November 30

What a beautiful morning, the clouds were just starting to roll in off the coast this morning when I took the boy's out for their morning walk and this is what I seen.

 Looking to the East I noticed the beautiful colors in the sky.  As always when clouds come in off the coast they have to mist just a little and then I looked West and found the rainbow.

It was great morning and we had a good day.  Didn't really do much of anything, Cyndy need to make a trip over to Jo Ann's and take her tablet to Verizon for some help with it.  She wants to load a bunch of games on it before we take it off line.  We found our computers were easier to use, at least I am able to keep them up and running.
Speaking of computers, I am still having second thoughts about loading Windows 10, I have had Windows 7 for a long time and like it.  As I say if it is still working why change.  But if I want to keep up I may have to bit the bullet and install it, you know it is free.  Then it will be time to up grade Office to the current version too.  Maybe I will wait just a little bit longer, what do you think????
I think tomorrow we are going to do a little Geocaching on our way up to Brian and Rita's, we need to drop off a Travel Bug, we have had it way to long.

 

November 29

We haven't been doing much the last two days, yesterday morning we headed over the bridge to Seaside.  I need to replace two more tires on the trailer with G rated tires.  The two center ones were the next ones to do out of the three axis's.  I had a slow leak on the driver side center tire and it was showing some wear.  We got them at Les Schwab in Seaside, it only took them about 20 minutes and I had them back in the truck.  The guy looked at me funny when I said make sure they are balanced.  He said most people don't have them done.  I came back and said it saves on wheel bearings and the tires wear a lot better.
After getting that done we headed to a few more stores like Home Depot, Dollar Tree, Costco,and then on to Fred Meyers.  Got a few things at all the  different places.  Other than that we are back in Longbeach TTN and enjoying life.  It is nice not having to move every couple of days.  I can get use to this sitting for three weeks, then move for another three weeks.
Today we went over to Brain & Rita's for the girls to sew and watch the Seahawks game, it was nice to see them win again this week.  They need to keep this up to the end of the season now so that they can make it to play off's.  GO SEAHAWKS!!!!!!
Tomorrow I need to get a few things done out side before it starts raining for a few day again.  Other than that just relaxing and enjoying life.

November 27

Day after Thanksgiving is good but yesterday was a great day.  We got to see half of our family, we went to our Daughters house for Thanksgiving and had a great time.  We watched a little football and had a outstanding dinner.  Jeff's folks were there along with Jeff's brother-in-law Stein and his two kids JJ and Kai.  Those two kids are growing up fast.  We had two of our friends come with us for Thanksgiving Jim & Cherrill Roberts, we worked together a lot for Adventure Caravans.
It made for a long day yesterday with us leaving before 7:00 AM and heading up to our daughters house.  But it was well worth it.  We got back here just after 8:00 PM and there were two tired people.  I think last night we were in bed before 10:00 and out right away.
This morning we were up early 6:00 AM for Back Friday shopping, yes we enjoy going out and playing bumper people in the stores.  Our first stop was Fred Meyers for some things for the grand children.  Before I go any further with this I have to say every person that I ran into or bumped into were real polite.  It has to be one of greatest experience of Christmas shopping when you see so many people smiling and saying sorry and have a good day.  Now back to the shopping thing, we found some PJ's for the two girls and a few toys for them also.  I think we are just about done, but I know Cyndy will have to get something else along the way.  That is what makes Christmas so neat, is giving the little ones gifts and watching them open them on Christmas morning.
We spent the rest of the day with Brian & Rita.  The girls were back at sewing and Brian & I were trying to fix the fire place but it need a new regulator for the gas.  So Monday he will call the tech to come out and replace it.  Next we hooked up his new printer and with a little internet looking we got the drivers and had that working.  OK, two things looked at one fixed, hay that is 50% to the good.  Time to quit while at 50%.  It was getting late so we head up to Thriftway for their prime rib dinner.  As always it was good and I made a pig out of myself.  Tomorrow I am going to get two new tires for the trailer and Cyndy wants to do some more shopping over in Astoria.  Another great sunny day in paradise.

November 25

Day before Thanksgiving and all is well at the Olsen's house.  Today was planned to get some things done around the coach that I have been putting off.  I have been reading our owners manual on the coach.  I know why read it now we have been in it for over 6 months. It was cold out side and I thought it was a good time to look over it again and see if I have been forgetting to do anything.  One thing I have been over looking is our landing jacks or what helps us keep this coach level.  They say if you sit some where for a while it is a great idea to spray silicon on to the exposed jacks.  So this morning I got that choir done.  Next it was time to open up the hatch door on passenger side and see if I can get it some stuff cleaned  up and put away where it belongs.  I even found some stuff that I though was gone.  Good for me.  One more thing done.
Next I was just about to start on another one of the projects that I have to get done, when I here this loud scream "Wil come in here".  She was standing under the Maxxair Fan cupping her hand and trying to catch water from it.  She said "We got a leak".  So I looked up at it and said no I think it is ice that is melting from moisture building up and freezing in the lid.  I looked real close and said maybe I should clean this before starting anything else.  So got the ladder out and took down the screen and washed it and put it back up.  Boy what a difference, and mom was happy now.
Next was to take the faucets apart and clean the screens.  I like to do this after coming out of California and the desert, because of the high calcium deposits in the water. The three faucets are clean and running a lot better.  Boy what a day, maybe I had better stop before I work the honey due list down to much more.  Got to have something for another day.
Tomorrow we are heading up to Janice & Jeff's house for Thanksgiving Lunch/Dinner,  We will leave here around 7:00 AM to be there around 10:00 to 10:30 AM.  We will be back here tomorrow night I hope before it gets to late.  I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving with their family's or close friends.  We will enjoy ours with most of our family.

November 24

Last night after I was done posting on the blog, I heard some really choice words coming from the sewing room in the back.  Then I heard this sound coming from back their "Wil I need help".  SO I want back and help her work on her sewing machine.  For some reason it stopped working correctly, as I would call it.  Cyndy called it something else, that I will not repeat.  She has been trying to finish these baby blankets before the kids pop out.  The one she is working on now, the kid decided to show its self yesterday as a 5 plus pound boy. So her machine has up and stopped working.
Being the nice husband. I went on line and started looking for another machine for her.  After looking on Amazon and the other stores in the area.  We decided to head over to Costco this morning for a sewing machine.  It was another Brother Sewing Machine and what she wanted, at least that is what she told me. 

 After watching the DVD on how to run this thing, she went right back to what she enjoy's.  After about and hour in half she was almost done with blanket number three.  A few more things to do on two of them and they will be done. Way to go dear.

Remember if mom isn't happy no one is happy, and I like to be happy.  I didn't do much today but take the boy's for walks.  Read some e-mails and worked on the seminars that we will be doing after the first of the year. Wait their was one other thing I did get done, fixed dinner for my lovely bride, while she is sewing.  The weather is suppose to be nice tomorrow, so maybe I will get out and clean the storage under the front of coach.  I have been just pushing things in there so need to put things away and straight things up, but I don't want to rush into anything.

November 23

Woke up to a nice sunny morning, but cold.  The boy's didn't want to get up for there morning walk.  As we were walking around I started to notice a few clouds in the distance.  They said rain this afternoon so if I need to get things done we better get a move on.
After walking the boy's, eating breakfast it was time to hit the road.  We wanted to go and see if we could find a recliner to replace the coach on the drivers side of the coach.  After trying to be conformable in that coach for the last six plus months it was time to replace it.  We had been looking at a few stores but did not find one that was what we were looking for.  So this morning we went to the Furniture store in Seaside called Star's.  They had a lot of them to pick from.  So after about and hour of trying a lot out, I kept going back to this one.  The owner of the store gave us another $20.00 bucks off after we asked if they were going to have a Black Friday Sale.  His answer to that was no, and it is usually the slows day of the year for them.  So with the sale price and the extra off we saved about $100.00, good for us.

 It fits right in were the other one was setting and gives us a little bit more room to move around.  It is even lighter than the three pieces that were here before.  That has to be a first for us making the load lighter.  Maybe we should re look at what we have just done.

 Yep, nice and conferrable,  Turbo even likes it.  I bet I can even fall a sleep in this one with know problem.

 Spike like the warming coach across from were I am setting.
Sense we have been in the Northwest have been using a little bit more propane than what we have used all last year.  Another month and we will be on our way south again to the warm weather.  I just hope we don't find any snow.
I was checking tires on the coach and noticed the center two tires on both sides need to be replaced before we head out from here, I was hoping to wait tell we came back up here before heading to Alaska.  I can go over to Seaside to Les Schwab and get them for about $75.00 less then here in Longbeach (Tax and more money savings).  So I have them ordered for next Tuesday.  The weather maps shows good weather than but it may be cold.  I  can handle a little cold weather.  Tomorrow Cyndy wants to sew so I will wonder around out side and see what I can do.

November 22nd

Didn't do much today, moved some furniture out and we are going to replace them it with a Recliner.  We don't no where we will get it but will start looking around over in Oregon.
The only other thing is
Way to go Seahawks win over San Francisco, and good racing by Kyle Busch winning the final race at Homestead and the Championship for Sprint Cup.
Tomorrow is another day and we will see what kind of things we can get into.

November 21

This morning when we get up it was a little cold out,

as you can tell we had a little frost here this morning.  It didn't bother the boy's, but not much does except for rain.  They just have problem coming out in it and so do I.

We, as the two boys and I went for a walk down to the beach.  It is just over 300 yards from the camp ground.  Seen a lot of bear sign but did not see one.  That was good for us.
We headed out to Brain & Rita's so that the girls could work on Baby blankets.  They both are trying to get Jose's blanket done, now that the baby is going to be here real soon.

On the way out to there place we seen a lot of deer, this two point and doe just watched us go by, I think we counted over 6 deer that we seen.  What a beautiful sunny day we are having, no complaints from us.
While we were at their place Gabby  & Spike were at it again.

 They played hard for a long time.  Every once in a while Turbo gets in on some of it, but Gabby & Spike are both the same size so they are having fun.  Bonny & Turbo just watch them run around then bark every one in a while.

This is what happens when they over play, these two went to sleep for about an hour, and the other two were sleeping next to Brian. After the hour went by they were back at it again.
We are back home now and they are both sound to sleep with one next to me and one next to Cyndy.  Tomorrow is football and the last Nascar Race this year, it is going to be hard to decide which to watch, maybe switch from one to the other.

November 20

This morning I was up early and heading to the Box K Auto Repair shop to get the truck looked at.  The belt has been squealing real bad and I can tell what it is.  Some of you may ask how did I find this repair shop here in Longbeach.  As a lot of us do we go to Yelp and see what we can find out.  Out of over 8 comments on Yelp 7 were very positive and one was bad.  I felt that this was a good place to check out.  All 7 were 5 stars and one was 1 star.  But after reading his complaint I don't think he should be aloud to own another car after what he did to it before bring it into the shop.

I got there at 8:00 AM and right away they got me in and after about 30 minutes the tech came out and said that I had a bad pulley for keeping the belt adjusted correctly and need a new belt.  OK, not bad that is what I was hoping it was.  They also did a good check of all other systems after replacing the belt and pulley. I was out of there by 10:00 AM, good job Box K Auto.  As I stated earlier I us Yelp a lot to check out business, but if they are good most times I am one of those that don't go back and give them a good rating when they do a great job.  But if it was bad I get on right away and post a review.  So I am changing my ways and going to try and make a good effort to post if they are bad or good.  I don't know how many people have done what I have done in the pass but we really need to give the business a review if it is bad or good all the time that we use this system.  A lot of these business us these to improve on performance.
Saturday we are heading out to Brian & Rita's for the girls to work on more quits, Rita's youngest daughter is due anytime & has been put in the hospital.  So they are going up Thanksgiving morning when she will be induced labor, so maybe a Thanksgiving baby.  
By the way our second day in a row of a sunny morning.

November 19th

This morning we were up early so we could meet with our friends Brian & Rita for our trip to the Quilt Show in Portland.  They got here just after 8:00 AM and we were on our way.  It was about a 2 hour drive but the last 5 miles took us almost 30 minutes.  The traffic going over the bridge on I-5 to Portland was stop and go, we got to the Expo Center with no problems and the girl's were ready to go shopping.

Yes the two of them were ready to see what they could find here.  Brian and I were here to help carry things when they bought stuff.  They both seem to have a great day and see a lot of neat ideas.

Looking for patterns and getting ideas.

Cyndy said that this place was only half the size of the Puyallup Quilt show that she has been to.  After 4 hours Brian & I were about ready to go and the girls had seen everything.  So off we went heading to a early dinner at the Crab Pot just about 4 miles from here on the Washington side of the river.  We have never been here before but Brian & Rita like it a lot.

 I had Shrimp, Fish and Chips, it had a real light beer better and was real good.

Cyndy had Shrimp Alfredo and she said it had a lot of shrimp and was very good Alfredo sauce.  So all in all I would have to rate this as a strong 4 plus for stopping back here again.

As we were heading back home poor Rita was all tuckered out and need to take a short nap.

 It really turned out to be a great day as far as weather goes, here we are going back over the Columbia River from Longview, WA.

 I got a couple of pictures of the sun setting and the color was great.

 We all had a good day and tomorrow I take the truck to the shop here in Longview to find out why my belt is squealing so bad.  Hope it is an easy fix!!!!!  Then we will head out to Brian & Rita's and see what kind of trouble we can get into.

November 18th

What a morning, sun is out and no wind.  It was a beautiful dry morning and the boy's had a great walk this morning.  It has been hard to get them out the last few days with all the rain and wind.  But this morning it was time to explore this campground a little.  This morning we were heading out early because Cyndy need to go back over to Jo Ann's to get the right cords for her Rotary Cutting Machine.

 This should make her cutting out materiel for her quilts a lot easier.  This is the one that the guy gave her the wrong plug for.

This one she got yesterday with the one above, she saved over $60.00 because they are changing the packages on them.  We looked on Amazon and they were expensive, so thanks for saving us money.

Here is what one day can make in the view coing over the bridge.

 No white caps today.

 Today while coming down off the big bridge we could see the other side with no problem, yesterday we couldn't even see across this bridge.

No water spraying up and over the rocks today, just a beautiful view of the Columbia River pouring into the Pacific. 

After we came back across the bridge we headed out to Brian & Rita's.  Cyndy was going to help Rita cut out some material for another quilt.  So I know we will be making more trips out there, one thing nice it is only about 15 miles from the park we are staying at.

Here are the two girls cutting out stuff as I call it.

Cyndy is coaching Rita on how to get things done and get the most out of your material.

Notice who is doing the work and who is eating chips !!!!  I never could catch Rita eating but will work on that.  From what Cyndy told me they got two quilts cut out for Rita and one more for Cyndy, this one is the last of the three baby blankets she is making.  

Now Rita and Brian  have two Schnauzer named Bonny the older on and Gabby the young one.  So our boys had fun and it is neat watching them play.  Bonny is a lot older than the rest so she just watches a lot and barks at the other three.

Gabby and Spike had a great time playing, Turbo just kinds of watched them and plays a little bit.

There both racing back and forth from out side to in side.  They are both about the same size but Gabby is about 6 years younger than Spike and he is a little bit rounder too..  He got his little legs run off today.

We had a good time at Brian & Rita's and look forward to more visits in the future.  Tomorrow we are both going into Portland for the Quilting Expo, it should be fun for the girls and Brian and I will be along to carry things for them.  Maybe I should get a small cart to tow around.  Wait a minute I seen a wagon and Brians, maybe I can talk him into bring it along,

November 17th

What a day, it started yesterday with trying to get everything picked up before this morning.  We have a appointment at Skipanon Marine & RV Supply to repack bearings and check out the brakes.  We got there at about 9:00 AM, and it was just blowing but not rain yet.  Went inside and asked were they wanted me to drop the trailer.  I parked it right by their big bay door and he (John) went right to work on it, they said it would take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. So after telling them everything I wanted them to do off we went to get something to eat and do some shopping before heading across the Astoria Bridge.
Our first stop was Jo Ann's Fabric store, Cyndy needed something and I don't ask what, I just keep smiling and say yes dear.  While she was inside I stayed out in the truck were I am a lot safer and keep the two boy's company.  After about a half hour here comes Cyndy with two big bags of things to make her sewing a lot easier.  Then it was of to Fred Meyers for some groceries that we needed.  This time I got to go in to the store to help her pick up things that we both need.  FOOD!!!!!!
We headed back to Skipanon at about noon and low and behold they were done with the trailer.  One bearing was bad but the rest were OK.  John said the brakes were better then 50% , they also found the short in the brake system and replaced the emergence brake away switch which had shorted out and started smoking on us as we pulled into the Seaside TTN Park.  So the trailer is ready to go again and off we headed.
One thing nice is that this park is only about 35 miles from Seaside TTN, after making it over the bridge.

 As you can guess it has started raining real hard and the wind is blowing from the south, so it is pushing us kind of across the bridge.

If you look real close you can see the Washington side of the bridge, just to let you know I wasn't complaining but happy to be across the bridge.

As we were heading along the Columbia River towards Longbeach you can tell the wind is really whipping up the water.

 After the tunnel the wind didn't seem to be to bad.  We made it to the park by 1:30 PM got set up in the rain.  Which has been a while since I have had to do that and really don't want to do it to much in the future.  The rest of the day we sat back and watched the weather go by.  Tomorrow we have to make a fast trip back over to Jo Ann's because something Cyndy bought didn't have all the right things in it and she found something else she needs.  Then we are heading over to Brian & Rita's, Cyndy is helping Rita with a project or something will let you know when I find out.
 

November 16th

Today I started getting things picked up before it starts raining again.  We are moving tomorrow over to Longbeach with a stop at the Marina RV Repair in Warrenton.  While come back up here I noticed the brakes on the trailer not working all that good.  So we have appointment at 9:30 AM for them to fix the brakes and repack the wheel bearings.  After that we do a short drive across the river to Longbeach TTN.
Yesterday we took a drive down into town to see how rough the Ocean waves are.  On the way out of the park we spotted the Gray Heron.

He was moving through the creek looking for something to eat.
We have not been down town to drive the loop yet and we have been here for almost two weeks.  It is amazing how time flies when you are having fun.

We like to drive this loop, it gives us a chance to see how things are at the Ocean.

As you can see it is pretty rough out there, we watched for a while and seen just a few people walking out there.
We have enjoyed our stay here at Seaside, and look forward to our trip over the bridge, it will be one of those short drives that I like.  The rest of today is suppose to be windy and raining.  So we are all nice and warm in our coach doing little things that need done.  Cyndy is busy sewing, in her new sewing room plus storage area.

Yep she is happy doing what she call relaxing, she even has a TV on out there to watch or listen too.  Another great day in retirement.

Spike is doing what he does best, sleeping in his favorite space.  

November 14th RAIN!!!!!

When we came back to the northwest I expected a little rain ,but after 2 plus days it would be nice to have one day that is not 100% RAIN.  Maybe tomorrow it will let up a little, it is only suppose to be 65% in the AM.  All in all they need some of the rain in the south so I hope they will get some of it.  It is heading to eastern Oregon where they really need it.
This morning we headed out for a drive over to see Brian & Rita.  As we were leaving the park we new it had been raining a lot but not this much.

It looks like some of the park is underwater.

 As you can tell the creek that goes by the road here has kind of backed up into this part of the camp ground.

 This guy has a boat for when the water gets to high around his rig.  As we were heading over to Longbeach we noticed a little bit of standing water. but not to bad.
When we got over to close to Brian & Rita's we get a call from them that they are heading our way because they have no water.  We told them we were just about 10 minutes away.  So we meet them at there house and visited with them, Josi & James had also showed up for the weekend.  We visited for a while then headed into town to have a late lunch early dinner at the local Pizza Chic's.  On the way there we just had to stop -------

 at Rita's & Cyndy's favorite fabric store in Longbeach.  Lucky for me they have these nice conformable chairs to sit in while they look around to see what they might need. After about a half hour they found what they really needed and off to Pizza we went.
Again we had good pizza and visited for a good long time and set up what we will be doing when we move over here next Tuesday.  We will be moving Tuesday to the Longbeach TTN for three weeks before heading up to Tacoma for Christmas.  Cyndy & Rita will get a lot of sewing done and Brian and I will find something to do if it is wrong.

Heading back across the Astoria Bridge it looked like we still have about another 4 feet before the bridge will be under water.  I have never heard of the bridge ever being under water, but there is a first time for everything.  Tomorrow is race day and Sunday night football, should be a great relaxing day of sports and watching it rain!!!!!  I know we headed north and I new it might be wet.

November 13th

Friday November 13th, if I am correct this is the 3rd Friday the 13th this year.  Today is just one of those lazy days.  Woke up to rain, been raining all day, and going to bed with rain.  A good day to stay inside and keep warm.  Well some of us stayed in side all day.  Turbo & Spike didn't get out of bed tell almost 10:00 AM.  They must not want to go out in the rain.  But with a little coaxing they both went out and you would of thought they were glued to the post.  Then it was right back into the coach, they don't like to get wet.

 As you can tell they didn't want anything o do with going out side.  I think they did nothing but sleep and eat just a little today.

Turbo was enjoying the fireplace and the heat from it.  It keeps the coach really pretty warm.  It has a pretty good electric heater in it.  We shut it off at night and set the furnace at 62 so that the coach stays cool and makes it easier to sleep.
Cyndy has been busy sewing today, she is working on a baby blanket for one of her girl friends daughters.

 Yes, it is for a little boy!!!

She almost has it done, just need to put a border around it then put the backing on it.  She is very creative with her ideas.  I think she only has one more to go and then all the baby's will be done for this year.
Myself today I worked on getting some presentations done for seminars at RV Shows.  I have been wanting to get them printed up and put into a book for when I do the slide show I can read my notes a little bit easier then looking at the computer all the time.  It makes it look like I know what I am doing ha ha.  Anyway I only have a couple of more to do then will have a pretty good agenda for RV Shows.
Well tomorrow it is suppose to be another 100% chance of rain, but we will take a ride over to Brian & Rita's to visit for a while. We haven't been to their house scene this spring.  It will be good to see the two of them.
Next Tuesday we move over to Longbeach for 3 weeks then head up to Tacoma for Christmas with the grand kids snd family.

November 11 Veterans Day

First off, I want to say I am proud to be a Veteran and want to stand up and say thanks to all of our Brothers and Sisters that have served in the military.  I hope the people that did not serve will thank a vet for serving their country today and anytime you see one.
This morning I was up early and heading to Kelso, WA to get the seats fixed. I arrived at Perfect Stitch Upholstery at 8:30 AM and they went right to work.  Andrew told me it would take most of the day. So I went for a walk around the area just to see what is in this area.  First I noticed a lot of fast food restaurants.  There seems to be a few shops around also, from furniture stores to Harbor Freight.  Yes Harbor Freight, so you know I had to check it out and see if there was anything that I might need.  It has been at least 6 months since the last time I was at one.  After walking up and down every isle I did find a couple of small things that I may need.
Then it was time for lunch and right across the street from Perfect Stitch  was this neat looking Hamburger place called Burgerville.  I had never eaten at one so had a bacon Hamburger with the works.  It was pretty good so if I find another one in the future I may eat there again.
About 2:00 PM Andrew and his crew had the seats done and I was ready to head back.  They did a great job and here are a couple of pictures.

 Looks good, drivers seat was the worst.

 Where my fingers are is all built back up and new material replacing what use to be a worn out material that you could see the foam.  It was all flat down to the plastic nob.  Now I don't feel like I am falling out the door while driving down the road.  

 Cyndy's seat just need a little bit of foam build up so it looks good.  If you need some Upholstery work done please see Perfect Stitch, their web site is http://www.perfectstitchup.com/.  They did a great job, and had the job done early.  Thanks guys.
I got back to the coach about 4:30 PM and was happy to see my lovely bride, we are together all the time now.  So when ever we are apart it is nice to be back together, IwWould be lost with out her.