beese

lunch on demand

2011-05-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Despite the overly soggy and cool spring, I've managed to get some stuff to grow from seed. I got a simple salad mix and overseeded hoping at least some would take. Well, looks like a lot of them took. Now I've got salad for days. I had it for lunch and dinner yesterday and lunch again today. And guess what? I'm already tired of salad. Hoping Mike helps me out with eating it all. Might have to give some to the neighbors while we're in the Ozarks NEXT WEEKEND! So stoked!

Sunny and warm here, hoping it lasts all weekend.

When Dedication Pays Off

2011-04-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

Remember that dream Mike wrote in November about what he wants to do when "he grows up"? That dream to be a hardcore athlete? I'd dare say he done growed up...

On March 12, 2011 he participated in his first mountain bike race. It was called the Echo Red-to-Red. It was held in....Echo, Oregon! Just about 2 hours from Walla Walla so it was a nice little excursion for us. Unfortunately, our in-house mechanic (ahem) had not yet completed the required preventive maintenance on either bus, which as you know is required before the season's first sizable road trip. Thus, we took the Subaru. Note to self: Do the darned preventative maintenance--a bus is a perfect place to change into spandex!

Mike raced in the Category 3 group. His buddy, Dan from Ellensburg, also raced in the same category and age group. They were an excited bunch! First race of the season and first ever race for Mike.

The town of Echo has maybe 300 residents. There were about 410 racers!! It was pretty wild. The town was so accommodating. They were truly excited to have everyone in town. The course was on private property on Sno Road which weaved thru vineyards and beautiful natural Oregon greenery.
Though I'm not sure exactly how many people were in Mike's category and age group, here's a look at the starting line.

The land owners were also the proprietors of Sno Road Winery. Can you guess where I spent my time during the race?

The course was about 24 miles long and not a course that spectators could see. So I spent a lot of time meandering the town of Echo and taking pictures of their old buildings. About an hour and half after the start, I started seeing folks coming it. It was a little deceiving knowing which category was arriving because they started the professionals early but they had a much longer course (31 miles?). I hustled over the little bridge and positioned myself just about 300 yards from the finish line.

Being that Mike was wearing the Allegro jersey (a dark one and hard to see until its right up on you) and there were about 5 or 6 other Allegro rides, I thought I saw one approaching. So I grabbed a few action shots thinking that it was his buddy Justin. Not too long after that I saw his buddy Dan. Knowing that Dan wasn't as hardcore of a rider as Mike, I thought for sure something had happened to Mike if Dan was finishing before him. So I started to head back to the finish line and saw Mike coming towards me. Apparently the person I thought was Justin was really Mike! In my own defense, they were going really really fast and I had my eyes behind the picture viewer so I wasn't really looking at faces when I snapped this picture!

Back at the finish line we started to look at the reader board. When you pass the finish line, one of the officials grabs the detachable tag off your jersey and slaps in on this board. Although unofficial at the time, Mike's tag was the first on the board for his age group AND his category. That means, he was the first one to finish in the mass start picture above!! Way to go Mike!!

1st, 2nd and 3rd placers got an appropriate colored cowbell. First price also got a bottle of the Sno Road Winery's Red-to-Red table wine! Woot woot! His buddy Dan got second place too! It was a great race and a fun little adventure!

When I Grow Up....

2010-11-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever stumbled on something in life that makes you realize what you ACTUALLY wanted to do/be when you “grew up”? I recently had this epiphany and it has completely rearranged my personal aspirations and dreams. I now know what I “should have” done in my early twenties instead of pursuing music. Don’t get me wrong, playing tuba with the Boston Symphony for a summer was fantastic and the instrument has granted me numerous opportunities and a blossoming military career. Growing up in Utah at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains was like having the world’s coolest and biggest playground right in your back yard. Combine that with the fact that I was a very straight-laced kid all the way through High School who loved to ski, hike, backpack, snowshoe, mountain/road bike and you get a recipe that could have prepared me to pursue a dream……..to be an athlete. I think I could have competed in downhill skiing and who knows….maybe the Olympic Games would have been something I was working towards. Ski in the Olympic Games???? That would have been amazing!

This “athlete” thing is always something I have had in the back of my mind. Hell, one of the main reasons I enlisted in the Army was to get the “fat graduate student” beaten out of me and get back to a healthier lifestyle. The journey that brought me to what has rocked me to my core started last summer with a $300 craigslist purchase……a road bike. Nothing fancy by any means but I started to ride with the local club and every time I went out (most of these folks have been racing for YEARS) I would get dropped like a bad habit but I would push myself and I wasn’t getting discouraged. Rather I found myself looking forward to the challenge and the two hours between getting off of work and the start of the ride seemed like eons (still does). What has surprised me so much is that this excitement to get on the bike and go pound out 35 miles or more isn’t going away and I am gladly putting up with increasingly nasty weather conditions to get my “fix”. I day dream about it and every time I come home from a ride I feel totally exhilarated despite the burning thighs, stinging eyes and a numb crotch (otherwise known as “EWD”….extreme wiener discomfort). Thank goodness training helps that last part; otherwise I wouldn’t understand why any guy would like the sport.

It will be a year in March since I really started riding consistently and the gains I have made have been huge. Besides building a solid “base” mileage and old pants fitting me again I have found something way more important….. a purpose. At age 35 I definitely don’t have any delusions of becoming a pro-athlete but I think I could set out with a goal to be a darnn-good amateur, hell going from band-geek to athlete is a strange mind twist….you really can’t “win” anything playing tubaJ The comments and support from the local riders has been amazing, great group of folks that are truly inclusive and willing to share knowledge. Just last night a guy that has been racing for 40+ years and dominates the local Cyclocross scene gave me props on how much I have improved, it meant a lot.

Now comes the tough part……how do you take the ever increasing responsibilities that are indicative of our age group and then toss in a time and money-intensive “hobby”? I haven’t the foggiest idea right now how to fit this in, the demands of daily life are taxing as it is. All I can think of is to just do all the other things “better”. I already need to be a better husband and to tell you the truth…this bicycling fetish isn’t helping. I don’t have the meters or gauges to determine what I should or can do…… how far do you push to pursue a newly found dream? Is it worth it? Is it exceedingly selfish? What’s in it for my family? Would I “live” without it, definitely. Would my happy –go-lucky nature change, nope. So why should I try? TOUGH question. Would it be horrible of me to want the question to be: “why should I let a dream pass me by a second time”? This may be my last chance to do something like this in my life and I kinda don’t want to look back and not have tried. I am not a person that regrets things but as a person with a nauseatingly positive outlook on life I obviously feel that I can give meaning to that kid still inside of me that has a dream of doing something when he “grows up”. Like I said, this “thing” has really gotten down deep inside me and won’t let go and I can’t help but think that my wife is looking at me and thinking “who is this guy”? And I don’t blame her; she hasn’t seen this side of me because it has been buried for fifteen years. How in the hell am I supposed to fix that?

I have a long way to go (not just training) if I want to pay the $140 to get the local racing team’s “kit” (bibs and jersey). As soon as you put something on that says “racing” on it….you damn well better be sure you can hold your own. The first race of the season is in March, if I want to do this I will have to dedicate myself to at least 6 hrs (80-120 miles) on the bike or more a week just to even get close to having the “legs” and “lungs” to compete….after all, I wouldn’t want to go out and give a bad-rap to my newly joined team. That’s when you become “that guy”, you know, the guy that can’t see the truth through his own ego? If the stars align correctly and I am able to figure out how to balance this “epiphany” with the things that are most important in life (marriage, family) I might have a shot at this…………………………………thanks for listening.

Maupin Minded on Monday

2010-06-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

We begin preparations for Maupin and the 5th Annual Deschutes River RendezVW tonight!

On the list for this evening--tranny fluid change, kitchen restock and bus general cleaning.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!

Home Stretch!

2010-05-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

Welp--we's in the home stretch, eh! We've been gone for so long!!

While Mike was at drill, I braved Ikea. Didn't realize it, but they were giving away free breakfasts. I had vaguely even remembered they had a "restaurant", so that was a nice surprise especially since I hadn't eaten. I'm getting tired of eating out.

I was impressed with my restraint while shopping. I saw lots of cute ideas, but nothing that really jumped off the shelves. I did find a few little things. The key is to *not* get a shopping cart. If you can't carry it, then you don't need it. And let me just tell you, Ikea is a huge store. I ended up off-loading the majority of my finds before I got to the checkout stand.

After Ikea, I punished myself with a trip to the Tacoma Mall. Too many people! Then a double whammy with a trip to the commissary for non-cold foods. Lots of people there too! But I done good. All $250 worth of grub fit in my reusable bags! And then before I knew it, it was 4pm and time to get ready to pick up my Soldier! But since I did have a few minutes, I took a little site seeing trip to North Fort Lewis. Since I had already driven by our first house in Tacoma, it was only fitting to see the Army barracks that we lived in for those three years! And my my my, has ~~Fort Lewis~~ Joing Base Lewis McChord grown! Lots and lots of new Company Headquarters and barracks. Plus ROTC finally got some new digs and it looks as though they are going to demolish the old WWII barracks that housed them for the last 50 years!

It was refreshing to see how the north fort has changed. The amenities are so nice now. And I especially thought it was refreshing to see signs like "Got Army Strong?" within close proximity to signs that said "Got Nightmares?"--complete with a number to call. It's the little things like that which really remind me of how hard military life is. But seeing the amenities and the signs really shows you that our men and women are being taken care of. A great feeling to have on this Memorial Day weekend!

Tomorrow the band is playing at the Capitol Rotunda. I'm hoping to make it there for the concert.

See ya back in Waller Waller tomorrow!

Folklife

2010-05-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Slept in this morning until 8! That's sleepin in for us folk! Had a nice leisurely morning. Drank some coffee and had some more good convo with the Walkers.

Made our way to CB's Nuts, where Carissa works. A neat lil peanut roastery in Kingston. Such a cool operation--America's small business to the heart! Great nuts too. We picked up some roasted almonds and fresh peanut butter! Even got to see peanuts becoming butter!

Then we caught the Kingston ferry back to Edmonds, where Mike snacked on his almonds.

The good Lord baby Jebus kept watch over the car and no tickets on the windshield either!! Had a quick little drive to Seattle--all 23 miles--and got a good parking spot right at the Space Needle for only $10.

A little drizzly out, but that goes with Seattle afterall. Made our way into the Folklife Festival and were joined an hour later by the Walkers who took the walkon ferry from Bainbridge.

Did a lot of strolling around and listening to some good tunes. Seemed to be a lot of old tyme bands--more than I remembered from last year, but still good nonetheless! Lots of interesting peoples out, lots of street performers and crazy teens.

Got my roasted corn, did some perusing of the arts and crafts. Found lots of freebies--some Greek yogart, cheese and coupons galore! Also found the Dave's Killer Bread stand. Got 2 of the Sin Dogs, one Peace Log and a loaf of rye--got a free t-shirt and grocery bag to go with it! Then went for an afternoon coffee. Then we parted ways and headed south to McChord, or shall I say..Joint Base Lewis-McChord! Checked in to the Evergreen Inn for a whopping $39/night. The room is a suite, with two flat screens, fridge, coffee maker, and living room. Not bad digs!!! Bigger than our first apartment, and the wifi is money!! Nice reception and all!!

Just lounging at the moment, and toying with the idea of doing some bowling on base later this evening. But the first thing on the agenda after this blog post is to repack everything in preparation for some serious schopping tomorrow!!!!

To the Mother Land!

2010-05-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it was the expensive crappy beer. Or the expensive litres of gasoline. Or the fact we are American thru and thru...we were ready to come home.

The signs before the Peach Arch said that the wait was 2 hours. Luckily, it was more like 45 minutes. Zipped right in, didn't have to pay any duties on the ice wine either. Mike did let out a queal as soon as we were waived thru the border.

There's no place like home!

We decided to do a little putting around on Whidbey Island since we were in the neck of the woods. It was pretty rainy but still nice. We took drove into Coupeville where we were married, and stopped in at the Knead and Feed for a late lunch. What a cute place!! The best homemade breads and soups. You get a numbered old wooden spoon so they know where to bring your food. They also had the best smelling cinnamon sticky buns, but we passed on that.

After Coupeville, we drove down the island and boarded the Clinton-Mulkteio ferry. Once we landed in Mulkteio, we drove to the Edmonds-Kingston ferry. There was no way we were going to get on the boat with our car with the after work / holiday weekend traffic, so we parked our car about 10 blocks from the dock. We parked next to a church and across from the police station, so we felt comfortable that either the baby Jebus or Johnny Law would be looking after our beloved Subaru! We just barely made the 4:30 sailing and met our good friends, the Walkers on the other side in Kingston.

We pretty much went straight to their favorite watering hole, the Hood Canal Brewery. They must've known how much Mike was hankerin for a real IPA. We stayed for several pints--too busy drinkin to snap any pics sorry! We then headed back to Casa de Walker. Such a cute house tucked nicely into a sleepy lush green street! And we finally got to meet the Bear dog!!!

After a great couple of bowls of some homemade crock pot chili, some vintage pinball and great convo, we called it a night around midnight! A late one for all of us early birds!

Thanks for hosting us, Chris and Carissa!!! It was great!!

Vancouver

2010-05-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Checking out of Whistler a day early was a good idea. We got some really nice weather when we arrived in Vancouver. Sunny and a bit warm—comparatively speaking. Lots of great views along the way. Seems to be the par for BC...such a beautiful place, all be it freaking expensive!

While we weren’t able to check into the hotel immediately upon arrival, we were able to park in the hotel lot. Not free or anything. $29 Canado bucks! Shit this place is expensive!
First we went to Grainville Island. Holey moley there were a lot of shops there. So many fascinating things. We had a quick lunch in the main market part. I had a maple and butter crepe. OMG. I love crepes, and this one was similar in authenticity as the ones they sell on the street in Paris. Yummy. Mike had some fresh vegan food—a couple bean salads, cold couscous and a pita.

Walking around, we found a place called The Hang Out. They specialized in hammocks and hammock chairs. Although we recently just purchased some chair swings for the pergola, these hammock chairs were quite different. After walking off lunch a little, we returned and purchased two of them. Instead of getting the chain cable attachment, we opted for the rope and cable, so we can theoretically hang them from any joist on the pergola! Yay! More seating. I smell a pergola party in our near future!

We also checked out the floating houses on Grainville Island. So insanely cool!

We ended up walking all the way thru the Heritage District and onto Robson Street. Lots and lots of shops. I was in the mood to spend, but couldn’t seem to find anything interesting. Then we went further and into Gastown. How fitting that Mike had the farts too, after all those bean salads! We stopped at the Steamworks Brewery and Pub. Mike had been longing for an IPA since we tried the Grainville Island ones which blew chunks. Unfortunately, the "IPA" at Steamworks was more like a watery pilsner. Booo Hiss!!

After our woeful beer experience, we headed back to the hotel. I pretty much fell right asleep. Got a little road weary. Slept like a rock!

Change of Plans!

2010-05-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

While we love Whistler, I think we're ready to see what Vancouver has. Besides, who ever thought you could put the two of us in one town for more than 2 days!? We made it to three so there!

Getting a free night in Vancouver thanks to lots of business travel and hotel points. Going to check out the market and see what else we can get into.

Forgot to mention, Mike took me to a pre-screening of Sex and the City 2. It was fabulous!!! But I don't think he liked it. What a trooper.

See ya in Vancouver!

No Captions Required

2010-05-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Great form!!

The Big Day!

2010-05-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

We're gearing up for a big breakfast before we head out on the ZipTrek tour. I am so excited. I remember how Eric and I used to rig a pulley system from our trees back in Hammond. We zipped from one tree to the other, all 20 feet of it. Well, it's going to be like that today, on crack.

Look for a video later today!

Whistler

2010-05-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

The road from Lytton to Whistler was not for the faint hearted! Talk about twisty and turny!! But SO worth it. We're talking untouched forests and raging "creeks" running along side the road. But I won't lie, there were a few stretches of road that had me feeling like I was living that one email forward with the crazy ass single lane road across Bulovia without a guardrail. But the views were completely worth it as you can see!

It took a long time to get to Whistler because of all the hairpin turns and climbing of mountains, but we made it just in time to spend a few hours on the Peak 2 Peak gondola. Sure was cold and bright up there!

The gondola has the largest unsupported span in the world (I belive). It goes from Whistler to Blackholm. Amazing!!

Even saw some wildlife! A blackbear cub munching on some nature!

Adventures in Teepee!

2010-05-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Lytton—

We got a pretty early start in Penticton—normal for us! We were checked out by 9 and in downtown Kelowna a short time later. Not many shops were open, so we headed to Summerland Pyramid Winery. I was a little skeptical at first because this place was listed as Canada’s most visited winery. I was sure it was going to be a tourist trap and stray too far from a real wine experience. I was pleasantly surprised. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a giant “wine spirit”—a carved face in an old log. A perfect photo opp!

Inside we were one of a few tasting groups, so we took up root at the end of the bar. The tasting gal, Marie, came right over and got us started on their sparkling wines. We shared a tasting—which worked out great because it was just barely 10AM. They had some nice ones, and I was banking on the Pinot Noir Sparkling Ice Wine, but it was kind of eugh. Then we dove into the ice wines. Those were $3 per wine per taste. We tried 7 I think. One of them, the merlot, was $148 for a 200mL bottle! They were all scrumptious, especially the Chardonnay and the Peace Pinot Noir. We ended up getting a buzz, and a bottle of the Gabriel Sparkling Wine.

Then we hit up downtown Kelowna for some grindage. Found the Marmalade Cat Café. We shared a turkey sandwich then headed to a few shops. Found a couple perfect hippie magnets for the bus at the Hemp Shop, then we hit the road.

It was a nice 2+ hour drive to Lytton. I took a few naps along the way while Mike drove. I was pretty tired from our noisy neighbors the night before, so much so that I had the mid nap snorts that woke myself up. When I was awake, the drive was very scenic. So much untouched nature, was very nice to see!

We got into our resort, the Kumsheen, right on the Thompson River. As soon as the teepees came in sight from the road, I knew this place was going to be fantastic. When we pulled into the drive, a familiar image came into view…a Volkswagen Bus!

The resort had a 1972 Transporter, complete with cute company logo and all. Even though Mike booked this place, he swears he knew nothing of them owning a VW. In talking with the staff, they said the bus is used to haul laundry and fresh linens to the teepees and cabin tents. In the lodge area, they have a picture of the original owner and rafting guide, Bernie, loading a raft on top of the bus for the maiden voyage in 1973. Our Obviously still early in the vacation season, as there was still some snow on the mountain tops, the place was pretty much ours.

The teepee, well, it was just breath-taking! I know you may be thinking, how can a teepee take your breath away? Perhaps it has something to do with the vistas...you be the judge...

The resort has all kinds of fun stuff--cornhole (bean bags), horse shoes, a large chess set, frisbee golf and volleyball. It was a good night sleep, really brisk out so perfect for snuggling. Nice hot shower in the morning and a cup of joe for Mike. Then it was off to Whistler...

BC is full of...

2010-05-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

Bubble butt bike riders, hippie hitchhikers and wonderful winemakers!
Saw lots of cyclists as soon as we crossed over. Beautiful places to ride--very hilly and so scenic. I am amazed at the beauty here. All of the brochures I saw before arriving had great vistas, and they were not just strategic photoshopped pictures! It is real and the beauty is everywhere, and the bikers take advantage of it so we're seeing lots of Canadian ass as we drive along!

I was also surprised to see "Hitchhiking Permitted" signs! Even before we crossed over and especially once we were in. There seem to be multitudes of hippie cross-country backpackers. Most of them look like really interesting folk...but we're not taking any chances.

And the winemakers. Well they seem to have cornered the market on whites in this region. I am so used to Walla Walla and not being able to taste whites. We have already tasted at six wineries: Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, Desert Hills, Cassini, Road 13, Inskillin Okanagan Vineyards, and Hester Creek Estate Vineyard.

Burrowing Owl had the whole estate thing going on--set right in their vineyards with a very contemporary tasting room and adjacent restaurant and inn. It was kind of a tourist trap--one of the first big wineries as you come into the country. The wines were pricey--mostly $30-$35 a bottle. They did have a really good merlot though, but we didn't buy anything. Here's me at Burrowing Owl...

Desert Hills looked promising from the moment we pulled up. There was a VW parked in the lot--a Vanagan, though! It was an estate in that it appeared the winemaker/proprietor had his gigantic house right next to the tasting room and the kids were running between the tasting room and house. Once in there we began chatting up some other tasters who were from Calgary. I think the tasting lady was getting a little frazzled because none of us were listening to her as she poured the wines, we were too busy planning our next stop as these Calgarians had some great suggestions. They also mentioned they would be headed to the Seattle area in June, so we gave them some great recommendations of Walla Walla vintners who have tasting rooms in Woodinville. Though I never got their names, I did get a good map with lots of places circled. We did buy a Gamay wine there, because it tasted yummy and we had never heard of the Gamay grape. As we were leaving, we saw our new Canadian friends leaving...in the Volkswagen! GREAT minds think alike! : )

Next was Cassini. They had the most boring labels ever, but the wine was fantastic! The tasting gal was so nice! We bought a bottle of great wine from there--a gift for someone special--if we can manage to save it!!

Next was Road 13 because our Canadian friends said they made sparkling. They were off the path a little and had a great medieval looking castle tasting room with a great big wooden door and fancy hardware. The wines were "okay" and they were all out of anything sparkling. We paid the tasting fee--only one so far--and left without a purchase, but not before we said hello to their two mini daschunds and taking lots of pictures.

Next was Inniskillin Okanagan Vineyards, another recommendation from our new friends because they had ICE WINE. Apparently there is a huge Ice Wine Festival here--amen to cold growing season here so they can do this festival almost every year with new crop!! They had FOUR ice wines to try and we dove right in! There was a Vidal, two reislings (one single vineyard) and a TEMPRANILLO--a red ice wine. I was surely in heaven. The vidal was super tasty. The first reisling tasted a lot like Tertulia Cellars ice wine and the TEMPARNILLO was...simply fan-fucking-tastic! I would have bought a bottle, if it did not cost one hundred canadobucks! But the gal gave us a big huge pour, and we were supposed to pay a $3 fee for tasting the icewines. However, we bought 2 bottles of ice wine and I think that exempted us from the fee. But $3 for almost a half glass of $100 wine, which by the way was only 375mL, was a hell of a deal.

Behold the red ice wine...

I am enjoying every last drop!

We then hit up Hester Creek Estates. We had looked at this one online because they also have an inn. A very expensive inn. And Mike stopped tasting after the second wine because he said they tasted like ass. I have to agree. Kind of a crummy winery to finish the day, but we headed to Penticton to find a place to stay since we didn't have reservations.

We ended up at the Slumber Lodge right across from the south shore of the Okanagan Lake. Pretty cheap and has wifi. We changed and headed out to find dinner on foot, thinking a little leg stretch would be nice after all that wine. However, we made the mistake of not taking a map or having a plan really. Lets just say we walked and walked and walked, and I have a mini blister on the bottom of my foot to prove it. We ended up at Sage and Vines Bistro. After waiting 15 minutes just to order drinks ($5/pint micros ouch!) and then another 10 before someone came to get our dinner order, when the place was damn near empty, we decided the beer was enough. The waiter felt bad, rightfully, and gave us the beers on the house. We quietly slipped out and ran across the street and ordered a pizza to go. Since we had 20 minutes to wait--starving after the 5 mile trek and still no dinner--Mike headed back to the hotel to get the car and I went to the liquor store for beer. Lamest beer selection ever! Not that I would buy it, but Corona was $15/six pack! PBR was $12 for 6-12 oz beers! Nutzo!!! I settled on an 8 pack--8??--of Wildcat "Strong" Beer. LOL

We got back to the hotel, chowed down on pizza that reminded us of Mad Mushroom from IU. Mike cracked a few Wildcats, then we headed to the casino across the street. Found a slot machine with a VW on it, so in went 10 canadobucks. We won a dollar and then proceeded to lose it all in a few other slots within about 20 minutes. Gambling just ain't that fun!

Back to the Slumber Lodge and it was apparent our neighbors had no intention of slumbering. LOUD and ROUDY. We called the front desk and it took about another hour for them to shut the hell up. Hey! I'm old and need my sleep! : )

All in all we are having the most fantastic time!!! More pictures on the flickr! Off to Kelowna and then the teepee!

Later Gaters!

2010-05-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

We're headed out first thing in the AM. Osoyoos crossing and some wine country pronto. They're supposed to have the best ice wines. I'm looking forward to that!

Turns out t-m.obile has a suck plan in terms of international roaming. So the phones will be completely off. For.10.days!

Did I mention, on Sunday we're staying in a teepee. A real life teeeeeeeeeeeepeeeeeeeeeeeee.

: )

Long time, no update!

2010-05-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Spring has officially sprung in Walla Walla. We know this because it's sunny and warm one minute, then overcast and rainy the next. We've also already already experienced a 20 degree swing--82 degrees on Monday and 62 on Wednesday! But no complaints here, because no matter the weather, spring arrival means summer's round the corner!

A slight departure from previous winters, we have not chiseled into stone our entire summer. Can you believe that? But we do have some great things on the horizon, with the important details (who, what and when) yet to be determined!

First and foremost, we are on the hills of the Great British Columbian Adventure of 2010. Against my better judgment, we are going to attempt a border crossing. No offense to any potential Canadian readers, but my last Canadian "adventure" did not go so well. Hence forth my reluctance to use "Canada" in the title of said vacation. However, I will concede that my traveling party was mostly to blame for the bitterness leftover from that trip to Montreal, but the locals sure were not a welcoming bunch. Perhaps it was the provence, and maybe the left coast of Canadia will be different. We shall see.

What is the nature of this potential ill-begotten adventure? I'm glad you asked! The reason is, I shall crest the 30 mark. Yes, I said crest. Sounds much better than, I'm fittin' to be a 30 year old hag.

We will be departing the great lil town of Waller Waller, going north through the Okanagan. Supposed to have some great ice wines up yonder. Then our route will take us through the backwoods and eventually into Whistler. Our good friends in Tacoma offered up their floating timeshare and we are lucky to be getting a condo with kitchenette in the heart of Whistler Village for the week for only $250! The day before and the day of my birthday will include some fabulous zip line tours. Nothing like swingin from the trees to celebrate moving into your thirties. Who says you have to grow up.

Other Canadian activities include, but are not limited to, Vancouver market and the suspension bridge, dinner with expensive champagne, dilly dallying, sleeping in, testing the internationalability of our credit cards and the Peak 2 Peak gondola ride. And maybe a tattoo…afterall am I not entitled to some midlife hotmessness at the ripe ole age of thurty?

Eventually, we will attempt to re-enter the US at the Peace Arch. Hoping there will be no questions about the amount of vino we plan to re-enter with. We will be staying with some good friends in Kingston, checking out the local watering holes and a great peanut roster we've heard about. Then we'll hit up downtown Seattle for the Folklife Festival . If you're in the area, you should definitely check it out.

After hippie immersion, we will do a complete 180 as Mike will be reporting for National Guard drill Memorial Day weekend. Not sure if there's a parade or what, but I'm planning on attending, as the 133rd Army Band is a class act and may just be covering a Dave Matthews Band song! Holler! Also planning on hittin up the Post Exchange and Commissary, as well all my favorite shopping haunts--Ikea, World Market, Nordies, Half Priced Books and Tuesday Morning.

This trip will conclude with the standard 5 hour ride back over the Cascades. Hoping to take an off-course potty break down near Naches, to check out a big Forest Service cabin that we are thinking will fill the bill for next year's family reunion, which we are scheduled to host.

Look for lotsa updates next week as we will be blogging from the road.
~Elaine

ps. I intentionally failed to mention this will not be a VW bus adventure. Boo on us! Time is limited afterall, and I fear we might not get into Canadia in our hippie rig. Just sayin' : )

SoCal part 1

2010-03-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

Birds of Paradise still in bloom here in San Deager! Headed to Santa Barbara via Ventura on Friday. How bad is traffic going north on a Friday? Guess I'll find out. Stay tuned for more pictures--now that I have managed to down load them on my gubment computer with a strict no download policy! Whoops!

Check 'em out here www.flickr.com/tackybuzzer

Cabin Fever

2010-02-23T11:32:00.000-08:00

Holler!

Spring is on the horizon, and the daydreaming, planning and scheming is in full swing at the Vandiver's!

Boy do we have some great stuff ahead....

Trio Bottling is this weekend. Super stoked about it and very happy that Mike will be able to participate! I wonder what we will be bottling? The surprise is the best part. We gladly trade labor for wine any day, especially from these vintners! Hooah! Please check out their website. Support Small Business (and drinkin').

A story in the local paper shows that the Carnegie Art Center in Walla Walla is offering adult art classes. I've already signed up for one in March. I've got a great gift idea for someone special…

Last two weeks of March will put me in San Diego for "work". Poor me! I have a very cool weekend trip to Santa Barbara earmarked for the weekend of March 27 while I'm there. I'm dubbing it my "you can do it by yer self, gurl" trip, since I'll be alone. Haven't done anything like that since my tripp to the Netherlands back in 2000. I'm hoping to get a half day kayak trip around the Channel Islands. Already booked my room, just need to get the rental car situated.

April 10-11 we are hosting the wonderful Walker's. Looking forward to some wine tasting as well as a staged photoshoot. It is my intention that the pictures will be eye candy inspiration for our favorite artists at Methane Studios. We're pretty comfortable being DMB poster children and this is our push to make it on a 2010 tour poster! Should be a hoot!

Last week of April, our parents arrive. We will start head first on the pergula, and immediately follow up with the Spring Release weekend on May Day. Gonna be bigger and better than the last year, me thinks. Plus we'll have a nice place to land on the newly constructed deck with our newly purchased and newly released wines! The Farmers Market opens that day as well! Nothing like some quality time and hard labor with Jim, Nancy and Tom.

The very next weekend, May 7-9, Mother's Day weekend, is Balloon Stampede weekend. The whole reason we found our way to the loverly town of Walla Walla. My dad will probably still be here, and we are expecting a crowd of friends for Tacoma to be here as well.

Two weekends later is Memorial Day weekend, also known as the weekend I officially turn over into old status. Planning on ringing in my 30th year in Tetons. Hoping to score a spot at Jenny Lake or our beloved Signal Mountain.

June will be kicked off on the 18th at our favorite VW gathering--the RendezVW in Maupin, Oregon. The rest of the June is jam packed with Uncle Sam--Mike has his two week National Guard training. I am hoping to make one of the concerts this year.

Then into July, on the 22nd we meet up in Moab, Utah, for the family reunion. I have been wanting to visit southern Utah for some time now, just excited that this year it will work out! Planning on leaving the Greekertoons behind, but will be substituting with the kayak. Slot canyons await!!

Aug 14-18 we're hoping to make another trip to Salt Lake. This time for a free DMB show. Free tickets, but who's payin' for gas? : ) Either way, another chance to hang out in SLC and Nancy is pumped to see a Dave Show. Hoping this all works out, would be killer!!

August 31 there is another DMB show in Boise. Since it's only 5 hours from here, and it is also a good friend's birthday, she is flying in from Indiana to see it with me. Free room at the Marriott within walking distance to the venue. Amen to rewards points. This should be a great meeting of two Hoosiers!

Then it's Labor Day weekend! The DMB Gorge show. I know I look like a DMB freak, but when the shoe fits and the schedule works, go fer it! Eric and Lindsay are purchasing concert tickets which makes them that much more likely to show! Mo and Bri are planning on flying in from Jersey again. The Walkers will be there as well, tear drop trailer and all. The goal for us--a tandem bus adventure and group tee shirts!

Summer plans will conclude on Sept 18, our 6th wedding anniversary. That is the RooFest in Graham, Washington. A whole day faire dedicated to greyhounds and stuff. We plan to make the trek. Greek should be a camping pro by then!

In the mean time, it's all work work work.

Holdin' down the fort...and the beese

2010-02-03T16:17:00.001-08:00

Mike is headed to Portland right now. He has some sort of meeting at Portland District. Then he flies to Seattle, and has drill. MAJOR BUMMER! They don't usually have drill every other weekend, but we are just fortunate that he was already flying to Seattle, so now he doesn't have to make the 600 mile round trip drive in one weekend.

So I'm in charge of the furkids. I'm also babysitting the neighbor boys tomorrow. And on Saturday, I have a VFW District meeting in Pomeroy. Weekend will be gone before I know it.

But, I have big bus driving plans! Lets hope the weather holds out!

Delayed Update

2010-01-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

Obviously slacking on a blog update! So much has happened since my last post in October. First and foremost...we have a new member in our family. We are pleased to introduce you to Greek Borracho, our retired racing greyhound. That was his track name and he answers to Greek so how could we change it. As you can see he is GORGEOUS! He is what they consider a red fawn. He looks like a deer mostly, and the cats are convinced he is a horse. Quite a big boy for only 2 years old--his back is right at my fingertip length, not that that says much with me being only 5 feet tall! He is 66 pounds of pure love!

As you can see, he still has massive haunches from his days running around the track. It is no wonder that he was retired so soon, he is too sweet to be a lifetime racer. He had no registered races to his powerful name, just destined to be a couch potatoe and we are happy to oblige him. Now, the cats, on the other hand, are still on the fence! But Greek has learned that little Gidget rules the roost.

He is quite the sight around town. So sleek and elegant, he is always drawing oooohs and ahhhs and both of us just love to brag brag brag about him. I'm surprised we wait so long to be dog people, this is really fun!

Fall release in the Walla Walla valley was a great one. A blast of deep cold swept thru the valley in early October. Many vintners were rushing to pull fruit from the vine in fear that it would freeze. While my dad was in town for Thanksgiving, we took him to one of our fave wineries, Tertulia Cellars. Never miss a moment to drive the bus 'round town.

Also hard to miss an opportunity to capture the beauty that is crush. As seen above, the grape scraps in all their purple beauty are enough to make any aspiring photographer run down a camera battery or three...

Dad quickly became a great wino. I can't believe his favorite is Syrah! So bold for such a new pallette! Here we are in the barrel room at North Star. They always put on a good show there. This year it was live music, great fancy cheese and a chocolate fondu fountain.

I was fortunate to be asked to help pick fruit for one of my favorite wineries--Trio Vintners. I could write a whole chapter on this experience, and I fully intend to do so one day! In summation--crisp September morning, hot coffee, fog rising with the sun, nothing but me, the fruit, vines, dirt and the chip-chip-chip of my pruners. One day, I think I will become a wine grape grower...

That is Tim, one of the trio of Trio Vintners, surveying the harvest crop.

Big lovely clusters. They even let me taste a few. Super tart and much smaller than I had imagined--I guess I always think of concord grapes. I just love the white dusty covering over the berries, I am sure there is a fancy name for it. They are "dusty" like blueberry but much much more supple.

And in mid September, we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. My aunt Teresa sent us a bottle of wine that she saved from our wedding. It was from Canoe Ridge...in Walla Walla!!! Funny how things work out like that...it's destiny!

And Mike started back up with road biking like he did back years ago at Indiana University. Walla Walla is a great area for bikers. One day, I hope to get into it myself. Rolling hills of alfalfa, grapes, wheat...is there a better way to work out?

Well that's what us Vandrivers have been upto! Hope to get the puppers out for a camping trip soon as the weather permits.

For more pictures, go to my FLICKR account.

Bill's Got Balls

2009-10-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

The new tranny is in. Test drive is done. Never hit 60 before today; surely that bus has never hit 65 since before today! And there's still a little room to move. But it is a lil scary going that fast in a bus. But oh so nice. Good job, Mike!

The Posters Have Arrived!!!

2009-10-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

Georgia

West Palm Beach, Florida

Woodlands, Texas

Still waiting on my favorite, the Paris poster. Hope it is here by Thanksgiving to show my family! What a great Friday surprise!!!!!!

Summer in Review -- a pictorial

2009-10-05T15:40:00.001-07:00

Summer was such a blast! With the cool autumn weather blowing into Walla Walla, it's time for a summer in review. We have been extremely blessed. Many a road trips this season. It's in reverse order (durn blogger) but we start with the best! The LeRoi bus that scored us pimp tickets all weekend!

"Excuse me, I'm with the band..."

Here we are looking all cute at the Gorge!

We are doing the Hefty Bag Rain Stop Dance...

The East Coasters realize how great the left coast is! Welcome Bri & Mo!

Late August trip to the Wallowas...

A paddle on Wallowa Lake

I'm driving Bill! Yeah!

Part of the RendezVW in Maupin, Oregon; Spiffy gets an undercarriage check up by Amskeptic.

The "small" IPA beer tasting. YUMM!!!

Taking a crack at tie dying this year.

Spiffy reconnects with friends at the RendezVW in Maupin, Oregon in June!

End of the Tahoe trip, a stop in Lassen National Volcanic Park in No. Cal.

Beautiful sunset, but I'll never forget the hair-raising hair-pin turn drive up this volcano without guardrails!

The end of our balloon flight. It is what I live for...

View from the balloon with the recovery boat below. I cannot believe we launched and landed back on that. AMAZING!

(No Caption Required)

Reflecting

12 man basket dangles over Lake Tahoe!

(No caption required)

Preparing for lift off!

Collecting water at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe...

Our Corona moment on Emerald Bay

Purest lake water in all the world.

No that is not the Caribbean, it's Lake Tahoe!

Tahoe State Recreation Area.

First night in Tahoe, calls for a bottle of vino!

Now this is what you call a room with a view.

Pacific Crest Trail, McArthur-Burney Falls SP, California

Life is ruff in California.

First night in Cali calls for dessert. Blueberry strudel in the mini dutch oven.

We made it to Crater Lake!

Singing and smiling in the rain at Castle Crags State Park in California.

Diamond Lake, Oregon.

Tumalo State Park, Bend, Oregon

A little trip report on the blog, weezing on the wifi juice....

Cove Palisades State Park, Washington. Let the journey begin!

Cove Palisades.

A sunset drive in Walla Walla. This is not photoshopped.

Bill helps pick up flowers for an April planting.

Palouse Falls State Park, our first excursion of the season! Just a day trip tho!

Spiffy's Big Rockstar Weekend (prep)

2009-08-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Time to prep the Spiff-mobile for the big rockstar concert next weekend! Mike is changing the oil as we speak. Then it will be a full out clean out job, including a bath and vacuuming!

Next up--menu planning!

I'm so freaking excited!!!!!!!

Another Poster!!

2009-07-22T17:05:00.001-07:00

Poster Child x 5

2009-07-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

HOLLER! Could that be the CoPilot and Spiffy looking up at the Louve? You tell me!

2009-06-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

Almost over the fence
CORN!!!!

Green beans on the fritz!

Maupin Recap

2009-06-21T21:07:00.001-07:00

Pictures for now, a write up later.

In maupin with the vw folk! Great weather and good food!!!

2009-06-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

Maupin Minded

2009-06-18T19:51:00.001-07:00

Well we're getting all geared up for another departure. This time a quick little weekend to Maupin for the 4th Annual Deschutes River RendezVW. Good times ensue. There promises to be nearly 60 buses there this year. While we are missing the potluck Friday, we will likely get there mid-evening.

Should be a great time. But we will not likely be connected.

A full report on Sunday, and probably a harvest from the 150+ snap pea blossoms in the garden!

Toodles!

Mike here busting in on E's post. A few of our good friends played and another recorded this video to capture the spirit a couple of years ago, good way to spend a few minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1GQuoHkUyU

Carrots!

2009-06-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

Look at the carrots really getting ready! I stuck my finger gently down into the soil and they do not appear to be very long yet, then again I have small fingers! I imagine I will have some triple or double carrots. I guess I don't have to sow two seeds per hole afterall. Those were some quality seeds from the dollar store!

Garden Update (Picture Heavy)

2009-06-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

March 29:: This is how it started--in window box green houses. Here is a very small watermelon. These sprouts are about 3 weeks old.
These will be come sugar snap peas!

April 18:::Digging out the sod and creating the garden. I would soon find out that we should've made it much bigger!

Look at all those seedlings!

April 19::: Getting them all planted was fun. But looking back, I should've done a better job at marking what everything was. I also should have read the seed packages and given things more space!

April 30:::These are rows of soon to be sugar snap peas. I grew the ones in the back by the metal post in the window boxes. But they didn't grow in the boxes very easily--turns out they like to be sown directly into the garden better. Had I read the directions, I wouldn't have wasted half a seed packet trying to grow them inside in February! Doh! But can you believe they are sprouting in just 11 days??

Suffice it to say, those little wooden skewers didn't last long!

May 18::: Exactly one month and look at all that spinach! Next year, I think three plants yields more than enough for the two of us!

Whoah! Holy sugar snap peas, Batman!

Cilantro starting off well. And them there carrots also like to be sown directly into the ground!

Home Depot corn starts were a lovely late edition. And again, I should've read the directions with plant spacing. Growing up in Indiana (the corn capital of the US) you'd think I would've remembered just how gianormous those stalks can get!

Green beans. Sown from single beans directly into the soil.

May 27::: While back to the midwest for a long weekend, came back to some serious progress!With plenty of sunshine and a sprinkler system, things are starting to take off!

Had to up the ante with bamboo sticks from the Depot. To the right, spinach is coming along quite nicely and to the left, the carrot tops are filling in!

A different angle to capture the pea growth!

Green beans are getting leafy. Just beneath them (and above that packet of seeds) is the small little watermelon plant getting started.

I had split up the corn that came in the single package, and at this point I'm thinking that I should've split them up even more. I left a few singles and a few clumps just in case I was doing it wrong, I'd at least have a couple that might survive the splitting. Little did I know...

And up close shot of the biggest stalk! Look at the root wiring going on there! Holy smokes!

Even the single stalks of corn are doing well. I guess splitting them (or not) works either way?!

May 29::: Beans to the left, corn in the middle and some mint (bad bad bad idea) to the right. A few shots of the garden before our almost 2 week escapade to Lake Tahoe. Wonder what it will look like without us tending to it daily?

Snap peas are like little rocket ships!

Really filling out!

June 11::: Luciousness! After feeding the cats upon arrival, we both ran to the back to check out the damage. But to our surprise, the sprinklers and sunshine took care of it. Gotta love Mother Earth!

Carrot tops in clear need of a hair cut, a few weeds between them and the peas. Peas going for the sky and to the right my spinach going to seed! Oh no! The stalks of that spinach, when left unattended for almost 2 weeks, are about as thick as celery stalks!

Corn is gaining girth and that semi-round puff ball is the mint. Again, bad bad bad bad idea. You can see to the right of it there are some green onions that are getting choked out by the mint. To the left of the corn, the beans are getting nice and leafy!

Look at the leafy beans with the huge bare vines shooting for the stars! Still can't believe all this is coming from a little bean! I planted four beans around each stick thinking that invariably a few would not take. That is clearly not the case!

Holy sugar snap pea sighting!!!

In the back ground, corn is doing well, while a pepper plant is coming along. Again, would've been nice had I marked what KIND of pepper that is! Either jalepano or red/green bell. Note to self--do not drink champagne while planting next year's garden. Talk about "willy nilly"!!!

That right there is the watermelon vine going nutzo. Someone once told me that watermelon vines need a lot of room. I think I should've listened to them! This sucker is literally taking over the garden. It is slowly squishing out my lemon thyme and lavendar. Oh well.

Hard to believe that is the spinach on it's way to seeding. I did eventually butcherwhack that down. If I cut too much and killed it, I'm actually okay with that. It was such a high yield plant that frankly I'm tired of eating spinach!

June 16::: Sugar snap pea harvest time at the Vandiver's!! Those little suckers are not easy to pluck from there ever so delicate looking blossoms. Turns out crasping gently the base of the plant and twisting clockwise quickly is much more effective then trying to yank them off straight forward, and it doesn't damage the plant.

Proud! Official caption to read: "I cannot believe this came from a single pea planted into the ground."

Notes/Observations/Thoughts:::

Everything is completely organic here, down to the seeds and the compost from the local nursery.

We are having a lot of fun tending to this, and it's most likely due to our great fortune in that everything is kind of working! I have new found respect for farmers, that for sure. While this has been fun and we've yielded more than I ever thought we would, it still feels like a long time to get a few peas and some spinach (and to date I still haven't pulled any beans, peppers or carrots yet!).

Gardening is very theraputic.

Zone 6 is a great climate to grow stuff.

Next year, huge garden! It'll be better marked and the veggies and herbs will be separate.

So so so so so much fun.

Maupin and a tradition

2009-06-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

We have THE VW event that we wait for every year coming up over Father's day weekend. Normally we would have "busavaned" over from Portland with our good friends but this year brings us closer to yet another set of VW friends (a public health Dr. and avid NW volcano climber) that we can travel and hang out with.

The RendezVW is a very special event put on by a great family. The family vibe extends into every second of the weekend and child and adult alike end up leaving fulfilled but sad that they have to leave.........luckily the ride home presents itself with the hope of next year and an inner smile pushes itself to the lips.

Yeah...it really is that great.

Mike

HOME!

2009-06-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

We made it back safe and sound! The cats are just as fat and happy as when we left thanks to good neighbors...and our garden is going bananas thanks to our sprinkler system!

It's good to be home and still have a few more days off! Yes!!!!!

Day 12.1

2009-06-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

Mike's big plate of bisquits and gravy.

McMenamin's Old St. Francis School--so cute. Lots of old fixtures.

Day 12.1--En route to Walla Walla

We have created a new tradition. After every long schlep of a trip, we will stay in a neat hotel for the last night. I love sleeping in the bus, it is very comfortable. However, after over a week and half traveling in it, loading and reloading and bear proofing, a nice soft bed really makes the difference.

Overcast and drizzly outside in Bend today. Sunshine and 80* in Walla Walla, so anxious to get back to the homestead and see how the cats and garden have faired.

For those who have inquired, the bus drives excellent in snow and hail! A little jerky and lurchy between 1st and 2nd gears, but I'm thinking that is because the hail came down so fast and the big trucks created road ruts. Moving between the ruts with stopped traffic was no bueno. But otherwise, he did good. Heard folks in the restaurant last night complaining that their little compact cars were taking on water. Another good reason to drive a bus, you sit a little higher!

Well that's all for now. 300 miles to home, I believe. More later!

Day 11.1

2009-06-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

Day 11.1--The long haul to Bend and the Snow///Hail??

Got an early start this morning. Got the hankering to be home and off the road. As much as we love camping, it is a lot of work when you move from campsite to campsite. And that's how we roll, from spot to spot, because this country is so beautiful it's hard to sit still!

Didn't bother with making breakfast, so we drove about an hour and half to McCloud. Another great little old California town. Not at all what I think of when I think of California, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. We popped into this old time cafe for one of the most fabulous breakfasts ever. Great service in a historic building. What could be better?

Once we crossed over into the Oregon border, we were excited to be back in the Pacific NW. Not just because it is a beautiful state, but also because the Oregon State Parks are by far the best state parks in the country (not to mention the park pass that gives us free camping!)...But just about 7 miles into Oregon on Highway 97, where we were just about the only ones on the road, a highway patrolman came out of the blue hauling ass around us. Then we saw brake lights. It was pretty obvious right away that it was a big crash. So we stood still for about 5 minutes right south of a rest station I despirately needed to utilize. We were then detoured down the road into some beautiful horse country pasture, left wondering if everyone in that crash was okay.

Another few hours down the road, we decided we could definitely make it to Bend. It was such a cute stop on the way south the week before, we figured another evening there (and at Tumalo State Park) would be excellent. Even started to think about springing for a yurt at the campground since the clouds were telling of rain ahead, and we really didn't want to be soggy (again) while fixing dinner.

But...just as soon as well got to Bend city limits, the rain came fast and hard. Then it was like hail. Then giant wet snowflakes. Then more brake lights. Another accident? Nope, just Bend drivers stopping to watch the snow/hail/rain. Slightly frustrating since we really wanted to be out of the bus at McMenamins Pub again. Well we managed to get around all the stalled traffic just as the roads were getting really crappy.

Jumped out of the bus and instantly got soggy feet up to my knees about. ARGH! I'm so tired of being soggy! But great beer awaited. This little pub is in an old Catholic School house, they have a hotel with soaking pool, 2 bars and a movie theather. Hmmm....hotel? Blasphemy, I'm in my bus, my couch on wheels. Mmmm....hotel.

As I write, we have since checked into their last available room (guess I'm not the only one on a Tuesday that's tired of soggy feet), sipping a Ruby Ale and waiting on a calzone, while it's still raining. Mike is probably in the shower, and there's a bed made just for us.

Life is good on a soggy Tuesday! More adventures shall ensue, me thinks, so stay tuned!!!

Day 10.2

2009-06-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Day 10.2--Lassen Volcanic National Park

So once again, we managed to bite off a tad more than we could chew. Thought we could make it to Lassen Volcanic National Park as they had just opened the highway running through it. Now, the reason they just opened it up was because the highway goes through elevations pushing 8,500 feet. And with that elevation comes snow, and that snow typically isn't gone until July. Since we heard the road was opened, we assumed the campgrounds would be as well.

Yikes. After about 4 hours in the bus, we arrived at the south gate just before dusk. There was a campground right there at the entrance, but it was a walk in campground for those using tents. It would be another hour of hairpin turns and steep elevation (with no guardrails) at sundown before we reached the north campgroun, Crags. Now, don't get me wrong the views were spectacular! Lassen is very much a very active volcano, even has geothermal gas spewing and bubbling mud like at Yellowstone!

Once back at the campspot, we had to off load everything into the bear proof bins. Still not out of the woods and still sleeping amongst the bears!!! Once we got everything settled, Mike scuffed up his shin on a post. Not just his shin, but his extremely sunburnt (I'm guessing 2nd degree) shin from our 5 hour kayak ride. Thank you, Mom, for the tea tree oil! That sure came in handy.

Day 10

2009-06-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

Day 10--The long awaited balloon ride!

Well, fortunately for us, there were no bear encounters last night, but Mike still found it very hard to sleep. And I managed to turn off the fear and get some sleep in. And that's a good thing, 4am came quickly. I was so relieved and mucho excited when Harvey, the skipper for Lake Tahoe Balloons, said that it was perfect ballooning weather.

I have no other words than, it was just another amazing experience. When we first took a ride on our honeymoon, we kept saying, "a once in a lifetime experience" and now we've done it twice. I have pledged to make it thrice and revisit again in another 5 years, if not sooner.

I will leave you with some pictures taken today. I took over a hundred, and actually I'm quite surprised it wasn't closer to two hundred. Lots of takes of the same frame, but had you been there, you would know why.

The journey back north starts here shortly. Hoping to make it to Lassen National Volcanic Park tonight. Stellar weather and plenty of firewood. Bill is ready to ride.

Toodles from the beautiful blue Lake Tahoe!

Day 8.2 and 9.1

2009-06-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

Day 8.2 and 9.1--O'dark thirty wake up and some beautiful sunshine!

Holy shit, where do I start?? Day 8 was kind of a bust. Nothing but cold sideways rain and overcast skies. Couldn't keep anything dry. Went to S. Lake Tahoe and putzed around aimlessly. We just aren't the type that goes camping and ends up at a mall. But what else can you do when your campground is overtaken with disrespectful college kids? Tried to get my hair cut at the same place we had a couples massage at on our honeymoon, but they left me there waiting 45 minutes. Bunk!

So we started a fire just after dusk and it just wouldn't cooperate either. Too wet. I tried hard to not let the shitty weather get me down, but it did and at 10pm I was more than ready to call it a night. So I crawled into the snuggly fleece worm sack, tossed, turned and finally started to drift off. Then we heard something rubbing against the bus. We were not parked near anything for it to be the breeze. I instantly freaked out because there was some skuttlebutt about a bear sighting the night before. And then, about 600 meters away from our site I hear "GO! GO! Get out of here! BEEEEEEAAAAAAAAR!" Oh my effing gawd.

After realizing the coast was clear, we hopped out of the bus, ramped up the propane lantern and headed towards the screams (because going where the bear was is always a great idea!). Chatted with the campers who scared what they called a "little bear" away. Turns our they had their cooler on the tailgate of their car and were 10 feet away from it when they heard it come crashing down to the ground. Ballsy bear! Or ballsy humans?

On the way back to the bus we hear another couple screaming "GO! GET! Scram!" by the bathrooms. That buster was on the prowl and hungry apparently. Now I knew California is the black bear state and all, but even though we've camped in places that were bear-conscious, I never thought I'd ever be near one! So back at our campspot, I'm clearly not going to bed now. Afterall, the sheet metal in our bus is not all that thick and the two side windows are already spiderwebbed, one "brush up" from a clumpsy bear elbow and we'd be his dinner!

Threw a few more logs on the fire and retreated to our old Army perimeter guard ways. All I kept thinking about was the National Geographic "Human as Prey" show I watched about 7 people that were killed by a spooked mama bear in a California State Park. YIKES!!! Around midnight, we eventually crawled back into the sack, but we left the fire semi-stoked and the lantern on. A lovely full moon provided perfect creature searching ambient light, whereupon I proceeded to look out the back hatch nervously until about 2am. Mike snoring like a log not worried at all for his life!

Since we had rescheduled (for weather) our balloon flight for the next day, I had to get up at 4 to call in to see about the weather for the day's flight. Fortunately, I had one bar of signal in the bus and didn't have to risk being Buster's breakfast. Turns out that the clouds were still laying too low for flight, so I was able to get in a couple of hours of sleep. It was definitely an adventurous night!!

Day 9--

After a yummy breakfast, cooked of course looking over my shoulders for Buster the Bear, we cleaned up the site and packed up for the lake. First time in about 4 days the sun was shining! Long overdue. Parked right on the beach and hopped in the kayak at DL Bliss and paddled all the way to Emerald Bay. We're thinking it was about 5 miles each way.

Right now, we back in Tahoe City checking on emails, weather and eating at the Fat Cat Cafe again. This place rocks. Going to get supplies for tonight and then head back to Bearville!

As always, more pictures on my flickr.

Day 8

2009-06-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Day 8--Can't believe it's half way over!

Overcast again today. Really cold last night, but the fire was warm and the wine was smooth. Met some really cool folks in the campground. One gal has a SportsMobile that is really pimped out. Think: Dukes of Hazard van on drugs. The thing has everything.

Going to check out a ski village today before moving to DL Bliss campground for the next three nights. Praying for sunny skies and still winds...perfect for ballooning! Oh Please!

Day 7.3

2009-06-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Day 7.3--The best ever.

Overlooking Lake Tahoe from our campspot on Tahoe State Recreation Area. Small campground of only 27 spots. FULL MOON and free interweb to post this lovely picture.

Also drinking some great wine and met some neat camping people...

LIFE IS GOOD!

Day 7.2

2009-06-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Day 7.2--WE HATH ARRIVED!!!

And what is so funny about being in Lake Tahoe is that the weather is just as wonky as it was when we honeymooned here 5 years ago. FIVE YEARS!! Overcast with fast moving clouds, a few drizzles and briskness. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if it snowed. It snowed the first day we got here on the honeymoon.

Sitting at the Fat Cat Cafe enjoying a nice pilsner and some sweet potatoe fries. Good vibe here. Thinking if this rain holds up, we might hit up a movie? Or finally get my hair cut? The night is young so we shall see!!

Day 7.1

2009-06-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Day 7.1--Susanville enroute to Tahoe

Lots of rain at McArthur Burney Falls as we were packing up. In Susanville right now at a NAPA. Mike's timing light crapped the bed and the ones at NAPA aren't that good. Stealing some internet in the mean time.

144 miles to Tahoe! WOOT WOOT.

Bill is running excellent. Had some sputter-pop-pops but thought it might be from the elevation. Running the synthetic oil right now and Mike claims it needs changing again. Last change was in Bend at 59826 and we're at 60339, so about 500 miles. Supposed to be a Wally World up the road and may do a quick parking lot changearoo. Other than that, Bill is just as strong as evah!

More later from Tahoe!

Day 6

2009-06-05T11:34:00.002-07:00

Day 6—Pacific Crest Trail and More Rain

A huge storm rolled through very early this morning. Around 4:45, I believe. Heavy loud drops accompanied by thunder and lightening. Even though it was a bit early to be awoken, it was nice to hear the big drops hitting the top of the bus. I must have been a solid hour of down pour. Managed to fall back asleep for a few more hours.

Once we got up, it was still a little drizzly but otherwise nice. Fixed a big breakfast, of which I managed to dump about half of mine as I tried to climb into the bus to eat. Go figure. Then the sun peaked out and the skies were all blue. Thought it would be a good day for a hike…and it was. We did the Rim and Rainbow Bridge trails, and then blazed upon the Pacific Crest Trail. Very cool. Saw lots of big old Ponderosa Pine trees, and surprisingly, some fence lizards as well. Must have hiked close to 5 miles. The feet and back hurt, but it was sure worth it. Got a few rain drops as we approached our camp and then as soon as we were seated, a slight down pour ensued. Good timing.

Johnsonville sausages, rice and the last ear of corn for dinner tonight. Oh and beer of course.

Day 5.2

2009-06-05T11:34:00.001-07:00

Day 5.2—Mt Shasta and Mc Arthur Burney Falls

After a few hours in Dunsmuir, we headed back up north to hop on CA Route 89 and ended up stopping in the town of Mount Shasta. We passed through Mount Shasta on the way into Castle Crags, but I’m so glad we stopped in today. Super cute little town with lots of shops and things. Found the Landromat and washed a load. While it was drying we went down to the local art store. Couldn’t seem to find what we were looking for and hope that we will find it in Tahoe.

Most of the afternoon the rain came and went. By the time we arrived at Mc Arthur Burney Falls, we had a few sunbreaks and then some more thunderbumpers. Started the fire and got a stew going but quickly realized we (translation—I) did not bring the slow cooker seasoning packets. So we improvised with beer, water and a smidgen of peppercorn steak marinade. Not too shabby. While dinner cooked we went over to see the falls. Amazing! The trail head takes you almost right up on it. The temperature dropped 15* easily just right before the end of the trail. The falls are huge, but what is really impressive is the residual ground water flowing out along side it. I just cannot describe how breathtaking it is.

After the hike and after a hearty warm dinner, I pulled out the tiny dutch oven and used about 1/5 of a blueberry muffin mix for a late dessert. It took a lot longer to cook on the fire, probably because I was too scared I would burn it. But an hour later, it came out just fine and in good time to have let dinner digest. Nothing like fresh blueberries, either.

It is still raining but the fire is going strong. Mike is sipping a beer (IPA of some sort) slower than I have ever seen him! It’s called Hop Stoopid, and he says it’s a real kick in the teeth.

Hoping the weather cooperates more tomorrow so we can get on Lake Britton.

Day 5.1

2009-06-03T10:23:00.001-07:00

Day 5.1--Dunsmuir

Got up bright and early. A little hung over from a great night and a great meal last night. Hanging out in Dunsmuir for the time being. Found a really cool coffee house with wifi and a creek running under neath it. At first glance this little town seemed like just a sneeze off the side of the road, but it looks as though we may have discovered something great here. More later!

Day 4.2

2009-06-03T10:20:00.001-07:00

Day 4.2—Castle Crags

A long drive through the Umpqua and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forests on the way to Mt. Shasta. But the end result was wonderful. We got a spot at Castle Crags State Park, which I almost booked while planning this trip. Have yet to view the Crag and see what that is all about, but this particular state park is literally right off Interstate 5. You can hear the road noise, but yet there are some old growth trees. It is still nice.

On the way in, we past through the charming little town of Weed. Yes, weed. It was like a pilgrimage for this bus. We even stopped in their souvenir store. Lots of love from the great little town of Weed who’s brewery’s slogan is: A friend in weed is a friend indeed. Too funny.

Just before parking for the night we stopped at a local gas station to pick up ice and beer. I got Mt Shasta Brewing Company’s Golden Ale, which isn’t too bad, and who’s bottle top echoes the city’s slogan.

Started a fire almost immediately as we drove through lunch. Had steaks marinating for two days (couldn’t seem to get a fire going for all the rain) so we decided being in California was indeed a reason for a feast. Just so happened to have corn on the cob and a French baguette from Trader Joes and of course some onions and potatoes from home. We also picked up a bottle of 2005 Hogue Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the Wahluke Slope in Columbia Valley from Trader Joes. Just a bunch of lovely coincidences that led to one of the most fabulous meals of all time…and the most bestest from the campfire.

Just after dinner, we decided a hike to the Crags would be good. But a road sign speaking of over a mile discouraged us since it was getting dark and we didn’t bring the flashlights. Probably was a good idea as no sooner did we get back did the thunder bumpers start. Slight downpour ensued and we packed up the food and loaded it into the bear proof bin. And here I hunker down for the night with mosquitoes biting at my exposed bits, wishing I had remembered to pack the bug juice! There’s always something that is left behind.

Tomorrow—McArthur Burner Falls for 2 whole long nights…will be nice, just hope we can stay still for 2 days. Checked the forecast in Klamath Falls and wish I hadn’t. Nothing but rain and thunder bumpers. Who knows, it may just be the next best thing.

Day 4.1

2009-06-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Day 4.1--Crater Lake

Wow.

That's really all there is to say about Crater Lake. Even with overcast skies (and clouds that kind of keep you from getting the true blue experience) and the snow, that lake sure is something majestic. Very gorgeous. Had a big breakfast at the restaurant since it was so darn cold and wet at Diamond Lake.

Glad we got up early and made it to Crater Lake before everyone else. There was some sort of classic car club convention there. Lots of really old restored hot rods and such.

Right now we are in Klamath Falls and about 73 miles from our planned campspot outside of Mt Shasta. We are actually a day ahead of our outlined route, so we're hoping to nab a good spot at Castle Crags State Park.

But first a stop in Weed, California, because you know, we are in a bus!

This post brought to you by the free parking lot internet at the Klamath Falls Super 8.

Day 3.2

2009-06-02T13:23:00.001-07:00

Day 3.2—Groo Grux and Diamond Lake

Enjoyed listening to Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King while driving out of Bend. Somehow managed to get a one-day advanced copy of the album from a small record shop in Bend. Either they didn't know the release date was tomorrow, or they didn't care. Either way, it was the best $16 (tax free) I've spent in a while. She even gave me a 45 of the first single. Good stuff.

Signs for the north entrance of Crater Lake shows closed. So we stopped in Chemult to get some firewood and coffee before turning north of Crater to Diamond Lake Forest Service Campground. Nabbed spot C8 right over- looking the lake. Not a bad spot for $6. On the way in we heard thunder bumpers…very overcast skies and a dusting of snow as we made our way further in. Got the awning up pronto and put on another layer of clothes. Lots of little birds and small critters. Think we’ve seen a chipmunk like animal without the stripes, plus some blue jays and lots of robins.

Over looking Mt. Bailey (8,963 feet) now with lots of snow. Starting to see our breath, but don’t think we’ll use any of the three bundles of wood we bought. Still raining. But enjoying the McMenamins brews—I’ve got the Ruby Ale that is raspberry infused, and there’s actually a raspberry at the bottom of the 22 oz bottle. This beer is a new favorite, superseding Bridgeport’s Stumptown Tart and Laht Neppur’s 2008 Summer Ale (clove infused). I’m serious, it really is that good.

It’s a good night to snuggle in the bus.

McMenamins Pub and Brewery for Lunch

2009-06-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Downloading the new Dave Matthews Band album to the ipod while we wait on a scrumptious lunch. Here's a good picture of the camp kitchen set up.

ROCKIN'!

Day 3.1

2009-06-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

Day 3.1--Tumalo and Bend

Back downtown Bend and the sun is shining. Scamming some wifi for a quick update and to see the conditions at Crater Lake. Another restful night in Bill. Slept with most of the windows open all night. Lots of sunshine to wake us up...and a bunch of really ballsy chipmunks.

ps--to those that have been calling and leaving messages, our phones are off most of the time because the lack of reception has our phones roaming and draining the batteries!

Day 2.2

2009-06-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Day 2.2—Sisters and Bend

After lunch at The Depot, we walked up and down the main drag in Sisters then made our way 21 miles to Bend. Storm clouds rolled in and the air got much cooler. First order of business was the Deschutes Brewery. Stopped for a “flight” of beer, mostly IPA’s and one not-so good Rio de Cerveza. Mike thought the Red Chair IPA was the best. Didn’t stay for a bite to eat…hopped in the bus to meet up with Bean (also known as Brendon). Swung by his house and got reacquainted with his wife, Summer, and their spunky lil Elliot, and also met the newest member of their crew, Juniper. Had a lovely visit, changed the oil (synthetic Rotella) and putted back to Tumalo State Park.

Caught a little drizzle as we put up the awning…no campfire again tonight. The park is nice and close to Bend, hope to make it out here again sometime for their Balloons Over Bend hot air balloon festival (which coincidentally is next weekend). Pretty good amount of folks here for a Sunday night. But something tells me that most of them aren’t on a 2 week siesta like us!

Saw a Dakota Beige bay window pull into the campground and must go investigate…

Day 2.1

2009-05-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

Three Sisters Mountains
Mt Hood

Kayaking on Lake Billy Chinook

Waterfall from Crooked River

Campspot at Cove Palisades

After a wonderful night at Cove Palisades (in short distance from the Griswald's Uncle Eddie and Hill Jack family) we had a delightful breakfast. Made it down to Lake Bill Chinook for a perfect kayak trip up near the waterfall from Crooked River.

Got off the lake just as everyone and their mama was dropping their loud, smelly, fast ski boats in the water. Headed off to Sisters, which is were I am currently blogging from. Made the mistake of allowing the GPS to get us here, thank goodness for the Gazetter. Need to check the GPS because I think it is set on "back woods mode". Yikes.

Enjoying a scrumptious lunch at The Depot right on the main drag in Sisters. Weather couldn't be better--sunny with a few clouds and not too hot yet. We'll be hitting up a few shops before we head 30 miles to Bend for the rest of the day.

So far, this trip is bad ass. Enjoy the pictures, more on the flickr as always.

Bags Are Packed!!

2009-05-29T20:39:00.001-07:00

Enough gear for 2 weeks? Me thinks so.

Gidget really knows we're leaving, she's like a little shadow. Even tried to pack herself.

Can't believe we leave tomorrow! This trip has been many months in the making.

Woot Woot!

Itinerary Draft

2009-05-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

So here's what we're thinking:::

30 May--Maryhill State Park
31 May--The Cove Palisades
1 June--Bend (Tumalo State Park)
2 June--Crater Lake
3-4 June--MacArthur Burney Falls State Park
5 June--Tahoe State Recreation Area
6 June--HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE Day
6-7-8-9 June--DL Bliss State Park
10 June--Goose Lake State Park (Sunstone Mines)
11-14 June--Not sure!

For those that were inquiring about our marvelous camp kitchen box, we got it from GI Joes, also recently known as Joe's and even more recently known as "Going out of Business". I do not know what brand it is, but it sure is sweet. It's really durable plastic and it was off the shelf (not custom made).

Couple more things to finalize this evening and then its laundry and packing time!

Packing it all Up

2009-05-27T20:52:00.001-07:00

Ernie would probably be a great camping cat, but that we will never know! Awh Buddles!!!

This is our famous kitchen box, that we got from DFord for our wedding (well actually we used the GI Joes gift card he gave us to buy it) and five years later--it's still one of the best pieces of camping gear we own. Thanks DFord!

This was the first time I actually cleaned it out and refreshed and restocked all the goods. Got some garden fresh thyme in there!! Everytime we go camping, I always say that I wish I had done a refresh. Well I finally got around to it. Took me a couple of hours, if you can believe that. Probably didn't help that I was drinking a fabulous bottle of wine while doing it!

So glad I got it cleaned. Realized that there were some dishes that "needed to be done" from our last camp out at the beginning of April. EUGH! The mold was so strong, I think I inhaled some penicillin!

Just a few more days!!

Long Lists

2009-05-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Preparing for the Summer Tour affectionately known as Tahoe or Bust. Just a couple few things to do before Saturday/Sunday departure...

Install cigarette lighter
Print YMCA listing
Check Crater Lake conditions
Print hiking maps for Shasta, Crater Lake and Tahoe
Print directions to Balloons over Tahoe disembarkment point
Check on satellite radio
Purchase AAA membership
Clean and restock camp kitchen
Fix Jobe tripod
Pack corkscrew
Fill propane tank
Get roll of quarters
Get sheet of postcard stamps
Set up mail hold

It's gonna be a blast! Stay tuned!

Gettin' Ready

2009-05-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it is a few weeks away from TAHOE OR BUST, but the push is really on.

This weekend we will be in Tacoma, the following Wednesday we will depart again for Tacoma for our flight to Columbus for Doc's wedding. Then we'll be home for a week and it's GO TIME!

So we've been doing a little packing and a little brainstorming. We'll be taking a lot of stuff, per usual long trips. The kayak and all it's accoutrements will take up some room. Hoping to make a make-shift atlas/magazine holder over the back of the bulkhead to keep things tidy. That requires a little engineering and some fabrication, but I think we're up to the task.

Got the latest copy of Sunset in the mail today. Cover story is on the 50 best campgrounds. Campground #8 is DL Bliss on Lake Tahoe, which is where we'll be staying for 4 nights. So glad we already booked that. It's great that they are advertising camping and all, but it's like giving away our secret places. They even ranked Jenny Lake on the Grand Tetons. SACRED PLACE. But I guess it's good others will learn of it and eventually visit, maybe that will keep funding going there?

Anyway, getting really super excited. We calculated that we have 6 days to pack after we get back from this weekend. CRAZY!!

Our Bus on the poster again!

2009-05-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm beside myself...

Just beside myself...

Methane Studios...be still my bus heart!

And hoping that the Gorge features our girl again!

Das Auto in Der Video!

2009-05-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Check it out rite hur...

Reefin on the gas. The new distributor is mooey bueno!

Distributor

2009-04-30T17:11:00.001-07:00

Mallory distributor has arrived...

Slight Run in with the County Mounty

2009-04-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

A beautiful day for a bus ride. Time to put more miles on the new engine, and what a better strip of road than US 12 between Walla Walla and Pasco. It's a nice stretch that is marked for 60 mph, has a few hills and usually gets some good wind. The only slight draw back, for others mostly, is that its a two-laner. So, if you get behind the bus, you have to wait several miles usually before it's safe to pass.

Well we headed out around 9am. Crazy sideways wind and surprisingly lots of other travels on the road. Most of them were not happy with us, but as always, we did pull off and do shoulder driving at every safe opportunity to do so. Nevertheless, we kept peddling along. But just a few moments after the last wave of cars passed us, Mike noticed the fuzz driving behind us. We were only going about 55mph and decided to pull off at the Shell station to allow him to pass--knowing that shoulder driving is probably not legal. And sure as shit, we didn't want to hold up the show for the fuzz. So we pulled off and sure enough the fuzz followed us. It's not a quinkie-dink either, because there's nothing around in this area, so it was obvious he was following us.

We pulled into a parking spot and the fuzz pulled up and blocked us in. Mike opened the door and got out and the fuzz said, "please get back in the vehicle, sir." Ummmm, okay! A small dialog transpired that revealed some of our fellow (disgrunted and in a rush) road travelers called the sherriff on us! Sure we were getting blown around by the wind, and varying our speed probably did, in retrospect, make us look like drunk drivers. But for heavens sake, it was 9am! The county mounty said, "since I don't smell any alcohol on your breath and you appear to be just fine, and it's not illegal to go slower than the speed limit, I'll let you get on your way."

Hurumph!!!!

Zoom Zoom

2009-04-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Having troubles uploading video to blogger. Please check here for two videos of Bill coming to life!

The First Start-Up

2009-04-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

Pictures only for now. Mike will have to recap later!

Bottom End Butt Lift

2009-03-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

Heads are ported

Crank is ready to go

That is the infamous VW mechanic master, Rocky Jennings.

Engine Tin

2009-03-13T17:53:00.001-07:00

2009-03-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the new engine is coming along well. I will assemble the short block this weekend. Should have a fire breathing 1904cc in Bill by mid April. Bill is prolly gonna snap our necks :)

Stopping before we start...finally!

2009-02-15T09:01:00.001-08:00

We've been talking about doing the brakes for way too long now. Finally set aside some time yesterday and got started. With a little help from the Bug Me video Eric sent us and our obligatory pre-disassembly photograph, we got the right rear brake shoes and springs changed with little difficulties.

The 46mm axle nut cracker thingy Rocky lent us, we didn't even have any trouble getting the axle nut off. Although the banging it required probably made some of our neighbors annoyed. What can we say, we start early!

The left cylinder was completely shot, and probably attests to why there wasn't an even distribution of wear on that side's shoes. Managed to break the little horseshoe clip, which caused me to run all over Walla Walla looking for a replacement. Thank you Les Schwab! Why didn't I think of a brake repair shop sooner?! Started in on the left front and busted the little cotter pin that keeps the bearing hub thing on. Another trip to Schucks, but this time I returned with a remedy.

Working on the right front right now. Here's a few pictures of the progress...

Our '78 Bus is Inspiring

2009-01-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

So this is the poster from the 2008 Dave Matthews Band Concert at the Gorge. My all time favorite band at my all time favorite venue. Imagine my surprise when my loving adorable awesome-stood-in-line-for-about-an-hour husband, Mike, came back to the lawn with this poster!!!! Of course, with me there's always a story. This story is quite entertaining and flipping cool, if I do say so myself!!!

While I had a fabulous time at the show and enjoyed more than my fair share of overpriced 22 oz concert beers, I stood in line at the concert gear kisok. I had bought a numbered posted last year, and it was this really cool illustrated picture of a Northwest Sasquash at the Gorge. I love it. Well, I was a little bummed when I saw that they were marketing the same exact poster for the 2008 show, just in a different color. I'm that diehard (and OCD) that I absolutely NEEDED the poster even if it was almost exactly like the one I already had. It was dated the current tour, but I figured it would look so nice to the one I already had. Wouldn't you know it, by the time it was my turn to order (those concert gear stations are a real goat rope), the gal took the last one down and sold it to the lady next to me. They were all out! BOOOOO.

But the opening band was hitting the stage, I was half buzzed and perfectly content with my overpriced t-shirt instead. Back at our spot on the lawn, I lamented to Mike about the poster. He looked me in the face and sweetly said he'd check a different kiosk to see if that one had any left. What a doll. He returned about an hour later, or so my drunk ass figured, and had this look on his face like he had shaken Dave Matthews hand or something. Then he pulls the poster from behind his back and shows me the poster (above). NOTE: I do not remember seeing the poster as I was pretty intoxicated by the Coors, the venue and the concert aura. I just remember thinking "Mike got a poster, ROCK ON". He even had one of those "protective" mailing tubes to store it in.

Then the show starts and I shed Elaine skin and morphed into my old college hippie dancing oblivious to the world I'm so freaking in the moment self. It was a magical show. I wound up down the lawn a bit, dancing with my poster in the tube and with everyone around, except Mike and our friends. That usually happens with me at Dave shows. Anyway, the next morning I wake up (with a killer hangover of course) and start chatting with Mike and our friends about the show. The Mike mentions the poster being an illustration of our bus. Confuzzled, I look at him--say what???

The whole "don't you remember" conversation ensued and I darted for the dash of the bus to grab the tube. I couldn't believe I didn't remember such a cool sniplet of information like that. As I peered into the tube, I distinctly saw rough edges....in the middle of the poster. No it couldn't be, it was in a tube...it can't be...it can't be....IT'S RIPPED! I almost collapsed into Mike. Here we had this cool ass concert poster that was the spitting image of our '78 bus, from a band and a venue I loved. A concert in which we actually were taken to in that very bus....and it was freaking ripped! CRUSHED.

Waiting until we got back to Walla Walla to carefully extract the poster without doing further damage to it, I was so blown away at the artisticness of the illustration and the tear right down the flipping center. But it's all part of the story. And it gets better.

On Christmas vacation, I took about 10 minutes to type and print out a real letter to the Dave Matthews Band fan club. I figured sending a snail mail letter may increase my chances of actually having someone read it. DMB is just that big now, I figured an email would just wind up lost in cyberspace. In my letter, I included a photograph of the poster and a photograph of our bus (which was taken in Montana on our 2006 excursion to Yellowstone). I dropped it in the mail box with a little hope that I might actually find out if our bus was the inspiration for the poster or not. I thought how cool it would be if the artist had seen us on the road or campground somewhere.

A few weeks ago I received an email from the fan club--about fell out of my chair when I saw the senders name.

Re: your poster
Friday, January 16, 2009 7:47 PM
From: "DMB Warehouse" warehouse@davematthewsband.com
To: walla2vandiver@yahoo.com

Hi Elaine! We got your letter with the pictures of your VW and the poster. That is really cool, and we're glad you were able to get a poster! We'd love to share that with the folks at Methane Studios. Would it be possible for you to upload the photos you included in your letter to an email that we can forward to them?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warehouse Crew

Of course I wrote them back right away and attached the pictures they requested. And then I waited. I was hoping to hear from Methane Studios or something. So I waited and waited a little more.

After googling Methane Studios, I saw their "contact us" information. There were only two names listed, one of which was the artist for said poster, Mark McDevitt. I figured, eh, what the hay, might as well try! So I sent the following email:

On Jan 31, 2009, at 11:51 AM, Elaine and Mike Vandiver wrote:

Hi Mark!

This has been eating away at me since August, so I just have to ask!

The poster you illustrated for Dave Matthews Band, called Gorge Van, what was the inspiration for that VW bus? I ask because my husband and I have that very same bus. I know those old buses used to be a dime a dozen, but nowadays you just don't see to many of them anymore. So imagine my surprise when I got the poster at the Gorge that had a spitting image of our beloved '78!

There are a few things that really make us believe it's "our bus"--the color, the color and type of kayak on top, the way the kayak is strapped down on the front with a silver S hook and the strapping on the sides, the crooked mounting of the license plate and the uncovered front mounted spare tire. I'm enclosing a picture of our bus, just so you can see what I'm talking about.

Please--let me know the inspiration behind this bus you illustrated! It's an awesome poster and I'm so glad I was able to score one before they were sold out!

Thanks!

All the best-

Elaine Vandiver Walla Walla, WA

I logged on a little while ago on the off chance this Mark chap had checked his work email on a Saturday night. I about peed my panties when I saw his email in my spam mail (note to self, ALWAY check the senders in your spam mail before emptying! You just might be deleting your version of Publishers Clearing House dreams away!).

Here is his email:

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Guilty as charged. I was looking for reference on Flickr while doing research for the Gorge show (which I have to see one of these days) and came across this and redrew it for the Gorge show. We have used the VW Bus before and will again from time to time as I love those old VW's.

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The shot was perfect and to make it a little more freaky I was working on this late at night when I heard that Leroi had passed away. This was probably my third day in row staying up half the night trying to beat production deadlines so I was a little slap happy.

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Anyhow there you go. I would be happy to use it again if you like and have a good profile and 3/4 shot.

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Hope your not angry and we owe you a favor.
Mark McDevitt
Methane Studios, Inc.

OUR bus was the inspiration for the 2008 Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge concert poster. Not that I need another reason to love that bus more...I think I'll go give it a hug right now.

Isn't that just a great story!!!!!

Adventures in Boxes

2008-11-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

Well it sure has been a minute since we've updated.

We've been in the house for almost a month and we are loving it. We've gotten the majority of things out of boxes, but there is still a lot that hasn't even been touched!!

We are hosting the first visit from the in-laws and showing them around town. I think they like it just as much as we do...or maybe they are just enjoying all the wineries?!

: )

We're actually going to move in!

2008-10-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

So it's almost 100% official that we will move into the new house on FRIDAY!! And it's a 3 day weekend! Unfortunately, our house hold goods will not arrive until the following Wednesday. Oh well, that's perfect, I can decide where I want everything. Mike has said that he will not rearrange the furniture after the movers have left. Can you believe that guy is still playing the "bad back" card? ;)

YIPEE!!! A house all our own!!!

We're alive

2008-09-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hello, family!!!

Lots of pictures from our first month in Walla Walla are HERE. Haven't closed on the house on Hedine Road yet, still waiting for the monopoly money to arrive.

We're eating out a lot, so we have a headstart to the winter pudge. So many great restaurants in town. Hoping to do some camping in the Blue Mountains very shortly. Miss driving the beese.

Cheers for now!
elaine

Mortgage

2008-09-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

So I got confirmation via our online account that the mortgage for the Tacoma house is PAID IN FULL! Ah, such a good feeling. It would be a greater feeling if it were one of those "we came into a lot of money and now the mortgage is paid off" but it was a sale instead. Hey, can't complain, that puppy is someone else's to love and curse! :)

Been working with Wells Fargo again for financing for the new house. I swear when we worked with them before it was all via the internet, email, phone and fax between Washington and Iowa. Now that we have a face-to-face loan officer, I'm kind of annoyed. His name is Stacy and he's not an effective communicator. He's kind of a mess actually. But I'm pretty sure that all of this will work itself out just fine.

Just wanna move in already!

Well Hello!

2008-09-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we've posted and that is mainly due to the lack of internet at the house and actually having work to do at work!

Life in Walla Walla is absolutely the best thing ever. People here are ridiculously nice and I constantly find myself coaching myself back into a more laid back mentality. It is working thus far. We are also thoroughly enjoying our 7 minute bicycle commute to work. When we move into the new house, the commute will grow to almost 28 minutes...which was the normal commute in Tacoma...but this time we'll be getting the exercise portion of the day out of the way. Double YEAH!

Speaking of, the house in Tacoma closed and settled last Friday. However, I have yet to see the online account closed and zeroed out. I am told it is because at closing the title company issues a check and it's sent to Wells Fargo. I'm guessing it still just hasn't cleared. Oh how I long for the day to see that account go back down to zeroes. Not like that matters because we're just going to get another loan...a slightly bigger one at that.

Anyway, things here are great. We went to the new house again this evening to check on the progress of some work we requested after the formal inspection. Things are progressing as they should and I expect there not to be any issues with the condition of the house upon closing.

Also, our realtor gave us free tickets to the Happy Canyon pagent in Pendleton for this Friday. I guess this is the big Round Up weekend in Pendleton which is basically a fair and giant rodeo of sorts. According to Dianne, this rodeo is the beesknees of rodeos and is world renowned. I'm game to go and so is Mike. It's a two our drive to Pendleton and I think I'm going to put an inquiry on the IAC with Emily's Owner to see if we can park in her driveway or some'n.

Love from Walla!
Elaine

Arrived

2008-09-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

That is...we have arrived. The dust is still settling but the journey and the move out to Walla although not complete has transformed us already. I find myself able to hear my own thoughts again and I can seriously say I haven't been stressed yet...even with the start of a new job. Amazing what happens when you slow down and take your life back :)

We got to camp in Spiffy over the weekend which was a nice treat as the poor bus had been in storage for a month. She needs some tuning up and REALLY needs to be cleaned but these are all things I can catch up on later. May have another camp trip planned for mid September to go meet some very good friends that I haven't seen in awhile.

Hopefully we will have more time to write when we get into the new place and have our own internet connection and such...until then ya'lls gettin' scatterbrained posts :)

Picture POst

2008-08-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am trying to post a fun little video on my flickr because blogger is insanely slow in uploading...at least on my 8 year old pc. Check here to see my sweet kitties in our ((empty)) house. Bitter sweet.

All of it

2008-08-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

Holy cow we have a lot of stuff. They packed like 98% of our stuff yesterday, to include the coffee maker, silverware and plastic plates. Even the microwave. So much for thinking we could finish the stuff in the freezer.

Big tractor trailer should be here any moment. Time to unplug the computer.

House Pack Up

2008-08-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

It's overcast and chilly this morning, and the packers should be here any minute. I'm writing this early, uneventful blog because I am unsure if we will have them pack up the computer for us to transport.

More later if possible!

Storage Unit cleared...CHECK

2008-08-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Picture from the camera phone. Two guys, one truck, lots of boxes and wrapping paper. They worked from 0800 to 1430 and only took one 30 minute break for lunch. I am tired from just watching them. Tomorrow: the house gets packed. Wednesday: they load the house onto a truck.

Time for a nap.

Under a week

2008-08-23T12:59:00.001-07:00

We are under a week from departure to WaLLa WaLLa!!!

What was going to be a relaxing weekend of watching the end of the Olympics, eating out and perhaps a mini local trip before going east, has turned into yet another house project day. About 2 days ago Mike noticed that our ancient cherry tree was leaning closer to the ground and closer to the fence. After further inspection, it indeed had a new large fracture to its central trunk...and was beginning to lean on the fence and over the neighbors yard. So we got out there with a tree trimmer and a saw. Off to the yard waste dump....

Pictures were taken a while ago, just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about...

Home selling questions + Trailer Load Plan

2008-08-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Topic One==Home selling questions

1) Is it okay/nice/legal to take my expensive and decorative curtain rods--the ones you screw into the wall--with me before we close on the house???? In the purchase and sale agreement, it makes no mention of blinds or other silly fixtures like that. I like them and want to take them with me. I spent a lot of my Christmas gift cards on them and actually have them earmarked for some windows in the new house. Of course, I will spackle and repaint the holes they leave behind. Also, we are leaving the mini-blinds behind for them. Honestly, let me know if this is shiesty.

2) Would it be "weird" to leave the new homeowners a note on the counter before we close? I just want to tell them a few weird things like--the garbage is picked up every Thursday in the alley and alternating weekends are yard waste/recycling on the curb...let them know the garbage men will charge you $10 extra if your garbage can is overfull and the lid will not close...that we will have set the "move out" date with the utilities and they need to get them in their name within 24 hours of possession or they will shut them off and charge you some ungodly figure to turn them back on at their convenience, etc. I would like to add that they are first time home buyers. I'd also like to put a cheap bottle of champagne in the fridge as a congrats. Is that weird?

Topic Two==Trailer Load Plan

So I convinced Mike that after all, we do need to take the trailer with us instead of letting the movers take it. It's not a camping trailer, it's a utility trailer similar to this one (put we put plywood on ours to "box" it and make it more useable) that we got a few years ago at Fred Meyer. We got it on a mondo sale for something like $150. It has rapidly become one of our best purchases. Anyway, Mike was sure that we didn't need it and that we could have the movers take it. Well once everything has come out in the wash, he admits that it would be handy to have it. Yeah!

Now it is my task to determine what all needs to go into it. Here's what I'm thinking so far. Leave me a comment if you think of anything else critical we may need. The movers come next week so help me out! : )

1) Vacuum
2) Boxes of clothes
3) Box fans (2)
4) Foam mattress topper and linens
5) Computer/Monitor/Printer
6) Flower window boxes (because I've worked too hard getting those petunias going!)
7) Four potted hydrangea plants
8) Cooler for the concert
9) ???

Elaine

Floor Plan

2008-08-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

So here's the floor plan of the new house. We just had the inspection done and are waiting on the seller's to review it. Turns out there are some gophers living under our house. Guess that's pretty common since the new development is on an old wheat field. I don't expect that the seller's will have an issue correcting the things from the inspection.

Still waiting to hear if the City of Tacoma came out and did a paint evaluation. Hoping that doesn't slow down the works.

It's a hot hot day in Tacoma today. Getting ourselves used to the hot weather--it was 104* in Walla Walla today. WOOF! But at least we'll have a/c.

Peace.

Hustlin'

2008-08-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

If this doesn't scream "meant to be" I don't know what does:

Departed Tacoma on Saturday late morning. Mike driving Bill and me behind in the Spiff mobile. We took our usual bus loving route on WA 7 to US 12 and over and around to I-84 (or was it I-82?) then back on US 12 for a smooth sail into Walla Walla.

First night we happened upon N. Clear Lake which had a strange set up and no real defined camping sites. However, we managed to get both buses in and overlooking the really clear lake. Lovely waterfalls from the semi-damn and locks. An early start as usual got us just outside of Waitsburg to stay at Lewis and Clark campground. We stopped into this brewery in Waitsburg before setting up camp. Sign out front said "we now have pizza" and on the menu it listed pizza hot pockets. :( Just from that I thought the beer was going to be "interesting" but it was my mistake. The back of the menu had the full real pizza menu and I immediately regretted the chose of mozzarella sticks. When my beer was poured--Summer Celebration--I was instantly surprised with the quality. I like the fruity kind and this brew had clove and lemon infused (or something). I ended up getting a mason jar of it to go...which I drank in the river...

Another early morning on Monday and we whizzed right into Walla Walla. Waitsburg is just a sneeze up the road, so we forewent making ourselves breakfast and had it at Clarette's Restaurant in town instead. We are on per diem afterall. Good thing we had a full breakfast because Mike had us hit the ground running. We checked into the Marcus Whitman and made plans to meet with Diane, our new Realtor, and called Isaac to set up a time to get into our storage slip. Before heading to storage, we visited Napa and Schucks for an oil pan to change the oil in Spiff because Mike was convinced the dip stick smelled a little burnt. Luckily the storage slip was gravel, so we didn't have to worry about a few drips here and there. Dropped Bill off, locked the joint and headed to the Post Office to get a PO box and then towards Diane's office.

Diane knew we had set up that vacation rental, but we told her how we were concerned at the cost, should we not sell and close our house within the government's allowable time of 120 days. So Diane told us of her neighbor's daughter who had a house downtown that she was no longer living in since she moved in with her boyfriend. It is still fully furnished and she didn't mind the cats and the month-to-month thing and only wanted $800/month plus electric. We made plans to meet with her--Christina--the next day or so to check it out.

In the mean time, Diane gave us the run of the city. We started to look at houses immediately. Mostly new construction with a few oldies thrown in. We probably looked at about 7 before breaking for lunch. Back at the hotel, we were regrouping and deciding where to eat when Mike's phone rang. It was Bob, our Realtor in Tacoma. We had an OFFER!! WE HAD AN OFFER FOUR DAYS INTO THIS WONKY MARKET! It was a really good first offer too. Bob hadn't seen it himself, but had his secretary relay the nitty gritty to us. Roughly $5000 under asking price and they wanted us to cover $6300 in their closing costs. We had an unusual two days to think on it because Bob told them we were camping and out of cell phone range.

Elated, we returned to Diane's office with new found vigor! Back to another few houses we went. So much to choose from...a buyers blessing. We looked at houses in our "comfortable" price range and peeked in a few obvious "dreamers". It's fun to look and surprisingly I didn't feel depressed when I walked in houses I knew we couldn't afford.

Tuesday morning, we linked up with the major bank in town and opened an eChecking account. Our first bank account locally in Washington. It would later prove to be crucial. Then we headed to Wells Fargo to see what the dealy is on us and paper. The broker, Stacy, ran our numbers through the system and I was surprised beyond surprised. Even with rates where they are, with the impending sale of our house and the nice chunk of equity, I was happy to see that not only were the ranges we were looking at feasible and affordable, we could even go a little higher. I was comfortable with the monthly figures at astronomical purchase prices even, and knowing our incomes are guaranteed to grow...suffice it to say that I got a few dollar signs in my eyes. And just for kicks (and since I'm going to pay for the credit report he pulled in the long run) I asked what our credit scores were. My median was 808 and Mike's was 760.

We went back out looking at houses in the ridiculous range and quickly determined that it was not for us. Even if we start a family, no one needs that much space...and quite frankly, I am not prepared to heat and cool it all year. Not to mention that Walla Walla is land of the "we always water our lawns even though it's expensive and a waste of resources". Once we were back looking at houses with conservative square footage and lot size, things just started to click into place. The counter offer we submitted on our house--back to full list price but we'll cover your closing costs--was accepted without incident. Closing set for 12 Sep; the meeting with Christina went smooth and we made a deal to rent her cute Victorian house within walking distance to work. Stars aligning, birds-a-singing...life is good.

Then we stumbled back upon a new housing development just shy of 3 miles from our new offices. Having had the time in the evenings sans Realtor to talk over the houses we had seen, what we liked and didn't and other various things, Mike and I were really jiving on what it was we truly wanted in a new home. "New" being most critical. Although we love the craftsmanship of the oldies, we wanted our forever home and wanted to jump right in without worrying about old electrical systems, foundations and roofs. We also wanted at least 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, an open floor plan, airy, 2 story preferable (to me at least) with a 2 car garage. The development called Prospect Terrace had just that. First house on your left, first one they built actually. It had been on the market a full year and just so happened to have dropped the price $5k the day we looked at it. Several upgrades, like tile entry, tile counters, fireplace and fully landscaped with underground sprinklers...and a triple car garage. Drool factor was off the hook.

The house is glorious. Nearly 2599 square feet...and before you get all on me about that...lets just say the price per square foot is going to negate the heating and cooling costs. Let me assure you I have run the numbers...three times in fact...once for each garage. :) We will be able to bike to work in 2 shakes. It's turn key and when I say that, I mean it. Main floor master with a five piece bath...you know with a separate tub and shower. The closet is bigger than the one little bathroom we have right now. GLORIOUS. There's a loft upstairs that overlooks the living room. Three good sized bedrooms upstairs, one has a walk in closet with WINDOWS! : ) I am truly excited if you can't tell. We got a fabulous deal and will close 21 October, if not sooner.

The Walla Walla trip was highly productive and wildly successful. I really anticipated a leisurely four days of lollygagging and some arranging of affairs. Honestly, Mike had us on que...even scheduling farts....

The COE picked up the tab for one bus' mileage and gas, as well as one-way tickets for us back to Seattle from the WW regional airport--a two terminal brand new facility. We took a little puddle jumper to Seatac and it was pretty uneventful. Only 50 minutes after all. A 4.5hour layover in Seatac before we caught our flight to San Diego. This was a pre-moving to Walla scheduled trip. A family reunion of sorts for Mike's siblings. I was definitely in need of some R&R after the Walla whirlwind. Mike's sister, Debbie, hosted the whole gang and what a pad they have. I found myself in the pool a lot and managed to get the best tan I've had in years. Vitamin D does a mind and body good.

Now it's back to the grind. I sprung the cats for the kitty condo clink and I dare say their 12 day stay was quite spendy. QUITE SPENDY. And they were not happy campers when I arrived at 0700 to get them this morning. I have a hole in my shirt to prove it. Gidget always manages to puncture a boob. They do get in the way after all. But she also swiped at the vet teck, who promptly put her in her place with the "momma cat neck grab". Watching that made me wince, but I'm sure Gidget didn't even feel it. They howled the whole way home. And I mean HOWLED. I felt like the worst kitty momma evah. It was an episode of low crawling and stiffing galore when I finally got them home. Ernie went right to the food trough and Gidget took her place on my shoulder firing up the turbo diesel purring engine as if to say, "don't you ever leave me in a box ever again". Needless to say, I was an hour late for work...didn't even call in. They are my babies, you know! : )

Took me all of 3 hours to get caught up after almost two weeks absence. I'm truly not that efficient, I just don't have to do much here. So excited for the new job. So excited to be part of something other than proof reading memos and answering the damn phone perkily. However, I was amazed at the number of emails in my inbox. 84! I forgot to put the out-of-office reply on, so maybe that has something to do with the number of messages? Who knows. Either way, my days are numbered here.

Below are some pictures of the things I mention in this post. More can be viewed here. You may have to go thru a few pages to see the VW bus driving ones--where we rolled over 0000000's!

CHEERS--Elaine

ps-sorry, couldn't figure out how to put the pictures at the end...my bad.

Offer and Inspection Report

2008-08-07T18:26:00.001-07:00

We made an offer on the house! We made it kind of late in the day, and we're thinking we won't hear anything until tomorrow morning or so. Hope they accept, but I'm thinking it's below list enough they will probably counter back.

Got the inspection report back from our house. There we 25 things of note, but the buyers are only asking that we get the furnace serviced. Slight point of contention with me and Mike on that one. Mike thinks it's stupid, especially since we already provided proof that we had Sears do a service and then had the gas company come out and replace the thermocouple wires. But they want it cleaned again. Whoop-de-do, I think. Mike is annoyed. We are going to fix it though. It was only about $90 to have Sears do their thing. I couldn't believe that there were 25 things needed and they only asked us to do one. I told Mike to thank our lucky stars, but we kind of went rounds on the issue. : (

Not much left to do now. We are taking the '78 over to storage and then catching a cab to the Walla Walla airport for our flight back to Seattle. We'll hang in the airport for a couple hours and then board another flight to San Diego. I'm so excited to have a little time off. We've really been busy here!

Counter

2008-08-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

So we are getting ready to send in our counter offer. Bob spoke with the buyers lender and everything checks out. Shouldn't have a problem with the loan on their end. We're going back to list price but will cover their closing.

Must remember that we are still making a fair amount of money on this sale, and this is a move that we wanted to do. No need holding on over just a thousand or two--really. We wanted to move out here and have been very lucky thus far. For all we knew, we were going to be holding residence in both Tac-town and Walla2. Plus, we didn't anticipate me getting a job out here as quickly as I did, and such a job it is. We need to keep moving forward and I have a good feeling that this sale is going to be perfect.

In other news, we've fallen in love with a house out here already. It's brand new construction, a quick 3-4 mile bike ride (no hills either) from work and they just lowered the price today. It has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, main floor master with 5-piece bath, 3 car garage, den, bonus room and complete landscaping with underground sprinklers. The back yard is also fenced and it's gorgeous with it's vaulted ceilings...

We'll see!!

Offer

2008-08-05T18:15:00.001-07:00

So we got an offer on the house in Tacoma. A major relief for sure. It was not a full priced offer, but it was a good one. Going to go over it with the realtor at some point tonight I hope.

More later, the business center is closing....

We're on

2008-08-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

You can view the listing here.

Maybe not so much

2008-08-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Although the vacation rental is super nice, fully furnished, has a washer/dryer and a garage, I think the lady is asking WAY too much per month. Even though COE will pay for it, we just cannot personally justify it. It's more than my mortgage payment...

So our real estate agent in WW has a lead on another vacation rental that is not listed on the rental listing site. At one third the price. They're cool with the cats too, and it's fully furnished. Going to check it out this weekend.

House was supposed to be on the market late last night. Checked this morning and it's not listed. As much as I love our agent, he is skating on thin ass ice. He's super busy with other clients and I swear to god that if my house isn't on the MLS by lunch, his ass is FIRED. I don't care if we signed a six month contract with him...he'll be gone in two shakes, that's all I'm saying.

Tomorrow we take the cats to the clink and head out. SUPPOSED to have an open house, and I swear to God if that shit doesn't go, heads will roll...

JUST SAYING.

Vacation Rental

2008-07-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

So after kicking around ideas as to where we are going to find a place, sandwiched between 3 substantial colleges getting ready to go back into session, that will allow pets and a month to month lease, we figured something out. Walla Walla has a lot (a LOT) of vacation rental homes. Yeah, the place is that cute/cool to have lots of vacation rentals! We found one that is pet friendly, has the next few months wide open without renters and is within WALKING/BIKING distance to our new job!!! The place is called Evergreen Inn. We verbally agreed to it, site unseen--less the cute internet pictures of it.

We found it on Vacation Rentals By Owner. They also have their own website here. Mike talked to one of the owners, Jody. She is really nice and apparently the tenant that is there now has the same situation as us. She was receiving TQSE and is vacating in the next couple days. Perfect! Just waiting on hearing what she wants for a deposit. Also said we will be able to check it out when we are there THIS WEEKEND!!! : )

Aside from that, we are making some serious progress on prepping the house for the market. We are now going live on Friday. Long story on that, but I'm glad it's going to go now! Mike and I took another load to storage--mainly stuff from the upstairs closet. We also put in the under cabinet lights for the last set of cabinets. Just took us FULL YEAR!!! : ) That job was a test of our marriage and included many, many four letter words (on my part of course) and some bumps and bruises (me again). But it's done and another thing on the "Jim List" has been successfully crossed off!

Right about now, the movers should be at the house doing an audit. Trying to figure out how big of a truck they'll need and how many men and boxes it will require. Mike also plans on making a run to the city dump as well as to storage to pay for August's rent.

Lots still left to do!

Details, details....

2008-07-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

The "to do" list keeps on perpetuating itself. One item gets crossed off and then we think of two other things that need to be done.....BLECK! We did get a lot done last night, Elaine got the windows cleaned up from a winter of harsh storms and I finished painting the bathroom....the very place and activity that killed my back three weeks ago. This weekend will be the time to get that darn list crossed off so we can actually enjoy a little bit of the summer.

The house officially goes "live" on Saturday and we hope that we can get a quick sale, man that would simplify things a ton. I think we did everything we could to prompt success, staging, aggressive price, cleanliness, larger commission for the buyer's agent, yada yada. The house is the last major piece of the puzzle, let's hope that our good luck continues......

Good weekend to all!!!
Mike

Marching Orders

2008-07-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

So we finally have a plan to get four cars, two cats, a house full of s**t and ourselves out to Walla Walla. A million things going on right now so I decided to get a list going so we don't forget anything. This is important because our household stuff will go into storage for up to three months so if we don't take it with us I guess we won't need it for 90 days :)

Phase one is to take the beese full of camping gear (because we have a concert and a campout the first weekend we are out in Walla a day after we shove the cats in a new apartment...oy!) and a few other items we will need out to Walla. They will go into storage and we will spend 4 days looking for an apartment that will allow cats, allow a month to month lease agreement all while competing with three colleges full of kids returning for the fall semester..........CRAP!!!! :) Phase one goes seamlessly into a pre planned trip to Sunny San Diego (family get together), we fly from Walla into SeaTac, wait 5 hours and then catch the flight to California. The kitties will be put up in a cat hotel (five star of course!) and an open house will be held while we are gone. That way we can leave the place clean and cat/people free for folks to get $$$$ signs in their eyes :)

Phase two will be at the end of August. The movers will spend four days packing our place up we will then travel to Walla the next day in the Kia and the Subaru (with a trailer). We will have to take the bed, TV, clothes, and the basic living essentials and stuff them in both cars along with the cats........NO THAT'S WHAT I CALL FUN!!!! nyuck nyuck nyuck. When we arrive we will unpack, place our kitties in a foreign environment, retrieve a bus, store trailer, get food, and then go camping.....two days later we start our new job. Crazy you say? BAH!!! This will be way more fun then a heart attack. (knock on wood)

So here is the least that is still a living document:

House Details to Complete

1. Trim bush between our house and Bruce’s.
2. Caulk bathroom baseboards and finish painting
3. Sheet rock basement stairwell
4. Paint back door trim
5. Pressure wash driveway
6. Remove chords from alarm clock and computer
7. Ask Barb if Gus can water the plants while we are out of town
8. Final clean up in basement (posters, laundry area, wipe off shop counter)
9. Tables and shop vac to Janelle and Joe
10. Edge and mow lawn
11. Dump oil and throw away oil bins
12. Paint stain on the wall in the garage
13. Get house key from Ed for Bob
14. Give the house a good cleaning (especially bathtub, and top of wall upstairs by air freshener)
15. Call and reserve the cat hotel
16. Bus Storage: Downtown RV Storage #509-522-8698, Isaac $70/month for 35x10. Call on the 4th after 1430 to set up a meeting and fill out paperwork.
17. Pack up office stuff and have movers put it with HHG
18. Clean up and de clutter closets
19. Return pegboard, tub regulator, tub drain to Home Depot

HHT Bus Packing List

Bill:
1. Both bikes
2. Tools and manuals
3. Extra clothes and shoes for permanent move
4. Pot and pan/basic eating and cooking stuff
5. White garbage bags
6.

Spiffy:
1. Camping gear minus coolers
2. Pull camp gear from Bill

PCS Car Packing List

1. Bed and mattress
2. Sheets, blankets, pillows
3. Kitties, litter box, food, water
4. Clothes (to include work clothes)
5. Food in boxes and coolers
6. NG uniforms
7. Microwave
8. TV
9. Computer?
10. Lock for trailer (take all gate locks off)
11. Important files, checkbook, admin stuff we will need
12. ALL toiletries/meds

We have our work cut-out for us. Wish us luck!!!

Peace,
Mike

HURDLES

2008-07-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Just hopped over a major movement hurdle this morning.

I GOT THE INTERNSHIP IN WALLA WALLA!!!!!!!

WOOT WOOT WOOT!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2008-07-14T11:10:00.001-07:00

Slow and Steady Wins the Race is the mantra we're going with at the moment.

Many many learning and growing opportunities for me since Mike's recent re-injury. All to often I find myself whizzing through life and the many "fix this house for sale" tasks, not taking the time to pause, think, re-evaluate and slow down. Instead, I find myself causing more stress and extra work--from the slamming, throwing and "dropping" of things as I work through various home repair tasks.

The garage sale I held on Saturday has taken away a lot of anxiety. We "made" about $130 (and spent that and then some on the patio furniture) and donated a lot of stuff to Goodwill. The basement is clearing out, slowly but surely. Light at the end of the tunnel is still in the distance, but at least I can see the glimmer.

One thing at a time.
Still waiting to hear back on the job for me at the COE.
Being patient...

Berfle

2008-07-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

So we've had to take a semi-break in the whole "get ready to sell" house preparation. Mike's back injury and subsequent hospitalization put a lot of things on hold. When it happened, we had just finished re-caulking the tub/shower and had begun to paint the bathroom white. I have since finished the painting (still need to do some touching up) and added the new items to "make it look like a hotel" like all the home shows and our realtor say is best. Still have to sand the filling on the door frame, as well as paint the inside of the window sill. We also bought an extra caulking material--an adhesive vinyl application--that I don't feel smart enough to put on. Also have a new regulator and drain cover, porcelin fix for the pox on the tub, and baseboard trim. Again, must wait to have the handyman do that!

No word on the COE job for me yet, but I remain hopeful. So much to do between then and now, it really doesn't matter. Bob, the realtor, will be rescheduling the stager and photographer for sometime late next week. Mike should be a little more mobile by then, I hope. Got tomorrow off again, to care for Mike and also continue the momentum on the house...

Cheers!

Split Ops

2008-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Quite a productive day yesterday.

While Mike repainted the front railing, I was inside "decluttering" and "depersonalizing" the house. I've been using bankers boxes. Although they are small, they are the perfect size for us short folk--not too cumbersome and not easy to overload. Plus, they have handles--double bonus. Another great idea courtesy of Suzanne.

Got a call from Bob, our super awesome real estate agent, and he scheduled the professional stager lady, Sherry (?) to come over next Tuesday. I'm taking the full day off for that. Bob won this free consultation with her at his annual holiday event. We're the lucky ones that get to use it! I will be super interested to see what she says about our furniture layout. The house is really small, so in my opinion we're really limited on what we can and cannot do with stuff. It will be nice to see someone else's take on the design.

Bob also won a free shoot with a professional real estate photographer. I tell ya, the luck card has to be almost punched out by now--it's amazing we're still breathing here! : ) The photography will happen sometime the following week, I'm thinking. Hope we can get the shower re-tiled and the small built-in linen closet in the bathroom completed before then. So much to do!!

We also threw some more seed down on the back yard yesterday evening after the heat died down and the shade took over. Lots of sprouts and sprigs of grass popping up here and there, just need to make it thicker. It's amazing to see grass growing in patches of straight gravel. If in a month of two there's still some patches of mostly gravel, I think we'll consider more soil, but for now it's seed and clippings from the front lawn. : )

On the agenda tonight is:
Mike: touch up paint upstairs
Elaine: going thru the last of the boxes down stairs and moving more garage sale boxes to the basement

Another rung on the proverbial ladder...

2008-07-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

...is rapidly approaching...and I feel the pressure.

Imagine my amazement this morning, after coming in from a four day weekend to find an email asking me to interview for the Contract Specialist job in WaLLa WaLLa. The GS-07 target 11. You know, the "best case scenario" job. Yeah, I'm having a hard time believing this is even possible. I really thought out luck card had been punched out for the year...the decade really...

I have a telephonic interview TODAY with the Contracting Department Chief. I won't have to worry about getting all red in the face as she won't be able to see me, but now I must contend with proper enunciation and not tripping over my words.

And did I mention, that I'm one of five (so it seems) that is being considered. At least I made the top five this time.

More news later...I hope.

How to store

2008-06-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

With an upcoming move we have to get our "beese" into some kind of high and dry storage so that they will be safe. What to do? Don't wanna pay out the wazzoo for a unit and we want them available to be fired up and hit the road.......sometimes the mood just strikes and we gotta get the hell outta town for a few days :)

Whatever we figure out it will be an interesting experiment in convoy technology.

well hello there

2008-06-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to the ones we love. Our VW buses...or is it beese?

Either way, this is where we'll share our busin' stories.

:)