Here we are, on the road: Yep, we’re still at Birch Bay, Washington

Sunday, July 31, 2011 Lorraine’s report

Hello once again on a warm but gray Sunday afternoon in Birch Bay, WA, I must say this week summer finally arrived. We had 3 days in a row without any measurable precipitation. And the temperature was finally in the normal range for this time of the year-the mid-70 degree range. Everyone was ecstatic!! Last night the weatherman said a low was suppose to go through; did it ever! It just poured for over an hour from about midnight until 1:15 am; then again this morning around 5 am.

One thing I like about the rain, it clears all the pollen out and the air is fresh and clean smelling. There has been lots of pollen from the weeds, trees and grasses, in the high range.

Last weekend still stands out in my mind. It was an eating frenzy weekend for us. We were celebrating several peoples, birthdays all weekend long.

Sunday night we went with Richard and Sandy to the Silver Reef Steakhouse to celebrate their birthdays. What an incredible meal! Our waiter was excellent, as was the food, the drinks-the whole smear. Thank you Richard and Sandy for asking us along; we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The rest of the week we spent doing our same old same old. Chuck met with his VA advisor and he took care of other business.

The one thing that stands out to me is on Friday we had made an appointment to take a look and see inside our home on Lummi Shore Road. Last year we weren’t here long enough to do that. This year we have had plenty of time.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the inside was neat, clean and tidy. I wrote down all the things that were damaged and went away feeling that the gal leasing it really does like living there. They are making an effort to keep the house in better repair than the previous leasers. Chuck still will have to go over and try to fix some of the things that he can, while others will have to be covered by the damage deposit, but all in all, it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it could be. What a relief for my mind.

Saturday we had Richard and Sandy come over for a bar-b-q steak dinner with all the fixings. We enjoyed a nice visit and quiet time together and ended our visit watching the new “True Grit” Movie. Thanks again, Richard & Sandy for last weekend-it was fun!

I want to wish Joy our friend from BC a very Happy Birthday on Tuesday, August 2nd; also, to my sister, Thelma, a very Happy Birthday on the 4^th of August. To Katie & Joe, I’ve tried to contact you through your comment on blog, but I don’t think it has gone through, so could you send us your e-mail or phone number? We want to see you both when we leave here and go through Utah next month. Chuck also has some questions maybe you can answer for us. Thanks.

Until next time…

Lorraine

7/31/11 Chuck’s report

Boy, another week has gone by quickly. We tried to take it easy this week as we know next week will be busier with Lorraine’s birthday and Susy/Kaitlyn’s visit.

Sunday evening we had the last of our Birthday celebration dinners for Richard, this time at the Steak House inside the Silver Reef Casino, one of the nicest steak places in the area for sure. Sandy was able to get us a coupon from a coworker of hers so both couples could order whatever they wanted, nice. Once again we had a very nice time with our friends and for the last time this year, we wished both Richard and Sandy a very Happy Birthday.

Monday was a stay home and rest day, I don’t think Lorraine got that memo as she cleaned the coach, made a run to town and still fixed dinner. Don’t know what I did but I sure wasn’t that busy.

Tuesday we headed into to town, had to stop by the Veterans' place and the place that takes care of our renters. We made an appointment to inspect our house for later in the week. We also stopped by the mall and other places.

Wednesday was another restful day, Lorraine ended up going to the movie house, Joe stopped by for a visit and the neighbor gave us a freshly caught/cooked crab for our dinner.

Thursday I finally got some ambition and decided to finish washing,shining the tires and wheels on the coach. We also made a quick check of all the basement storage areas but didn’t get rid of too much stuff, we’ve paired down pretty well over the last couple of years I guess.

Friday we made the scheduled inspection of our house. We tired to sell it before we went on the road back in ‘07, in fact we had a good offer that fell through at the last minute. We’ve had it leased out since we’ve been on the road. The first year we made an inspection and were both very disappointed in the care the first renters were giving the house, yard and gardens. We did come to the conclusion that it was now a house, no longer was it our home. We were unable to schedule an inspection last year so we didn’t really know what to expect with the second renters. We were both pleasantly surprised that the place was a bit better that when we saw it two years ago. These renters seem to be taking more pride in it and it shows. Of course, it wasn’t like when we lived there but we were the owners, not renters.

Yesterday we invited Richard/Sandy over to our place for a bar-b-q. I must say we thought of Dave/Sandy as Lorraine fixed the potatoes/vegetables and I cooked them as they showed us a couple of years ago. They didn’t turn out as good but very close and we had a good time explaining the process to Richard and Sandy (Dave, you know what I mean).

This morning Lorraine got ready and headed off to Church. Just before she left I started the dishwasher and it started beeping and showed a fault. While she was gone, I tore the thing down, couldn’t find any problem so I searched the internet for a solution. I found out what the fault meant (water high level switch) and how to repair it (dry it out with a hair drier). I tried the recommended repair and lo and behold, it works just fine! Sure glad we didn’t have to have a serviceman out to fix it.

I also dumped and flushed the holding tank while she was gone and repaired the screen door handle, it sort of came apart when I went outside one time. I also had to give our dog, Misty, a bath as she was outside and managed to crawl under the engine and get oil/grease all down her back.

The weather has been much more summer like this week even though we’ve had a couple of days with rain but the afternoons have all been sunny. We’ve been close to 80F once again, don’t think we got quite there but nice none the less. I did manage to get a bit red from the sun yesterday, one of the nicer days we’ve had this week.

For the upcoming week it looks like Loraine has a hair and a doctor appointment. Our daughter, Susy, and grand daughter, Kaitlyn, are flying in on Thursday to spend the weekend with Nana and help celebrate her birthday on August 6th. Last I heard, our son, Rich, wasn’t sure if he could make it too, that remains to be seen, I guess. But if he isn’t here in person, I’m sure he will call and be here in spirit.

I didn’t have any pictures for the blog last week and very few this week. Looking through the camera it appears the only pictures Lorraine took was when we were at the Steak House for dinner with Richard and Sandy on Sunday night. Therefore, here are a few pictures of that happy occasion.

The four of us at the Steak House. Richard and Sandy.