Lacey's Check up

Friday was Lacey's 4 month check up to see how things are going. We always pick the 9:45 appointment as it allows for a somewhat relaxed departure time, plus the always necessary latte/mocha stop.

The weather for the last week has been cold and dry. Even Lacey is unable to do a thing with her hair!



Dr. Scollan was out of the office so we saw Dr. Bulmer. Our student this time was Jennifer. We thought she was very professional and gave us a great tip of buying capsules and putting all of her tiny tablets in the capsule for ease of handling. We give Jennifer a A++ for this tip, it makes things easier for both the pill receiver as well as the pill giver.

After the initial exam Dr Bulmer let us know what tests they would be running and said he'd call if they found any additional tests needed to be run. So off we headed to the Inter-zone Cafe. I don't think that we were there more than 15 minutes when my phone rang. It was Jennifer saying everything was fine, but they wanted to run some blood work as they wanted to make some adjustments to Lacey's meds. I was not expecting a phone call, but the conversation wasn't as bad as it could have been.

After coffee we headed off to our favorite stops in Corvallis and enjoyed the day. At 1:30 we headed back to the school to pick up Lacey and find out the results of her tests.

The results were good and bad. No sign of arrhythmia which was excellent, but Lacey's heart had become a bit more enlarged which was bad. But a positive along those lines is because of the pacemaker, they were able to increase her heart rate up to 90.

There was a minor adjustment to her meds and a request to keep and eye on her and farewell with a see you in 3 months.

Here we are in front of the interesting artwork at the hospital.

Bikes Again Only This Time As Spectators

For sometime now Bonnie and Bill have discussed watching a cycle-cross bike race. Well, with one being held within five miles of their home why not. Barton Park: behind the park is a large gravel pit. Bill decided to take rubber boots, green ones at that. Oh well, being dry was more important than being fashionable. Was not long and Bonnie went back to the car to install her boots as well.
Not sure what to expect other than mud, expectations were, well open. When Bonnie and Bill entered the parking lot area there was a line of riders waiting to wash off their bikes as well as themselves. Hmm, this might be a bit more extreme than anticipated. I might add, this was not just a guy thing. As Bonnie and Bill were leaving at the start line maybe 200 woman participants were prepping for their races. These may have been the novice groups, but still quite serious about their sport, young and old alike.
About half way through the time Bonnie and Bill were there, a kids race was announced. And yes these were kids, maybe six and under. Parents running along side of their child assisting when needed. The kids track was around a shed, but with all the traffic from the various races, there was mud and water to be had even for the little ones.
A couple of pictures here show some of the extreme times, but none of the races were easy. Minimum time ~45 minutes. Most races were six laps or less depending on class by skill set, age, and weight.

BRRRRR

For some reason Bonnie and Bill decided to go for a bike ride, and with the Farmers Market in downtown Portland calling their names off they were. No, they did not ride from Damascus. They drove into Sellwood and road in from there.
What a busy path along the old rail line. Numerous walkers and many bikes. It was 40 degrees when they left the house. Yes warm dress was in order, only to realize another layer would have been nice. But the ride with a bit of fall chill was well worth it. They were rewarded with squash and apples from their favorite Hood River orchard to make a squash soup for an up and coming club meeting. At the market they found a pastry business that looked too good to pass up. Once again they were rewarded with two fabulous cookies, a cranberry and raisin granola, as well as a butter toffee chocolate chip cookie. The best award has yet to be given. Ha, but to leave with only two items. Not. They picked up a blue cheese, tomato, and asparagus tart, and of course a cranberry tart dessert. These were for home consumption.
So, back to home they headed. Still a bit cool, but closer to 45 than 40. Bonnie dawned her footie boots for wind break, and Bill added a toe wind break to help with thawing the toes.
The outing would not be complete without a coffee shop break. On the way in Bonnie had spotted a new shop, so of course this was our next stop. Bonnie had her white chocolate mohca and Bill had his second egg-nog latte of the season. Both were quite pleasant.
Onward the truck rolled only to be delayed again with a stop at a local sport shop to check out foul weather gear: lobster gloves for both, and a head warmer for Bonnie, of course with a pony tail slit.
Overall a great morning that remained dry between the NW storms.

Though the path will never be the same….the memories of our time together will be strong.

I don’t know who it is harder on, the one getting old, or the ones watching those whom we love get old.

It has been a very sad week for both our household as well as my Mom’s. Dion who was 13 ½ years old has been starting to show signs of old age over the past several weeks, and on Monday evening he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

This poem has circulated many times and always brings a tear to my eye. There is the sadness of farewell and the knowing he is going to a better place at this time of his life.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

I remember when my Mom decided that we were going to take Dion as a puppy back from Elizabeth’s litter out of Rhett & Aajah. Since Dion was our only puppy at the time. He was spoiled and yet always a gentleman, and mild mannered.

I showed him and he easily completed his championship, and then was retired until I met Bill and decided perhaps Dion was the perfect Veteran to teach Bill what it takes to show a dog.

Dion couldn’t have been a better instructor and he and Bill made quite a team, picking up several awards from the veterans class (dogs over age 7).

Dion also taught Bill how to hold a leash properly. I don’t think that we will ever forget walking in the vineyards behind John & Tracey Skupny’s house. They turned Indi and Tazi loose to run and Dion decided he was going too.

The leash slipped right through Bills fingers and Dion was free. It was a heart stopping moment for everyone except Dion who was thrilled to be running in the vineyards with the other dogs.

Thank heavens they didn’t scare up a bunny that day.

After I got married the boys remained at home with my Mom. Dion, Buddy and my Mom became constant companions. A gentleman watching over the household sitting on his favorite chair or in front of the fire.

We are two households and a single family that deeply miss one special Saluki boy, Dion.

Ch. Snowynde Pandava of Tiarc, JC

March 15, 1996 – November 2, 2009

Great Columbia Bridge Crossing -- Astoria, OR

We were debating how many times we have done the Astoria Bridge Crossing and we aren't sure, perhaps 4 or 5 times. We do know that the first year was an absolutely HORRIBLE storm and that the water was coming up the drains in the bridge maybe 6 feet high. It's quite surprising that we ever went back, but we did.

This morning we got up at 3:45 am so that we could head to Astoria for what we hoped was a nice day to run across the bridge from Washington to Oregon. This is a 10K run/walk where one lane of traffic is closed on the bridge so that the 1000's of people can walk or run across. The only guidelines are that the runners and walkers must be finished at 11:00 am.

We checked the weather before leaving and the forecast was 45 for a low and 55 for a high. During the drive the temps dropped to 26 degrees....brrrr this was not encouraging, it did warm up to 44 degrees by time we arrived in Astoria.

Packet pick up ended at 7:30 this morning so we planned our arrival at 7:00. There were already lots of people there. Bill dropped me off at the tent to pick up our numbers and there was the usual issue on where they filed my packet. Was it under the B's or the J's. No one ever seems to figure it out. Finally after checking the B's and then the J's and then the B's and then the J's and then going to the main list, they found my packet so off we headed to the parking area.

Parking is at the Port of Astoria is a LONG ways from the bus waiting area. As we drove into the parking lot sunrise was so beautiful we couldn't resist taking a picture.



The next big decision was what to wear, should we take a clothes bag over to the start line and drop it off so that we could stay warm, or not bother with that and just tough out the cold while waiting for the bus. In the end we tried on a couple of different items. Made the decision and decided not to take warm clothes to the start line. So, off we headed to the bus line.



The bus line went on forever and we were actually in line for about 45 minutes. Here I am freezing my buns off.

Once we finally got to the head of the line, we seemed to be in the forgotten line. I think that six different buses passed us before it was finally our turn. The bus was toasty warm after standing outside for so long and we both enjoyed the warmth on the very short ride across the river to Washington.

Once we were off the bus we took a couple of pictures at the start line, which is at a rest area 1 mile from the bridge. I don't know how many people were actually there but it was packed without much room to move around.



At 9:00 the run started and we headed off. It was COLD to say the least. White caps on the river, and a very breezy wind blowing.

It was a pretty good run this year, and this was the first year that we have taken the camera with us. It was kind of fun to stop and take a few pictures along the way. When driving this bridge in a car, it doesn't seem quite as steep as it is when on foot. We took pictures heading up the incline (I over heard someone say it was about 1/2 mile) and then turned and took pictures of all of the people behind us. It's very hard to tell in this size photo, but there are people all of the way back to shore in the looking back photo. The bridge itself is 4.1 miles and we are about 1/4 mile from the summit.

Here is a picture of a very frozen me.

We had a good run and even walked for a bit, just to enjoy the beautiful day. Sure would have been nice if the wind had not been blowing!

Happy 3rd Anniversary

Yesterday was our Third Anniversary. It is hard to believe it has already been three years. Where does time go?

To celebrate we each took the day off so that we could do something fun together. I am a planner and came up with the great idea of going to Timberline to do a short day hike and then have breakfast or lunch at the lodge. What could be a better place to spend our anniversary than at the place that we got married….

Well one can never count on NW weather or I should say you can count on it to do something other than what you want. This week has been no exception. We woke up to rain and 47 degrees. Since we were headed to the mountain a day hike didn’t look very promising.

As with all outings we had to get a coffee to start our day and picked our local favorite in Boring, and then headed towards the mountain. Just after we left Sandy we saw a Timberline car also headed our direction and it was another Bill Johnson (sure is a lot of them around here) and he was headed to the mountain too….his excuse was he works at Timberline.

On the drive up the rain started to get that splattery look and then it started to snow. Hmmmm hiking in the snow…not a good thing.

By time we arrived at Timberline the ground was white and there were several inches of snow on the ground. This year I have also signed up for the Timberline Host program and the other Bill Johnson is part of that program so we stopped and visited for a few minutes before heading up to the lodge to see the new snow tunnel that is being installed. I have attached a picture. It’s quite interesting and I reserve judgment until it has been completed.

The main door is closed due to the tunnel installation so we headed in the side door and up to the main level. The patio where we got married was under a few inches of snow and it was snowing pretty steadily outside…..but what are anniversaries for if not to enjoy yourself and have fun. So we took the cameras and tripod and decided we’d hike up to the same location where we had one of our favorite wedding pictures taken. It’s interesting how different the landscape looks in the snow and how deep the drifts were on the trail….but we headed up anyway, got to the tree we thought it was, set up the tripod and figured out how to use the self timer and took a bunch of pictures. I’m sure if anyone saw us from the lodge they would think that we were crazy. I would start the timer and then run up the hill trying not to fall down, and smile before the 10 seconds was up. Much to our amazement, the weather decided to clear up and we had beautiful blue sky for the entire time we tried to get pictures. It was much easier to have someone else take our pictures, but what’s the fun in that. Here you can see what a beautiful day our wedding day was and then the difference this year. I still say someone was smiling down on our day since it was so beautiful.

We headed back to the lodge and stopped at the entrance for one last hug and smooch and wouldn’t you know it….two guys walked and the door hit Bill….we were CAUGHT….but they were good sports and once they got in the door, they told us to carry on!

Since we had plans for a full day, we headed back to the car for our trip over to the other side of the Mountain where we were going to get apples to make applesauce. Once we came around the back side of the mountain, the weather changed and it was a beautiful day. Sunny and the mid 60’s.

Our apple stop was at the Draper Girls Farm. Only problem is that we were two weeks too early for apples. So we picked up a few pieces of fruit to snack on and we headed off to Hood River where I had found an interesting coffee shop to try. Some people might think that we are crazy, but finding coffee shops brings us great joy, so why not!

Our destination was a little shop called 10 Speed Coffee, where they roast their own coffee. Now how could we resist stopping at a bike coffee shop? It was a nice little shop and they had an awesome table made out of bike rims. I asked if I could take a picture and here it is. We just happen to have lots of rims around here so it might be kind of fun to try and make something similar for ourselves.

Next door to the coffee shop was a bike repair stop. We dropped by there too and Bill watched them work on bikes for a while and I wandered around. I found an interesting old Schwin tandem bike.

After that we headed off to downtown Hood River. It’s a cute little town and rather fun to wander around as we headed down the hill we stopped as there was a wall covered with mosaic. I had to get out and take pictures and they were very cool! Here are some of my favorite panels from the mosaic.

We then wandered around and stopped for lunch. Since it was getting late and we needed to head back home to take care of the girls so headed back to the car. One the way we found one more coffee shop…Dog River Coffee Company…now how could we not stop at a shop like that. Since this was our last stop I had to make a pit stop before leaving. Sounds funny but I’m glad I still had my camera around my neck because the walls have wonderful paintings on them.

I couldn’t have asked for a better anniversary!

Birthday after Birthday

This week we celebrated “our” birthdays. Bill’s was a milestone and mine was the year before a milestone.

I tried to get the week off so that we could celebrate all week long, but that didn’t work out and in the end it was best as Bill had a client in town.

Bill’s birthday has been going on for several months. It started with the half marathon training, followed by an almost surprise birthday party up in Seattle and we finished his actual birthday with dinner at a little pub in Oregon City. Scottish Ale was his beverage of choice. My Mom gave his a bee keeper hat, veil and book to help him with his quest to become a bee keeper.

Here is a photo of bill in his new outfit and me trying on just the hat.

Since my birthday is two days after his, my birthday activities overflowed with his. Bill had me make arrangements to leave work an hour early on Tuesday and he delivered part one of my gifts which was a bike fitting. An absolutely perfect gift for me as I’ve been having some issues with my bike. There were quite a few items changes so hopefully this weekend will be nice enough to go out for a spin. Perhaps this will help with my quest someday to do a Cycle Oregon ride.

On my birthday I worked in the morning from my Mom’s house and she gave me a gift as well as a card that has left me wondering “what was she thinking” “is she serious” only time will tell.

During my lunch break I came back home and worked from our house until signing off for the day. I had a surprise phone call from my brother who lives overseas and had a gift waiting for me when I got home and I already knew about part three which was tickets to a concert on the lawn at Skamania Lodge listening to Michael Allen Harrison and Tom Grant. There were threats of rain, but nothing more than gray clouds appeared.

I couldn’t have asked for a nicer birthday or a nicer person to spend my birthday with.

Sauvies Island

It seems like our life has been all about one obligation or duty after another for ages. This weekend was all about us. Saturday we did some window shopping for household appliances, hit one of our favorite coffee shops, and then some more window shopping for a ski coat as my Mom gave me one as an IOU last Christmas.

Sunday we decided would be a day of some fun, so we got up early and headed out to Sauvies Island for a bike ride. Last time we were there was for the half marathon on July 4. It's amazing how much it has changed since last month. We practiced a few action shots on the bikes.

Since we are early birds, we are on our bikes by 9:00. Even at that hour there were still quite a few bikes on the road, and the car traffic was light.

Since this was a day to relax and enjoy life, it was a leisurely ride which allowed plenty of time for gawking and a picture or two.

We stopped and spoke with a couple of guys that had parked by a field to see what they were watching. Turns our the birds were condors. The birds were huge!

We came across a great photo opportunity with these old trucks filled with flowers.

One of the farms we rode by had scenic panels incorporated into the fence. Each one had a different scene.

Here we are in a field of some kind of hydrangea's. I'm practicing my royal wave, and Bill is practicing standing around looking cute :-)

As we were ending our ride, I shouted STOP, and we switched from cyclists to black berry hunters. Bill is studying his target, makes his move, and I enjoy the reward. These were the BEST blackberries that I have ever had.

We decided that the berries were so good that we would stop at one of the farms for some berries. We found a little u-pick place no blackberries but we did get some gravenstein apples. They too were wonderful. I think there will be an apple pie in our future sometime soon.

Then off to Sydney's for a delicious coffee before heading home where there were a few of life's little duties that required attention.