Back to school........

So it's the last day of summer. Our summer here in the Northwest was very mild. We did not have a day over 100 degrees. The farmers and grape growers are suffering from lack of sunshine. We have enjoyed the mild temps although our garden and orchard have not put out the fruit and vegetables as in years past.

Jon's girlfriend Corina leaves for college today. She is going to a school in the Seattle area. Her and Jon have been very close these past few months. Corina and her whole family are great people and we will miss her while she is away.

Cody is back in school. He really doesn't enjoy public school much but he is making the best of it. Most of his teachers we have known for years and they really enjoy having Cody in their class. Cody will be doing band and chess club this year but he is not sure about track. We will see.
Below, Cody on a trip to the river with his hot dog roasting invention.

Lorelei is subbing in the school system again this year and she has worked quite a bit the past few weeks.
Below, Lorelei down by the river with Queenie.

Jon starts classes next week and he also landed a job at the new local grocery store in Amity!

As for me, stuff is hectic with work and I am really missing being around the cross country team this year. But all in all we are doing well. Fall is my favorite time of year. The salmon will be filling the rivers soon and there is wood to cut and brush piles to burn. Not to mention I am WAY behind on my preventive maintenance for everything mechanized!


Glynn Jr.

Vacation 2010 San Juan Islands Washington State

Vacation 2010! After missing the last two years at our favorite vacation spot, we decided to head for the San Juan Islands in Northern Washington State. The trip started out a little rough. When we got up to finish loading the truck, the dome lights were flashing inside the vehicle. Uh oh….I know we didn’t have the doors open much the day before and I knew that it had been almost 6 years since we replaced the battery. It was on my list to do before winter.

Well now we had a problem. I knew we couldn’t go the entire trip worrying about the battery so we stopped on the way and got a new one. Once we got to the ferry and got in line, Jon and I pulled out the tools and changed it out.

Once we got to the rental house, we were unloading all the stuff and we seemed to be missing a bag of food? Very curious…..well it so happened there was too much food to fit into the ice chest and other usual containers so, some was put into a bag that looked just like a garbage bag. Yep, you guessed it. Someone, who shall remain nameless grabbed two bags of trash that needed to go out, when in reality there was only one bag of trash and one bag of food!

The weather was awesome, in the 60’s and 70’s every day with just a sprinkle of rain one day. We hiked and biked and drove all around Orcas Island. In fact on an Island that is no more than 20 miles across we logged over 200 miles on the truck.

The next problem came when we launched the boat for a day on the water to crab and fish. The little outboard started acting up again and seemed it was again starving for fuel. Bummer, we made the best of it and were able to motor around once I learned the trick to keeping the motor running. But the wind was blowing and the ocean was kicking up and the crabbing wasn’t very good so we chose to call it a day and put the boat back on the trailer.

We had a wonderful week and took lots of pictures, ate way too much and just goofed off! One day I took Cody and Lorelei on a hike to Turtle Back Mountain. I thought by looking on the map it was a mile or so up to the top and I wanted to find some vistas to photograph. So Cody and Lorelei willingly followed with no water or food thinking it would be a short hike…….well that’s the last time they will listen to me! It was just a little farther than I thought. We started the hike around 10:00 am and we got back to the truck at 2:00 p.m.! Oops……. We were tired and hungry and thirsty….so we headed into town for a late lunch.

We also had fun getting off the island. We convinced Lorelei that if we got up early and packed everything up we could make the 12:00 noon ferry. Jon and I surmised that if we got to the ferry landing by 10:30 a.m . we should have no trouble even though the pamphlet put out by the Washington State Ferry system says to get there 2 hours ahead of time. They always tell you that but hey, we know better right…. Well…….we pulled up at 10:35 to a LINE of vehicles and as we came up to the lady in charge she says “pull forward there for the 2:30 ferry” AHHHHH……so here it is that we are in line for the ferry that leaves in 4 HOURS.

So we sat and talked, we walked around, we ate lunch, we walked around and then we got on the ferry. We pulled into our house at 9:30 p.m. The truck had actually been driven 317 miles and it took 11 hours to do it. As we sat in line we heard that it wasn’t long before the 2:30 was full and they were starting to line cars up for the 5:00 ferry. Wow, I am glad we didn’t have to wait for that one.

Ok so the things my family learned on vacation.

1: Don’t rely on me to properly maintain the vehicle.

2: Don’t rely on me to properly maintain the outboard motor.

3: Don’t follow me on a hike.

4: Don’t listen to me when it’s time to calculate the ferry schedule.

Plus....I no longer have to take out the trash!

The group at Rosario Resort
Jon, Corina, me, Cody

Cody goes in for the  close up.

 View from atop Mt. Constitution at sunset with the full moon rising. Looking southeast towards the mainland.

 Molly the resident seal hanging out near the docks at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Waiting to catch the ferry at Friday Harbor. Cody, Lorelei, Corina, Jon

 Lorelei trying out the island transportation.

We took the boat up to Mountain Lake one day and had a great time.

A view from the "Turtle Back Mountain Hike"

Sunrise from Turtle Back Mountain

If you want to see more pictures from the trip, click HERE

Glynn Jr.

A follow up on our trip south......

Just a short follow up to my last entry. On our trip south last month we also stopped by what is touted to be the largest collection of old logging equipment in the world! What I found most fascinating was the huge wheels that they used to move logs around back when there was only horse and oxen power.

Lorelei gives some scale to one of the huge wheels.






And then a couple of more from Crater Lake




Other news around the place. The weather for the last month has been absolutely perfect! Not much rain and cool temperatures have made it very pleasant.
For the moment most everything is working as it should. The well system is back functioning as it should and hopefully will run trouble free for a while. Lorelei helped me do the front brakes and rotors on the Honda last weekend. One side is wearing too fast so I need to replace the calipers on that side. Small projects and lot's of going to yard sales have been our main weekend entertainment.

We have been eating fresh blueberries both from our plants and some purchased. The blackberries are ripening and the boys picked enough the other day for Lorelei to make a cobbler! The garden looks like we may eventually get some cucumbers and tomatoes. We have been eating good lettuce and a few peppers and carrots.

Adam came for a visit last weekend with his roommate Jon. Adam had been searching around Portland for a guitar for Cody and brought it with him.We met for lunch and then spent the rest of the day visiting.

Jon is on the annual bike trip with his youth group at the San Juan Islands in Washington this week. I think they took some 85 young people this year! Jon is a "small group leader" so he is in charge of several of the youth. Jon has worked very hard with everything from fund raising to working on putting bikes together for those that have none so they could go on this trip. He returns tomorrow.

Cody has just been hanging out and doing lots of reading!

In animal news we are trying to get rid of Queenie's fleas. We are getting close to giving her "the shave" similar to the one she got last year. We got our first egg from the new chickens yesterday so we will soon have more than we can eat. We have been watching the antics at the bird feeder recently where the mothers of the new fledglings are still feeding their "babies" that are now bigger than they are. It is quite comical to see one of these huge young birds flying around, eating and drinking on their own and then suddenly the mother flies up to it and starts cramming more food and water down it's throat. Ummmm can you say "helicopter parent"?

It's suppose to be HOT this weekend so we may have to head for the river to cool off.
That's about all for now.

Leave us a comment, we enjoy hearing from everyone.

Glynn Jr.

Crater Lake!

Last Saturday Lorelei, Cody and I headed south for a short weekend trip to southern Oregon. We stayed in Klamath Falls and visited Crater Lake on Sunday. This is an absolutely fascinating and beautiful place. In our nearly 3 hour visit we didn't even make it half way around the lake. We each had a camera and we had a great time taking a bunch of pictures.
Below are a few of Lorelei's shots.

At over 1,900 ft deep it is the deepest lake in the U.S.


The water is really that blue.



With no inlets and no outlets and being supplied only by snow melt it is thought to be the purest fresh water body of water in the world.

We had a great trip but it was too short. We hope to get down that way again.



Bye for now.
Glynn Jr.