I took last Friday, Dec. 11th off of work so we could leave early for the Oak Ridge Boys Christmas Concert at Lincoln City, OR. We packed a few goodies in the van, picked up Jim & Vonnie Lash, and headed for the coast. It stayed kinda rainy and the wind picked up, the closer we got to the coast. It was a unanimus vote - we're eating at Mo's! 

Oak Ridge Boys



The concert was great! Joe Bonzo started the show by saying "I know this is a Christmas show....but, I thought you'd like to hear some of the old favorites, first!" And the crowd agreed. Some of the Christmas songs I'd never heard before...time to search the internet :)  They sang 2 hours...non-stop!

We had a great time, and hope you get a chance to hear them soon. More news soon. 

Last weekend Carol and I spent the night at Pelican Shores in Lincoln City to celebrate our 45th Wedding Anniversary. We stopped in McMinnville and watched the movie ROBOTS by National Geographic - loved it! Lunch was at Grand Ronde (buffet), then on to the Christmas Shop in Lincoln City. The weather turned kinda wet and breezy, so we enjoyed watching the angry waves pounding the shore from our room for a while. The pool was 85 degrees and in-door, so we took advantage of that! Here's what we saw from our room:

 

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Pigs-N-Pancake and headed home. What a relaxing weekend!

Okay...I'm playing the catch-up game! Here we go with some shots Lynette sent me via e-mail:

The wedding took place outside...the reception was inside. It was so nice to meet Ken's parents and family! We had a really nice time, too bad it was so short. I'll post more of the wedding soon.

WOW... what happened to November??? Carol and I got on a plane on Nov. 26th and had dinner with Lynette and Ken in Phoenix. Then, we attended their wedding on Nov. 28th. So, here's a shot of our rental car:

 

2015 Chevy Camaro. Still like that Dodge Charger!!! Lot's of pictures and description of our stay in Phoenix and the wedding coming up soon. I wanted to include a few from Lynette's photographer...so, hang in there for a little while :)

 



Hey... I forgot to share a couple of pictures of the car we rented from Alamo in Denver:

Yes...that's a 2016 Dodge Charger...not a Hemi, but plenty of power and the ride is very smooth! It eats a little more gas than I thought...but, that's okay :)

Last week, I took Tuesday, Oct. 27th off of work. Carol and I went to Salem, OR to have dinner and listen to Home Free. If you haven't heard this group...they're on you-tube. They sang at the Elsinore Theater...it's like stepping back in time. The concert was great and we had balcony seats...not bad. 



On Wednesday, Oct. 28th, we flew to Denver, rented a car and drove to Ft. Collins to see Jackson (our newest Grandson). Thursday we spent the day with Kelly and Jackson. We took in a football game ...Mikayla was playing in the marching band.

On Friday, Oct. 30th, the little girls had Holoween Parties at their school. We went to Savannah's...and they paraded into other classrooms.

Late morning, I drove to Cheyenne and met my brothers... Bob, Don, and my Mom for lunch at the Flying J (Denny's). I want to thank everyone who worked us into their busy schedule!!! It was so good to see you all and to hold Mr. Jackson (he rules the house!)  I'll post more soon...back to work!

The forecast for the weekend was rain...so, Thursday evening (after work) we loaded the van and headed for Cannon Beach. We decided that even if we were to miss the great sunset, we could still have a great meal at Mo's :)  We parked, grabbed Payton and headed down to the beach and this is what we saw...

 

just beautiful!!! Dinner was super...like always! Very nice weather, slight wind, great for walking on the beach!  One more day before the weekend! Write more soon.

Friday evening, October 2nd, Carol and I had a very nice dinner at home. I fired up the grill and chopped up some veggies and threw on a couple of small Omaha steaks. Carol deep fried some coconut shrimp. Oh, my, had to go to the gym early Saturday morning! I raked leaves and Carol worked on the house most of the morning. Then we packed up the van and headed for Seattle around noon. Ofcourse, we had to stop at Spiffy's for a light lunch. We got to Tacoma around 3:00pm and checked into the Tacoma Dome Best Western. It's located right outside the back gate of the Tacoma Dome....and...a block away from

 

We went inside and talked to the folks at the info. desk - they said to allow 3 hours to tour. Since we only had an hour before we had to leave for Jazz Alley...we took a bunch of flyers and told them we'd have to make a return trip.

On to Jazz Alley in Seattle!!! We had dinner and listened to Euge Groove - played a great saxaphone!

I heard about him through the Smooth Jazz Cruise line up for this year. And the local jazz station plays his songs. What a great evening! We didn't stay for "meet and greet" ...the line was really long! And he had another performance after ours. We went back to the hotel and crashed...long day! Very fun weekend...Happy Birthday, Carol!!!

  

On Friday, September 25th, I went to the PDX Airport and picked up Nancy Dyer. She flew in From Denver to spend the weekend with Mom Peters and celebrate her 89th Birthday.  We all had a quick bite to eat at our house, then took Mom and Nancy to Rock Creek.

Saturday, we picked up Mom and Nancy and headed for McMinnville Aviation Museum to see the IMAX movie "Living In The Age". It told the story of mans' means of travel and the timelines. Very interesting! Then, we drove to Spirit Mountain in Grand Ronde and ate at the best buffet in Oregon!

Sunday, we picked up the Ladies, and headed for the coast. Lunch was at Mo's in Cannon Beach - by request :)

It was kinda windy and temps were in the mid-60's. Carol and Nancy braved the weather, while Mom & I stayed in the van. We made it home in time to celebrate Mom's Birthday:

and to take in a play in Lake Oswego - "Anything Goes". Mom wasn't feeling well, so Carol, Nancy and I went. I loved it!

Monday, I took Nancy to the airport. We'd kinda like to keep her around, but, there's some younger folks that would probably be missing her, alot!!!

I'll be posting more soon - taking Carol to Seattle for her birthday this weekend.

It's been a while since I posted...no good excuse...but, way too much work and not enough exploring! I've noticed the days getting shorter and the sun goes down much sooner.  So, our trips to the coast after work have to be planned a little better.

Cannon Beach is one of our favorite places to go. We were afraid we'd have no sunset due to the clouds...but, the second picture shows we were wrong :)

 

This weekend we spent a little time gathering leaves, etc. Then, a little time to shop for some of those Fall specials. Last weekend Ron & Linda thought of us and brought us the nicest patio table. So, we were looking for some chairs and umbrella to fit the table:

 we found these on sale at Lowes! Time to get ready for another week. Hope everyone is doing well.
We'll try to update soon...Nancy Dyer will be here Friday :) You know what that means....road trip to Mo's @ Cannon Beach!!!

Today we ventured out to Pacific City, Oregon. Carol saw a write-up in our room guide at Pelican Shores, so we decided to drive over and check this place out. The nice beaches, Pelican Brewery, and Fat Freddies looked to be the highlights of the town.

They also had their version of Haystack Rock. We got there early, so we didn't stop to eat. But, at 10:30 a.m. it was 65 degrees and windy. The parking lot was filling up fast (must be a popular place).

We drove North to Cannon Beach and ate lunch at Pigs 'n Pancake.

More news to come...

After visiting the desert, we decided to cool down a bit and head for Pelican Shores, Lincoln City, OR. They did a great remodel last winter. We stayed on the bottom floor...so, our patio had beach access. We used the chairs and table on the patio!

Carol made friends with RUDY...he came out of nowhere. And wasn't afraid to step right up and take a bite of granola.

We had time for a couple of games of bowling (Delake Bowl), a quick stop at the Christmas Shop, and a movie, before settling in for the evening.

We want to thank Linda and Ron for watching Payton while we were away! We know he had a good time with his "family" :)       More to come!!!

On Saturday, Aug. 1st, we loaded the van and headed for the John Day Fossil Beds in Central Oregon. I've always wanted to visit, so we did a day trip...a long day trip! We were on the road by 7:00am. Drove East on Hwy 84 and turned South on Hwy 206. We didn't stop at Fossil or Condon, but made it to the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center by 12:30pm.

The 18 minute movie was really informative. It gave a quick overview of all the fossil beds and the different rocks, plants, animals that are "trapped in time". The displays from each dig are amazing and well catalogged. The reason for this trip was to explore which of these locations we'd like to visit and hike at a later date. But,  not today...it was 105 degrees out here!!!   

 

Did I mention that I have a new Grandson....Jackson was born to Kelly and Mike on Wednesday, July 22nd.

 

So, now, Mikayla, Madison, Grace, and Savannah have a BROTHER :) Congrats!!!!

More news soon.  

 

Summer is the best time for us to catch up on house repairs...so, we had the damaged fence (East side) replaced. The posts broke off in high winds last winter.

We put off cleaning the mold off the eves and side of the house because we were waiting for the new construction next door. Now that all of the trees are gone and the sawdust has settled...we had the house painted, including the eves and trim.

There is always time to work in a trip to the beach!!! These were taken on Sunday July 19th. at Cannon Beach.

 I'll post more today.

We knew that the weekend of the 4th of July was going to be really crowded...no matter where you traveled. So, we decided to stay home and make it  a working weekend. I'd already bought parts for the van, so I changed the oil & filter and put new shocks all the way around. Saturday, Carol helped me find an air leak that we thought was coming from the windshield (we had it replaced a few years ago). We sealed the bottom of the winshield with Silicone Sealant and let it dry. The test drive told us we didn't get it! We kept looking...found a tiny crack in the foreward door post\windshield support - at the very top. We sealed it and tested - quiet!!! :)

 



Monday...it was back to work. But, I took Friday, July 10th off. We drove to Canyonville, OR and had dinner with Jim, Vonnie, Eddie, and Sharon. (They were camping there.) Then, we went to The Lettermen concert at Seven Feathers.

It was fantastic! Great harmony and they sang all the old songs! Loved every minute. Saturday morning we had breakfast with Jim & Vonnie and headed back to Beaverton. We got back to Beaverton just in time to take in the Veterans Family Support Classic Car Show... and here's a few:

Red was a very popular color :)  I'll post some more soon...have a good weekend!