Decks sealed

First thing this morning we went down to Home Depot and picked up the rubber pavers that hadn't come yesterday.  Vera put them down to make a walkway next to the motor home while I got ready to seal the decks.  We still have to add some sand under them and do the final leveling.  I also used some of the blocks we took up yesterday to make a spot for the garbage can.
 

I ended up getting all the decks sealed except for the upper one on the West side of the house.

Another project done

 

We were up early and got the remaining pavers set into place before it got too warm.

Vera was knitting at the new spot for the table and chairs and I joined her to have a Pepsi.  The view of the back lawn looked so good I had to take a picture.

I was up on the back deck near the roses moving some things around to get it ready for applying sealer on Sunday when I noticed this rose.  There have really been lots of blooms on the bush this year and they smell so nice that I notice it every time I am in the area.  We spent the rest of the day waiting for Home Depot to deliver a different type of pavers we had ordered.  They were supposed to come between six AM and eight PM but they never showed up.  When I called this evening it turned out that the delivery truck never showed up at the store but they never bothered to notify anyone.  We did get lots of exercise going to the door every time we hear a vehicle.

The Bolkow and Pavers

 

Yesterday I did some adjusting on the little Red Bull Bolkow 105 and finally got the transmitter programmed right.  I had to get the transmitter manual out and read up on making adjustments to the throttle curve but it sure made a difference and I got in two nice flights today.

We decided to redo the back patio with pavers last night.  Several years ago we painted it with Restore and it has started flaking off the concrete.  I ordered a pallet of 12 x 12 pavers this morning and we picked them up this afternoon.  Vera is sure a worker, I did the first row along the house and she did the rest before we quit for the day.

The old Blazer was working hard coming up the hill with that load on it but it made it.  It was a good day, we got quite a bit done and should be able to finish it up tomorrow.

Pressure Washing

 

My goal today was to pressure wash the decks while Vera was at bible study.  Right away I discovered there was no soap for the pressure washer.  I decided to do the recycling then go to Bredfield's and see if they had it except the Blazer wouldn't start, the battery was low since it had been sitting for a month.  After I used the jump starter to get it going I got the recycling done and Bredfield's had the soap.

Boy does a lot to dirt accumulate on the deck!  I could tell a big difference right away.  The old growth cedar I got from Ray Sartwell sure has held up good.  It took a while but I got all four decks done before calling it a day.

Barry heads out

 

This is just as Barry was starting to hook up the Jeep to tow.

He has the routine down pretty good as it was all hooked up in seven minutes.  I went down to the road again this time to watch for traffic and we hit it just right, he hardly had to stop and I walked back across the road before the next vehicle came down the hill.  Barry called later and he was all set up in Pendleton for a couple of days.

Barry's Birthday Pizza

 

Since Barry is leaving tomorrow we had him over for an early birthday pizza, it is always a Rocket pizza with pineapple added to one half.  We have been getting together twice a year ever since I retired.  We had a great time eating and reliving some family memories.  Vera sent him home with lots of pizza and cocoa mounds.

Flying at MRRCS

8-19-2021

We spent most of Wednesday getting ready to spend a night at the Mt Rainier Radio Control Society field.  They have three RV sites with thirty Amp services.

8-20-2021

 

We left home about six this morning and took the back roads most of the way to the field near McKenna WA and got there about nine.  You can see from the tracks in the grass it took me a couple of tries to get the motor home parked where I wanted it.  The first thing I did was assemble the Skylane and go down for a couple of flights.  Then I got the B-36 out and put it together.

After the B-36 was put together I took it down to the field.  It is a really nice flying site with a club house, paved runway and covered benches.

This is how it looked most of the time today, I would wander down and put in a couple of flights all during the day.  There was a member opening the gate as we pulled up, he flew three or four flights and left.  Then a visitor from another club showed up and flew as my guest.  I had met him years ago when he flew during an event at Toledo.  Then Karl the club president and Laurie showed up to take some measurements for a project.  We had a nice visit with them and showed them the motor home.  It was getting pretty dark when I made my last flight of the day with the F-4 Phantom the lights on it showed up great and really helped me keep oriented during the flight.  I got the Dish antenna set up earlier so I watched football all evening.  I had stored the planes in the club house for the night in case it rained.

8-21-2021

People started showing up to fly a little after seven this morning.  I got to do lots of explaining about the B-36 today and met a bunch of nice members.

Vera came down and took this picture of me with the B-36.  I ended up flying it twice today, once this morning and once after the meeting.

This is Karl during the meeting, they had a good turnout because they were going to discuss a new repeater for cell phones.  The field is down in a hollow and most of the time I didn't have any bars showing on my phone.

Catching up again!

8-16-2021 

Sunday was pretty laid back around here as we rested up from the big day on Saturday.  Today I got the yellow covering put on the top of the Comet Delta.  I also got the tractor out and did some clearing of brush on the South side of the driveway.  It has been rubbing on the motor home as we go down the driveway.

8-17-2021

Barry got back from his trip up North today.  His timing was great as I was cutting some limbs off the fir tree in front of his motor home and he helped me clean up when I was done.  Des stopped by and gave me heck for being up on a ladder but I was pretty careful.  I had the ladder tied to the tree and I had my fall arrester gear on and hooked to the tree.  In fact I had a hard time getting disconnected so I could climb down.

8-18-2021

The weather forecast was for very light winds this morning so we headed up to the flying field right after breakfast.  I timed setting up today and it takes me twenty minutes from the time I get out of the motor home until I am ready for the first flight of the day.  I ended up flying four different planes today and got in a total of seven flights before it started getting pretty warm.  Of course the cab air wouldn't work on the way home but it turned out to be an easy fix this evening.  The vacuum line had came off the reservoir.  I trimmed the end and rerouted it slightly so it shouldn't be a problem again. 

A very busy day

 We were up early this morning and made a stop at the family garage sale first.  After looking around I didn't find anything but Vera found a couple of kids books to have with our toys at home.

There was a swap meet at Faro Field near Napavine that started at nine so we headed up there next.  Near the parking area was this plaque about the history of Stearns Creek.

This is the covered bridge over Stearns Creek that leads to Faro Field.  Every year they have a classic car show here in addition to it being a radio control flying field.

This is a picture of Stearns Creek taken from the bridge.

They had set up forty ten by ten foot spots for the venders and they were all taken.  We saw several club members there and also ran into some people we had met at different events.  I ended up buying a Lancair kit from one of the venders, I really like the Lancair and the price was hard to beat.

After we got home from the swap meet I went back down to the family garage sale and had a great time visiting with different family members.  The highlight was when Emmy showed up with Josie who is walking everywhere now.  She gave Tor the cutest high five.

Barry stopped by our place later and I got to show him my new Lancair.  Then he followed us up to Debbie and Josh's for Jordon's birthday party.  They had Papa Pete's pizza so we are all sitting around visiting after eating.

There were five cell phones recording as Happy Birthday was sung to Jordon and he blew out the candles.  It took him a couple of tries but he got all four blown out.

He got lots of nice toys but he was really happy about the tool bag and tool belt with real tools in them.

It was nice to get a picture of the girls and Vera.

Later we took a family picture outside, I borrowed these last two pictures from Debbie.  It was a busy but fun day!

Another Sunrise

These pictures were taken Thursday morning over a thirteen minute span as I watered.  I first noticed the sunrise was just hitting the tops of the trees across the road from Parker's place.  You can see the hose stretched from the shop toward the furthest new lilac bush.  The pictures are in the order I took them after the one of Parker's place.  It sure is a good way to start the day, I got interested in doing things and forgot to have breakfast and lunch today when I got done watering.

This evening I got started covering the Comet delta, the bottom will be blue, the leading edge red and the top yellow.

Flying

 

Some times things don't go as planned!  Mike is checking out Jim's Vortex after a crash.  It appears the receiver failed right after he started a turn.

These are the planes I flew today.

Mike R getting his plane ready to fly.  I used to have the same plane years ago and they fly great.

Alison, Mike B and Mike R flying together.  I had a great day and we stayed quite a while after everyone else left.

 

When I get up at six to water I sure do see some nice sunrises.  After watering I usually do some yard work for a couple of hours until it starts to warm up.

Today I decided to change out the tail rotor servo on the little Bolkow 105.  I got to use the magnifying glass with this one.  I also had to do some hunting for a phillips screwdriver small enough for those little screws.  I got it changed and once the new tail rotor drive gear gets here I will be flying it again. 

Flying and a visit from Veda

 

Just as we were starting the motor home this morning we got a call from Vera's niece Veda.  They were in the area and wanted to visit, they knew where the field was and were interested in watching the flying.  Veda had not seen me flying since we were flying at the Coweeman middle school which would have been in the late sixties or early seventies.  We had a nice visit with Veda and Loren before they had to leave.  We got chased into the motor home by one rain shower but other than that it was a great day of flying.

Red Bull Bolkow 105

 

The weather forecast for tomorrow looked good so I spent the day charging batteries.  I was flying the little Red Bull Bolkow 105 helicopter while the batteries were charging.  Vera came out to  get a picture and wouldn't you know it the tail rotor drive gear stripped out before she could get a picture of it flying.  The gear was plastic but after much searching online I located a metal replacement and ordered it.

Flowers and a Ford Fairlane

 

After I watered Vera and I had breakfast out on the deck.  We both thought the hanging basket from Mik, Michelle and James looked so good we needed another picture of it.  I have been pretty faithful about watering it and it just keeps getting bigger.

This week our neighbor James has been moving out of the house Gabe and Desiree bought from him.  Today he was moving the Ford Fairlane he had in the shop so I went over to watch and ended up helping push a little.

Heading North

I was up fairly early this morning as Barry was heading up North to visit Pam and have an annual campout with friends. 

When he was all hooked up and ready to leave I walked down to the road to watch for traffic and signal him when it was clear.

Of course a bunch of traffic came by about then but there was finally a clear spot and off they went.