Flying and Roses

We were up early to get an early start on a day of flying and we were the first ones there.  More flyers showed up as the day went on and we had a total of ten members during the day.  It was a little breezy, so I just flew the heavier planes and my helicopter.

After we got home I cleaned up the motor home's carport before putting it away.  On my last trip I noticed there were quite a few roses in bloom on the arbor by the motor home.  I was taking some pictures of them when David drove by and said "Two million and five", it was several minutes before I figured out he was referring to all the pictures I take, good one David!

Trimotor Covering

After a couple of days finishing little things on the Trimotor I finally got started on covering today after church.  I got the new higher definition camera for the quad yesterday and got it installed right away.  I got in two flights with it and I could really tell the difference, now I can see the small branches I had been running into before.

Trip to Marie's

I was checking my emails this morning when Vera said my cell phone had rang.  I got it and checked, I had missed a call from Marie, I called her back and we found out she needed some supplies.  I took a quick shower and we ran down to Walmart and just before we got there I discovered I had forgotten my wallet.  Luckily Vera had hers so we were able to fill Marie's list, then Vera drove us home so I could retrieve my wallet.  As we went up the hill I spotted Bob and Steve working on the tree Bob and Cathy had cut down.  On the way back I pulled in to see what they were doing.  They were using Parker's log splitter to cut up the tree.  The chunks were pretty big and they had to cut them into eights before they could handle them.   Our drive to Centralia was uneventful and we had a nice visit with Marie after unloading her supplies.  I had loaded some new pictures on an SD card but it would not work in her picture frame.  After we got home I copied them to a brand new SD card for next time.

Air Trails

Vera and I went out to look at one of her roses, on the way she took some pictures of the Don Juan, it is still looking pretty good but you can see where the rain has damaged them.

My picture of the rose Vera wanted to show me didn't work out but she had taken one of the rose that was by the driveway when I was a kid.  When they straightened out the Spirit Lake Hwy and widened it, the bush got destroyed but we got a start from it.  I can see that I need to get in and clean around it.  When we were looking at the roses I spotted a short cut for the quad that I could use if I took out one branch.  I got the loppers, cut it off and then started walking around some of the trails I fly through cutting off low limbs creating air trails through the woods.

Jackie sent me a picture of Cora all dressed up for her first trip to a restaurant.

The Last Concert!

I had plans to mow, take the recycling to town and start covering the Ford Trimotor today.  The mowing got off to a slow start when the belt to the mower deck came off.  Once that was back on the rest of the job went great.

Vera was out taking pictures of flowers and me, this is one of the images she captured that I found really interesting.  After I was done mowing we made the run to town and got rid of the recycling.

I was just starting on the Trimotor when I got a text from James asking if I knew the last Mark Morris concert was tonight.  I didn't know, but I told him I would see him there.  After cleaning up a little I headed down to LCC.  The concert was great and they honored the seniors during the program.  They did one song in the dark with flashlights that they shined on their face only when they sang so the pattern of light kept changing.

These four seniors have been together in choir since they were at Cascade Middle school.

I am glad I took two pictures of the four seniors and Mik, James and Michelle because one of each set turned out to be out of focus.

Here is James, Kolbi, Levi and Levi's friend just before they headed out to get something to eat, they are a good looking group.

During the concert I got a text message from Jackie with a picture of Cora having a bottle.  It looks like she is holding onto it pretty tight.

52 Years

We decided to go for a drive to celebrate our fifty second anniversary today.  We had both been thinking of the same thing, a trip over the Wildwood Road.  On the way to where it starts we came across Hendrickson Road so we stopped for a picture of it.  While we were stopped Jackie called and we had a nice visit with her.  Cora was doing great at home and had eaten plenty at her feedings.

Here is the start of our big adventure, it has been several years since we drove this route.  It is a nice relaxing drive, a two lane country road with very little traffic.  When we got to Boistford we took the Pe Ell McDonald Road to Pe Ell.

The first thing we noticed in Pe Ell was this building which looks like a hotel or rooming house that has been converted to an antique store.

Then we took a drive down the main street and there are not a lot of active businesses there.  We drove around some of the back streets and Pe Ell is a little bigger than I realized, it has a fair sized residential area but there are a lot of homes and businesses for sale.

 They had a nice memorial set up for the people who have served in the arm forces.

The Pe Ell Country Market was built in 1923 and looked like the most active business in town.

We went to Rainbow Falls next, they had a nice viewing area next to the road, which for us looked like a better view than we would get from the park across the river.

I went down the bank to get a better picture of the falls.  The bank was pretty steep but Vera bent a maple branch down to me that really help climb back up.

I am always on the look out for old buildings to take pictures of!  Just after we left Rainbow Falls we spotted this one next to the road and I had to turn around and come back for a picture.  If anyone is interested it is for sale!

While we were stopped for the building picture Vera wanted a picture of me by these moss covered trees.  After we left there we drove by Vera's Mother's old place, it hasn't changed too much.  Then we took SR603 to Napavine and had dinner at Jalisco Plaza.

When we finished dinner we headed towards home via the Jackson Highway.  I had to swing by the flying field to see if anyone was there and it turned out one member was there flying so we stopped.  The sky looked so dramatic that I had to take a picture and I am glad I did because a few minutes later it looked completely different.

Here I am watching Tom and trying to get my cell phone to send the picture of the sky I had just taken.  I finally won and we headed home with a stop at Betty's for a chocolate marshmallow shake for me.  I always enjoy these trips with Vera, it has been a great fifty two years.

Home at last!

We got word that our new great granddaughter Cora went home from the hospital today.  Jackie also sent a picture she took as soon as they got home.

James' Graduation Party

Here is James with the cakes they served at his graduation party today.  The chocolate one was really good, the white one probably was too but I never tried it.

They had a little problem getting the slideshow to run so I ended up in the booth helping the operator.  On the way back down the second time I took this picture from the balcony.  They set out photos on all the tables and also had eight photo collages set out.  This picture was taken just as things got going and a lot of people came and went during the three hours.

Steve is checking out one of the collages, I think James is texting, that is his friend Levi next to him and Harper beside Levi.

Emmy ended up in quite a few pictures during the slideshow as James and her had their birthday celebrations together many times.

Some of James' friends are watching the slideshow.  I had put 690 pictures in the slide show and it took about an hour and half for the entire thing to play.  A lot of people set through the whole thing.

They got all the Mark Morris Seniors who were there together for a group picture in the lobby.

Macee

We went over to Macee's graduation party this afternoon and had a very nice time.

Boy did they have some good food there!  I tried to sample everything of course!

I have been busy this week putting together a slideshow for James' graduation party on Sunday.  It takes quite a while to go through 140 thousand pictures.  I finally got done about 1:30 AM Sunday morning,

Cale

Vera went to bible study this morning and I mowed the lawn.  This evening we went down to Papa Pete's for a graduation celebration for Cale.  We had a good time visiting with all the family that was there and I had a pizza that I had never had before and it may go on my favorites list.  I had a great time watching Ava and Harper playing the video games.

Flying

We went flying today at Toledo.  It really made my day when this Apache came in to the Toledo pattern and shot three touch and goes.

I was surprised by how quiet it was but it still sounded powerful.  Since I am writing this almost a week after it happened I don't remember who else showed up.

Since I had such a good time flying my old Electrastreak last time we were out I got my newer one with the extended wing out and flew it today.

Clematis

Vera was out this morning taking pictures of our clematis and this back lite one turned out great!

James' church ceremony

The Longview Community Church was having a ceremony to honor the graduating seniors today so we went to the contemporary service which starts at 8:45 AM.  It was a very enjoyable service, with lots of music and singing.  They called the seniors up one at a time to introduce them and showed pictures of them when they were little.

After the service they had them line up for a photos.  We went to Omelets and More for breakfast with Mik, Michelle and James after church.  After a stop at Safeway we headed home, we didn't do much the rest of the day, a little TV, computer and some work on the Trimotor.

Rain, Roses and Barry's Back

When we got up to rain Vera headed right out to take more pictures of the roses in case they got ruined.  I was a slow starter this morning, I went out to do exercises and after a few minutes on the treadmill my knee started hurting so I quit that and watched the news.  I went in and tried the weight machine after that and everything felt fine so I did my normal set there.  After breakfast I was puttering on the computer when Barry and Mona showed up.  They were on the way to Olympia for the summer and Mona is scheduled to work on Monday.  We had a short visit and they headed out, but not before Ava and Harper saw them and ran over to see their bunny.

When I was taking my pills, I spotted the water lily in bloom and pointed it out to Vera.  She grabbed the camera and had another photo session outside.

This afternoon I worked on the Ford Trimotor fitting the nacelle covers.  I decided it would be better if I got the mounting holes drilled before painting them.  This evening I flipped by a Batman movie and I ended up watching the whole thing!

Finally some Flying!

We were at the flying field about 8 AM this morning, one flyer had beat us there so I did not have to unlock the gate.  The field had been mowed on Thursday so it was in great shape.

I put the sun shade up first thing this morning and it turned into a popular spot, I even spent more time than usual sitting under it.  Counting me, there were eleven flyers out there today.  The temperature got up to 82 in the afternoon so the shade felt good.

Friday the 13th caught up with Steve, he was trying to cut the ribbon being towed by another plane when one stabilizer came off.  The plane ended up crashing in some bushes.  When he got back with it, he was showing it to us and Leonard said it could be repaired.  Leonard took the pieces home and we will probably see it all repaired at the next flying session.

Debbie's Pictures

After I chased the butterfly around the other day with no luck, Vera spotted one on the flowers outside the living room window and got this picture through the window.

Debbie had asked me to take pictures for her graduation announcement, today she came up with her friend Kyla and I took a bunch of pictures for them.  Then we went in to the computer, they picked out the ones they liked and I edited them.  Time sure flies, one more month and she will be done with nursing school.