergreens and birch. The mountains are above tree line and show beautiful patterns of bare rock. The overall experience is reminiscent of Yellowstone National Park but without the mob of tourists. We saw several solitary bikers. The insects have not been a big problem yet. There are a lot of huge motorhomes which makes me wonder how much gasoline they must consume. Almost all of the small gasoline stations, camp grounds, and restaurants along the way have gone out of business.

We are camped Monday night, August 3rd at Watson Lake (Yukon Territory). The usual speed limit is 100 kph but with lots of patches of well compacted gravel that keep the driver alert. The two lane highway doesn't have enough shoulder to pull completely over so when we want to stop for pictures we are half way on the road. The gasoline in Fort Nelson was 1.249 per liter or $5 per gallon.

There is a $1 million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of eco terrorists who have blown up the natural gasoline pipelines running through the area six times in the last few months. If I could enlist Jim Hay and Jonathan Dodge maybe we could become bounty hunters based out of the camper van.

Going to church in another country

2 Aug 2009, Sunday

The meetings in Fort St. John ward were wonderful. There were several investigators for the missionaries to teach. The members were friendly to us. One of the missionaries bore his testimony and said that his one regret was that he hadn’t shared the gospel with his best friend before he left.

We saw our second moose. This one was alive and grazing in the beltway alongside the highway. There is a 40 yard strip of grass on both sides of the highway before the thick woods start. The moose like to eat the lush grass that grows there. There are “don’t feed the bear” signs. The trees up north here are very stunted.

It rained last night and today. Hopefully some moisture fell on the fires in the south also.

We have decided to go to Scagway instead of Fairbanks. We should get there in three more days of hard driving. We then will turn around and head home on some of the same roads but also on some major loops in new territory.

We have been listening to a Stephen King story on tape about a 9 year old lost in the northeastern woods of the USA. It fits the theme of our trip nicely. Janeil says if someone ever wanted to get away from civilization this would be the place to go.

BC is vast

Sunday 2 August 2009

We are staying at the Lakeview Inn in Fort St. John, BC. The suite has a fridge and microwave. It has a couch and is very roomy. We ate at Mama Panda last night and had a wonderful oriental buffet. It must be the local favorite because at 5 pm it was loaded with customers, including some children.

We have not seen any Canadian currency yet because we pay everything with Visa. They hold your card while you are getting gas because your card is “AMERICAN”. The accent is not as pronounced as I thought it would be. Janeil shopped at a Save-On which I think is in the Albertsons chain. I thought the fruit prices were out of sight like bananas $1.79 a kg. until I realized a kg. is 2.2 lb.! Our room was $111 with the AAA discount. The buffet last night was $38 with tip.

The wildfires are still very serious. They evacuated the town of Lillooet less than 12 hours after we went through it. There is also a gasoline shortage in southern Alberta after a severe thunderstorm disrupted services. The temperature has dropped a little. I figured out the conversion with 30 Celcius being 86 F. There is a feeling of vastness. Last night we plugged the van into their winter electrical outlet in the parking lot so that the van fridge would use electricity instead of propane while it was parked. Those outlets are for block heaters in the winter so the oil will not solidify. We had block heaters in Montana while we lived there.

We went for a walk in a beautiful Peace garden last night. I think Peace is a geographic area here. British Columbia joined the Canadian Federation over a 100 years ago.

We have travel through a lot of First Nation Reserves which are the equivalent of Indian Reservations. They are FULL of junked cars just like in the lower 48 states. While we were waiting in the fatal accident line yesterday I talked to a handsome firefighter who was First Nation. Fire fighting was his profession and he had been a logger and miner also. He looked like he was about 30 years old. I really felt sorry for the hay truck driver who was sitting forlornly under his truck in the shade. I imagine the accident investigation will be intense as to which vehicle was at fault when they collided on the curve.

Our van has run great so far. Yesterday we passed another RoadTrek and they flashed their headlights in a sort of brotherhood signal. We have seen several other RoadTreks although the TravelAmerica rental big box RV’s are very popular. There are hundreds of the big bus sized RV’s on the road. Now that we are on the Alaska Highway which started in Dawson Creek mile zero, there are lots of petrol stations and motels. The Super 8 here in Fort St. Johns was $180 a night which shocked me. They must really sock it to the tourist trade.

We are going to the Fort St. John 2nd ward meetings which start at 10 am. It is fast sunday. Then we will try to make it to Fort Nelson by nightfall. It was really nice to stay in a roomy motel for one night instead of the cramped van. I put my back out while dumping the holding tanks Saturday morning. I seem to do that a lot on vacations. It may be psychological or it just could be that I try to lift things in odd positions while camping.

We are getting a couple of short walks in each day. We are trying to make sure Janeil doesn’t gain back any of those hard earned pounds she lost. We also take short breaks every couple of hours while we travel. One stop was at a beautiful little waterfall.

We aren’t making nearly as many miles each day as we do on trips in the states. The top speed is 100 kph which is about 62 mph. There are construction zones every 100 miles which slows you to 70 kph (about 45 mph). Apparently they must build like crazy during the summer because they can not lay asphalt during their cold winters.

Start of trip

Thurs., July 29th:

We are at Marble Lake Provincial Recreation Site costing $15 Canadian. There are two lakes with geese and ducks. We haven’t seen the sun all afternoon because of wildfire smoke.

Driving through downtown Vancouver B.C. was no fun. Narrow lanes, switching streets, and stop and go traffic. Janeil successful navigated us with the help of AAA instructions.

Driving over the mountains on Canadian Highway 99 was enjoyable. About two-thirds of it was newly paved. They are having the winter olympics in Whistler so the road to it was superb. We have only made about 800 miles so it is unlikely we will make it to Fairbanks (2800 miles) in less than 7 days. We have been driving for about 8-9 hours each day. Gasoline was $1.07 Canadian a liter which is about $4 US a gallon. The border guard asked me what guns I had at home and when was the last time I had it in the van. Tricky question.

Last night we found a hippie haven called Camp Ki in Arlington, Washington after dark. The manager talked to Janeil through a crack in his door. It ended up being a nice spot and we paid $19.80. It was on a lake. Most of the people looked like permanent refugees.

Yesterday we took Highway 26 in Oregon to the Tillamook Forestry Center. It was great. I climbed the fire lookout tower. There was a movie on the fires which started in 1933 and reoccurred every 6 years until 1957. What an incredible jinx. They even had the smell of smoke in the theatre for ambiance. The museum is well worth visiting with kids and there is a campground there.

The temperature got up to 108 degrees so we kept driving until dark.

Friday 31 July 2009:

We are waiting in a long line (hundreds of vehicles) on the Al/Can highway just to the north of Clinton. We gassed up at Canadian $1.08 per liter. There is a terrible mountain pine beetle infestation in British Columbia. We just got news that a fatal accident has occurred and there is at least a 3 hour wait before we can get by it. The local cars are turning around but the RV and trucks are just going to wait it out.

Last night there was a plaintive Loon wail echoing over the lake. This morning I saw a large crane-like bird flying east. It is 9 am and the temperature is 78 degrees F. The news gives the temperature in centigrade which we don’t know how to convert. We are listening to one conference tape each morning. We also have some books on tape.

Busted?

As a condition of being "employed" as a volunteer sedan driver for Dial-A-Bus I had to agree to random drug and alcohol testing. Today when I was ready to end my shift the dispatcher said for me to go to the Occupational Medicine Lab for a random test. I knew I was in deep yogurt because I had taken a restroom break midway through my shift. I was required to go immediately to the Lab or else be declared "positive".

I signed in and took my little beaker into the bathroom. The nurse had me empty all of my pockets and put the contents into a locked locker (she kept the key). Well I couldn't produce the sample they requested. They took me into the waiting room and said I had to stay within sight of the receptionist. I called Janeil and told her I wouldn't be home for lunch and called the dispatcher to tell him it would be awhile before I returned the sedan.
Every half hour they brought me a glass of water to drink. If I didn't produce an acceptable quantity of sample within three hours I would be declared "positive". My whole life flashed before me with the fear I would lose my weekly volunteer driver assignment. After two hours I had read all of the three-year-old Good Housekeeping magazines in the rack, which incidently have little to do with housekeeping and lots to do with other female type topics.

With my three hour limit running out, even though I didn't feel the urge to urinate, I thought I'd better try again. To my great relief I was able to perform and it just kept coming. I was not allowed to flush the toilet which was full of blue cleaner. This was to insure that I hadn't diluted the sample. I handed the warmed up beaker to the nurse. She started filling out some paper work. "Have you eaten poppy seeds in the last 72 hours?" she asked. She had me sign a bunch of forms which I never read. Maybe I've donated my body to science for all I know.

The staff got a lot more friendly when they determined I wasn't trying to get away with something. If I was a druggy I think I know how to beat the system because I wasn't patted down before being left alone in the room.

After returning home I had to visit the bathroom several more times. Right now I can't look at a glass of water without feeling queezy.

Because I Have Been Given Much I Too Must Give

Today my Dial-a-Bus riders made me realize how much truth is in the statement, "I complained because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet."

The riders are either senior citizens without other transportation, or else people with disabilities. Here is today's list:

1) A 94-year-old woman recently widowed, was going to physical rehabilitation. She wanted to talk about whether suicide was acceptable. Her doctor is Steve Athay. (An elderly gentleman pulled me aside as I left the rehabilitation center wanting to know now much the rides cost. The answer is $1.50 because they are subsidized by ODOT.)

2) A 59-year-old man going to the Cancer Center for a follow-up visit on his recent radiation treatments.

3) A 21-year-old on his third day at his Cornerstone Work Center job. He is on a landscaping crew cutting laws. He is silent during the ride but always shakes my hand and thanks me for the ride as he leave the car.

4) A 7-year-old Down Syndrome girl named Anna and her mom. They had been to the library and stopped at Thriftway to buy a birthday cake for dad.

5) A mentally retarded 35-year-old on one of those motorized shopping carts at Winco Foods. He had recently switched apartments and was thrilled with how nice the other tenants were at the new place.

6) An autistic man who works every day for 4 hours as a janitor at a concrete company. He lives in the country with his recently widowed mom. He pointed out that he had just mowed their huge lawn. He has my schedule memorized and repeats it to me each time we meet.

7) A 50-year-old who had been to see the eye doctor. He, like all the others, thanked me for being a volunteer.

Today was unusual--nobody going to the beauty parlor or to the Senior Center for a free meal. Also none of my blind clients today.

John Day "Walk About"

Once a year my friend Jim Hay goes on a week long exploration of the forest back roads. This year it was to see the wild flowers in the high mountain meadows around John Day. I tagged along as the camera man. I was more interested in the trees than the flowers.

We took an extremely rutted road to an abandoned fire lookout tower.
On the way back down the mountain I was afraid the vehicle would high center so I encouraged Jim to cut across the hill. After studying the situation Jim said "No, we are going to do the right thing and stay on the road." We didn't high center and I was proud of him for obeying the rules of staying on the road.

I got sunburned on day one, so thereafter I wore a red bandana in foreign legion style. This worked great except for the tip of my long nose.The weather was great and the sky was magnificent at the mile high altitude. It was easy to get GPS fixes at that altitude with 5 or more satellites overhead. I love the bark patterns of the ponderosa pine which often has a reddish tinge.

Jim enjoyed fishing.

Surplus chests

Filipino-mahogany chest 23" wide 17" deep and 19" tall made from cabinet doors

Hardwood box 17" wide 13"deep and 13" high.  The top is a shade lighter than the sides

Beautiful 44" wide 12"deep and 24" high linen storage chest.  Formerly at the foot of mom's bed.  Ideal for storing sheets or pillows.  Would almost match Sheryl's bedroom furniture.

If any of you kids want one of these I'll deliver it. I'm now out of the business.

Drift Creek: beautiful spring day at the coast

The trail is 1.5 miles long.  Most of the trail is in the shade of the conifer trees. Amazing growth rings on this conifer, 2 to 3 rings per inch. The stump was in the middle of the trail.   My boot toe is sticking in the corner to give a size comparison.  

The suspension bridge is in the middle of nowhere and goes nowhere.  It is 100 feet above the river below.  The water fall is in the background.    

The trillium blossom is often found on the coast range forest floor under the trees.

This is a huge old stump which the loggers used as an anchor.  The notches are to wrap the steel cable around. The other end of the cable is attached to a tower (or spar tree).  The cable would be suspended in the air and logs hung from it as they were being moved to the trucks on the road.

My traveling companion, Jim, is looking out over the coastal landscape.  He almost always has a slight bulge under his shirt on his right side.  He claims it is necessary in bear country (and every where else except church). We've never seen a bear so it must work.  He claims hollow point bullets don't work well when shooting a bear because the hide is so tough.  As you can tell we don't talk about deep subjects when we are out enjoying nature.