2024-09-15 More work on Derek's rental

This week has been mostly spent helping Derek do some remodeling on the new rental duplex.  His landlord (which is his roommates Dad), was agreeable to putting a pocket door between the bedroom and bathroom.   It was a open alcove with sink, and door to toilet and shower.   We took out the door between sink and toilet, and installed a pocket door between bedroom and sink.  

We think much nicer that you can close off the entire bathroom, versus always seeing the bathroom sink, and it gives more room in the toilet/shower area.

So we ripped out the framing, and part of the wall and got the pocket door frame installed on Monday, but then had to stop, as the contractors doing the rest of the house had priority for the work, so we only have evenings and weekends to work.

Working on pocket door installation

Kris painting the new door

Deans brother Lee came to the new rental, with his chainsaw, and kindly cut down the rest of the overgrown Arborvitae

Dean's brother Lee working on the stump

Derek working on some gutter maintenance, leak was dripping right in the walkway

During one of the trips to Home Depot for supplies, we had to haul a door, so Dean and Derek did that, while Kris took a walk in the very nice Nature preserve that Derek's rental backs up to.

Nature preserve with nice trails and ponds.

Of course we did have to take some time to enjoy ourselves as well.  Went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants

We still have lots of trim work to do, and more mudding and taping to finish the drywall. Then clean and reseal the shower, buy and install the new toilet, install new ceiling fan, and I think blinds and curtain rods as well.   Not too much, should not take more than a week, if we can get access to the rental in the evenings.   

We also spent a day with Dean's Mom, and took her on some errands, and stopped at the local home grown fruit stand for some yummy fruits.

Shopping at the fruit stand

It is getting to be fall here and the temperatures are dropping.   We have a small heater in our room, as the large minisplit that provides heat and A/C to our room is broken now, and not worth repairing.  

Expecting a high of only 60 on Tuesday - Kris is shivering just thinking of it.  

Weather for Boise Idaho for the coming week

As compared to Trinidad, where the high still feels like mid 90's most days.

Trinidad weather for the week.

Both Dean and Kris are losing their tans, now sunless for a whole month.  Kris most likely will be in long pants, and a jacket for the remainder of the visit.

2024-09-08 Some more time in Bend, helping Derek fix up the new place

We spend a few more days in Bend.  Most the projects done, so played quite a few card games with Kris's folks, went for a few morning walks, and spent some time enjoying the weather and peacefulness of the back patio.    Kris and her Dad made a dump run as well.

Cute little bunny, we saw one on almost every morning walk

The view from the back patio

Getting the truck and trailer ready to make a run to the dump.

After Kris went to her parents annual doctors appointment on Thursday morning, we left and drove the 5.5 hours back to Boise.

Derek's new rental is being remodeled inside.  Derek wanted to get in while it was under remodel, and run Cat6 cable for his internet.  Being he works remote as a coder, the internet quality is very important to him, and he wanted to wire several rooms. 

In addition, the outside landscaping was quite overgrown, so he wanted to tear out all the old stuff, and start new.    We stupidly offered to help.

Overgrown arborvitae crowding the house, and weed taken over the walkway beds.

Dean tackled going on the roof to start cutting back the arborvitae, while Kris and Derek started on the ground pulling out old weeds and overgrown shrubs.

Kris and Derek working on cleaning out the courtyard planter

Arborvitae cut down a bit, and sidewalk beds cleaned out ready for planting

We still have more work on the planter areas, but it is getting better.    Derek wanted to run his Cat6 lines, so Derek and Dean tackled that today, while Kris continued working outside.

Derek getting ready to go in the attic to run cable.

The attic turned out to be too tight to crawl to the areas he needed to access, so change of plans, and Derek headed under the house, while Dean cut holes in drywall and used a flexible drill extender to drill down.

Derek laying on his back in the crawl space under the house.  His old hard hat came in handy.

We have a few more days of work to do, and Derek is going to see if the landlord is OK with installing a pocket door to the bathroom, which we would do the labor on.

The landscape still needs work - maybe another three days on that before its ready to plant new stuff.

The interior remodel should be done in another week or so, and then we can help him move in.

Great view from the back yard of the new place.

All this hard work is really cutting into our napping and relaxing time, but we are still managing to squeeze in a bit.

Dean taking a short nap with Derek's cat Smokey.

2024-09-01 In Bend, Oregon helping and visiting Kris's parents

The weather in Bend has been nice, cools down below 50 every night, and up to mid 70s and higher during the day.  Very dry here and much much cooler than we are used to.  Feels strange to have multiple blankets on the bed, as we have used nothing but a sheet for over a year.

The week has been spent doing projects and visiting.   

Started with working on Norm's tractor which had a flat tire he wanted to put air in.   Couldn't do that because we had to move the tractor out of the shed, but it would not start.   Norm had a trickle charger on the battery, and Kris checked voltage and it read 12.6 volts.  Norm has had an issue with pack rats, who had chewed the tractor wiring before, so he assumed that this may have been the case again.  To sum it up, the starter, instrument panel, fuses, ignition switch, safety foot switch have all been thoroughly checked out on the tractor.   

To quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".  So yes, it was the battery the whole time, and with a new battery the little tractor fired right up, and we could move it out and fill up the tires.

Of course there was a stuck and corroded needle valve on one tire that needed attention, but that was quickly addressed.    

With the tractor project complete, it was time to mow the lawn.   Norm has a rather large reel mower, the kind large manicured lawns would use.   He has neither.  Under 2000 sq ft of rough lawn, but he likes the mower.

Complex reel mower with three independent reels to mow less than 2000 sq ft lawn.   Yes, hang your head and shake it in confusion 

After that it was back to the tractor to replace some worn hydraulic lines, which went smoothly.

During all this Dean has been helping off and on, but mostly staying with Kris's mom who has dementia and panics sometimes when she wakes up from a nap and doesn't know where anyone is at.  

Dean deserved and needed a break, so we left the folks at home and headed in for a nice lunch out at a small Mexican restaurant that has been in Bend for 25 years, same spot, virtually the same menu.  Los Jalapenos serves great food, and mostly Spanish is spoken inside.

Dean is holding up his fingers for 25, but sorry backwards.  Great food in a small little place.  

Next day was more projects.  Norm has a roof over the porch with corrugated PVC panels for shade, but a hail storm put several holes in them.   He was going to replace them, but at $37 each, we suggested a better fix, using waterproof tape to patch them up.  Removing and cleaning and patching the panels was a full day of work for us and Norm.

Holes in panels caused by hail.

Of course, while the ladders were out, the gutters needed cleaned as well.

After fixing the deck ceiling panels, we had to do a through cleaning of the deck, and also all the deck furniture.

While here, we have also taken over most the cooking and cleaning as well.

Kris cooking up a traditional family breakfast of Welsh Rarebit.

One thing Kris's mom Deedy still can somewhat do and enjoy is playing a card game called "Hand and Foot".  We have spent many hours doing that, although Deedy's vision is quite bad, so Kris has to read out the cards to her frequently.

With Norm's major projects done, it was time for Dean to tackle our new, but temporary car.  Kris had heard the brakes squeal a bit, and we noticed that one time had only 4 of the 5 lug nuts.   Dean took off all the tires and checked all brakes, but in the process two more wheel bolts sheared off, so we replaced three wheel bolts, and got new lug nuts for those.  Unfortunately the lug nuts at the auto stores were larger than the other ones on the car, so a quick trip to the local Les Schwab, where they gave us three of the correct sized lug nuts to match the rest of the tires.  They also checked the tires to tell us which battery in the Tire Pressure Sensors (TPS) were not working.   Found out 3 out of the 4 are not working and at $80 per tire to fix the light on the dash will stay on for low tire. There was no charge for all of this, but we donated the $14 we got from taking Norm and Deedy's cans and bottles to the recycling center.

Dean working on the brakes and wheels.

Les Schwab in Bend, nice newer store with friendly helpful people.

Most our "free" time has been relaxing on the deck, reading or playing cards.  

Norm and Deedy's cat Hershey, hanging out on the deck with us.

Deer walking down the street is not an uncommon site 

We will hang out until Thursday, so Kris can go to Norm and Deedy's doctor appointment, then head back to Boise

2024-08-25 Idaho state fair - change of plans and off to Bend, Oregon

We kept busy in Boise, visiting with our son, and went out to dinner for Dean's brothers birthday.  Tuesday we hit the Idaho State Fair.  Our son Derek and his girlfriend Emma came along.  This was our first time meeting Emma, so we enjoyed being able to explore the fair with her.      

Tuesday was $2 admission, and more importantly, $2 Idaho Potato Ice Cream day.   A feature of the fair is the Idaho Potato Ice Cream.  You only get half of one for $2, but it is plenty.

Dean showing the Idaho Potato Ice Cream

Hard vanilla ice cream, shaped into a potato, then coated in cocoa powder, cut and topped with whipped cream, oreo cookie pieces, nuts and chocolate syrup.    So Yummy

Of course there is always more good junk food at the fair.   Derek had some yummy loaded fries as well.  - Potatoes rule in Idaho

We explored the home cooking display, art, fruits and vegetables, hobby craft and more, and then hit the small and large animal areas.

Derek and Emma checking out the chickens

Kris looking at all the old motors

Next day we ran some errand in town, and happened across this famous vehicle.

Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener - that is what I truly want to be.

Dean made some homemade cinnamon rolls for us, they were yummy.

Ready to go into the oven.

Derek was in the market for getting a new couch before he moved, as the new place had a room he was changing into a movie room.  Found a couch at the big furniture store that was heavily discounted due to an electrical issue, but that could be fixed.

Dean checking out the couch for comfort

We thought that Derek had to move out at the end of August, so we got busy getting packing boxes, and sorting things that he wanted to get rid of, but then he got news he could stay until the end of September before moving, so we changed plans, and headed to Bend to visit Kris's folks for a while before heading back to Boise.

5 1/2 hour drive, on mostly flat long roads in central Oregon.

Kris's folks live on 4 acres of high desert outside of Bend

Kris's sister Kay and husband Pat drove the 2.5 hours from her house over to visit as well.  

Kay, and Pat hamming it up for the camera

Visiting around the dining table.

Kris's mom Deedy has dementia which is advancing.  Still able to live at home, but not for much longer.  Kris's dad Norm is 92 years old, and taking care of the house, property and Deedy, but it is getting a bit tiring for him. 

We will stay in Bend a bit more before heading back to Boise.

2024-08-18 More boatyard work - flying to Boise - we bought a car?

We worked hard Sunday and Monday on boat projects.  Dean kept working on cleaning the boat hull above water line, sanding below, and getting off all the old brown water stain, and goop left over from our vinyl striping.

Kris got the props all clean and polished up, and gave the boat interior a wipe down with a vinegar and bleach to prevent mold.   Also changed the sail drive oil on both drives, and put some grease around the lower seals, so they would not dry out, or get a bunch of guck in them while the boat is sitting out for the next couple months.  Put a coat of primer on the sail drives as well, since it was down to bare aluminum in a few small spots after sanding, and did not want that unprotected either.

Monday night had a strong thunderstorm we barely noticed on the hard, but the winds were from the south.  When Kris "took a walk" around 2:00 in the morning to use the facilities, she noticed large waves crashing onto shore near the marina.   Dean got up around 5:00 a.m. and took some photos, the waves were about half the size as they were when Kris saw them.

Waves crashing on the dock

Southerly winds and waves are rare in Trinidad, usually only in a Tropical storm, but this was unusual.  The Powerboats marina and yard we are staying at, had some damage from hurricane Beryl, that they were repairing, and had just finished a large concrete pour, and building a small shack on the fuel dock, when the storm happened. Unfortunately a large fishing boat picked their new dock as the place to come to rest after its mooring broke during the storm, and did a lot of damage to the dock.

Fishing boat also took some damage, pounding up against dock.

New fuel dock shed was destroyed by bow of fishing boat.

Beautiful sunrise after the storm.

We had to walk back to Immigration on Tuesday,  To leave Trinidad, then come back not with the boat, we had to get a letter from the yard we were in, take the letter to Immigration, and then come back 48 hours later and pick up the stamped Immigration form that we will then show at the airport when flying back.  Trinidad loves their paperwork. We stopped and had a nice lunch out on the way back.  Dining out is cheap in Trinidad

Our two lunches, complete with sodas, Kris had grilled Mahi plate, and Dean a cheeseburger.  Total for entire meal with tip was $17 USD

We have been eating up all our fresh stuff.  Will keep the frig and freezer on while gone.  Down to two apples for evening meal before leaving.  Since the fridge was so empty, we put a beanbag inside to take up room and add insulation.

We had no issues getting to the airport - which is about an hour away from the boatyard.  Our taxi driver has been doing taxi runs for the yard for around 20 years.  He sang along with the radio playing old country songs re-vamped into a Caribbean style.   

Got to the airport a bit early, as we did not know what to expect from security and luggage check, so had time to kill in some very uncomfortable chairs.  Can't complain too much, as all flights were on time, and we made it from Trinidad, to Houston, with 4 hour layover, then to San Francisco, and then to Boise.  All flights were full, which was surprising.  We both froze in the airports and on the flights - Kris brought a pair of fuzzy socks to wear on the plane, and a sweatshirt, but still cold.  Dean wore his jacket as well - guess we are not used to air conditioning.

Derek picked us up from the airport and we stopped at McDonalds on the way to his house, Kris was very happy.  

Since we were going to be visiting land for 1.5 months, Dean thought buying a car would be a good option, so he had been bidding on a car at a local auto auction place and got a 2009 Subaru Forester for $2450.   With fees and sales tax and license and such it was around  $3,300 total.  Our hope was we could use it for the time we are back, and then have Dean's brother sell it.  It had a few issues, like the rear hatch would not open, no key fob for the electric doors, check engine light on, radio screen not working, and generally dirty.

Dean putting the back hatch back together after fixing the latch

Dean set to work buying new fluids for all systems, filters and such.  When we got to Boise he cleaned the car, and started looking at fixing the issues.  Went to AutoZone, and got a free digital readout of the error codes for the check engine.  Exhaust issues or sensors was the only issue.  Kris found an exhaust leak, so some $10 goop from the auto parts store to fix that was pretty easy.  The rear hatch button took a trip to the junkyard and found a few wrecked cars.  An our or so later we came away with a new rear hatch button and a radio for $50.    Dean worked and put the new rear hatch button in, and that is fixed.  Ordered new key fob off Amazon, and Derek helped program that, so now that is working.   Still a bit stumped on the radio screen - but will get that figured out.  

We are staying with Derek, who is renting a house with a roommate.  The house is his roommates parents house, that is next to a highway, and has been bought by the state as they are doing a new highway overpass, and the house is in the way.  Derek is getting real cheap rent - and knew that it was only for 6 months -but a great way to save money for that amount of time, but has to be out by the end of August.  The house had a daycare in a converted garage, and that is where we are sleeping.  Nice big room with comfy mattress on the floor, and our own bathroom as well.

Our lodgings.  Boxes make good computer tables and clothes storage.

We have also spent some time visiting with Deans mom, and his brother Lee and wife Edie.

Has been interesting seeing how much the area has grown.  Huge new sporting goods store in town that Derek had not seen yet, so we did a bit of a look see.  If you ever come across a Scheels store it is worth a look.  Took us almost an hour to wander around.

Inside was a salt water aquarium with lots of coral and fish

3 post aquarium

There are also quite a few "photo opp" displays just for fun, which we took advantage of.   A small Ferris wheel,  a candy store, a small café, a gun and ammo room that could supply a small army, and more balls, bats, frisbees, golf, shoes, boating, archery, fishing, camping and on and on.  

Rock mountain with stuffed wildlife

Photo op with BigFoot

Photo op with Derek scared by the Cougar  (Derek's nickname as a baby was "Cougar Bait".  Long story)

Dean pointing out our location

What sporting goods store doesn't have a 6' tall Lego sculpture of the local college mascot?

Small Ferris wheel in middle of the store

We will work a bit more on the car, spend time with family, and take some nice long morning walks while it is cool in the morning - below 80 degrees.  Will stay with Derek until the end of the month, and help him move, then will head to Oregon to visit Kris's folks for a while.