It's always something

We were scheduled to visit Valley of the Rogue State Park near Medford, OR but the heat was really high there and 115º was predicted for the days we were scheduled there, too much like Phoenix, so I cancelled and extended at Bend-Sunriver TTN for two days and then we went to Cascade Meadows for the other three days. Then we returned to La Pine State Park for five days without TV or internet but God is so good as He provided a newbie couple from Manitoba Canada for us to hang out with. We shared a meal and played Mexican Train into the dark of night, having to finish the game the next morning! They knew about Mexican Train because they have spent several winters in Mexico.

Jamie and Betty from Canada

Our shared meal

We headed back to Cascade Meadows for two weeks and found another leak in the drain pipe under the sink. Larry decided to replace it with steel this time so I had to use a bucket under the sink until he could get the correct parts. It took several days to get everything he needed together and we tested the slide multiple times to be sure everything worked as it was supposed to. Larry had to make a few adjustments but it is working fine now. We enjoyed the salmon bake Potluck which was really well attended.

Broken plastic drain pipe under the sink

New metal pipe under the sink in the slide

We learned we are again great-grandparents as of Aug 15, Calvin Todd, born to our granddaughter Cerét in Tempe, AZ.

My dryer started acting 'funny' with all the lights flashing so upon further investigation, we discovered it was full of lint and the flashing lights indicted it was overheating and shutting down. The vent is an L shaped corrugated flexible aluminum 4” pipe so Larry decided if the pipe were smooth on the inside, the lint wouldn't catch as easily on the sides and clog up so quickly so he did some research and found some silicon 4” pipe including an elbow so that will be his next 'project'. Have to keep him busy you know!

The 'big' happening around here was the Solar Eclipse. We were able to see 97% totality with a thin spaghetti slice visible. It was surprising how much light there still was with so little of the sun showing. We went nowhere on Monday or Tuesday as the traffic was heavy heading south starting about ½ hour after the eclipse was over until late Tuesday afternoon.

Traffic heading south on Tues Aug 22 after the eclipse

On Aug 25 we moved back to Bend-Sunriver TTN and found a 50 amp site with TV reception too. We set up and then went into Bend for a Bible conference. We went primarily to hear the Canadian singer Trevor Baker who sings only songs the Lord has given him. We went back on Saturday afternoon to hear Trevor again and then we went to a nearby park for a yummy Bar-B-Q. We met a really nice couple from CA on Friday night, saw them again on Saturday and sat with a family from WA and OR at the Bar-B-Q and had some great conversations. Us being on the motorcycle was a big topic of conversation!

Trevor Baker singing at the conference

Sunday evening we left to return to Sandy, OR for more work on our water heater/furnace. They worked on it most of Monday running over 100 gallons of hot water on both diesel and electric so I think it is fixed. The float valve was overtightened so it was not working properly all the time.

When we returned to Bend-Sunriver TTN Monday evening around 7 PM there was lots of smoke.  Tuesday was even worse and we learned there were five fires started in the surrounding area.

Showing smoke looking south

More smoke

For Larry's birthday we went to Bend to Olive Garden for lunch (and had the leftovers that evening) and then went to Costco. We are getting good at packing the bike with lots of Costco 'things' which are usually 'big'.  Dawn called Larry after we returned home and they had a wonderful conversation which was a great way to end his birthday.