Visiting with friends.

Our time in Oregon is quickly coming to a close.  We have enjoyed working with the people here at Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge and will miss them when we leave.  They are an awesome group of people.

Wednesday of this week we took a road trip to visit with our friend Judy who is working down in Brookings.  The temperatures are quite a bit cooler where she is.   We worked with Judy last year at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge.  It was the highlight of my summer.  I learned so much from her.

Judy and John.   Judy prepared some New York BBQ chicken.  It was so tasty.  Thanks for a delicious dinner Judy.

Me, Judy and Emma.

After dinner Judy took us over to the Goat Island overlook where she works as a bird interpreter.  Her mornings are usually very foggy and very cool.   When the fog lifts the scenery is something to behold and, with a scope, you can see lots of birds on the island.

John and Judy taking in the scenery.   This is such a beautiful place.

Judy explaining things.

Before leaving the area the next morning we stopped back by to see Judy one more time.   It was very foggy so we weren't able to use a scope to see the birds on the island. 

 The fog is so thick you can just make out the islands in the water.

We visited for a little while longer then headed on down the road to Newport to see friends Janice and Dave.

Janice and Dave.   By the time we arrived it was late afternoon.  Janice had prepared a yummy chicken pot pie, banana pudding and some sweet tea.  We met them at Tamarac last year when they stopped by to visit Judy and invited us all over for dinner.  It has been almost a year since we last saw them so it was good to catch up.  We shared funny travel stories and RV repair stories.  There is always something to laugh about.  Thank you Janice and Dave for a wonderful meal and a great visit.  Hope to see you when you travel through Montana.

Yesterday was a work day for me.  I am still working on the chemical inventory and hope to have everything completed before Monday afternoon.  Tuesday it audit day so it was to be finished before then.  It has been a big project but I have enjoyed it. 

Today we have been invited to a cookout with other refuge employees.  That should be fun.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband John, my dad, our son Robert and Dad Hatch and to all the Fathers out there.  Hope everyone had a wonderful day.

Love you John.

My Dad.  The best daddy a girl could have. Love you bunches.

Our son Robert.  Love you son. 

Dad Hatch.  Love and miss him everyday.

Today we joined our boss man John  and Sarah on a road trip to Pacific City to have lunch at the Pelican Pub and Brewery.  This brewery sells beer with the bottles that where specifically designed for the 50th anniversary of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.   They also sell commemorative t-shirts.   John was happy to finally get on of these bottles and a t-shirt. 

 The scenery behind the Pelican Pub and Brewery.  It was a perfect day for a road trip. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Cookout at the Hatch Pad

Last night we had a cookout at our site on the new patio.  It has been nicknamed the "Hatch Pad".  We had a nice surpise when RV friends Rod and Debbie rolled into town.  They were able to stay on the site right behind ours.  It was so good to see them.  I hadn't realized it had been three years since we had seen them.  They were just in time for the cookout.  Lots of food and laughter.  Everyone had a great time.

The finished patio.  The boss man put some grass seed out so John has been watering it a lot. 

We tried to get the perfect picture but it took serveral tries.  

Uh oh somebody made us laugh.

Ok. One more try.

Here we are.  This is as serious we could get.  (Standing from left to right: Lily, Kirte, Sarah W., George, Sarah G., me, John, Rachel and Bonnie:  Seated Blair and John S.)

John and the boss man like to pick on Rachel.  I couldn't resist getting pictures of that. 

Rachel making a point. 

John and John S. joking around with her. 

They are too funny.

This morning John and I and Rod and Debbie went out to breakfast before they had to hit the road for their next destination. 

Rod and Debbie.

John, me, Rod and Debbie at Shari's restaurant.

We wish Rod and Debbie safe travels and hope to see them again real soon. 

Tomorrow we will be making a road trip to Pacific City with the boss man and Sarah from the refuge.  Hopefully I will get some scenic pictures.  Everyone says that is a beautiful place.   It should be a nice day for Father's Day. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.

Happy Birthday John and Dad.

We have been busy working at the refuge and enjoying the people here.  Last Saturday was John's birthday.  To celebrate his birthday we ate at Chang's Mongolian Grill.   Very tasty.  It reminded me of Hu Hot Mongolian Grill in Montana.

Happy Birthday John.  Love you. 

Yesterday some of the Tualatin employees took their pack test to prepare them for working prescribed burns on the refuge.  They have to walk 3 miles in under 45 minutes wearing a 45lb vest. 

Getting ready to put the vests on. (#20 is our boss man John S.)

He looks real happy. LOL

The man in the blue shorts is the instructor.

Sarah and Erin (Park Manager)  heading over to the starting point to put on their vests.

Gathering around for vests and last minute instructions.

Erin putting on her vest.

Ready to go.

And they're off.

They all passed. Yea!!

Today is my Dad's Birthday.  He is 84 years young.   I am so lucky to have such a wonderful dad. 

Nobody enjoys a good laugh more than him or a good card game.

Happy Birthday Daddy.  Love you.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Trip to Ridgefield National Refuge.

Wow the month of June has arrived.  It seems like we just got here.  John and I have been very busy with work and training.  Since the first of June we have put in 62.5 hours.  On Wednesday we had ATV/UTV training.  It was an all day class complete with classroom time, obstacle courses and loading and unloading the ATVs.  Oh, and a written test at the end.  There were four of us in the class.  We all passed.  Yeah!!!

Thursday John and I accompanied our boss to Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington to return a borrowed UTV.   While at Ridgefield we were able to tour the Cathlapolte Plankhouse at the refuge. 

John looking around as we were crossing the bridge to tour the Plankhouse.

Another view of the bridge.

The front of the Plankhouse.

Side view of the Plankhouse.

The door.

The interior of the Plankhouse.

The Cathlapotle Plankhouse is a full-scale Chinookan Plankhouse located on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.  It was constructed based on archaeological evidence from the Cathlapotle archaeological site located on the refuge property. This site is what remains of the town of Cathlapotle,  which Lewis and Clark encountered on their expedition.  This was a very unique and interesting place.  So glad we got to see it. 

While driving through the refuge we saw a Great Blue Heron, and Egret, a Cinnamon Teal and a few baby nutria.  Unfortunately the only thing I got a photo of were the nutria. 

If you look closely you can see them in the center of the photo. 

By the time we left Ridgefield it was lunch time.  On the way back to Tualatin, our boss man treated us to lunch at a place called Podnahs Pit BBQ.  It was very good.  Thank you boss man John.

John's plate.

My plate.

Our boss man John S.  

The work on the patio at our RV site is almost completed. The only thing left to do is a little dirt work and some clean up.  It looks great.  We plan to have a big cookout after everything is finished. 

Tomorrow will be a work day for both of us.  John will be mowing at the Wildlife Center and the Wayside and I will be working at the headquarters office on the chemical inventory.  I plan to have the inventory completed by the end of the week.  It won't be long before the wheels of that motorhome will be rolling toward Montana. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay Safe.