Monday AGAIN

Trying diligently to capture the fleeting days. 

Two medical appointments today....one for Michael and one with Mom. 

A trip to Costco with Lorri. 

Dinner for all at Mom and Dad's.....I'm reawakening my crowd cooking abilities. LOL 

Boys tried on their wedding finery! 

It doesn't sound like a lot - but it was! 

All the Gherkins are Here

Michael had a rough night and got very little sleep. When he fell asleep at 0500, I simply couldn't wake him up for church....so he slept.   

The girls and Cory asked us to meet them for lunch. A funny thing happened on the way to lunch. Krista saw a car which looked like Josiah's and had Washington plates on it. She jumped on the bumper and shook the car, and then ran to the front for her brother hug. You guessed it! It wasn't Josiah! ::snort:: 

Jamin flew into Seattle last night. JaRissa flew into Seattle today.  Josiah and Jamin picked up JaRissa  at the airport and drove on down. We met up at Krista's and had a bit of time to talk before Krsita had to leave for a soccer game. 

The Gang - minus BreZaak, Bella and Dakota

We went over and saw my parents and then headed out to Coburg to show the "kids" our new home on wheels.  Have I mentioned lately how much we enjoy having  a seating area for visitors?

Stacia, Jared, Larissa, Nolan, Jamin, Michael, Alex, Josiah 

The kids left to go visit BreZaak. JaRissa will be spending the week at their home. Jamin hadn't met Ms. Bella yet, so this was high on their priority list.  Josiah and Jamin will stay in the trailer at my parents.

Jamin & Bella - can't go wrong with food

Jamin, Jared, Bre & Bella

Bre, Izaak, Jamin, Jared and Bella in the center

Wedding week is upon us!

Inner Tubes and Vapor Locks

When BreAnne was just a baby, we went on a road trip with Grandma and Grandpa G.  They drove their Arrow motorhome and we drove our Nissan Stanza.  We were going to Colorado for a vacation.

Via Google Images

Our route took us across eastern Oregon through Winnemucca.  It was August, and it was hot.  The highway is through some very barren land.  There is a place where it appears to be heading straight into the base of a towering cliff, but at the last moment, the road turns to the right and takes a slanting, uphill direction to reach the top of the cliff.  We occasionally changed up drivers in the vehicles.  For this leg, I drove the motorhome and G-pa drove the Stanza.  On the way up the side of the cliff, through the waves of heat, you could see the occasional wrecked car laying at the bottom of the drop-off as a reminder of the unforgiving nature of this section of roadway. It was a narrow, two lane road with a hint of a shoulder on both sides.  It was as I noted these things about the roadway I felt the barest hint of a hiccup from the engine.  We were about halfway up the incline.  I pressed on the gas harder hoping to clear the top before any more hiccups occurred.  Within seconds, more hiccups, readily discernible, no-nonsense hiccups were coming.  There comes a point in time when a person has to admit that plan A is not going to happen, and a plan B is necessary.

Via Google Images outside of Winnemuca, NV

As the engine hiccupped and died halfway up the side of the cliff with no way to turn around and no civilization within 75 miles, plan B was only a wish.  G-pa and DeEtta pulled up and stopped behind us.  It was an easy guess that we were the victims of vapor lock - that condition where the fuel vaporizes in the fuel line, but the fuel pump cannot push it through.  So, you have a couple of choices. You can wait for the vapor lock to clear on its own, but this usually requires it to cool down - the sun was not going to be setting for many hours. Or you can get a tow truck to pull you into town and to, well, do nothing that time and cool temps wouldn't already do.  After a few vain attempts at starting the engine, we realized we needed to hunker down and wait. Yes, we could send the women and BreAnne on ahead to Winnemucca to get a hotel for the night, and we would catch up with them later, but they decided to hang out with us on the side of the cliff overlooking some car wreckage as the sun blazed down, a hot wind assaulted us, and there was no one in sight - except for a semi truck going in the opposite direction, there would be no one, at all.  We sought the occasional relief in the A/C of the Stanza, but the baby needed far more than we did - as nice as it was. At times, we would try the engine - no luck.

Via Google Images - none hanging from gas tank

As we waited, G-pa and I talked and thought. Sometimes this is dangerous, but in this instance, it was nothing short of synergistic brilliance, if I may say so myself.  😉What was needed, I said was some way to push the vapor lock on through the fuel line.  Maybe we could get some air pressure on top of the fuel?  Well, we were not going to blow into the tank, that was for sure, but perhaps we could use an air pump to put some pressure in the tank.  It would not take much pressure.  Maybe 10 psi or 15 at the most.  G-pa had a tire pump in the back storage compartment, but we could not get a good seal.  Then G-pa remembered he had an inner tube in the back.  It was for floating down rivers and such, but how to get it to seal around the filler tube.  Well, this is an old school type of vehicle with a filler tube that protruded out the side of the vehicle. No smooth, aesthetically pleasing lines for this RV, and it was a good thing.  G-pa also found a large hose clamp in the back storage compartment.  We cut a one inch hole in the side of the inner tube, fit it over the mouth of the gas filler tube and clamped it with the hose clamp.  We then began to pump up the inner tube.  Once the inner tube had some shape and a bit of pressure, I hopped into drivers seat and gave it a try. After a couple of tries, the engine roared to life in a very satisfactory manner.  The inner tube hung out side the window of the driver's seat.  I grabbed hold of it and put us into gear. We were off, inner tube clamped to the filler tube hanging off of the side of the RV zooming our way to the top. 

Moving On

Fourteen days at Armitage County park and we're "outta there." It is the norm for state/county parks to have a stay limit of 14 days/30 days.  We've stayed at Armitage quite a few times and loved it...but this time....women were assaulted, odd men in the bathrooms, a man screaming incoherently outside our window, arrests....we're happy to move on.   We've landed at a nice RV park for the week. We'll miss the river and trees at Armitage....and the highway noise isn't a favorite, but it beats screaming odd men. 😀 We do like state parks over RV parks - but Michael has 5 o 6 appointments this week, we have kids coming in, and a daughter getting MARRIED this week -  being close to Eugene is needed.

Our cozy site

 I 5 is on the other side of the far trees in the photo above. We choose to look the "other way." 😉 The kids, Yuuki and I went exploring, while Michael proofed one the girls' papers.

The amenities are really nice here. Fitness room, lounge, duck pond, several clean showers and laundry rooms....We checked out the town of Coburg. I thought this was a great find. We may take a couple of books back as we aren't sure there is a book swap at this RV park.

We ate, took care of some family business, the kids and Michael headed for the hot tub, I dried a couple of things that didn't dry well in our RV, Michael met me in the laundry room, we played a couple of games of Farkle and called it a day.

TG (Really) IF - #WYFF

NO THERAPY TODAY.

We enjoyed a lazy start of the day. The kids did  school.

We had planned to take cookies to the Grandparents, but "somehow" all but the dozen I'd packaged were eaten during our movie watching last night. Moral of the story - NEVER leave unpackaged cookies on the RV table when the lights go out. 😏😊

Michael and I entered a zillion receipts into our expense tracker and I began the chore of balancing our account. We've been flying by the seat of our pants during all the traveling in November and December.  In the midst of this we realized we'd not cancelled our Internet down in Crescent City. During the call, I realized we had a router we needed to return.

We ran to a post office in Eugene. OH. LINES.....mailed the package and picked up a change of address/forward mail  form for Mom G. Our next stop was much more enjoyable, we visited Mom G. We delivered cookies, talked Japanese and Bible verses, got her signature on the postal form and played with Rebecca's dog, Sherlock. A cat or two teased us - but no contact -  yet.

Our next stop was another post office - quick drive through to drop off the form - and then Target to return an item. WOW - their customer service was great - in and out.

We drove to the other side of town to visit my parents. Dad and Michael headed off to return a part to Walmart and to pick up Papa Murphy's. Turns out the line was out the wazoo at Walmart and it didn't seem worth the wait for a $4 part. 😀

Stacia won at Farkle....I seem to do much better in my sleep.  I picked up a migraine, so we called it an early night and I came home to sleep.

Michael repaired the drain and shower head in the RV and he and the kids played some Gin Rummy and Farkle. I slept.

Tomorrow, we move up I5 to another spot for the upcoming week. We're only allowed 14 days a month at this park.  This park is the very closest to the VA clinic (which matters to us), but there HAVE been quite a few odd things going on and I think we'll all sleep better in a new spot. 😌

For more #WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) entries click the tab above.

In the quiet of a Hospital Room

Shortly after Jared was born in 1994, he contracted RSV, a very aggressive respiratory virus known to be fatal to the very young and the very old. Since Jared was only a couple of weeks old at the time, it was very serious stuff. 

It was one of freezing, sub-zero January nights in Hardin, MT.  After some wrangling with the local on-call nurse, De'Etta brought him in to the ER at our little hospital.  The doc met us there and found that Jared really was in dire straits.  He put him on 100% oxygen, gave him some meds, and began watching him very carefully. The doc said Jared would not have survived the night. De'Etta's five-day vigil began. I had the other four kids at home during this time.  As much as I was able, I came by the hospital to check on the two of them. 

It was about day 4 that the medical staff felt he was "out of the woods," but they wanted to keep him there a day or so longer to make sure there was no relapse and that he had completely recovered.  Jared was taken out of the oxygen tent and both he and De'Etta went to a private room. It was about five in the afternoon when I went to the hospital to see how everyone was doing.  The door was closed so I opened it oh, so quietly and carefully.  The light was out and the room was dark.  There was a dim bit of light coming from a floor light, but it was so dim, it took a bit of getting used to it to be able to see by it. 

De'Etta and Jared were both asleep.  I quietly closed the door behind me turning to go to De'Etta's bedside and promptly tripped over the legs of a hospital tray and fell to the floor.  There was a stainless steel bowl on the tray which also fell to the floor with me.  This bowl clanged with all of the vigor of a church bell on Easter morning. I groped for it in the dark to silence it, but I knew both of them would be awake and Jared would be crying.  I was laying on the floor clutching the bowl bracing myself for all of the tumult to come, but it never came.  No crying. De'Etta still slept. The room returned to total quiet. I laid there for a moment being thankful I had not somehow awakened either when suddenly I heard Jared give a barely audible cry. Suddenly, De'Etta flipped on a light, jumped out of bed, stepped over the top of me and went straight to pick up Jared.  She then turned around holding Jared.  As she did so, she suddenly stopped and saw me laying on the floor. "When did you get here?, and what are you doing on the floor?" 

She had slept through me knocking a stainless steel bowl onto a hard tile floor as I fell in the dark.  Jared gives a tiny, little cry, and she is up and moving. Without seeing me laying on the floor, she stepped over me as she was determined to get to Jared. Now, that was some amazing maternal focus.

An Icy Day in Oregon

It's ICY! And cold! School's are closed - but we had an early therapy appointment. 

Rolled down the window and a sheet of ice remained

Michael left for the shower house. I saw him go around the corner. I followed....and BAM...up popped an odd man intent on visiting. It was still dark outside. Have I mentioned the odd things going on since we got here?  I immediately began calling, "Mike, Michael???" and ignored the conversationalist in the shadows.  One of the doors opened and Michael grabbed me in. He had his phone in hand and said he'd been trying to call me to warn me about the man outside the shower house. ::snort::

Freshly showered and laughing, we realized the appointment was 90 minutes later than we expected. Oops.  The appointment went well. We took extra time asking all over the VA clinic for anyone who may have a list of local doctors who will accept United Healthcare/Military West. We had no success. Later at home, I tried to search United Healthcare West instead of Tri-care, and I found pages of providers. I settled on one with a nice female name. She was a CNM which I thought meant a Nurse Practitioner....and then I realized I had chosen a nurse/midwife. 😂 The search continues.

We enjoyed a visit from John and Nadine this afternoon. It's always refreshing to connect with them. John served as Open Bible's Chaplain Endorser during Michael's ministry as an Air Force Chaplain.

Stacia made a few dozen cookies and they turned out GREAT. I made Chicken Divan and it turned out GREAT. I think we've figured out the micro/convection oven. Yay, we will be able to eat in our new motor home. 😋(Blogger says this emoji is a face savoring delicious food - just in case it looks like something else to you too.)

Michael has long suggested I blog stories from before the blog began in  2005. He has encouraged me to capture our earlier years. I've meant to do it - but I've been struggling simply to keep current.  I'm excited Michael is going to begin writing and sharing some of our "pre-blog" stories.