Foot versus wine bottle.

No much going on around here lately.  From time to time our son and daughter-in-law post new pictures of the grandbabies on facebook so we can see how big they are getting.  My favorite thing is to facetime them.

Shelby

Shelby and Ava.

Ava and Shelby.

John has been mowing his assigned areas and I have been working at the Wildlife Center.  The Tualatin River Wildlife Center is a busy place.  Since it is an urban refuge we get lots of people from Sherwood and surrounding cities and towns.  I have enjoyed meeting the local volunteers who also work there.   Some of the visitors are quite interesting.  Last week we had a man come in with a opposum in a crate in the back of his car.  He thought it was ok to let it loose on the refuge and was not happy when we told he could not.  Later that same day, we had a lady who found a snake in the drain next to the parking area and wanted it rescued.  She was told to leave the snake alone and that it would leave on its own.  She wasn't convinced so she proceeded to jab at it with a stick.  The volunteer I was working with saw her do this and made her stop.

Monday night I was cooking dinner and decided to make a salad to go along with it.  I reached inside the refrigerator to grab the celery package and a bottle of wine came out with it and promptly landed on foot .....my BAD foot.  The top of the bottle hit the third toe on my right foot right at the cuticle area.  It hurt so bad I almost fell on the floor.  Unfortunately I said some very very bad words.  John jumped up to help me into the shower to wash the blood off and see how bad it was.  The bottle tore the nail away form the cuticle so it is a nasty thing to look at.  The pain was terrible and I am so glad I still had pain pills from when I went to the foot doctor back in November.  They sure came in handy. 

The refuge staff had a farewell lunch today for Aubrey who was on assignment here for a month.  She is returning to Chincoteauge National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.  She will be missed.  We enjoyed meeting and working with her and wish her safe travels. 

John, Bonnie, Jenna, Brenda, Lily, Aubrey, Eva, John S., Trevor and Erin.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Texas and Mississippi meet in Washington.

Today was a fun day.  My cousin Troy and his wife Robin from Texas are visiting her brother and his girlfriend in Washington.  He contacted us this morning about meeting up at Mount St. Helens.  So we took a road trip and met at the Mount St. Helens visitor center.   How cool is it when Mississippi relatives meet up with Texas relatives in Washington?  We had a great time enjoying the beautiful scenery and ended the day with a fabulous meal at Parker's Restaurant and Lounge.

On the road up to Mount St. Helens we couldn't resist stopping at this Big Foot statue for a group picture.

Troy, Robin, Me and John.

John and me.

After all the sightseeing we were very hungry so we set off to find something to eat.  As we drove into Castle Rock, Robin saw Parker's Restaurant and Lounge and we all stopped and went in.  We are so glad we did. The burgers in this place were to die for.  When ordering I asked the waitress how big the burgers were (3/4 pound).  Some of them are pretty big.  I opted for a smaller/regular (1/4 pound) sized burger.  John and Troy both got monster sized burgers.

John and Troy with their burgers.  You know it is a large burger when it is served with a knife stuck in it.

I just had to take a close up picture of that monster.

Me and Cousin Troy as we were leaving the restaurant.  So good to see him again.

The last time John and I were at Mount St. Helens as 2005.  No matter how many times you view it the beauty of the area never gets old.  

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Trip to Multnomah Falls and Mt. Hood.

It was a beautiful day today with sunny skies and warm temperatures.  The best kind of day for a road trip.  We decided to go and see Multnomah Falls and Mt. Hood.  The last time we were in this area was in 2005 but the beauty of the area never gets old.   Our first stop was Multnomah Falls.  There were lots of other people there also.  The trail up to the bridge was rather crowded so you had to take turns getting pictures from the bridge.

After walking up to the upper bridge and taking a few pictures we were off to Mt. Hood.   Along the way we encountered a bit of snow on the road. 

Still a pretty good bit of snow. 

Tomorrow is a work day for me at the visitor center....only three hours.  John is off tomorrow.  

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.

More work with tree tubes.

We have had rain almost everyday since we arrived in Oregon.  Some days it rains for a few minutes then some days it rains all day.  The temperatures have been cool during the day ranging from 42 to the mid 50s.  I am ready for some sunny 70 degree weather.  Oh yeah, bring it on.

Yesterday John and I removed tree tubes from one of the areas of the refuge.  Just as we finished the rain moved in.  This morning we bundled and transported tree tubes from one area to another.  We finished up before lunch and guess what.....yep, it started raining again. Uck. 

Here I am after working.  I am all dirty.

Tonight we were able to Facetime our son Robert and see the grandbabies.  They have gotten so big. We sure do miss those little girls.   Our daughter-in-law and her mother post pictures for us on facebook so we can keep up with them.  A big thank you to them for that. 

Ava and Shelby Easter weekend. 

Looks like a very interesting conversation going on. 

Tomorrow John will meet with the boss to see the other site that he will be mowing and I have a meeting with the lady at the visitor center. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.

Mowing and Removing Tree Tubes

The last couple of days have been work days for us.  John has been mowing in various areas of the refuge.

This morning when John was on his way to mow he came upon a group of people standing around tree that had been chopped down.  It had been chopped down alright but not by man .....by a beaver. 

That was one busy beaver.

John returning from mowing. 

One of the trails. 

Yesterday I removed tree tubes from trees in one of the fields.  Before getting started on that I was going to load some tree tubes that someone had already removed.  That was until I saw the bees and ants. 

This is the area I was working in. The little blue dots all other the field are the tubes.  The section I worked in was at the end of this road. 

Here is the stack of tree tubes someone had already removed and left there.  I reported this to my boss  and he will be sending someone to load this up on a truck. 

Bees and a nest.  They can keep it.   I was out of there. 

Another view. 

Today I was on a cleanup and rake detail.  Not too bad just worked three hours today. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Settling in at Tualatin.

It has been a very hard few days.  The motorhome seems much too quiet.  Saturday morning John and I packed up the dog food and other supplies and donated it to the Paws Project at the Crossroad Animal Hospital.  They take in food and other supplies for abandoned and lost dogs.   It was hard but it felt like the right thing to do.   Everyone handles loss differently.  I sometimes write poems about family members so I decided to write about Fred.  It didn't change anything but I felt better after writing it.

Fred

You came to us battered, bruised and scared.

You'd been neglected and abused

by someone who was supposed to care. 

One look at you and we both said, 

"We'll take you home with us to live."

Then we named you Fred.

Little by little, day by day

you learned to trust.

Your fear of people went away.

Allowing us to see

A wonderful dog who was, at last, happy.

On RV journeys we did go.

You made lots of friends

A cat, some dogs, and lots of people.

Oh the places you've been are something to behold.

In life, as we all know, lots of things are beyond our control. 

You became sick.

The cancer took its toll.

Much too soon we had to say goodbye

To explain how sad we are

I can't even try.

Now you've crossed the Rainbow Bridge

And of one thing I am certain

For you there will be no more hurting. 

By:  Bridget Hill Hatch

But, as we all know, life goes on.  We met with our boss yesterday and actually worked all afternoon.  John worked with another man clearing property and I removed tree protectors.  Poor John got smacked in the face by a blackberry bush resulting in a bloody nose.  Ouch!

We were off today so we took care of household stuff and went out to get some groceries.  Funny how quickly the grocery store runs come around. 

I hope to get some pictures of the refuge to post real soon. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Rest in peace Fred.

Yesterday was a very sad day for us.  Fred passed away yesterday afternoon.  He had been diagnosed with cancer recently and declined quickly.   We are heartbroken at the loss of our beloved pet and travel companion.  Fred had many friends in the RV Community.   A special thanks to all of his friends out there who made his travels with us so special.  

Rest in peace sweet Freddie.  We will miss you terribly.

We adopted Fred when he was two years old from a local animal clinic.  He had been badly abused and was on the run when the police found him after being hit by a car.  Because of his past he didn't trust anyone which made him standoffish toward people therefore, no one wanted to adopt him.   He had been at the clinic about three months recuperating. I found out about Fred after our Jack Russell Terrier Oscar passed away.  We went to the clinic to visit Fred and the vet explained why he acted so strange around people so we weren't surprised.  What was surprising is that he took to John right away and jumped into his lap. The vet was very surprised.  Well, as they say, the rest was history.  He has been with us for almost nine years and experienced new things and made many friends along the way.  The RVing lifestyle seem to agree with him. The more he met people on the road the better he became.  Several of you will remember him from our first days on the road and how far he progressed with meeting people.  I am happy to say he led a very spoiled life with us so we know he was happy.  It was so very hard to say a last goodbye to him.  We loved him so much. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

We have arrived at Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge.

We were up early and on the road by 8:00 a.m.  Our trip was uneventful and we arrived at Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge around 10:00 a.m.

The visitor center and Tualatin Headquarters.

Our site.

Later in the afternoon we were given a tour of the refuge by one of the staff members.  It rained on and off all day and the temperatures were cooler.  I am hopeful the rain will leave soon and it will warm up.

Tomorrow we will tour other parts of the refuge and meet other staff members.  That should be very interesting. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.