PHOTO GALLERY 2025

Libby has always loved birds... she's done some organized bird watching and always likes to visit aviaries and bird santuaries as we travel about. We were watching Grant's Getaways on the local NBC station. The weekly segments and programs feature themes such as fishing, urban hiking, surfing, geocaching, whale watching, kayaking, and rafting. Television personality Grant McOmie takes you. He had a segment which featured a fellow named Dennis Frame a woodworker from Forest Grove, OR who builds exquisite handcrafted little bird resorts in his home workshop. So on Sunday afternoon we drove the hour out to Forest Grove to see him and purchased this cool little anniversary (March 19) gift for Libby.

After we left Dennis Frame's house, we drove into downtown Forest Grove, Oregon where stands this HUGE Giant Sequoia on the corner of Pacific Avenue and B street. According to the National Center for Conservation Science & Policy this tree is the Oregon State Co-Champion. The girth of the tree, measured at a height of 1.40 m, is 9.96 m. Its height is around 21.34 m

From Forest Grove we drove over to Hillsboro on our way back to Hwy 26 which takes us back to Portland. There is a small grove of Giant Sequoias in front of the Washington County Courthouse in downtown Hillsboro. Not as massive as the one above in Forest Grove, but still mighty impressive. I have always been considered a large fellow but these monsters dwarf little old me as I am standing in the middle of the walkway out front.

This plaque is anchored outside the 1873 Washington County Courthouse in Hillsboro, OR explaining the history when these trees were planted as 3 year old seedlings in 1880 and are now more than 150' in height and 30' in circumference.

We are pleased to report that on Aptil 14, we have arrived back down at Fern Ridge Shores on west side of Fern Ridge Lake, Oregon just west of Eugene. The lake is almost full for the season and should get there by end of the month, as the Army Corps allows it to fill gradually. The marinas are open and we'll be launching the boats very soon. Looking forward to another great sailing season at Fern Ridge Lake. We plan to be here all summer until the lake closes again October 1.

When I purchased our beautiful battery powered British Racing Green 2017 EZ-GO golf cart last year, I factored in the reality that it would need a new set of batteries. Batteries for a 48v cart are no small item. It has six 8v batteries and these can run up to $2000 for a set of wet cell batteries. AGM (glass mat) batteries cost twice that. Lithium Ion batteries can be substituted and are a bit cheaper nowadays, but older systems are not compatible with lithium ion and then there are the worries of fires. So we stuck with wet cell lead acid batteries. Pictured is the old bank of Trojan batteries... and I replaced them with the same Trojan batteries today. I ordered them from Golf Cart Geeks for for $1400 and they were delivered yesterday. I installed them today, April 21, reusing the same Trojan Hydrolink watering system.

Today, Thursday Aptil 24, we got in an excellent day of sailing on Fern ridge Lake... winds in the 10-12 range, sunny skies and temps in the upper 60's. A great start to the 2025 sailing season. The lake levels are up at the maximum (full pool) so we're looking forward to a full 6 month season... hopefully lots of time on the water. Still a little chilly so I have my flannel shirt on... but bright sun, nonetheless, so I have my sunglasses with attached nose shield in place. Too many years of unprotected exposure on the old schnozzola so I have to protect it every time we go out on the boat. The full brim helps as well.

Our young eagles are growing every day, rapidly developing from chicks to real eagles. As mentioned before, young eagles are called fledglings once they leave the nest for the first time. which happens around 10-13 weeks of age. We have been watching Gizmo and Sunny since they were first hatched in early March, so as of now at April 29 they are now 9 weeks old and are practicing their skills every day, as they stand at the edge of their nest and flap their wings in mock flight. It won't be long before they take flight for real. probably in the next couple weeks. I feel like these two are my Godchildren so I look in on them every day. The video footage gives us the ability to back up the timeline up to 24 hours or so, and thus I hope to be able to catch one or both flying off for the first time. That will be my next post.

Today, May 6, we had Manny with Affordable Mobile RV Repairs out to handle a number of chores for us on the Vilano 5th wheel... servicing the A/C units on the roof, servicing the leveling jacks and slide mechanisms, etc etc. This is his pickup and trailer in the driveway with the inset showing him up on the roof of the Vilano.

On May 10 we got out sailing again after being gone for more than a week while Libby flew to San Diego to visit the grandkids and then attend her 50th high school reunion in L.A. Today was only our second day on the water for the season, but we're looking forward to many more as head towards summer. Winds were light so we were under full sail and pretty relaxed.

While on the water we were treated to some seaplane training maneuvers with a vintage military seaplane practicing on the lake. He landed on the water and took off several times while we were out there and one time he passed pretty close off our bow! You can see the pontoons on the ends of the wings.

In a major step toward restful sleep to enable more enjoyable summers in Veneta, today, May 13, my new bed was delivered... a Purple Mattress and Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Ergo 3.0 Adjustable Base. This will replace my half of our kingsize bed space in our Vilano 5th Wheel. Libby's half is a standard luxury twin mattress recut to fit the remaining space. This complements our splitking adjustable bed with the black Beautyrest mattresses which we have at home in Vancouver.

Here we are down by the marina at our RV Park. Lib and the dogs posed for a photo lakeside. Whenever we go down to the boat, we ride down in the golf cart. It really isn't very far to walk, but the electric golf cart is convenient and fun.

Two days ago Sunny's little sister, Gizmo, fledged and we have been looking in occasionally on the eagle cam. Four days earlier Sunny fledged... now it's little Gizzie's turn. She soared to a nearby tree, where she spent the night, and next morning daddy Shadow brought her some fresh trout for breakfast. A lot of this is captured here on this cute edited video. ENJOY! This morning I checked in early and both sisters were in the nest at dawn and at 1:00 pm the eagle cam wide shot had them side by side in a nearby tree together. Here we are (left) mid afternoon back in the nest together having a late fish lunch brought in by Jackie. Very heartwarming!

This screenshot of our beloved eagle family was taken this morning 6/12 about 7:00 am. Both parents joined the two girls in a treetop near their nest. This marked the very first time I have seen the whole eagle family together outside the nest. The young girls are learning the necessary skills to survive on their own in the wild... and eventually maybe become parents themselves. They are spending their days learning their environment as they soar around the immediate area and perch in the tree tops. That's proud parents Jackie and Shadow, and the two beautiful girls, Sunny and Gizmo, now about 14 or 15 weeks old.

Today all across the United States there were more than 2000 "No Kings" rallies held, organized by Indivisible. In Eugene, just east of us here at the lake, an estimated 10,000 people turned out... in a city with a population less than 180,000! Even here in tiny little downtown Veneta there was a sizable turnout at the main corner of Hwy 126 and Territorial Hwy - the protesters are lined up around the corner and down Hwy 126. People are NOT happy with some of the contentious policies of this administration and the resistance is growing rapidly. As we drove through the intersection, I shot a 15 second video posted here

Here's a very regal depiction of our two pups rendered by AI. Riley looks like a little prince, but at heart he is just a little dirtball.. That's our little boy, after a fun digging event, paying the price and getting a bath before he can have free run in the house again.

As noted in the travelogue, we are home the first part of July as both sons Pat and Tim afre visiting with their families. This includes grand children Ollie and Emery... and Pat's new daughter Lulu, just 4 months old now. Here we are all sitting around the table at an informal restaurant. The inset is little Emery who was off on the play structure when this photo was taken

And here I am in my recliner with baby Lulu. What a treat to finally have a little girl. Now I have a strong motivator to live another decade and see this little doll turn into a young lady.

As noted on the travelogue, our travels and sailing life came to an abrupt halt on July 14 when I was stricken with an acute gallbladder attack. Sharp pains in my upper right abdominal area, dark brown urine, nausea, chills, sharp increase in blood pressure, etc. A visit to the emergency room on Thursday told the story, along with a decidedly jaundiced look. They kept me in the hospital a couple days, but after an MRI indicated a gallstone had likely passed thru the bile duct finally, they sent me home. This is a true wakeup call for me... serious diet changes are warranted. I need to lose at least 10% of my body weight. I have tried many times in recent years but lacked sufficient motivation to follow thru, I guess. This is the motivation I needed! And as of July 25, as I show signs of improvement, we may be able to head back down to the lake next week

So after recovering at home from my gallbladder attack, we finally returned to Veneta and the lake on August 4. By the 7th we would have been ready to get out on the lake, however, somehow the big toe on my foot became inflamed and the nail was coming off. So I went to urgent care in Eugene and there they removed my toenail and treated the infection and prescribed some antibiotics. Ouch! What's next?

We were able to get back out sailing at long last on August 9. Whew... maybe we can now relax and enjoy the rest of the summer sailing season!

It is rare that temperatures reach 100 degrees F or more here in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. But this is what they are forecasting for today, Aug 10, and tomorrow. Often here at the lake it is a little cooler if there is a breeze off the lake, but in any case, it is still too damn hot. We don't take the boats out when it gets this hot. If the motorhome were here we might try an escape over to the coast, an hour away where it will be 30 degrees cooler. But alas, Mimi is in storage in Vancouver at the moment, so we shall just wait out the heatwave, hangin' out in our air conditioned coach.

Let sleeping dogs lie, as the old saying goes. We're home this week catching up on some doctor's and dog grooming appointments. It's mid afternoon on a hot day (August 26), Libby is taking a nap upstairs and Riley and Taffy are taking a nap on on the sofa resting up for another big night of backyard critter hunting. This always starts late afternoon as the squirrels come back around for an evening visit to the squirrel feeder and then as the sun sets the night critters come out and this has the two dogs racing in and out of the family room doggie door dozens of times across the evening. Exciting stuff for dogs! Taffy definitely looks comfy! We call that Riley's hang dog position... he has done that ever since he was a little puppy. So cute!

Our son Patrick, is off to China for two weeks with his wife Linjia and their baby daughter, Lulu. Patrick will be gone two weeks and Linjia 3 or so... she will be visiting her family in Shanghai and I'm sure they will visit some other interesting places... I will be sure to post a few of their adventures here.

Today, Sept 15, was a superb sailing afternoon... really as good as it gets. Temps in the mid 70's, winds pretty steady 10-12 with some higher moments... Crystal clear blue skies and about half dozen other sailboats keeping us company, this on a lake that is about 4x7 miles in size! Libby was sitting up on deck part of the time enjoying the beautiful weather and peaceful glide of the sailboat. Not a single powerboat out there disturbing the stillness. The absolute perfect way to wrap up the 2025 sailing season on Fern Ridge Reservoir.

Today, September 25, is National Schnauzer Day, "A day to celebrate all things schnauzer. The majestic breed comes in three sizes, Miniature, Standard and the mighty Giant, all with loveable characteristics and of course the iconic beard." Now that we are back home for the fall, we took our little boy, a white Miniature Schnauzer, Riley, in for a haircut yesterday to celebrate the event, and with his typical "puppy cut", he is adorable as ever.

We are pleased to have our son Patrick visiting us with his dog Poe, a little "Pomimo", an adorable little guy who is a cross between the American Eskimo and the Pomeranian. While Pat's wife Linjia remained in China with their daughter Lulu, Pat came home to return to work (by remote) and decided to spend the two weeks with us, until Linjia and Lulu return. We always welcome these extended visits... memories of "the old days".

Besides being here to be with our son Patrick, we arranged to be home now in order to have our home painted. It was painted back when we bought the house in 2013. It has been 12 years and we wanted to be proactive and have it painted BEFORE it really needed it. In 12 more years I would be in my 90's and maybe not living here anymore, so we figured to have it done while we could enjoy it, and while I am still young enough to micromanage the job as is my wont.

The house has three different colors. Beige for the siding and two darker and lighter colors for trim to make it stand out. We decided to stay with Sherwin Williams paint which is what we chose 12 years ago for its beauty and durability. This time we opted for their top grade, S/W Emerald. It's a major upheaval to endure for a week of repairs, masking and painting, but it will be worth the result.

Another item on the fall agenda has been the various medical needs Libby and I have been saving up. On thing that has been bothering me for many years, a common affliction in older men called BPH, Benign prostatic hyperplasia, an enlargement of the prostate which gradually impinges on the urethra making it more difficult to urinate. One new treatment is called the Urolift Procedure, a minimally invasive treatment for enlarged prostate, using implants to widen the urethra affected by the swollen prostate. It is typically done as an outpatient procedure under general anesthesia. I had the procedure on 11/24 and am hoping it will make a life a lot more pleasant when it heals.

Another home improvement project on the docket for this fall was the heating and air conditioning... or HVAC systems. This two story house has two independent systems, one upstairs and one down with separate thermostats for each. Our existing A/C units were from 1996 and 2003 respectively and it was time to upgrade them. And since the furnace units include the air handler function for the A/C, we decided to replace everything. We solicited several bids and decided on a local Vancouver HVAC contractor called Blairco to install two brand new systems - Carrier performance series 80% gas furnaces with 14 seer R454B air conditioners. A major upgrade to this home...

The work on the HVAC systems took a full week. 70% of the work was outdoors and in the garage where the downstairs furnace and coils are located. The rest was in the attic accessible by a ladder in the upstairs office. It took them a while to remove all old the equipment via the ladder and downstairs to the garage. And then to bring all the new equipment upstairs and up the ladder for installation. The two Blairco installers, Brendan & Josh, were very capable and completed the work fairly efficiently with electrical work done by Bullseye Electric. Work was finally completed on Monday, Nov 22. We already had another company, Knez Insulation, tear out all the old crawlspace 1985 vintage insulation and replace it with new R-30 fiberglass and a heavy 6 mil vapor barrier. When the attic work is complete, Knez will return and beef up our attic insulation with new R-49 blown-in insulation

Once the furnace and coils were installed in the garage for the downstairs and in the attic for the upstairs, the final step is to replace the outdoor units. Here they are side by side - Carrier circa 1990 and 2025. The old untis will be removed and recycled. The larger of the new ones closest to camera is a 2.5 ton unit which is for the upstairs which has more square footage than downstairs since it extends partially over the garage. And, since heat rises, it is the most difficult to keep cool. This new 2.5 unit should do the job!

Our new HVAC systems include new Ecobee Smart thermostats upstairs and down. These are very powerful thermostats that are simple to use once set up, but have some very powerful advantages over our old ones. The Ecobee are wifi-enabled so we can install the app on our phones and control them now from anywhere. I can adjust the temperature from my recliner either at home in the next room or from anywhere I happen to be. No more coming home to a hot or cold house after being away at the lake! The Ecobee also comes with remote sensors which can be placed anywhere in the house so we can average the readings from different rooms and keep the whole house more comfortable! Read a good review here as "best in class."

While I am at home overseeing the HVAC upgrade work, Libby has seized the opportunity to fly to New York to visit Patrick, Linjia and baby Lulu who is now 6 months old. She'll stay 4 nights and return home on Monday. Babies change so fast, if you want to catch the major changes you have to see. Lulu is feeding herself, she's laughing a lot and very interactive, loves going out in the stroller, and is doing a very speedy belly crawl. Cute stuff! I get to see the videos.

Here are the two Blairco technicians, completing installation of the two new Carrier Air Conditioners in the back of the house between the gate and the back door to the garage. The work is finished now on November 24. It only remains to have a city inspection and the duct seal inspection and necessary resealing work. It will be a good 5-6 months before they will be needed. But it's worth the peace of mind and potential massive inconvenience if they were to quit during a heat spell, which is normally when a 30 year old system would be likely to fail.

Today we finally got Riley in to the groomer for a much needed haircut. Now he looks like a White Schnauzer again... instead of the scruffy little fluffball he had become after a couple months of growth. He's adorable both ways, but this is more the classic Schnauzer look. I have been known to give Taffy her haircuts most of the time, but she's easy... Riley on the other hand is a real PITA. Our groomer Itzell has unlimited patience with him, and he gotten accustomed to her handling him.