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August 24, 2018
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
We left last Friday for the Northwest Steam Society steam meet in Toledo, Oregon. Although our steamboat wasn't running (it is missing a burner so we can't make steam), Dave decided to bring it along anyway and use it as an exhibit. Toledo is only 2-1/2 hours south of us so it wasn't a long drive. But it turned out longer than anticipated as we were stopped for an hour and 45 minutes on Highway 101, waiting for an accident to be cleared away outside of Newport. But we made it to Toledo with plenty of time to set up the boat and check into our room at the motel. That night, we joined the group for a barbeque at the Port.
Toledo was also holding their annual Wooden Boat Show so there were a lot of activities going on - cardboard boat races, boat building and an exhibition on kayak safety, plus live music. The whole town of Toledo came out for this event and of course they all wanted steamboat rides. We had 21 steamboats in attendance and they were a big hit. Although our boat was drydocked, we were given rides on other boats, so it was a lot of fun. Dave had a lot of people interested in our boat, so that kept him busy explaining how things worked.
Saturday night we had our annual dinner meeting at the Rogue Brewery in Newport. We were served this delicious buffet with lots to choose from and enjoyed being in the company of such diverse steam people. We always have awards and trophies given to members who really worked hard on their boats.
We also had some out-of-town friends surprise us. Joel and Kellie La Follette from West Linn came by to say "hi". They came down to Newport to celebrate Kellie's birthday and figured that we would be at this event. It was great seeing them.
On Monday, after breakfast (the owner of the restaurant treated because he appreciated us bringing the steamboats to town), we were on our way back home. It only took us a couple of hours because the traffic was light and there were no accidents this time.
This week we have been putting boat stuff away. I washed all the cushion covers and gave the brass lanterns a quick clean. It is a lot easier to do it before we put it away for the winter, rather than waiting to do it next year. I learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago.
They're back! We came home to find a bunch of fishing boats in front of our place. This is the time of year for the salmon run and we see a lot of boats trying their luck. It can be very entertaining watching them and it's fun to see when they actually land one of those big fish. Dave took our fishing boat out of the water last week to clean the barnacles off the hull and he is anxious to finish that job so he can get back out there and join those fishermen!
I had to go back to the podiatrist on Tuesday for another procedure on the Planter Wart on my foot. It has taken several weeks and still have not been able to get rid of it. It was quite large and the doctor said it would take several treatments to kill it. It seems I just get healed when I have to go see her two weeks later. She has to cut it out so I'm hobbled for two or three days before I can walk on it. I hope it goes away soon but I have another appointment in two weeks, so we'll see.
We went into Portland on Thursday to pick up our wall oven and microwave that finally arrived. We could have had them delivered but the store wanted an extra $170 to get them to the coast. After a frustrating drive through Portland with all the traffic and construction, we thought maybe we should have spent the extra money to have them delivered, but at least they are here now. I sure hope that I get them installed soon - especially the oven - as I am tired of the inconvenience. Not only that, my dishwasher decided to act up and not drain, so I have had to hand wash all my dishes until the repairman could come and look at it. When the repairman did arrive on Wednesday, he found a small rock, some broken glass and a piece of plastic stuck in the pump. He tried to clean it out and get it running again but no luck. So now we need a new pump. What next? There's a chance the new pump will be here and installed today, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
We are still smoked in down here because of the forest fires up north in Canada and Washington, but the weatherman says the smoke should be going away soon. We could use a lot of rain right now as things are really dry around here too. Looking at the forecast, it looks like we may finally see some rain this weekend.
Dave got some bad news when we got back from the steam meet. He found out that our newly-hired city manager has resigned, so he and the rest of the city council are going to have to start the recruiting and hiring process all over again. It takes a lot of their time over a period of two or three months, so that's what he is going to be doing in his spare time for a while.
He also found out that the play he is going to be in is back on the schedule again. They weren't sure they could get enough people to complete the cast, so it was kind of "iffy" for a couple of weeks. So now he is going to be trying to memorize his lines (something he has difficulty with) and has added rehearsals to his already full schedule!
