Where did I put the darn thing?

I picked James up Monday morning and we made a quick stop to visit with the modelers at BK before heading home. James played with the cousins and mowed. After mowing Parker and him showed up giving the twins a stroller ride. As soon as they came around the corner by the motor home the twins started waving to us.

I played with Ava's toes and she smiled at me, then I asked Harper if she was going to call home on her phone. She put it up to her ear and said "Hi". James had football practice so we ran him home early and did a few errands in town. After we got home the guy who bought the Victrola stopped by after the key. Do you think I could find it! I remember looking at the V on it and putting it in my pocket. I have a couple of ideas I will follow up on today. He was really interested in my planes and spent quite a while looking at them. He said seeing them made the trip worth while.

Flying at CVRCF

I had invited some of our Lewis County club to come fly at the Cowlitz Valley RC Flyers field today. Six members came down and spent the day flying. In addition to myself, four other CVRCF members showed up so we had almost all the tables full.

This is our friend Audrey getting ready to take off. Lots of flying took place and there were a couple of bad crashes caused by engine problems.

This is looking South along the benches. There were lots of different kinds of planes there today.

Garage Sale

I slept right through the alarm this morning, I did not wake up until Vera turned it off. I had set it so I would have plenty of time to get ready for the garage sale this morning. I hustled through my shower and breakfast and made it down there before 8 when it was supposed to start. Big surprise, the signs are out and buyers are there.

I unloaded the Victrola and the fake Philodendron and checked out everyone else's stuff. I ended up buying a couple of Lynne's small bookcases. I visited for a while and then went home to rest the knee. Vera and I made a mail run around Noon and then hit some of the garage sales in the area. We both ended up buying a few things and had a good time. When I went back to the garage sale the Victorla was gone as was the fake Philodendron. I wish I had taken a picture of the Philodendron because to me it was no longer a thing of beauty. I did more visiting and help tear down afterwards. Another big surprise, I only had to bring 3 small items home. It was a fun day. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready to fly tomorrow.

What to take?

I started the day after breakfast by heading over to see what was up at Dianne and Steve's. In other words, I wanted to check and see what the twins were up to. They were just finishing breakfast. After Dianne cleaned up Harper I got to hold her and the dog. When David had Ava walk to Auna, Harper wanted to do it also. Then Auna got the ride on toys out for them to sit on.

After my baby fix, we made a mail run, hit some garage sales and then I started selecting, cleaning up, pricing and loading the things I was taking to the family garage sale at Cathy and Bob's. I also snuck in a little work on the B-36 fuselage this afternoon.

There was lots of activity down in Bob's shop as everyone was setting up. I got my stuff unloaded and had a good time watching everyone. Especially Julie's dog Holly, she must like to ride in cars because she spent a half hour at least in Laury's van. Then when I was getting ready to go she hopped into the drivers seat of our van.

I bought a lawyers bookcase and hauled it home. By the time we had it where we wanted it I had two more things to take to the garage sale. I am looking forward to going down tomorrow and enjoying all the activity there.

Wednesday Flying at Goble

Since Vera had bible study today and then was going with Michelle to see Marie, I went flying at Goble. When I got there and looked at the field it looked yellow with dandilions so I mowed it. Just as I finished a modeler from Cathlamet showed up and wanted to know if he could fly as a guest. Not a problem, so we had a pretty good day of flying. He had some unusual looking planes made from foam sheets. Most of them flew pretty good.

He has just hand launched the plane below for his first flight of the day.

Different looking with the sweep forward wings, but it flew great!

This is a model of an SR-71 he flew, it was made of foam sheets also but looked great in the air. I had a good day of flying with only a couple of minor problems. I was in such a big hurry to get to the field that I forgot to stop at Subway and get a sandwich for lunch. It is a good thing there were some treats in the motor home freezer! I had the wind catch one plane on landing and roll it over very gently, boy was I surprised when the whole tail section fell off. There was a bad glue join from the factory, sure glad it did not come loose in the air. It was about a 5 minute repair Wednesday night and now you can not see where it happened. I finally gave up flying about 4 as it was getting pretty hot. After cooling off in the house for awhile and visiting with Vera I went out and made the repairs that needed to be done. I settled in front of the TV and that was the end of my day.

Opps!

After a few chores this morning I decided to finish the Eurofighter. There was mainly decals and a little painting to do. Here it is in the motor home ready to fly tomorrow at the Goble field.

When I got done with it I noticed the wind had died down so I got the Champ out to fly. Things were going good until I made a little different approach than normal over towards Dianne's. I hit the fir tree on the other side of their parking area.

I got my extension pole and got it down with no damage and flew it some more, but I did not go as far that way again.

Off to the creek again!

One of our first adventures today was a trip down to get Smoothies where Laury works. On the way I spotted the blimp coming North. As luck would have it, it passed right over Castle Rock. When we got back home, they went swimming in the pool.

As soon as they were done swimming they wanted to head down to the creek. Luke had never been down there, so he rode with me on Parker's 4 wheeler.

After the kids explored under the bridge and we were getting ready to go this grouse walked out of the brush about 10 feet from us.

Lots of Powerwing, bicycle, Razor and Power Razor riding went on today. I ended up out there taking pictures and movies of them all day.

The last thing I did was set up the flood lights so James could show Mik and Michelle what he had learned on the Powerwing this weekend. It was a busy fun weekend.

Another Creek Trip

James slept the clock around last night after being up until 4 Friday night. He was feeling great when he woke up about 11. It wasn't long until he and Auna wanted to go down to the creek. We went down to our normal spot and started looking for agates. I found one right off the bat. After we had checked out that spot we headed upstream aways to another good place.

Right away, Auna found a monster agate.

James splashing water on the rocks, he ended up finding a pretty good sized one there also.

After we hiked up the creek about half way to the bridge and found a few more agates the kids decided it was time to ride the trails.

Auna gave James a ride back to get the small 4 wheeler and then turned the big one around and came back to pick me up. She is getting really good at running it.

My agate (the small one) compared to James'! It was a fun trip, I also got 3 coats of clear on the chair and some decals on the Eurofighter.

I got the stain on the repaired chair this morning. Then it was time to head out and pick up James. After a stop at the post office and Bev's I picked him up at Alex's. We hit Arby's for lunch and headed home.

After he got settled in and watched a little TV he located Auna at Aunt's and headed over when Aunt said "Get over here". Auna and him were back and forth all afternoon playing with the twins or watching iCarly.

The twins are getting lots of exercise at Grandma's Walking School. They are also good at High Fives, hugs and giving kisses. Auna and James had lots of fun with them today.

Bunnies

Bev and I made a run to Olympia this morning to rescue Barry and Mona's bunnies. Right after we got back, this is the first thing we saw. Steve giving the twins a ride. They looked like they were loving it.

Bob and Belle after we got back. Barry and Mona's renter who was watching them had moved out and left them with a neighbor.

Bev will be watching the rabbits now. We had a nice trip, we stopped and visited Marie on the way up. Boy the traffic is bad between Chehalis and Olympia where they are working on the road.

I did a little more work on the chair, we should be able to start painting it next. I printed out the decals I downloaded last night and they look pretty good. I may put some on later.

Puzzle

Big surprise, it had rained sometime before I looked out. My day started real slow, I had my shower, breakfast, checked email and then looked for some decals for the Eurofighter. I found some nice ones and downloaded them. By the time I got done it was after 10! We made a quick mail run and then I started on my puzzle.

Vera got this chair many years ago at a garage sale. I don't remember if the joints were loose when we got it, but they sure were now. I tore it all apart and repaired some cracks. I had it quite aways apart before I realized I should have marked things as to where they went. Some parts were no trouble as there was only one place they can go. Those six slats in the back really gave me fits. After many rearrangements they finally fit. After the back dried, I put the legs and seat together. The amazing thing is it sits square on the floor and does not rock.

The rest of the day was spent putting tools away, a rarity for me! While cleaning up I ran across some things for the up coming garage sale so I sat them aside. I made a trip over to check on the walking lessons at Dianne's. Great fun, I got to hold Ava for quite awhile and feed her pieces of my cookie. Harper spotted that action and made it known she wanted some too.

I hope you had as productive a day as I did.

Flying and Visiting

We went flying at the CVRCF field by Goble today. It turned out to be great flying, light winds and the temperature was perfect. I got in 3 flights on the Eurofighter, 2 on the Mustang, 3 on the Stearman, 2 on the Sukhoi and one on the Cobra. About 2 the sun was out and it was warming up pretty good so we decided to leave and see if we could catch a friend I used to work with at home. On the way there, We stopped at the upper viewpoint on Hwy 30 and I took some pictures. You can see Longview Fibre where I used to work beyond the bridge. We were in luck, his wife arrived just after we did and led us to Bill. Bill and I went out to his shop and had a nice visit. When we left, we took the back roads and that is where I spotted the old school buses in a field. We picked up a few things at Fred Meyer and gassed up before heading home. It turned into a really great day.

Church by the River

We went to the church picnic at Cliff and Kathie's this morning. It was a beautiful setting for the church service, surrounded by fir trees with the Toutle River running by on the East side.

Pastor Vonda gave a great sermon on the different hats people wear. She had requested everyone wear a hat to the service. She had us changing hats with other people.

After the service we had a very nice picnic. There was a lot of different foods and desserts. Vera got asked for the recipe of the meatballs she brought. It was a nice relaxing way to start the day. When we got home I worked on James' bike for a couple of hours. He and his friends had taken their bikes swimming. When I turned it upside down somewhere between a quart and a half gallon of water ran on the floor. These 96 degree days are sure good for getting inside work done.

Saturday Flying

I went flying at Toledo today so I could pick up the club mower for service. The new trailer hitch worked great. Big surprise, it is fairly easy to back up using the rear view camera.

I got in 7 flights today. The Eurofighter is flying great now that I have all the issues taken care of. By 1 it was hot enough I was ready to head home to the air conditioner. It was 93 and climbing when we got home. Vera saw 96.6 on the thermometer before it started cooling off. I spent the afternoon in the shop in front of the AC decorating the Eurofighter. I have some decals to print that will add to what I did. Looking at pictures of the plane I am modeling I saw the area that is black in the picture is silver so I will repaint that area.

I hope you were able to stay cool today!

Another trip

I decided to put the trailer hitch on the motor home today. The first thing I needed was some 2 inch square tubing. After a couple of stops, I went to Wayron and they had just what I wanted. I took it home, cut it to size and drilled the holes in it. After studying things for a few minutes, it looked like I needed another piece. Off to Wayron we went again. I got out of the car when we got there and discovered my billfold was home. Back home we went and then back to Wayron again. When we got home with that piece, I cut and drilled it then measured and made a list of what bolts and nuts I would need. Off to Bredfields this time and then back home to start installing things. About half way through the job I realized I had forgot one length of bolt that was on my list. Back to Bredfields again! Things went good after that and the hitch is all done and the wiring all hooked up. It was sure a nice day for working outside.
Hope you got to enjoy it!

More Creek

James doing a little multitasking this morning. He got a pretty good nights sleep after watching the movie at the Dolan's until midnight. I went out to do a little work on the oak chairs we are refinishing. It wasn't long until the kids wanted to go to the creek again.

This time it was Auna, Parker, James and I. First they rode some of the trails and then wanted to go to a different part of the creek than normal. I took them over to a new trail that ends above the creek about 50 feet and we had to walk down an elk trail. They decided to build a little dam today. James has just thrown a log into the water and got Parker wet. Just as they were finishing the dam, Auna spotted a Grouse in the bushes, that kept them busy trying to get a picture of it. By the time we left, they had seen 4 of them.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, James spotted an elk antler on the ground. That ended up going home with him.

James discovered he could pop wheelies with the little 4 wheeler today. He had a great time with that. After a late lunch and a little R&R we ran him home. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the trails and mowing them. It was a fun two days with James.

Kids keep you busy.

Right after breakfast I headed down to pick up James. No flyers at BK this morning so we headed straight home. We watched a little TV and then he wanted to visit Aunt. After nice visit with them we spotted this butterfly in her flowers.

Then it was back for a session of Wipeout. Auna showed up and James was off to play with her. James had talked about working on the 4 wheelers, so I went out and started on the brakes of the little one. After I fixed them, I tore the carb apart and cleaned it. It runs pretty good now, I rode it to the creek later and it hauled me with no problem. After James mowed he wanted to go to the creek, the first trip this year. When we finally got organized James drove the big 4 wheeler with Will in the trailer, I rode the little 4 wheeler and Will's cousin rode the motorcycle.

We had not been there for a minute when James found his first Agate. He sure has an eye for them, I ended up with a half dozen in my pocket.

Then it was up to the bridge to look around. James waded up to look at a little dam. Did I mention he had borrowed my shoes! After we got home the boys decided to rent a movie. He is over at Wills this evening watching it.

Nothing Interesting!

It was a pretty quiet day around here. We ran to town this morning to do some banking for Barry and get me a new pair of shoes. I finally found some at Big 5. Lunch at Arby's and then we headed home. The rest of the day was spent unloading the seaplanes and putting the land planes back into the motor home. I wandered over to see the twins this afternoon, that is always fun. I could put a picture of my new shoes here, but that is just too boring. So I guess it is no pictures tonight. James is coming tomorrow so I should have something more interesting to write about. I got 8 plus hours of sleep last night, the knee felt great all day. In fact, there are lots of times I don't even think about it. It was a good day, just nothing real exciting or interesting. Time to watch Wipeout!

Hope you had a good day!

Seaplane flying and Exploring

I had just taken a bite of a fresh great tasting donut this morning when the alarm went off and woke me up. I could taste the darn thing for about 10 minutes. We got going about 7 and after a stop for gas, got to Alder Lake about the same time as most of the other flyers.

The area where we fly is aways from the parking lot so Vera had suggested I take the wagon. It fit into the storage compartment under the bed, a tight fit but with a little pushing it went in. It sure made the trip down to the lake a lot easier!

Vera got herself all set up on the bank where she could watch the flying and knit, read and listen to her MP3 player.

This model of a Dehavilland Beaver was probably the nicest model there today. I heard someone mention there were 13 planes there today.

On the way back between Elbe and Morton we got behind this wide load. We were doing about 15 MPH! They pulled over at the top of the hill and let everyone by.

My favorite picture today! We went up to Randle and explored the area where Vera grew up. She was kind of disappointed as the family home is really ran down now. The trees and brush were so bad we could hardly see it and I didn't get a decent picture of it. On the way back out the road I grabbed the camera and took this with out aiming. After looking at the new Methodist Church we headed home with a stop at a Riffe Lake viewpoint for dinner. It was a great day, but it sure felt good to get home.