A Skydazzler's Life Unwrapped...

Mt Hood Rally 2008

This past Saturday Bryant and I worked at the Mt. Hood Road Rally.  This is another road rally race through the gravel/dirt roads in the mountains. This one is held on the east side of Mt. Hood outside of Hood River, OR.   We were stationed at a spectator area this time, toward the beginning of the stage.  We basically did the same communication safety thing as before, logging the cars and moto bikes that start the race and check them off when they go by.  We had three stages (races) to work, starting around noon with the last stage ending about 9:00pm.  Logging those little tiny numbers on the side of the moto bikes was kind of a challenge in the dark, but B turned on the headlights so that we could pick up the numbers as they zipped by.  Here are a couple of pictures from the day.  I’m trying to figure out how to insert the video link. Here we go: Fir Mountain Stage Video Clip

 

 

   Look it's another Blue Subaru! LOL 

 The last photo is one of motorcyles.    

 

What a Way to Spend a Sunday!

You can tell by the title it isn't going to be a ton of fun.  I spent my Sunday doing taxes.  Oh what fun oh joy oh joy!  It wasn't hard...I had most of the paperwork together. I thought I did anyway.  Opened one envelope and darn..thought this was the property taxes. Nope.  Had to send the hubs scrambling for the file.  I finally got finished with both Fed and State by mid-afternoon.  Wrote out the check to our wonderful IRS to pay our tax debt and attach it to the forms.  Don't have to pay State, but it's a tiny tiny refund. Just enough to probably annoy the Department of Revenue, but I am making them send me a check anyway!  Todays word of the day is "annoyed".  That's how I am feeling. 

Sunday Excitement!

Bryant and I were heading home from visiting Bree and the kids a while ago.  We were driving east crossing the freeway when a Marion Co Sheriff car went screaming past us heading west toward Keizer.  I turned around to look at him and saw him cross over traffic and into on coming lanes of traffic because it was a clear path to get by.  Bryant turned on one of his many radios and we were hearing several transmissions about them heading south on Wheatland Road.  Another Sheriffs car was paralleling the chase traffic on River Road in case the suspect vehicle cut across and headed east.  We looked at each other and I think Bryant said something about...you want to go see?  But continued to head toward home.  Just then another County Sheriff car came screaming past us again...I looked at Bryant and said...let's go.  He turned around and headed in the same general direction as the two sheriffs cars.  Bryant had two radios going now and we were hearing transmissions from a couple different law enforcement departments.  We heard the guy cut across Clearlake and was heading back north on River Road.  Then they talked about the possibility of reaching I-5.  So just past Bree's street, we made another U-turn and headed back toward the freeway, just in time to hear that the suspect was entering the freeway southbound on I-5.  Some units stopped to see if they could find what they believed to be a gun thrown out the window of the suspects truck on Clearlake Road.  We turned to get on the freeway, but figured they probably had already past our overpass while we were picking our way through traffic.  We just started getting on the freeway and you could see one truck up ahead on the left shoulder and two Salem police cars in front of them.  Bryant merged onto the freeway and said...look behind us.  I turned and all you could see was all three lanes of the freeway alive with lights and sirens!  It looked like a scene from a movie.  We slowed and pulled to the side of the freeway when the "silver Chevy pickup" they were all chasing, went past us. Then 15 plus police vehicles of all shapes and sizes...including the white undercover mustang went past.  You could see the truck hit the puncture strip the Salem police had thrown out across the road...then the two officers pulling it back before all those police vehicles came by. The puncture strip didn't stop the truck which continued down the freeway at a seemingly slow pace for a chase (we heard 75 mph, slow for a chase don't you think?).  I'm sure by now this suspect, who police were calling the "gunman" knew he wasn't going to get away.  We continued down the freeway and heard on the radio the left tires of the silver truck were going flat and he was pulling over.  The suspect first tried to make a run of it, but we heard the police dog was being dispatched into service. haha, duh? Now you want to out run a police dog?  Obviously not a bright boy.  By now all southbound traffic was stopped on the freeway.  The next transmission was..."suspect in custody at 17:56".  As we drove by, the suspect, handcuffed, was being led to the back of a police car. On the freeway shoulder, there were cars from OSP, Marion County, Salem Police Dept, Yamhill County and Newberg/Dundee Police Dept.  And plenty of each.  It was exciting to see, it was good to see the guy in custody and made me feel proud that our Police departments did a great job and kept everyone safe.  Now...the disclaimer.  Never were we in danger, nor did we ever get in the way or impede the police from doing there job.  Not the smartest thing to do?  Maybe not.  But sometimes you just need to see first hand.  A problem we saw during all of this?  People...remember....when you are on a street and you see or hear sirens and lights...pull over to the side of the road and get out of the way of the police. Not only for your safety, but for their safety too.  We watched one stupid driver in an older white dodge durango stay in the fast lane of traffic on I-5, making the emergency vehicles go into the shoulder to pass them.  Maybe people need to have a refresher course in driving safety when they renew their licenses. 

All of this excitement...sights you'd never see again...and me with no camera...UGH!

Rocketober

Last Saturday Bryant and I took a little jaunt to central Oregon to experience the annual event called Rocketober.  This is a group of individuals who love rocketry of all sizes & kinds.  The event is held close to Brothers, Oregon which is about 40 miles south/east of Bend in the high desert.  It was a perfect day to launch rockets...beautiful weather through and through.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, kids of all ages.  The only thing I wish would have been to see the bigger rockets launch.  Bryant caught a great shot of this rocket launching.

Saturday trek to Find Fall

On Saturday we went to granddaughters x 2 soccer games in the morning (we missed Haley's due to a schedule glitch) and then journeyed east and north in the mountains to find fall color.  This is the time of year we both love to see all the fall colors in the cascades.  Mr. B had made a trip to Bend last week and noticed all the trees on the way to and from.  So we made a date.  I love the contrast of Fall colors here in Oregon. The bright burning yellows of the aspens along with the orange and fire red maples tucked in the tall pines of dark and light greens. Simpley awesome.  We went toward Detroit Lake and then headed north toward Breitenbush on Hwy 46.  That road cuts all the way past Ollalie Lake, Timothy Lake and Little Crate Lake ending up at the base of Mt. Hood, just above Timberline Lodge on Hwy 26. We had a really fun time and enjoyed all the dazzling colorful sights.  Here are a few of our pictures from the day. 

Walk America 2007

Whoo hoo, we did it! Saturday Bryant and I made the 3K walk at Walk America for the March of Dimes. It was great fun.  We may not have been the fastest two walkers, but I am very proud of us for finishing.   You should come down next year!  It really is a good time.  A brisk morning walk with family and good friends, a live band for entertainment and a dynamite lunch provided to the walkers by Outback Restaurants.  Thank you very much for your generous donations to support us and save babies from premature birth.  I received more donations this morning, so it isn't too late if you would still like to make a donation.  You can CLICK HERE to make either an online donation (now that the website has slowed down) or just follow the instructions of where to mail your cash/check donation.  Or you can call me and I will come pick it up!  Again, thank you so much for your support!  It's wonderful to know that so many support our passion. Here is a picture of the 2007 Heaven's Hope Team.  Love, Robin & Bryant

Oregon Trail Rally

Well it looks like we have added another exciting hobby to our weekend enjoyment!  This weekend Bryant and I went to volunteer our time to work with the Oregon Rally Group in their annual event called the Oregon Trail Rally.  Go take a peek at these websites and you will have a better idea of what I am talking about.  We were participating out of the need for more ham radio operators(Bryant) helping at various places in the Stages.  We thought we were an added team to the area called "spectator" which is a mid-point site.  We got in place right at the road, sitting inside Bryant's truck.  We would normally be sitting outside the truck in chairs at the caution tape watching, but with the rain coming down so hard, sitting in the truck was an extra perk.  We were so excited to have the opportunity of a front row seat, watching the race kind of relaxed since this was our first experience at the Rally.  These are little cars like Subaru's, Mazda and BMW's speeding through the gravel and muddy roads in the middle of the forest at speeds of over 60mph!  Insane! haha  We were all set up, radio working and our job was to track the cars from when they started and when they passed us.  This in case someone went off the road, we would have an idea of where that might have happened.  Our stage was a 16.6 mile stretch, with 59 inspection points.  Ours was at marker 22.  We were all ready, when our Stage Co-Captain came up and asked if we could go with him to fill a spot at the finish.  We said of course and took off with him to the end of the course.  What we had just agreed to turned out to be stressful, scary and exciting.  Talk about jumping into this with both feet!  Bryant turned out to have a key role in the whole stage being "finish" position.  That meant each car that started, he had to acknowledge and when each car cross our final finish he had to let check them in over the air.  My job turned out to be a multi-tasking nightmare!  Each car that started I had to write it down with it's start time.  When the cars crossed the "flying finish" the timekeeper would radio a time to me of the cars run.  I had to write that down next to their start time.  Then our other finish partner would write the time I had on the official paperwork of each car and hand it back to the drivers!  This would be rather relaxed for say the first 15 drivers that started.  Then it became more of a challenge as each of the cars that started past the fourth position, started at one minute apart.  That meant cars were now coming in to the finish less than a minute apart and I was still tracking the other cars that were leaving.  Aghhhhh! haha.  It was fun, but several times had to ask the poor timekeeper to repeat times.  Luckily for him, his timer had slots for up to 99 cars!  The first Stage we did had 66 cars in it.  The second had just over 50.  Now all of this went much smoother the 2nd time around except for the rain that steadily came in sideways inside the truck.  Poor Bryant's truck.  We did have a really good time though.  Like I said it was exciting.  Maybe not exactly what you would expect to be doing your first time out.  But hey...we are always up for a challenge!  Hehe, now we will see if we did a good enough job to get invited back!

Spring Break Week

You can tell "spring has sprung" around our house!  And I don't mean by the flowers blooming either.  I do have some Daffi's that are almost gone actually.  So sad when they start to wilt.  They have a very short season. Next year I am going to plant some more...a few weeks apart and some tulips.  That way I can have bulb flowers all of March into April.  Anyway...you can tell spring has come to my house, by my need to start the spring clean!  I did our bedroom today.  Went through drawers and closets.  Cleaned out under the sink in the bathroom.  I didn't get it all done.  Still have the windows and blinds to clean, but I think I am going to change the treatments so I'll wait a couple weeks until I decide what I want to put up.  I flung open windows today though and aired out this stuffy house.  It felt so good to get some fresh air in.  It's been a very long winter.  This process that I am in will take a few weeks to get it all accomplished.  Next I'll hit the linen closet, work my way downstairs and hit those closets too.  Purge, purge, purge is the theme this spring!  I have a couple bags to take to Goodwill this week. :-)

The weekends go so fast!

The weekends always start out so promising.  Relaxation the goal, rejuvenating the mind and spirit...haha.  Sure they are.  I got to sleep in a little Saturday, coffee and the paper in bed...ah so wonderful.  That's the way to wake up on a weekend morning.  Then I decided to get ready for the day and go over to the new Cost Plus World Market store in Keizer Station.  I needed to be back by 1:00pm though since we were headed down to do the fireworks at the Beavers Game in Corvallis.  Just as I was putting my shoes on, we got a call from E's Mommy.  Seems he bumped his nose and the cut was bleeding.  Not bad, but enough that she thought the cut was opening some where his stitches had been.  She needed steri strips and didn't have any.  Long story short, I finally found the strips at the 3rd store I went and somewhere between Target and RiteAide I lost my ID wallet.  This wouldn't have been terrible if I hadn't stuck my debit card in there along with my drivers license.  Oh my...that's all someone would need to wipe out our bank account in short order.  I called Bryant on the way back to take Bree the strips.  He called Target, no luck.  Then Walgreens.  It must have fallen out of my pocket when I pulled my phone out to call the next store.  Someone had found my ID wallet and turned it in at Walgreens.  How blessed am I?  By now it was 12:30 and I was running out of time.  I ran back to Walgreens to pick up my wallet.  Once there I talked to 3 people.  They had it, just wanted to be sure I was who I said I was.  They each asked my name and finally 3rd person asked if I knew what was inside.  I calmly said yes, a debit card, some cash and my pictured drivers license.  haha.  I said, if you pull it out and look at it, the picture is me! haha wink wink!  Gotta have a sense of humor!  I made it back to the house with minutes to spare. We jumped in Jon's car and headed to the game. 

Beavers Fall to Cougars, 13-6

Needless to say, we shot more fireworks at the Star Spangled Banner than we did during the entire game!  (sad face)  Poor Beav's!  They just seem to be struggling this year.  By the way, E's nose was no worse for the bumping.  He was/is fine once the steri strips went on.  And my weekend?  Well it got more relaxing on Sunday.  I did make it over to the new Cost Plus store and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Watched the end of the Nascar Nextel race at Talledaga and lazed the rest of the day away!  Didn't do much besides a load of laundry...  So weekends can be relaxing and rejuvenating even when they get a crazy busy start.   It still went too fast.  Already time for bed and starting another Monday of work.  Can you spell R-E-T-I-R-E-M-E-N-T???   Looking better and better...haha. 

Meteor Shower Best Show Saturday Night

Saturday night we went to the Dallas Drive-In.  Yep, just had to do the double feature thing again.  We ran and got burgers first then headed out to watch "Click" and "Talladega Nights-the Ballad of Ricky Bobby".  We got there fairly early with enough time to eat our dinner and chat a little before the movies started.  Bryant listened to his HAM radio swap meet thats held on Saturday evenings.  Before long it started getting pretty dark and we saw a couple shooting stars.  Then I remembered there was a meteor shower of sorts happening Saturday night.  Actually it went more like...wow did you see that shooting star?  No, I missed it.  Wait, I saw one over this way.  Did you see it?  No.  Hey, I think I remember something about a meteor shower going to happen either last weekend or this weekend.  Must be this weekend.  haha   Today I did a search on Google and I found Perseid's Meteor Shower. It was suppose to reach it's peak last night.  I'm sure being in a darker place would have been better, but we did see maybe 8-10 meteors.  The moon was almost full last night so the bright light faded out most of the chance of seeing many shooting stars just after eleven or so.  The early ones were cool though.  I have to admit, by the second movie I was searching for more shooting stars instead of concentrating on the movie.  Some laughs, mostly giggles.  Both were okay, but definitely rentals. The best part of the whole evening was spending real time with my honey!  (wink, wink)  I like date nights! hehe