Hola from Bend/Sisters,
Oregon,
Yes, that is
where we currently are preparing for the Purkey Family Reunion which starts
officially Sunday, the 20th.
You have not heard much from me because I have been busy! We have traveled, worked on: the new Model A
Roadster, the latest quilt, and(I am sure there must be something else)!
Traveling: Early this month we went to Florence, Oregon
for a quick trip to visit our friends Tony and Janet. They are planning on moving to St. Croix this fall
so we had to get in one last visit, and Harriet had to update her wardrobe with some of the pretty clothing Janet sells!
Then it was
meeting up with our friends John and Marilyn.
They said that they needed a break from their work, so they invited us
to join them dry camping for a weekend at the Brooks, Oregon "Great Oregon Steam-Up". http://www.antiquepowerland.com/html/what_is_steam-up-.html The link gives you a good overview of what we
were able to see. This event is held
every year on the last weekend in July and the first weekend in August. It is a fun event to watch. Below is a very small sample of some of the
items that we saw, and there are many more photos in our August photo album.
Then 2 days
later we went camping with our friends George and Carolyn. Both Carolyn and I have an interest in rock
collecting, so that was one of our main goals this trip. It was also a time to relax at one of our
favorite RV parks in Oregon. The
Junipers Reservoir RV Resort is near Lakeview, Oregon, and is on a large
working cattle ranch. http://www.junipersrv.com/ OK, just because I am giving you the links
for some of these places doesn’t mean that you should go there! I don’t want to go there next time and find
out that all our friends have already reserved all the RV spaces! It is OK to go there if you just want to tent
camp. ~wink~
When we got to
the RV park we were told that the reservoir had just had a toxic blue-green algae
bloom. http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/77118.html This particular algae bloom was deadly to
their cattle, and 32 died within 72 hours.
We camped
there 3 nights and on the first full day went to the small community of Davis
Creek, California, where we picked up a map and registered to obtain
obsidian. We visited all 4 sites listed
on the map and found some beautiful specimens.
The area has rainbow obsidian with blues and greens, and some pink at
one site. Now the challenge is to figure
out how to cut and polish it into something really nice.
On the
return to Bend/Salem, we stopped at the Cowboy Dinner Tree Restaurant near the
community of Silver Lake. It is a unique
restaurant that serves only two types of meals, chicken, or beef. The chicken meal is a whole, large, chicken. The beef meal is a 26 – 30 oz top sirloin steak. Both meals come with salad, bean soup, rolls,
baked potato, and dessert, with your choice of ice tea, or strawberry lemonade. Yes, they automatically bring doggy bags to
the table near the end of the meal.
Now that we are back at my brother's home near Sisters, Oregon, there has been a forest fire about 8 miles away that we have been watching. It is currently about 9,000 acres and is not close to being contained. The sad part about this whole thing is that I think they could have put it out very quickly when it first started, but NO, they did not do much and now it is out of control. This is after they have thrown probably well over 100 Borate Bombers at it not including water dropping helicopters and lots of man power and caterpillars. They are now even using jets as Borate Bombers, including a DC10. It really makes a person wonder what the people in charge really are trying to accomplish! People have been evacuated from some homes near the fire.
Oh, did I
mention “work”? Well, this is a current
photo of the Model A Roadster (doesn't look much different than last time, does it?), and the quilt that Harriet is making for me.
This doesn't show the running gear, chassis or engine, which are all on the other side of Bend at our friend Mike's shop. Ben has been spending a lot of time there getting dirty and greasy, taking more things apart (and ordering more replacement parts)! Meanwhile, Mike poured the babbitt for the main bearings, and is rebuilding the engine.
This doesn't show the running gear, chassis or engine, which are all on the other side of Bend at our friend Mike's shop. Ben has been spending a lot of time there getting dirty and greasy, taking more things apart (and ordering more replacement parts)! Meanwhile, Mike poured the babbitt for the main bearings, and is rebuilding the engine.
Harriet got the binding sewn on, now she just needs to turn the binding to the back side and hand stitch it down. That's the only thing that is hand-stitched on this quilt, so it takes a while!
The August 2017 with more photos is ready for your enjoyment.
Until the next time Ben has time to put something together....
Your friends in smoky Central Oregon,
Ben & Harriet
PS. Sam & Zoey are spending the summer in Baja with our friend Dalia. Sam had an eye problem (dry eye?), but after some TLC by Dalia and our vet Gretel, (and lots of medication) he is doing much better.
Until the next time Ben has time to put something together....
Your friends in smoky Central Oregon,
Ben & Harriet
PS. Sam & Zoey are spending the summer in Baja with our friend Dalia. Sam had an eye problem (dry eye?), but after some TLC by Dalia and our vet Gretel, (and lots of medication) he is doing much better.
