Wind Surfers on the Columbia River

Traveling the Columbia River Gorge is one of the most scenic drives in Washington State.  We have seen every kind of weather in the gorge - sun, wind, rain, ice.  The wind surfers look for the days with windy conditions but the fishermen look for the days with calm conditions.

HLA and Apple Carts

Have you ever heard of apple cart races?  We hadn't either.  The supporters of the Naches Trail coordinated the first annual apple cart race in Naches.  It was a real hoot to watch.  Our son-in-law's engineering firm, HLA, participated wholeheartedly.  One of their employees really got in the spirit.  The design he created was completely different than any other apple cart.  He turned the apple box at an angle to reduce wind resistance.  This team won the race and was voted the cart with the best design.  Engineers can have fun, too.  Here's a side view of the apple cart.  Terry Alapetri is standing next to Mike while they talk about the upcoming race.

Mike gets a picture of the team as they advance to the finish line.  They win the race!!!!

Seattle-to-Portland Bike Race

 On the second or third weekend in July each year, a huge bicycle event is held in Washington and Oregon.  It is a 200-mile bicycle ride and is the largest multi-day bicycle event in the Northwest, with up to 10,000 participants riding from Seattle to Portland in one or two days. The route takes you through the scenic valleys, forests, and farmlands of western Washington and Oregon mostly on country roads.  Becky and Mike with friends, Jeff and Leanne McDougall, have participated in this bike ride three times.  Bill and Teri are their support team at the midpoint - picking them up in Centralia, feeding them dinner and breakfast and providing them with a place to rest.  This year there were several more family members who rode - Brett and Kyle and Lindsey.  Mike, Becky and Lindsey are chilling out with their dinner.  Mike joined them for the second day because he stayed in Yakima for Brandon's All-Star Little League game.

Leanne and Jeff and Kyle have showered and are resting their tired bums and legs.

Sabrina and Brett are just taking in the whole experience of the STP.  Megan seems to be mischievous today.  Look at her behind Brett.  Those legs and feet belong to her.  So funny!!!

Since the STP is the weekend closest to Teri's birthday, we celebrate with all the family joining us at camp.  Jason took Brett and Kyle to Seattle to meet with the other riders.  Him and his family - Courtney, Merry and Megan - joined us for dinner and yummy cheesecake.

Leanne, Jeff, Becky, Lindsey and Mike get ready for the final day - 100 miles to Portland.

Brett and Kyle are ready to go and the whole group is on the road again.  Brett decided to drop out of the ride after about 10 miles.  He was not feeling well (possibly dehydrated) and didn't have the energy to finish.  You need to listen to your body so it was wise for him to make this decision.  Kudos to him for completing the first day. 

We follow the riders on the back roads to Portland.  It's pretty exciting.  Since we saw Lindsey, Kyle, Mike and Becky along the route, we wanted a picture.  They are still smiling!

The finish line!!!!  Here's Lindsey as she coasts to the end of the line.

 All the riders deserve lots of praise for participating in and/or finishing this ride.  It is a challenging and rewarding experience. 

Brandon Plays Baseball

Brandon played baseball for a West Valley Little League team - the Red Sox.  He played at first base and was a huge asset to his team.  He started the lineup for hitting and did a great job there, too.

 

 

A quick meeting with his coach, Rick Cline, and Brandon is ready to bunt.  The team made it to the district playoffs but not the regionals.  The whole team did a great job and should be proud of their season.

Summer Home Projects

New carpet for the family room, office/sewing room and guest bedroom was installed in June 2012.  Yay!!!  We purchased the carpet at Lowe's and had them remove the old carpet and install the new carpet.  They were reliable and efficient.  Our job was to get the rooms ready before the new carpet arrived.  That meant painting all the rooms and ceilings.  Courtney did a great job on the guest bedroom and Bill and Teri did the family room and office/sewing room.  The biggest job was painting the ceiling of the family room since it is a vaulted ceiling and also the popcorn type texture.  And...the ceiling of the family room connects and extends through the dining room and kitchen so they all had to be painted.  The time and effort was definitely worth the clean, fresh look in all the rooms.  Pictured here is the family room during the installation of the carpet and after the furniture was returned to the room.  Yeah, it's our blue room.

A picture of installation in progress in the office/sewing room.  The finished guest bedroom and office/sewing room.  Love the feel of the soft carpet and enjoy the fresh look.

We stained the rail fence the lines our driveway.  Brandon did a great job helping us with this project.

Before and after pictures of restoring our deck.  Bill replaced several deteriorated boards and sanded off as much of the old paint as possible.  Our experience with decks needing to be redone every several years pushed us to explore our options for this project.  We found a product called Deck Restore that is "guaranteed" to last 8 - 10 years.  It is applied with a special roller and is very thick with sand in it.  Since our deck is 600 square feet (looking for sympathy here), we sincerely hope this product lives up to its guarantee.  The product has been used commercially for years but has only been available for several years to the general public.  We will let you know the duration of this finish.  It's beautiful now and we are very happy with it.

Orlando Visit

On July 9th, we enjoyed a visit from friends from Ashford - Janis Orlando and Lisa Orlando Adams and her children.  Becky and Lisa Orlando Adams were good friends during their school years in the Eatonville School District.  Lisa was visiting her parents, Bo and Janis Orlando, for a month.  We are thankful we could arrange this visit.  Lisa and her children sat in the shade to have hamburgers, watermelon and chips for lunch.  Becky, Bill and Teri are pictured with Lisa's children.

After lunch at Bill and Teri's, we retreated to the pool at Becky's house.  It was over 100 degrees so the kids enjoyed cooling off and the adults enjoyed the shade.  Lisa's children are so sweet.  They really know their way around the pool since they have one at home, too.

It was a really special and fun day.  Becky, Teri, Janis and Lisa got a picture for the memories.