This and that around Leaburg, August 3

On the way back from Portola last week, we stopped at Salt Creek Falls, which is on Highway 58 just before the tunnel.  The falls were pretty spectacular.  I think the plaque indicated that at 286 feet  they were the second tallest falls in Oregon.  These pictures are taken with Joel's IPhone.

 The Salt Creek Canyon is pretty steep.  I sure wouldn't want to fall. The canyon was cut by glacial action.

 

(My little Canon PowerShot G9 was stolen/lost several weeks ago.  Of course it is not made anymore and I have all the accessories to it, so  after hours and hours of research and debate over whether or not to buy a new G12 or Nikon P7100 I've decided ordered a refurbished G9 which should arrive soon.  Sheesh, the new ones have all that recording video stuff I don't think I'll ever use and the price just keeps going up. Suggestions are welcome. )

One of the reasons Joel wanted to get back to Leaburg quickly and not stay in Portola  and visit was his sister-in-law, Joanne, and her husband Chuck were  arriving at the Reims place for a few days.  They live in Southern California and would like to eventually move to Oregon. 

Walter cooked a wonderful Tri-Tip roast on the smoker. It's on the plate at the end of the table between Walt and Joel.   Ymmmm.  Do you think there was any leftovers? Not!

Joel had a nice visit  with Joanne and Chuck.  Joanne also went through some of Christine's things (Joel's deceased wife) that  had been stored at the Reim household.  These were items Joel didn't know what to do with, so it was really nice for Joel, that Joanne could take several boxes of stuff back home with her.

The other evening we were treated to a unbelievable spectacle while sitting on the deck overlooking the McKenzie River.

The herd of Elk had come down out of the mountains and were playing in the water just a little ways up river from the Reims deck.  There were several bulls and lots of cows as well as some babies.  They frolicked in the water (the river has really gone down the last few days) splashing each other.  Pam said this was only the second time in all the years they have lived at their home that the herd had come down to the river.  Its been warm, so I guess they needed to cool off.

Joel is still working on projects on the motor home.  So far he has refurbished and reinstalled the radiator; fabricated a new box for the shore power receptacle where it had fried and welded itself to the motor home; beefed up the bedroom floor where one of the leveling jacks kept bowing the floor; disassembled the bedroom window to check for water damage and found none around the window but found water damage between the fiberglass and luan panel and had to take off the moldings, dry everything out and glue it back together; and reworked the hitch so the bikes would not interfere with opening the engine compartment door; fixed the awning over the window that never wanted to retract.  There's more, but that is just one side of the motor home. . It makes me tired just thinking about it all.  Now he is reworking the battery compartment for the coach batteries and inverter located on the other side of the coach which the solar panels charge. Big, big job. He has earned his  "Mr. Fix It" name.

In addition to working on the motor home, Joel has also been helping Walt remodel the shop.  He removed a large overhead garage door added a stem wall and framed in the wall, adding a man door and window in its place. He and Walt still need to finish drywalling the interior.  This is retirement????

The PLAN (always in jello) is to depart the Reim "Complex" two weeks from today to travel back to California by car for a few days (to see my son and maybe my  mom) and return  to Leaburg and pickup the motor home and tour the Northwest until late September.

Stay tuned.  Remember jello! :)