Saturday

Pretty quiet day.
Quick breakfast and coffee.
Then off to Gresham to purchase a printer.
Thought we could get away with not having a printer.....
but, needed a scanner as much as a printer.
So picked one up at Office Depot.
Then went to Walmart for a few other necessities.
Home and get ready for another Turkey Day.
This should be the last one and my waist will have to recover

Ed and Carol invited us to join their family
We did and had a great time.
Their kids and grand kids almost all were there.
Aunt Emma was able to join us and I don't think she could stop smiling.
Such a happy active family.

Eddy and his grandson Ellis

Laine (Eddy and Carol's daughter) and her daughter Gracie.

     Charlie (Eddy and Carol's son) and his daughter Hannah

Ed and Carol's granddaughter Jassilyn (sp?)

And at the end of the evening somebody is happy holding Ellis.

Such fun and even forgetting the turkey at home couldn't spoil the fun and food.

So much to be thankful for

But we still miss our girls.

Happy Thanksgiving Carissa and Chelsey!

Tom and Millie

Friday (Turkey Day Dos)

Woke up to another beautiful (chilly) morning.
Coffee, breakfast and then off to wash the truck
and pickup my camera that I left at Pat's.
Back "home" about Noon and trying to use internet
Verizon must be really clogged up with out of school smart phones
Finally got the bill payment set up so I gave up
Had to work on the slide out hoping to seal up the leak
We will see when it starts raining again.

Later to Jeff and Gayle's for Tday2
I almost think left overs are better
Every bit as good as yesterdays food (and it was great)
Visited and Millie and Gayle got to quilting stuff and appeared to have a great time.
Some of us watched a cute Disney animated movie
Then called it a night.

Along the way I got this shot of the boyz

 Along about sunset I tried to capture Mt Hood with the last light.
Hope for another clear day and will try again.

All in all a good day
May go printer shopping tomorrow
Other than that, no plans unless Jeff and Gayle come up with an idea.

Good night and dream well
Tom and Millie

Happy Thanksgiving!

Good Thanksgiving Morning
What a glorious day it is
The sun is shining and it went above freezing quickly
Snow on the mountain from the nursery next door.

 All the high hills have received a dusting or more of snow, depending on elevation.































Millies's contribution for Thanksgiving dinner at Cousin Pat's

Give thanks today for all we have and the people that are in our lives. Without those people we would not be who we are.
Make your day great and be the blessing in someone elses' life.

Hugs to all.
Tom and Millie

More Wednesday Adventures

Been quite a day
Spent the entire morning working on the prescription benefit with Tricare.
It appears we were successful, yea!
To celebrate we decided to go up to Mt Hood and see the snow.
(Like we really miss it)
We only went as far as Government Camp
just before the road to Timberline Lodge

Would have liked to go up, but snow and altitude.......
And it was getting late and would have been dark and below freezing coming back
Went down a couple of thousand feet and had lunch/supper.
Had burgers and drinks.
Mt. Hood Brewing Stout, very good
Millie had a glass of wine.

Was getting to sunset on the last leg down.
This is the mountain with the setting sun shine.

Stopped in Sandy so Millie could check out the Good Will store.
I dropped her off and went and filled the propane tank
It is going to get chilly the next couple of nights.
Don't want to run out in the middle of the night.
Was already down to 31° when we got home about 6pm.

A little prep for tomorrow and some TV then bed.
Hope all of you will have a great night.
And able to be with the ones you are thankful for.
Hugs to all
Tom and Millie

Wonderful Wednesday

Good morning one and all
Been a busy 2 days so sorry no post yesterday
Monday we headed out to Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River
Couldn't go out to the Dam as it is a Federal site and I forgot to remove a firearm from the truck.
Opps!
So we toured the fish hatchery there and enjoyed the sunny part of the day.

This is Herman, the Sturgeon. 75 years old and 400 lbs.
He is actually the light colored one in the center of the photo.
Didn't get the other posers name!
The little fish are Rainbow trout and they are likely in the 15 lb range.

Above is a couple of shots along the Columbia Gorge from an overlook of I84
As we were heading East the clouds were filling in from the West.
Kept moving to Hood River and lunch.

Big Horse Brew Pub.
Good food and great beer.
And what a view, the restaurant is on the top floor and looks over the city and river.
After lunch we went a bit up the Hood River valley and stopped at a winery

Great white wines and we brought a few home.
Drove back to "home" and into the rain.

Tuesday we spent the rainy day checking out grocery stores.
We were actually looking for lefse.
Can you believe they don't sell it here and many have never even heard of it!
Here I thought it was nearly a national food.
Never did find any and not willing to drive into Portland to get some at a food cart
of all places this only outlet for lefse is called Norwegian Soul Food.
Not sure what we would actually get so we will not be providing this delicacy tomorrow.

Supper with Jeff and Gayle
Meat ball soup or minestrone,  not sure which.
It was great, so good we are getting the recipe
Hope we can make it as good.
Visited after till bed time.
Wonderful evening, Thanks Jeff and Gayle.

All for now so hugs to all
Tom and Millie

New Campsite

Good morning!
We packed up and made the move.
Moved from Cousin Pat's to Cousin Jeff's
All went smoothly and our new site has lots of sunshine.
And as usual when you get out from under the trees we have wind.
Fortunately it is not supposed to be strong for a few days
I suppose I should say we know how to live with the wind.

We are surrounded by Nurseries. Lots of cookie cutter little trees of different varieties.

There was a little frost on the berries, down to 26° this morning.

 Not quite out our back window, have to go to the south side of the property for the view.
Must be nearly 100 feet.
I made it and before breakfast!

Don't know what is up for sure, thinking of visiting Bonneville Dam before it clouds up and starts raining,
Will have to pick up a few groceries today, so that is an outing and we have to look for lefse.
Can't believe it is so hard to find here.
We go on the hunt, while others are looking for Elk, we want lefse in out sights.

Make your day great, more later.
Tom and Millie

Sunny Sunday Morning

Good morning
Working a bit on photos this morning and just had to get on and share this one.
Millie got this one on our hike yesterday
With her cell phone.

Great photo, hard to believe it was sunny.
Shows what it is like back in the woods.

Tom and Millie

Busy Saturday

Hello one and all

Woke up again to sunshine.
Showered, cleaned the trailer, laundry and straitened up the pickup bed.
Not vacation stuff, retirement stuff.
Watched football with Jim
and just had a nice day.
Millie and I went for a walk to enjoy the forest.

The moss on the tree branches.
The stuff that looks like a dead squirrel is actually a piece that fell off a branch above.
This branch is probably around 3" in diameter and with the moss upwards of 9"

Nice little waterfall across the Sandy river.
I would guess we are about 400' above the river when I took the photo.
We walked down to the creek that crosses the old railroad bed.

 Millie hamming it up and trying to tell me she saw a fish "this big"
She just couldn't keep out of my photo.
Guess she is a country girl.

I had to try and get one that is a bit creative.

 Turns out pretty good for not having a tripod.

Millie thought the ferns growing
on the log over the creek was
pretty neat. Well, I guess, so did
I and I took the shot.























It really is a mini rain forest down the old RR bed.
Guess it is just the way the sunshine doesn't get in there much.
And the trees with the moss has always amazed me
I spent many days of summer in my youth wandering up and down to the river.
Was so nice and cool on a hot summer day.
Even now the season seems to have little effect under those big Cedars.

Ya'l have a good night and make your day tomorrow the best yet.
Tom and Millie

Great Day

Today was great.
Coffee and breakfast in the trailer
Visit with Pat and Jim for a little while and printed Millie's orders.
The official orders for her to be retired
Packed up the dogs and headed for Vancouver, WA Armed Forces Reserve Center
This is the main ID facility in the area.
Got there and got our new ID's so we can now prove we have health insurance.
And her retirement checks should begin arriving maybe Dec.1
Woo Hoo!
Celebrated with a little trip to Walmart.
Few groceries and supply of beer and wine.
Then a drive along the Washington side of the Columbia
Mt Hood from the North side of the Columbia River around Camas, WA

Then we crossed back to Oregon on the Bridge of the Gods at Cascade Locks
I think Millie left finger marks in the "Oh Shit" handle. LOL
We stopped in Cascade Locks for Lunch/Supper as it was about 4 pm by the time we got there.
Had a small pizza and a couple of beers at the Ale House Pub.
Darkness came while we were eating so we went home on I84.

Stopped at my Cousin Jeff's and make arrangements to move our Big White Box up there.
Will move this weekend.
Will be windy without the trees, but we know what wind is.

So now we are back "home" and watched a little DVD
and just catching up on social media stuff.

Don't know what we are going to do tomorrow as of now.
We will find something to do with it being sunny, cross your fingers.

Have a great night and an even better tomorrow.
Tom and Millie

Getting Lazy

Good morning one and all!
As you can all see I have been a bit lax getting the posts up.
And no excuse since we have not been real busy
We had a few minutes of sunshine one morning and this is our view.

It is a wonderful place and so glad Cousin Pat and Jim allowed us to enjoy their front yard.
This photo does not do the area justice.
The leaves that change are so intense and even after the big winds a few days ago
they are still hanging on.
Not the same as home.

So mostly we have been doing some minor shopping.
And keeping the trailer tidy (for us)
Drying out the interior moisture and trying to figure out the leak at the slideout.

This is one of the places I used to hang out when visiting as a kid.
We had a lot of fun playing in the river and running the old trails
Been cleaned up and transformed into a beautiful little park and campground

As you can see the colors are not as vibrant when it is raining and foggy.
They are still there so we try to enjoy them in spite of the rain.

Looks like today is going to start a 3 day cycle of sun/no rain.
Will be much more fun to get out and use the camera.
So stay tuned.
Hugs to all
Tom and Millie

Wet!

Everything outside is and a couple of leaks by the slideout sides.
Drip into a bowl and all is good once I located the source.

Rain Rain Rain
I guess it is the Pacific NW
Had some high winds today and sure hope that stops soon.

Monday was busy in the morning
Had to go into town to make phone calls
Get discount set up with Verizon
Shop at Goodwill
Breakfast at McD's
Back to the Valley and got military paperwork completed and emailed
Visited with Jim
While Pat went for groceries

Supper in the trailer and a couple of more Wings episodes.
Early to bed.
Good day.

Today
Up and made breakfast and coffee
Went in and had coffee with Pat and Jim
Decided to go into town for Home Depot
So we all went
Short shopping trip so we went for lunch

On the way back we stopped for this photo
To prove we really are in Boring.

And we were in Damascus!

Back to the camper and naps
Found the above mentioned leaks and got bowls under them
Set the fan and dehumidifier in that area and hope will be dry tomorrow.
May even stop raining
Hope for a few hours as need to do trailer chores again.

Tomorrow will be great
Make yours too!
Tom and Millie

Sunday evening

Hi one and all!
Busy weekend.
Trailer duties Saturday morning.
About a 20 minute drive and all cleaned out.
Then back to Cousin Pat's and reset up.
Laundry, showers and such.
Hole up in the trailer and watched some DVD episodes of Wings.
Remember that one?

Today we visited with my Aunt Louella, Cousin April and Cousin Dena, in the morning.

After lunch in the trailer we headed to my Cousin Jeff's.
Visited with Jeff and Gayle for couple of hours.












Cousin Ken and his wife Cathy stopped by and had a great visit.






Later Jeff, Gayle, Millie and I went out to eat in Sandy, OR.
Great little comfort food place.

Was a bit of an adventure but great food.









Home about 9 pm and walked the dogs.
All in all a real fine weekend.

Colder today and down in the 30's tonight.
Still wet, however we have seen the sun but no sight of MT Hood.
Off to bed for us.
Give thanks for each day and hug someone you love!
Tom and Millie

Yesterday

Friday was a great day.
Took it easy in the morning, coffee breakfast and dog walking.
Jim had a Dr. appointment so Pat, Millie and I decided to all go along
Mostly for the ride and conversation.
Had to go to downtown Portland.
About an hour trip from their valley.
Traffic wasn't too bad and we got him there on time.
OHSU is quite the place.
A mix of University, medical, childrens hospital and VA
All built on a hill.
Then they put the road in between buildings.
I was told the employees do not park on site.
A tram was built to accommodate staff and patients access from
I assume river level parking or Metro stations.

After went to lunch at the Charter House
Been there a long time and great food and view.

 On the way back to "home"
we stopped at the Fabric Depot (for just 5 minutes)
Good thing Jim and I stayed in the truck.
Neither of us would have stood around in there for very long.
We talked and listened to 60's music, and just relaxed.
Have to when you are waiting for your wife.

Got back and watched the news from Paris.
Headed for bed.
Slept great and woke up to no rain.
Shall see how long that lasts today.

Make your day great and hug someone you care about.
Tom and Millie

Morning!

Friday morning here in the Sandy River Valley
Cloudy and not raining at the moment
And the leaves are changing and falling.
They have some of the biggest and most colorful maples we've seen

So Carissa, just be glad our tree does not have leaves this big.
Thanks for cleaning up the yard, too!





Yesterday Jim (Cousin Pat's spouse) and I had our adventure
OK, maybe not so much adventure as outing
Jim is still recovering from some major medical issues
and it was time to move to getting out and about.
So we went to the County Sherrif's office to renew his CHL
Then to Home Depot for a good long walk
and he bought a indoor/outdoor thermometer.
Afterwards Jim treated me to a great burger and a beer.
With all the driving and sights we were out several hours.

In the mean time.........
Millie and Pat got ready for a "girls night out"
Started out with a huge church bazaar
where Millie bought dog treats and rhubarb bread.
(Not as wild as you thought)
They went then to a local Restaurant/bar
for appetizers and wine.

Now mind you, Jim and I were home by the time they went out after the bazaar.
Well, I went up to my Aunt Louella's and visited with her and cousin April
while supper was being made.
Then John (April's son) came and had supper with Mom and Grandma.
We visited for a while then I went back to watch movies with Jim.

Almost made it to bed before Millie got home.
Slept great and fur kids had a good night.

Today we are off to a short Dr. appointment for Jim.
Will get to see some of the city and maybe lunch out again.
When we get back have to take care of some trailerkeeping chores.

No plans yet for the weekend
Just enjoying being here and waiting for some sunshine.
We will find something to do.
Just stay tuned!

Hugs all
Tom and Millie

Still here!

Still out in the country near Boring, OR.
Having a great time with my Cousin.
Not doing a whole lot of wild and crazy activities
Just visiting relaxing, eating and drinking a little wine.
2 days of not always raining weather,
Wednesday we even saw some sunshine!
Coming up on a stretch of liquid sunshine
5-7 days.
Will see if we start to rust, I know it won't be a sunburn.

Still no photos as every time I go out and thinking about it
it is cloudy and/or raining.
I guess I will just have to "use the light" or lack of.

Will see what Thursday brings.
Millie is going with Cousin Pat and her friend for a "girls night out"
That leave me and Jim (Pat's spouse) to fend for ourselves
We have yet to decide what trouble we will get into.

So make your day great, we are doing the same.

Tom and Millie

Boring

Nope, that's the name at the local post office.
Made the trip from Canyonville.
Google maps says 3 hours and 40 minutes.
We make it in just under 6 hours.
Woo Hoo!

No photos from today as we just packed and traveled
Then set up and .....
Surprise, surprise sipped a couple of bottles of wine with my cousin Pat.

Great evening catching up with Jim and Pat.
Love to just sit around the table and let the conversation flow.

Almost midnight so off to bed.
Gonna get a good nights sleep and enjoy tomorrows adventures.

Hugs to all
Tom and Millie

Readiness Day

Today we got ready to move.
Tomorrow we head for Portland.
We had to do laundry
Showers for T&M
Baths for the fur kids.
And clean the trailer, only inside as Mother Nature was doing the rest.
This left for tomorrow,
Dump holding tanks
Raise the jacks
Unhook utilities
Hook up and go.
Easy morning.
Unless we dawdle we should be on the road by 10.

Between rain showers
Or as the say in Oregon
SUN BREAKS
I snapped a few shots of the leaves on the maples.

Then had a little fun with the birch.

Then back to the maples.

And more Maples
Well, after all, they were the ones with the color.

And of course the last leaf.

That is about it
Oh yeah, went to the casino for buffet tonight.
About the same as other nights, except.......
Chelsey called and talked to both of us for a long time.
Made me a little homesick hearing about her weekend of fun
and things she did with her sister.
NOT enough to make me want to head home
After all we have lots of adventures yet to be found.
By the way I gave back all the money I won at the casino. LOL
Just like farming, keep doing it till the money is gone.

Have a great night and make your tomorrow great.
Tom and Millie

Pioneer and Indian Museum

Today I edited photos and Millie quilted.
At least in the morning.
After lunch we went to the Canyonville Museum.
Was a wet day so we tried to enjoy an outing.
Had fun at the museum.
Many buildings with lots of old stuff.

Third oldest city in Oregon, so lots of history.
Then after we went back to the Big White Box to enjoy an adult beverage.
And the view of our nearly private end of the campground.

Pleasant view from our campsite.
Here is Millie and her "boyz".
Was pretty cool, but dry under our awning.
Stayed out as long as we could.
About 50° and when the boyz got cold we went in.

After a great supper of Shell pasta, 4 cheese sauce, grilled salmon and peas,
went back to the Casino for ice cream and to give back a few more dollars of their money.
Home and off to bed.

Sleep well and make tomorrow great.
Tom and Millie