The Eagles

Susan and I got the see The Eagles in concert earlier in the week and what a great show. It was a first (and probably the last) time we’ll have the opportunity to see one of the greatest bands our generation has ever seen. We started the night with dinner at Engine House No. 9 with a few cold ones to wash everything down. The Tacoma Dome isn’t very large compared to some venues and our seats weren't too bad, but we had to look to our left to see the stage and monitors giving me a nasty creek in my neck. We decided to get up and stretch our legs at the intermission and ended up at the back of the Dome standing at the railing to watch the rest of the show. Glenn Frey and Don Henley did a good job on vocals, but I thought Joe Walsh stole the show with his guitar playing and vocals when they played “In the City”, “Life’s Been Good” and “Those Shoes”. The guy makes the strings look like they’re made out of rubber when he’s bending them. Crazy, strong fingers. Watching him makes me want to pick up my guitar again and go on my normal two month increment cycle, then set it down for several months until I get the itch again.  Then I spend the time relearning what I taught myself in the past. Maybe someday I’ll stick with it? They played Hotel California for their first encore and we decided to bug out when it was done even when we knew the concert wasn’t over, but missing all the traffic and getting home in 30 minutes made it worth skipping one last song. It was a great night for us and I look forward to spending more time together.

A good ICB is hard to pass up. 

A selfie at dinner. 

Rafting

We all went rafting with several of our friends through a company called All Adventures Rafting on the White Salmon River in the southern part of Washington last weekend. It was a first for us excluding my tubing trips down the Spokane River as a teenager. Our guides name was JP and he filled us full of instructions prior to getting in the water. 1 or 2 forward meant that many strokes with the paddle and then stop and float. All forward, all back etc… I was in the front, so that meant me and the person next to me were the pace setters so we had to watch each other out of the corner of our eyes to make sure we stayed in sync. Crack on crack was the place to sit. Meaning our butt crack had to be above the area between the seat tube and the side of the raft. We practiced following some of the simple commands after entering the water and for the most part we did okay, but got better as the day went on. The water was a cool 40 degrees and the splash from the rapids was a very refreshing break from the rays of the sun. We pulled over after a short time of rafting for a jump opportunity off a 15-18 foot cliff for those who wanted to get wet. I’m very comfortable in water and I wasn't about to pass this up. Everyone was jumping in feet first anticipating the shock from the cold water. Borrrrrrrring! I decided to push the envelope a bit by doing a back flip. What’s the worst that could happen? I was wearing a dry suit, a life vest and had an EMT on site. It was uneventful and the others were amazed with my crazy idea. Most of the trip was considered class II/III, but I didn’t think it was any worse than the rapids I grew up on. There was one class V waterfall that some decided not to do. Those rafters got out just ahead of it and walked around. Those of us who took the dare received additional instructions and practiced several times before going over. Going over the fall was pretty cool and over in a matter of seconds. I think the guides speech about the waterfall psyched some of the others out because it wasn’t too bad and all of us could have done it. Oh well, next time.  We were all very hungry after the trip and the company recommended a place a couple miles up the road who made giant pulled pork burritos that were very tasty and hit the spot prior to getting on the road home.

All smiles before getting in the water. 

Our first Class III. 

At the top of the Class V. 

Lunch with Sasquatch. 

I spotted some chickens making short work of finding food in the bushes. 

We stopped in Chehalis for a cold snack on the way home.

Fourteen hours of driving, rafting and eating took its toll on us and after getting home, we had a quick snack, a shower and then it was off to bed. We all look forward to doing it again. 

Summer Projecct

Several weeks ago Susan suggested we paint the house, so we started looking at colors in the neighborhood and the paint chips at Lowe's. Painting was the easy part because we had plenty of work to do for the prep. Remove the gutters, replace two windows and all the window trim with cedar instead of the junk I used a many years ago, pressure wash all surfaces and paint/prime all the fascia boards. We couldn't have timed buying the paint any better because Valspar was offering a mail in rebate on 1 and 5 gallon buckets of paint. We love a discount!

Here's a before shot,

and after. 

We're all pretty happy with the way it turned out. Especially the blue highlights. 

Happy Birthday Jaz

Jasmine turned 20 last week and we celebrated over the weekend by having some of her friends over for hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and all the other fixings that go with a summer barbecue. Yes, I know the posting is a bit late, but I blog like I play golf. Bogies all day long. :) Susan made some killer lemon cupcakes with raspberry frosting and Bek whipped up some brownies with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Yum, Yum! Jaz and company hung out in the back with the fire pit roaring toasting up some smores, chatting and laughing as the night passed.

We got up early the next day to go hike/walk the Vance Creek Viaduct Trail to see an old railroad bridge spanning the creek in Shelton. The drive was longer than the hike, especially since we didn't get to see it. Apparently, the lumber company got up early the day prior and trenched the side of the road, put tree stumps on the opposite side and tons of No Trespassing Signs where visitors parked before making the short walk to the bridge. What a bummer that was, but the day wasn't wasted because on our way back we found a killer place called Blondie's in Shelton to get a late breakfast and see/hear some local folk talk about the goings on in town. We also spoke with the owner when she stopped in for a cup of coffee. She gave us a quick rundown about the place, a few of the employees and the food. Which was delicious! 

 A deep trench that would give a jacked up 4x4 a challenge. 

Not wanting to push the envelope, we followed the instructions and skipped the hike. 

Here's a couple pretty cool trees that look like they had some fire damage many years ago, but are still standing proud.  

Morning Ride

Susan and I went for a short ride yesterday to DuPont and back. Knowing the pace would be relatively easy, I jumped on the Single Speed and immediately noticed two things. The saddle my brother Hank gave me was positioned incorrectly and rock hard. No wonder it was a free bee. I dealt with both for the duration and made a mental note to adjust it later. We immediately had an Oh #$%! moment  when some idiot pulled in front of us while we were going down a hill a half mile from the house. We both hit the brakes and turned into the turning lane to avoid hitting him on the passenger side. I yelled a not so nice comment after we passed and then relaxed for a few to until the nerves settled. The rest of our ride was uneventful and good for both. When we got home, I swapped bikes and did two 13 mile loops to train for the P2P. I need to get plenty of hills in before this ride because ten thousand feet of elevation gain in eighty miles is not an easy ride. I guess that's why they call the 80 miler, the idiot. :)

Bek

A few days ago, Bek said she wants to learn how to ride a bicycle. I tried to teach her when she was young, but she's her father's daughter and it really show's when it comes to being stubborn. She said she would pay for half the cost, so with the power of Craigslist at my finger tips I found a individual with several for sale. We came home with a 2002 Iron Horse, Catskill 21 speed mountain bike. I went through it after work today and the only thing I found that may be of concern is the bottom bracket is worn a bit, but a little side play won't hurt it while she learns and if she gets proficient enough to recognize that a better bike means a better ride, then we'll deal with that later. 

Here she is with her new, hmmmm... old bike. 

WWU

I don't buy just any hat and the one pictured proves Jaz is really going to Western Washington University this September. 

Proud to be a WWU dad. 

Bee's

We have a couple old tree stumps in the back yard and some bee's decided to make one of them their home. I don't mind bee's, but I can't have a nest so close to the house. I doused them with two cans of Wasp/Hornet killer and they were still emerging from the hole.  Not wanting to lose the war, I decided to get old school and poured a little gasoline on the the stump. The flames were going pretty good and the bee's were no longer a threat. The stump actually burned from the inside out and I believe its ready to get removed. 

 

The product works great if you can spray it on the nest, but not if they're dug in. 

If you look closely, you can see a few of the little guys flying around. 

Let the flames begin.