Day 8

Day 8......Friday........June 12th........(My last full day)


So earlier in the week Uncle Chuck wanted to know if I wanted to go crabbin' with him and Dad?
Heck yeah I wanted to go! Up and gone to meet up with Chuck in Charleston to go into the bay.


This is Uncle Chuck getting ready to throw out the pots to catch the little, tasty fellas.

Once the pots are all out then we take the boat in and have breakfast near the boat launch.
(It's a whole ritual thing...)

So here is Chuck bringing up one of the pots.....the first one was really full, but the next ones were not as much, but we still brought in 18 crabs.

This one was a nice little haul. You have to measure them to make sure that they are big enough and you need to only take the males (there is a joke in there somewhere).

It's kinda like the show "The Deadliest Catch", but on a much smaller scale ;-)

Then after a hard morning of crabbin', its time to cook and pick all the meat out, which is more fun if you have a little "Moose Drool" beer to chase it down. (thanks Brad).

It was a blast going out with Dad and Uncle Chuck and there is not hardly anything better than crab that is that fresh! YUMMY!!!

I had to run home and shower after crabbin' so I could have lunch with two friends from high school, Sue and Cammi. I haven't seen them probably since we left high school (20 odd years ago). This year I started on facebook and reconnected with a lot of friends from high school and the summer camp that I used to work at.

It was so fun to catch up with what everyone has been doing. Good thing that the restaurant didn't mind us hanging out well after we finished our lunch!

So now there is only one day left of my vacation, I head home tomorrow, and that's a whole other story!

Nanner

Day 7

Day 7......June, 11th..........

Mom had to go to the hospital where she volunteers a couple of days a week. So Dad and I spent the morning getting ready for Jim and Vicky to stop by on their way to family reunion camping. By getting ready I mean we cleaned the house, washed the laundry, went food shopping, washed the car, redeemed our soda cans, and baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies from scratch......... YEAH RIGHT!!!!!

We spent the entire morning looking up video's on "you tube" of Jeff Dunham and all his cast of characters......Sanata Annana......Jose` Jalapeno`(on a stick).......and Walter....plus so many more video's it was crazy---------(hey, maybe we should take a shower and get cleaned up since Jim and Vicky will be here in any minute----ok, just one more.....)

We managed to be cleaned up about 3 seconds before they got here. Nothing like some good ol' Ellis timing :-)~

We had a great visit and lunch with Jim and Vicky, when I do get homesick, its not just for my folks and brothers and their families........I miss my extended family that I grew up with. We were all so close and we did so much together; holidays, birthdays, weekends, and of course camping! I think that I was in high school before I realized that not everyone took vacations with their extended family too. It was like that movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" but its more like "My Big Ol' Redneck Family"......good times.

Only 2 more days to cover on my trip so stay tuned!

Nanner

Day 6

Day 6, June 10..........and now for something totally fun.

So we just dinked around pretty much all day with me giving Mom some computer lessons.....now she can shop online...Woo Hoo!

We had dinner plans at Uncle Chuck and Aunt Marilyn's house. Marilyn makes the best fish! And of course bonus we got to watch part of the Seattle Mariner's baseball game(Chuck is a big fan). We had to leave to go out to Todd's shop where he manages an ATV rental place so we could go for a ride out on the sand dunes.........I haven't done this stuff in years, I forgot how much I love it..........

Here is the view from on top of one of the dunes..........This is the McCullough Bridge in North Bend, built in 1936. It's the longest structure on any Oregon Highway.

The red ones are Razers which can ride 2 people and the white one is a single which Mom and I rode.

Here is my brother Todd coming up a big hill.

Here are Verissa (my sister-in-law) and my Mom (with the yellow helmet).
Here I am coming down a hugh hill.....the scary part is that when you come to the top you cannot see over the top you just have to go over blind and hope for the best. Plus its sooooo steep!

Phew! I made it! It can be so scary, but its really too much fun.

Here Mom and Dad are getting ready to go down this hill and up the other side. The problem is that if you don't go fast enough you will get stuck halfway up the other side...It happened to Mom once but only once and she did great!


Me and Mom having a good time!

Of course there is some stuff even my family won't do......we didn't know who this guy was but he was getting some great air!

I forget just how beautiful it is on the dunes. Pockets of water and trees along the trails and just the open dunes overlooking the bay and you can take trails all the way out to the ocean. I remember going to the dunes when we were little in our old jeep. Sometimes Mom would make us kids get out while Dad tried to climb a steep hill. One of so many great memories from growing up where I did. I wouldn't trade where I grew up for anything.

Nanner

Day 5

Day 5 June 9th.............



Happy Birthday Grandma! The day started with a quick trip to Walmart to get a birthday card and some cough drops and maybe cough syrup(once again I get sick when I'm in Oregon, I don't know why, but I do almost every time). I'm having this wicked cough that comes up from the depths of my lungs and sounds like I've been working in a coal mine my entire life(maybe even born down there)! So we get to Walmart and hit the card section trying to find the perfect card for Grandma and I start to cough......and cough harder........and HARDER, now people are looking and Mom and Dad are starting to worry, and I'm starting to worry(if I cough much harder I might just wet my pants)!........Good News, someone is coming over to help me(now I'm really embarrassed)..........HOLY CRAP.......this woman comes up to me and asks if I need any help......



First off, I can't talk because of the coughing

Second, I really am embarrassed

and Third..........SHE'S WEARING AN EYE PATCH.........HELLO DOES SHE ONLY HAVE THE ONE EYE OR IS SHE SO WORRIED FOR ME BECAUSE SHE LOST THE ONE EYE COUGHING!!!



So now I'm coughing up a storm and trying not to laugh because its making me cough more and I still might wet my pants!



I cough my way over to the pharmacy and chug some cough syrup and buy some cough drops and then call Lynn to get a hold of my doctor to get me a script.......



So that was the first adventure of the day............Jill, Verissa and I went to the movies(Angels & Demons) I liked that book so much better than The Davinci Code so I had high hopes for the movie and it was ok.



Then we all went out to dinner for Grandma's birthday to the Chinese place in North Bend that used to be the old dinner. I guess some things never change since the table behind us ordered pancakes for dinner......the food was great! Of course I had another coughing fit as dinner was ending and spent the last 15 minutes outside in the parking lot. Tomorrow should be just as fun too.



Nanner

Day 4 Sidebar.......

A quick sidebar on Day 4.......


Lynn's niece Aidan is really the only child that has never warmed up to me from the start. I don't know if I scare her because I can be a little loud or kinda jumpy but for whatever reason she just doesn't really care for me. Two years ago when Lynn and I were in Oregon for Christmas Aidan would not give me the time of day, even though I tried to bribe her with snacks and all kinds of stuff.

A year or so before that when we were all in Wisconsin she would walk around saying, "Where's Nacy?" (no that's not a misspelled word, that's how she said my name) When someone would answer her and point one direction she would travel the opposite way!

Last year we were doing a web cam at Christmas time and as soon as I walked into sight on the computer Aidan got a disgusted look on her face and hopped off her Mom's lap and walked away. We all laughed, but I started to wonder if she would EVER like me.

But this year in Oregon I think we had a breakthrough! Aidan let me sit beside her in the car and go with her to the game park and look at the animals. Then the real breakthrough happened and Beth (Aidan's Mom) got it on film......I was calling the ducks by quacking through my hands and Aidan thought that was really cool and she was trying to call them too....

She bought some postcards at the gift shop and when we got in the car she said that one of them was for me. YEAH!!! So at the next stop I bought her some chocolate candy and I think we now have a working relationship. It only took 4 years but I think we are now friends.......thank goodness!

Nanner

Day 4

Monday June, 8th........The Bandon Game Park

Lynn's sister, Beth and her husband Brad and their daughter Aidan came down to Oregon for a visit and mini vacation while I was there. We went to a game park near my Mom and Dad's house to visit with some animals. Aidan LOVES animals and at the game park most of them have free run of the place and some are in their own habitat (for every ones safety).

Everyone say Cheese! (is it just me or does Beth and the LLama have the same smile)?

Are your jeans a snack?

Maybe something in your pocket?

Hey, get me outta here! Yikes!

I don't know what these are, but all they wanted to do is sniff each others butts!

Hey, aren't you lost. Shouldn't you be at Meerkat Manor?

Hey Baby, "how you doin'?

Aidan had just no fear when it came to the animals. She wanted to touch and pet each one, even the ones that didn't what anything to do with her. She walked into this feeding padock where there had to be 50 or so animals pushing their way in to the front of the line to eat and in walks Aidan coming right up beside them to pet them. No Fear!

I think the animals liked Aidan as much as she liked them! They would watch her from their habitats.

This little guy just wanted to play with someone.

One of the best parts of the day at the game park was me turning to Beth and asking her did she know where Aidan was and what she was doing? Beth turned around and saw Aidan making all the little round poops into pancake poops with her shoes. (the sound effects were the best.....spuck!)

Then is was home to Mom and Dad's for burgers, dogs and round table talks of politics...........and of course Texas Hold'em and Pictionary...........cousin Cheryl's and I favorite game when we are together.

Another long day of fun and games...............Nanner

Day 3

Sunday June, 7th...........Graduation Day

Jill's big day finally arrived and everyone was really excited about it. There was a bunch of family at the big event.

And (for the most part) everyone was well behaved.....kinda. There is a whole, long story about Jill, her Dad and Grandma and Grandpa in San Fran that I won't go into now but from that trip (a few years ago) there were 4 San Fran 49'ers ponchos that appeared while Jill received her diploma that both embarrassed Jill then and now. At least Jill has a great sense of humor and can take a good joke.

The happy graduate!

I'm very proud of Jill!

So are her Mom and Dad! Proud and thankful that they all lived to see this moment......there were some tough times involving homework and other school related work....like there is in every family. Good Times!

Jill's best friend Tia! What a funny pair they are.

After graduation the graduates had an all night party that they were bused to so we took the opportunity to decorate Jill's car. She love it. We filled it with balloons and wrote all over it (so much so I can't believe she could see to drive it home). We also put the 49'er ponchos over the seats!

So after the car Dad, Todd, Verissa, Spencer and I decided to hit the casino for just a little while. Well, we ended up staying for about 3 hours and it seemed that none of us could lose. We all just kept breaking even or a little ahead. At the end Dad wanted to play a $5 slot machine and Todd, Spencer and I decided to all put in $20 and share. So a couple of pulls and not much happened so we thought, "Oh well" I was worth a shot, then came a turn for Spencer and he hit for $200! WOO HOO!!!!!! So as we were leaving we walked out with $50 more dollars each!!!

I don't think we should ever go to a casino without Spencer......ever!

Stay tuned.........this in only the 3rd day!

Nanner

Day 2

The saga continues............

Saturday June, 6th.

Up at about 5am (thanks to the 3 hour time difference) then just waiting for my brother and his wife to come down and other relatives to get into town. Some last minute running around to get ready for Jill's graduation party tonight.

Lots of family at the party, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandma's, parents, great grandma and friends and the dogs.

My sister-in-law made a full on Mexican dinner....I mean everything including homemade refried beans and lots of other dishes all from scratch. What Jill didn't know is that this was a clue to her gift from her folks and aunt Val. She got to go to Mexico for a week with her Mom and Aunt Val.

I was a lot of fun to see family that I don't get to see that often......including Lynn's sister Beth and her husband Brad and their daughter Aidan.

Keep watching for the next update.........Graduation Day!

Nanner

My June Vacation

Well here it is, the tales of my vacation in Oregon when I went home for Jill's graduation. Let's see if I can run it down for you all........

Day 1.
Friday June, 5th. My first travel day. Lynn took me to JFK airport in NYC for a 6am flight, so that means that I have to be there 2 hours before my flight....so (do the math) I'm waiting in line at 4am (but the ticket counter doesn't open until 4:30am) so I'm hanging in line updating my facebook from my iPhone (that was for you VCC).....I get through security (where there are posters for how to avoid the swine flu!) and since I've now been up for almost 5 hours I need to eat something. NOTHING.....I mean NOTHING is open at JFK before 6am?%&$@%???? Is this not the busiest airport in North America..........holy crap. I finally find a deli and buy an $11 sandwich.

Now I'm on the plane and doing fine, I fall asleep before we take off and sleep for the next 4 hours which is great, but that means I still have 2 1/2 hours left in the air until we reach San Fran. I land fine and have time for a quick bite before boarding a plane to Portland, OR.
I land in Portland and have about 45 minutes to kill before getting on the puddle jumper/prop job that will take me to North Bend. While in the airport there is an announcement over the PA system that could only happen in Oregon........."Will the passenger who left his fishing rod in the 'Made in Oregon' store please come and identify it we are holding it for you." I think the best part of the announcement is that they had to identify the fishing pole. Was there more than one person trying to take it? I swear, only in Oregon......well, maybe Wisconsin too.

Finally after 15 hours since I left my house, I'm in North Bend waiting for Jill to pick me up at the airport, but she's not there yet so I give her a call and she said that they are on their way. They? I though just she was coming, but no.......now I start to hear it..........

THE REDNECK EXPRESS is coming up the road. My brother Todd's huge diesel truck with Coalton (the great dane) tied up the the bed of the truck, and Tucker and Pepita(the chihuahuas)
hanging their heads out of the window from my niece's lap. What a wild ride!

So then to my Mom and Dad's house and an early night (the three hour time difference is not bad this way, you just want to go to bed early and get up early).

So, there it is ..... day one of my trip. Stay tuned for more updates soon.......Yes Barb, soon!

Nanner