Memorial Day Weekend

It's not fair that some people got Friday off and thus a four day weekend. Goni and Laurel are among the winners of this prize. But in spite of it all Grover went to work on Friday even though Goni and Caroline got to go shopping in Portland. Blossom got some new shiny feeding bowls.

Saturday was a big day. Grover went for his final conditioning hike up Mt Defiance. It was a tough hike and there was lots of snow but he made it to the top. Mt Hood climb is coming up this Friday.

On Mother's Day Caroline gave Goni and a card good for a free home cooked dinner. Saturday night was the night for the dinner and it included Nathlie's host parents Sandy and Randy Larson. Everyone had a good time especially the two cooks Caroline and Nathalie.

Sunday was a busy day at church with Grover and Goni playing the bells, Sunday School class and a special church board meeting at noon. But after that Grover and Goni took a well deserved nap. Then it was off to Costco and a sightseeing trip to the Vista House and Multnomah Falls.

We then had dinner at McMenamins at Edgefield. This McMenamins is at the site of the old county poor house. This was the place people lived in the old days when they had no money and before freeway off ramps were built for begging. Interesting place with some reports that there are ghosts who haunt it. Catch info on it at: http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=3

Memorial Day was our opportunity to honor our soldiers who died for our country. We put out the flag then went down to the service at the memorial outside city hall. Our local state representative spoke, there was a jet fighter flyover and a 21 gun salute by the old veterans from our local VFW post.

Later in the day we went down to the Old Spahgetti Factory to celebrate Laurel's birthday.

Then we came home and Caroline offered to mow the front lawn. She said she had never mowed a lawn before so we couldn't let her leave the US without achieving another first in her life!

It's Mountain Climbing Time

The last two weekends Grover has been training for his annual Mt. Hood climb. A group from Concordia University goes up every May and there are three practic hikes everyone does before the big climb. Patrick and Shayne have been going along to enjoy the great out of doors but do not plan to do the mountain. Mt Hood climb will be on Friday, May 30th so everyone say an extra prayer for safety on the mountain.

Dog Mountain on 5-10-08




View of the Columbia River Gorge from the top of Dog Mtn.

Larch Mountain on 5-17-08

We hiked over 3 miles through snow that was between 3-4 feet deep to get to the top.

Top of Larch Mountain with Mt Hood in the background.

Tagging (I think it's illegal)

Laurel tagged me to answer the following questions:

Four jobs I've had:
1) Newspaper delivery boy
2) Deputy Sheriff & Police Chief
3) Mayor
4) Director of Public Safety

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1) Miracle on 34th Street
2) Goldfinger
3) Beverly Hills Cop
4) At my age you have probably seen most movies more than once

Four places I've lived:
1) Chicago
2) Monument Valley Utah
3) Chehalis, WA
4) Toledo, WA

Four TV shows I watch:
1) NCIS
2) CSI
3) Ghost Whisperer
4) Three & a Half Men

Four places I've been:
1) Hawaii
2) Victoria, BC
3) Statue of Liberty
4) Mount Rushmore

Four people who email me regularly:
1) My boss the sheriff
2) My wonderful wife Goni
3) My assistants Lori & Jennifer
4) My sister Kirsten

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Turkey dinner
2) Steak & a baked potato
3) Cheesecake
4) Most any kind of bread

Four places I would like to visit:
1) Europe (the whole enchilada)
2) Alaska
3) Argentina
4) New England in the fall

Four things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1) Flying up to the Arlington Air Show
2) Playing with grandchildren
3) Camping out
4) Climbing Mt Hood

The Big Trip

This past week was a memorable one for a couple of reasons. First Jonah arrived (see last week's blog entry) and Grover went on a long flight to Provo, Utah by himself in his airplane. Goni stayed home but did not enjoy it much as she caught a bad cold.

Grover left on Thursday morning from the Troutdale Airport with plans to reach Provo by that afternoon. The plan was to fly to Caldwell, Idaho and then on to Provo following Interstate 84. Everything was going along well with a nice tailwind until just outside Burley, Idaho the clouds came in and blocked the visibility in the mountain pass into the Salt Lake valley.

Grover landed at Burley and found a man at the airport to give him a ride into town. He took Grover to a motel that he said was one he thought had good rooms and was reasonably priced within walking distance of the airport. Well the motel was not very nice as people had obviously smoked there before and Grover was worried about cockroaches and bed bugs. The next morning breakfast at the local greasy spoon at 6:00 AM gave a great example of life in our USA. Old men gathered for their morning coffee and workers arrived for breakfast. Food was good and the walk to the airport showed clear sky in all directions.



Once in the air again Grover easily made the two hour flight to Provo over the mountains and through the Salt Lake valley. Biggest challenge was dealing with travel through the big class B airspace around Salt Lake City. Grover was expecting the worst but it turned out OK. Air traffic controllers were good to deal with and weather good.



Upon arrival at Provo, Gary & Kirsten picked Grover up at the airport. After lunch at a Chicago Style hot dog stand Kirsten, Grover & Dayton went up to Salt Lake City to tour the big Masonic Temple and to see the sights around the LDS Church Temple Square. The Masonic Temple was a great experience and our tour guide, Rick, did a nice job of telling us all about the building. Dad would have really enjoyed this tour.



Once done at the Masonic Temple we drove over the Temple Square for a look see. The gardeners were working on the flower beds and there were brides waiting to get married everywhere. We even went into the building where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings. After Salt Lake City we went back to Provo and had dinner with Michelle & Derrick's house.



Saturday morning we planned a hike to the top of "Y" mountain which is located a couple of blocks from Kirsten's house. We climbed up to the "Y" and then kept going all the way to the top of the mountain. We got so high that we even had to traverse snow that was several inches deep. The climb was good and everyone including the dogs made it to the top. View from the top is good but it was not a real clear day. Still we got several pictures and afterwards we went out to a nice steak dinner at Goodwood's Restuarant.



The next morning the weather was clear for the flight home to Troutdale. No problems getting through the mountain passes and a stop in Caldwell for fuel was uneventful. Got up to LaGrande, OR and ran into some clouds but they were low enough to fly over the top of to the Columbia River Gorge where things cleared up. Landed at Troutdale at 3:30 PM with clear sky and warm weather. It was great to be home (no bugs from the motel made the trip)!