Shannon's Land

Mountain Biking at Cape Mears

2009-06-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Yet another successful mountain biking adventure. This spring we went up to Tillamook and followed Hwy 131 around the cape, starting in Tillamook, then venturing up to the top of the cape, around to Cape Mears Park, in to Ocean City (for a wondering dinner at Roseanne's cafe), and then out to Netarts and around 131 and back in to Tillamook.

This wasn't exactly a "mountain" biking experience, as the road was mostly paved (except for the short diversion out to the end of the spit, which in the early 1900's was destined to be the next Atlantic City, until all of the homes washed out to sea.

We left Monmout at 10:00 and made it in to Tillamook by 12:30 or so, and were on the road by 1:00. With the two side trips, we were still in Ocean City by 5:00, and back to the car parked at the Safeway in Tillamook by 6:30 or so. By 7:00 we were on our way home, with a short detour to the Air Museum, which was closed for the day - the HUGE building (worlds tallest wooden structure) is incredibly impressive, especially against the backdrop of the coastal range and dairy farms. We were home by 9:00. It wasn't nearly the epic journey of June, 2008, but still a great ride. It was nice to have my two oldest daughters and my newphew aloong for the trip.

Happy days!

Shannon

2008-12-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

It's a few months down the proverbial road, but I wanted to capture the high points of the mountain biking trip from Lincoln City to Monmouth. We left the house at 7:00, and arrived at the Schooner Creek Rd/Hwy 101 junction at 8:30. After unloading the bikes, we were quickly on the road.

We traveled up Schooner Creek Rd. for several miles until we reached Forest Service Rd. #17. Taking a left would have brought us back on on Highway 22, and a right would have brought us up to the #17 turnoff that drops down into Gravel Creek Rd. We followed 17 to the right, to the top of the grade, and then dropped down into Gravel Creek. We followed Gravel Creek to the intersection of Valsetz Rd, and then headed East on Valsetz Rd, stopping in the abandonded town of Valsetz at about 1:30, where we rested, at the rest of our lunch, and filled up our water bottles from the nearby creek.

At about 2:30 we started out again, and worked our way up the very long grade on Valsetz Rd. to the top of the Cascade Range, heading down in to Falls City. After reaching the top of the grade, the decent down into Falls City was easy and fast. The speed induced rush also induced two flat tires, but luckily we were able to limp into Falls City where the only store in town sold inner tubes. After reaching Falls City at about 6:30, and spending an hour or so grabbing a quick snack and repairing bicycles, we headed out again for the last leg of the journey. We arrived in Monmouth at about 9:30, nearly 13 hours after the start. We were completely and utterly worn out, and destined to be sore for several days afterwards.

However, my two oldest daughters, my oldest son, the daughter's friend and a cousin made it safely home, and enjoyed every moment of the journey!

Unles I post again....

-Shannon

Mountain Biking Falls City to Lincoln City - Take Two

2008-09-16T23:42:00.001-07:00

Now that the summer is almost over, another try at the Falls City to Lincoln city route is in order. The trip is planned for 9/27 and 9/28, with an overnight stay in Valsetz. We're trying a different route (further north, past Valsetz) with the help of a forestry expert who knows the area well. We'll also bring along a GPS, AND the map, AND the compass. The good news is that no matter what happens, we will know where East and West are, and with those general coordinates we won't get "lost". The crew configuration will be changing just a bit, as new EDS venturers join us and we lose a cousin to a date with the traffic court.

If anyone reading this blog has a lead on a good GPS, please drop a comment. I've been looking at the more expensive versions (Garmin Oregon 400t and the Nuvi 500). The Nuvi is intended for car use, but could also double as a stoway in a backpack. The nice thing about the Nuvi is that is does speak directions, and it has a nice easy-on-the-eyes screen. I believe that both have topo maps. I could go with a lower-level GPS, that simply displays the longitude and latitude, and then use the coordinates on the topo map to determine exactly where I'm at. At this point I'm just not sure which approach is better. I'd rather not spend the $'s on the nicer unit, but don't want to go "cheap" either and then regret that I didn't spend the extra money to get a unit with the more advanced features. In either case, I believe that I will need to purchase topo maps that are more detailed. They are around $100 for the US.

Anyway, time to close off the blog post. Happy Mountain Biking!

-Shannon

Monmouth to Lincoln City - The Epilogue

2008-06-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

At 10:30 on May 24th the iron men of 8 struck out for Lincoln City, from our house in Monmouth. Two dads and their 3 sons, 2 cousins and an co-worker struck out on the first leg of the journey at 10:15 am. It was slightly overcast, and a balmy 70 degrees.

Here's a picture of the team:

Notice the prolific use of helmets! Ah papa san, we are so wise - wax on, wax off.

Notice the quality of the steeds. Fine engineering from China, most likely. Also, notice the chamois - to keep the keester from getting bleestered.

We're a fine looking crew though, aren't we? Just rip roaring and ready to go.

At 11:45 we make it to Falls City, which is the last civilized outpost between us and Lincoln City. In Falls City we ate lunch, performed some minor bicycle repairs, and then hightailed it outta there by about 12:15.

On the way up to Falls City, we posed for several pictures, with the breathtaking scenery as a backdrop.

We arrived in Valsetz at about 3:30 pm, with the my lovely wife having delivered the camping equipment, so that we wouldn't have to lug it up the side of the mountain. Here's a picture of a few of the crew enjoying the time off of the bike seat!

For dinner, we had burnt hot dogs cover in burnt chili - it was delicious. We topped off the meal with chips, grapes, pepperidge farm cookies and Hershey's candy bars. Unbelievably and wonderfully appetizing.

We spent a most of the night sleeping fitfully in the tents, with some of us sleeping under the stars. In the middle of the night it rained hard (Valsetz had the dubious distinction of being the rainiest city in the United State - I think it clocked in at 168 inches per year). It only rained for about an hour, and in the morning, it was another beautiful day.

For breakfast, we had pancakes, sausage, bacon, orange juice, coffee, and all of the fixins. Some of the guys enjoyed spraying whipping cream down their gullets.

At 8:36 we broke camp, headed for Lincoln City. On the way, some of the guys posed at another viewpoint - this one overlooking some falls that we could only hear.

At 10:30 we broke company with one of the father/son duos, and the remaining six of us struck out for Lincoln City. On the way, we found this lake....nicknamed "newt lake". The guys liked to say it fast, and called it "nude lake".

At 12:00 we ate lunch at the tip top of a mountain, and then headed down, for a fast downhill, hoping for a quick run to Lincoln City. After about 1.5 hours, we started to get the feeling that something just wasn't quite right. After another 15 minutes, we found out why, when one of the group stopped on a bridge, looked down and started laughing. "What was so funny", I said. "Well, he said, we were at this bridge 5 hours ago!". After overcoming my state of shock and disbelief, we decided to continue on out to Siletz, where the father/son duo had gone whe we hard parted company several hours before.

At 1:30 we headed down the hill, and arrived in Siletz at 5:30. There we at dinner at a dumpy little restaurant that had awesome burgers. The waitress talked as if she was on the mental edge, and it was entertaining to be waited on by her.

I called my lovely after dinner was over, and she said that she would meet us on our way to Kernville, which is a tiny little town on the Oregon Coast. We all saddled up again (chamois weren't doing much good at this point) and headed off to Kernville. After an hour of hard peddling, we met my lovely, and the father/son duo (and the dad's wife), loaded up the bikes and headed home.

We arrived back in Monmouth by 9:00 pm, and then all hit the sack and slept soundly for a long, long time. Muscles were aching like crazy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday, the general consensus was that we were all feeling pretty good.

A fantastic time was had by all, and we can't wait to try it again. Maybe next time we'll do the trip in one day - I think that we can blast through it in a nice long day, for sure!

Ride on!

-Shannon

Falls City to the Coast - Mountain Bike Style

2008-04-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Mountain Bike Riders, Unite!

The Journey

We'll meet at the house at 9:30 on Saturday morning, to put gear in the truck, and make any last-minute preparations for the ride out to Falls City. We will leave my house by 10:00. For the bike ride, you will need to bring the following;

Sunglasses
Chap stick
Sun screen
Bug repellent
Something to carry gear in (paniers, handle bar carrying case, case attached to seat post,
day pack, etc.). Walmart has handlebar-style bags for $10.00
Cycling gloves (optional, but recommended)
Small flashlight (probably won't need it for the ride, but better safe than sorry!)
Pocket knife (see comment about flashlight above)
Water bottles (64 oz total)
Compass
Whistle
Topo map
GPS (if you've got one handy)
Helmet (VERY Important!)
Bike shorts
Windbreaker/rain gear (bring at least a light poncho or full bike gear, if you have it)
Cell phone (reception is spotty/nonexistent in the mountains)
Small first aid kit and additional band aids (for blisters that you will develop on hands, feet, etc. during the ride)
Aspirin / Ibuprofen
Money, for Saturday lunch and Sunday dinner
Medical instructions, if you have any special medical needs

Bike equipment

Saddle Bag
Flat repair kit (spare tube?)
Pump
Water bottle + cage (two?)
Chain tool + extra chain links
Spoke tool
Allen wrenches appropriate for your bike (or multi-tool)
Rear fender? (in case you don't want a stripe up your back)
Oil (tri-flow?)

I know that the list seems long. Keep the consumables to very small quantities. It should all fit in a fairly small pack that attaches to your bike frame, or fits easily on your back.

Day 1 is not a long bike ride by any means - the first day will be approximately 20 miles from our house to Valsetz. The road is a nice downhill from the house, on to gravel roads, and then surface streets and more gravel roads to Falls City. We should arrive in Falls City at around 12:00, possibly earlier. In Falls City we will eat lunch (either pack your own, or plan on buying food at the Falls City convenience store).

At no later than 1:00 we will strike out for the motherland (Valsetz, anyway). The road runs straight out of the teaming metropolis of Falls City, with about a mile of pavement that quickly turns into a gravel logging road. The first half of Day 1 is going to be a pretty grueling ride with steep climbing in several spots. Be prepared to punish your body. Once we get over the pass, the road meanders down into Valsetz, with mostly downhill or level riding. The elevation of Valsetz is 1500 feet.

I need a volunteer to drive the truck up to meet us in Valsetz, where we will meet up with the truck, unpack our overnight gear, eat and then camp for the night. For dinner on Saturday night we should plan to eat at around 6:30, give or take an hour. Everyone should plan on bringing sleeping gear, including tent, sleeping bag, ground cover, etc. There are wild, scary animals in the wild, so be prepared to fend off a huge mountain lion, or a mother bear that just came out of hibernation. Here is what to bring for the night out in the wild, wild wilderness:

Tent
Tarp (ground cover)
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad (optional)
Warm clothes for sleeping (it may get cold!)
Fleece liner for inside of sleeping bag (more insurance against the cold)
Camping eating utensils (plate, fork, spoon, coffee cup)
Warm hat/gloves
Ear plugs (for guard against the snoring folks and the large black bears!)
Toothbrush/toothpaste/toilet paper/wash cloth
Backpack - if you have one, it is really convenient to be able to pack all of your gear and have it in one self-contained place.

I will bring everything necessary to cook and eat the food. This includes:
Stove

Cookware
Plastic forks, knives, spoons, plates and cups
Matches/Lighter
Lantern
Water purification kit (for emergency only)
Food / Drink (for Saturday snack, dinner, Sunday breakfast, lunch and snack)
Additional water for dinner/breakfast/refills
Fuel for stoves

On Sunday morning, we'll wake up (assuming we survive the wild animals) to French toast, bacon, sausage, coffee and eggs. Just the right combination of fiber, fat and cholesterol to keep us going. We'll pack up our day packs for lunch, snacks and money and then pack the overnight gear into the truck. The volunteer driver (plus Paul) will head back down the mountain, leaving the truck and gear at our house.

Our schedule should put us on the road Sunday morning by no later than 8:00 am. I'm gauging that the Day 2 distance is approximately 20 - 25 miles. It starts off level and downhill, and then probably will include some up and down as we move across the coast range and down into Lincoln City.

To start the day, we'll follow Valsetz road down to the T and then follow the Plum Creek operations logging road heading South, following the Siletz River. When we get to the Elk Creek logging road, we'll turn West, and then follow a tangle of logging roads over to Devil's Lake, which is just outside of Lincoln City. Everyone should bring their topo map, a whistle and a compass (see list for more gear to bring). Plan on riding together, so that we can jointly make decisions about which turn to take, so that we don't leave a trail of riders (and tears) strung across the Pacific Coast Range.

My wife (or the volunteer, if one so chooses) will unload the gear out of the truck, and meet us at Devil's lake in the later afternoon/early evening. Along with the truck, we'll need two more drivers to pick up the worn and weary mountain bikers. One way or another we should be able to load all of the bikes into the back of my truck for the 1 hour ride back to my house. Assuming 12 riders, there will be 5 seats in the truck, and we'll need 7 more empty seats (9 total, including drivers) for the trip back.

We will leave Lincoln City at around 7:30 pm, and will be back at my place by 8:30, where we can all grab our bikes, gear and cars, and head on home. Since the 26th is Memorial Day, we'll all have one day to nurse your sore muscles before heading back into work on Tuesday!

Below is the meal plan for the trip:

Saturday Lunch (on your own)

Either pack a lunch, or plan on spending a few coins at the Falls City convenience store

Saturday afternoon snack

Energy bars
Nuts
Fruit

Saturday dinner

Ka-bobs (beef, with vegetables)
Coffee/Hot Chocolate/Tea
Dinner rolls
Potato chips
Fruit (grapes, watermelon, honeydew, or ???)

Sunday Breakfast

French Toast w/ jam/whipping cream/butter and/or syrup
Bacon & Sausage
Coffee
Fruit

Sunday Lunch

Sandwiches
Nuts
Chocolate bar
Fruit

Sunday snack

Trail mix
Raisins
Granola bars

Dinner (on your own)

Pizza, hamburgers, or whatever is close by

That's all for now. Please post comments if there are any questions/comments, and I'll update the body of the post as we get closer to take-off.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

To my vast worldwide audience,

Good afternoon, and Merry Christmas. We're expriencing another relaxing Christmas, this one being the first in our new home, the first with our puppy dog Chesterton, and a nice snowy Christmas day, to add icing to the proverbial Christmas cake.

Grandpa and Grandma Qualls and the Glasscock family enjoyed a nice relaxing Christmas morning, with stockings opened, crepes eaten, presents opened (a marathon event lasting several hours), and now just a relaxing time for some of us. For Lori and Grandma, it's a friendly time in the kitchen cooking the turkey.

It was a rough start to Christmas morning, when Cameron's ipod turned up missing, and Daniel's camera autofocus lens mechanism got stepped on and broken by the dog. Cameron is already looking forwarding to upgrading to the itouch, and Daniel is looking forward to sending the camera in for repair. The boys actually took it all in stride, and they handled both events with class. After all, it is just technology.

I appreciate the way our family handles Christmas. Lori has done a great job of setting reastic expectations, and as the kids have gotten older, they have quickly transitioned the focus from gift getting to gift giving. We have decreed that E and F can not get any older, at least during Christmas, so that the magic stays - either that or some of the older kids need to get married and start having kids themselves, so that we can keep the magic alive. The latter option is the most realistic, but it looks like there will be a few years in there where the magic is of the more mature christmas participant variety. Regardless, it is nice to be able to give, if even just a little bit.

And as we give, my thoughts turn to all of those in our world that have absolutely nothing to give, and just are just barely managing to make it through life. So little of what we have could mean so much to them.

Dad and I have been busy building a storage shed this last week, as I have been off work, and Dad has been needing something to keep him busy while he is on vacation:-). The process is really slow, with the rain and the short work days, but we're getting closer. The walls are up, the siding is on, and all but one of the trusses are made. With the snow today, I don't think that we'll get that last truss finished - we accidentally threw our motivation away with some of the wrapping. No worries though....Russ, Lisa and their family are coming in this weekend to celebrate the new year, and we should be able to muster the troops to put the trusses up, put the roof sheathing on, then it's just a matter of the tar paper, roofing, and then some finishing trim. After that, the storage shelves will go in, and then the garage tools can make their way out of the 3rd garage bay and into the shed.

After the shed is complete, I need to work on the 4 ceiling high rows of boxes in the garage, that are left over from the last move. It's all junk, just pure junk. Anybody want some? Help yourself. It's the stuff that garage sales are made of, but I just don't have the motivation to put a garage sale together. I'd rather give it away, or haul it to the garbage dump.

As the year comes to a close, it's nice to reflect on all of the past year's events. The last couple of years have been big for us. Moving from California back up to the Pacific Northwest, living in a hotel for 3 months, then a rental for 14 more months, and the finally into our house. It's a beautiful place, and has been well worth the wait. I especially enjoy having things to do outside - not so much to "build value" but just to stay busy, and productive, other than at work.

Allison and Bethany are doing a great job in school at WOU, and Cameron is working hard and also focused on his school work - he just got his PSAT results back, and scored well. Daniel has really enjoyed his camera, and is our budding photographer. Elaina and Faerynn are enjoying sisterhood together.

Well, it's time to wind up the post for now.

Take care,

Shannon

Vacation is over

2006-07-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

To my vast worldwide audience,

We just got back from vacation on Tuesday. We had a nice time in Idaho - eating, swimming, visiting with the cousins, neices, nephews and mom and dad. The property is so beautiful and it is relaxing to be out where cell phones do not work and the only phone communication with the outside world is through the satellite dish - which works only inbound with the IP telephone (vonage). It was almost like a mediteranean cruise, with the construction work to keep me busy :-). The boys had a great time with their cousins, and the girls all enjoyed the same with their girl cousins. It was different this year, being surrounded by growing high school boys. They are so weird. I am sure that my brothers and I were never like that! For me, it was just really nice to clear my head of work for a few days.

At the end of June we also celebrated Allisons graduation. Friends and family joined us to wish Allison well as she closes the door to high school and moves on the college life. She is a special girl. Check out her blog.

In the weeks following we had friends in from the Sacramento area. It was great to see them, and we enjoyed time together before and after their vacation to the Oregon coast.

The housing is moving along, with the foundation poured, floor joists in, initial plumbing in and driveway bulldozed. I wish that I had pictures. My wife has some of the latest on her blog.

That's pretty much the news for now. The problem with waiting so long between posts is that so much gets lost in the intervening weeks!

Happy June

2006-06-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

To my vast worldwide audience,

Well folks, there's quite a bit that has gone on since the last blog. We had a really entertaining time with the Wheelers, Bagdanov's and the most entertaining member of the Kizer family (guess who :-) at the Castle Crags in Northern California over Memorial Day weekend. I know...for those of you that follow my other family member's blogs, this is old news. Nevertheless, it was great to hook up with friends, go on a really scenic and tortuous hike, get rained on, and enjoy a nice time by a nonexistent campfire. Just kidding....it was a nice time, and it was really enjoyable to relax with old (in the non perjorative sense) friends.

We get to see some of the same friendly faces in two weeks, for Allison's graduation ceremony. While I'm on the subject, does anyone have great ideas for a graduation ceremony? Wouldn't it be cool to take friends to England or Ireland for a graduation party? How about a Mediterranean cruise, or a trip to the Bahamas? Wake up Shannon, and live in the present! Okay, so how about a nice graduation party in the park, with a modest affair - food, some entertainment (I might even write a song for her graduation - ooooh).

A few weekends ago we attended the Boy Scout Camp-or-All in Albany. That was a good time, to start to get to know some families in the area. Last weekend was another Boy Scout weekend, with a road litter pick-up project in the morning, then a car wash for the rest of the day. Cameron and Daniel did a great job helping out the troop. Tonight was the Troop Committee meeting....which I decided to skip, in favor of a family swim night.

Speaking of swimming, we broke down and bought the yearly swim pass to the aquatic center. It's a pretty good deal, and a great way to get exercise - rain or shine.

Regarding the house....still no road to the property, although the site has been excavated and the footing forms are being built (see picture). Don't Cameron and I look cool?

Well, worldwide friends. Until we meet again,

Shannon

New golfing buddies

2006-05-07T05:18:00.000-07:00

To my vast worldwide audience,

It's been over a month since the last post, but to be fair, I tried earlier this month, but got kicked off of the computer by one of my beautiful kids.

So much has happened in the last Month. I'll start with the current and work backwards. Bethany took her SAT yesterday. She said that she felt like she did pretty good. Hopefully the results will bear out the same. This week Bethany also got a job, working at a local tea room (Althea's). She really enjoys it, and seems well suited for the job. From the sounds of it, the job description is varied (cooking, cleaning, waiting) and interesting for her. Promises to be a great first job.

One of the guys from church (Ed Dresser) invited me out golfing yesterday. It was a good match, we were all equally skilled (or unskilled to be more accurate).. I came in with the high score of 54 (we just played 9 holes). And to think the Geiberger shot a 57 for 18. Wow. The other three rounded out the scoring with 52's and a 51. Pretty dismal golf, but truly par for the course, considering the 8-month gap since I've played. I'm wondering if my golfing days are over. I would like to play more, but it's just so hard to get out. It was good to get out with some guys and start to develop relationships.

On the 20th of April we closed on the house/property. The road is going in next week, so excavating will probably start the week of the 15th, I would imagine. Once we get going, we'll have our work cut out for us. I'd like to do some of the building myself, but I just don't know how realistic that is going to be.

The kids are enjoying living in a true neighborhood. They are starting to develop friendships with the neighbors. It's going to be another adjustment to make, when we move out to the property.

Work is going fairly well. There are still a few issues that pop up and take us by surprise. For the most part though, the team has really developed into a force to be considered.

It's early, and I'd still like to get some sleep, so I'll sign off now.

I have an 18 year-old and househunting is over!

2006-03-28T19:22:00.000-08:00

To my vast worldwide audience,

Yesterday was a very eventful day, as far as milestones go. First, my lovely daughter Allison turned 18. Jimminey crickets! Those 18 years went like....a comet streaking across the sky....like an enjoyable Sunday afternoon spending time with my family after a long week at work....like a golf game with friends..... In fact, it was just the opposite of when I'm waiting for my turn to give a formal speach, or when I'm waiting for a really boring church service to end, or, when I'm on the last leg of a long hike, I'm sore and tired and know that I have 10 more miles to go before getting back to the car.

Well, enough said about that. Suffice it to say that Allison is now 18, and a certain amount of youth has evaporated from my consciousness.

On the househunting front, we signed papers with the contractor last night. This is going to be one casa grande. I really hate big mortgage payments, but we're doing it again. It's like standing back up in a boxing ring knowing that you're going to take another beating, but yet standing up anyway.....come on financial monsters....take your best shot!

I just need to keep breathing through my nose and then slowly exhaling. At some point I'll pass out, and that's just the kind of relaxed feeling that I'm hoping for :-).

The contractor seems like a good guy. Been in business in the area for about 30 years. He's going to make a killing off of us, but what's a few dollars between friends.

Anyway, that's the news for the last month. Hopefully my worldwide audience is doing well. I will write more as soon as I can.

-Shannon

Happy Tuesday!

2006-02-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

To my worldwide audience,

Life keeps rolling on....last week was the move, and last weekend the wedding. The wedding was a momentous occasion since it was 1) Gaylia's wedding and 2) the first of a long line of cousins to get married.

Lori's sister (Aunt Jodi) flew over from Iowa. We picked her up at the airport on Friday night (actually, Lori and the big girls made the trek to Portland late Friday night - I was providing moral support by babysitting the sleeping kids :-). Saturday morning we headed up to South Prairie (East of Puyallup, Washington). We arrived at around 2:00 and went to Alice and Dale's house (Alice is Papa Jim's sister) in Enumclaw, had soup for lunch/dinner, changed into wedding-suitable clothes, and then drove over to the church.

The wedding started at 6:00, and ended promptly at 6:05, when the preacher asked if anyone objected. That was a big mistake! Just kidding. It was a very nice wedding, with bride, groom, groomsmen and bridesmaids behaving nicely. Aunt Terri wrote a song for the wedding - it was beautiful. Of course the bride was stunning in her wedding dress. The groom looked okay too, but we all know that the groom is simply a must-have wedding artifact. I think that guys should play weddings and girls should dream about catching a big frog. What would life be like? Faerynn was particularly interested in "the kiss". I glanced down at her during the "you may kiss the bride" part, and Faerynn was riveted to the scene, with a slight grin on her face. On the other hand, Daniel was staring off into space, probably thinking about how he could get to the next level in Runescape - I rest my case.

After the wedding, there was a very nice dessert reception, with delicious cheesecakes and other scrumptious hors d'ouvres. Adrielle, Gaylia's soon-to-be engaged sister caught the bouquet. This was a pre-arranged and orchestrated catch, since all of the older girls knew that Adrielle was next in line.

At the reception we talked about how many wedding we were going to attend in order to see all of the cousins down the aisle. There are 50 between the two families. One alternative is that we could have double, triple or quadruple weddings. Instead of having one ceremony following the other, we could go through the different phases in parallel.....the preacher would say, "you may kiss the bride, and then, you may kiss the bride, and then, you may kiss the bride". I really liked the idea because it would save so much time and money. All of the cousins "of age" really disliked the idea, but I think that they just don't understand :-).

After the wedding we went back to Alice and Dale's to watch Olympics and then spend the night. On Sunday we went down to the Larson's for a nice visit. At about 3:00, uncle Russ, Uncle Dale and I decided that a game of golf was necessary - the guys really needed a break from socializing. The ladies quickly obliged (get the smelly men out of the house, quick!), and so we went back to Enumclaw, grabbed 3 sets of clubs and headed out to the golf course. We have a great time together, but the golf course was frozen tundra, with windravaged tree limbs strewn across the course. Somehow we managed to get through the ordeal without actually making par on any of the holes.

On Sunday night we watched more Olympics and then hit the sack. Monday morning we awoke to a grand breakfast with pancakes, waffles, eggs, ham, bacon, orange and apple juice, coffee and a great conversation at the breakfast table. We fiddled around for a bit, and then headed off into the sunset, after picking up the boys and little girls at the Larsons and the big girls at the Anderson's (Lisa's mom and dad). We stopped briefly at McDonald's on Hwy 7 (off of Hwy 512) to see uncle Shawn. At 2:00 we hit the road, and arrived in Dallas, OR at 6:30.

Anyway, that's about it for now.....

Before I go.......a man and woman were sitting down to breakfast....the man was reading an article to his wife about how women speak on average 30,000 words per day, and men speak 15,000 words. The wife replied "that's because we have to repeat everything we say", to which the man replied "what?".

ttfn,

-Shannon

I love Daniel

2006-02-21T18:33:00.000-08:00

Daniel is the coolest kid I know he helps me with my blog. so if you need any help ask him.

JK

Trying out the audio blog feature

2006-02-21T18:21:00.000-08:00

Moving Day

2006-02-13T17:45:00.001-08:00

To my vast worldwide audience,

My family had this distinct honor today of welcoming our 632 peices of "household" goods today. Lori says that it looks pretty funny....stuffing 4000 square feet of furnishings into a 1896 square foot house. Not to mention the fact that the old garage was practically the size of the entire new house!

Lori is trying to console me. She tells me that everything will be all right. I don't know how, but somehow I will hold it together long enough to finish this blog (lower lip is quivering).

Here are some pics from the move....

Bethany couldn't stand the dirty bathroom floors. She got "down" to business.

Daniel is playing Mr. Inspector....is everything okay? He's holding his long lost coin collection and is pictured here with a rock on his head (the preposition is VERY important).

Here are the two little princesses. They are having fun being "home".

And then, there is the Cameron and Allison duo, in the kitchen, "what's for dinner mom?".

It was a pretty wild and exciting day, to say the least. Tomorrow will be full of more joy and happiness, as the family starts unpacking box after box after box after box, after....well, you get the picture.

My wife seems to be holding up well, but, like I said, her encouragement is the only thing that is holding me together.

Have a great day!

-Shannon

January 26, 2006

2006-01-26T20:39:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Well.....so much time has passed. We're still looking for a rental house. Lori found one in Dallas, but we're haven't see the inside yet. We are scheduled to see the house next Tuesday. It is going to be a little small (1400 sf) but it will work.

We are also in the process of signing papers for a 5 acre parcel west of Monmouth. It's a beautiful peice of property with a southern exposure overlooking the Willamette valley and a great view of the Pacific Coast Range.

The developer purchased 1000 acres in the mid-70's and has been developing the property as time permits. He will own the private road and we'll pay him $300 a year for upkeep. The parcel is surrounded by other parcels that are no fewer than 5 acres in size. At this point, there are three lots that share the ridge with ours, and there are more houses planned for the now-vacant lots on the other size of the road (and down the hill).

Lori and I found plans that we liked, and gave them to the architect (Robert Pauls). He is going to make a first cut at the plans, and should have that first draft ready for review some time this weekend. We'll review and then hopefully he can turn them around in a few days. From there, we'll give the plans to two builders, who will create estimates. That estimating process should take about 3 weeks. After that, we'll flip a coin and see who will be the contractor. We really like the first guy that we met (they were both nice). The first guy is long-time friends with the developer and the banker, so it should go very smoothly.

In the meantime, the developer is getting the final approvals ready for the parcel and is getting septic approved (permitted). We have obtained approval for the loan, and put down a chunk of money so that we could get a floatdown, in the event that the interest rate goes lower. The floatdown ties us to a 90-day window to get everything approved and the loan closed.

Anyway, that's the long and the short of it.......should be a busy couple of months here. In the meantime, Gaylia is getting married - Joelle is coming for the wedding and will stay with us for a week or so. That's all happening right at the same time that we're moving out of the Residence Inn and into the rental house (February 17th).

Another newsworthy event is that Allison found out this week that she has been accepted into the honors program at WOU. That was great news for all of us.

2006-01-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday the 13th!

My lovely wife found a rental house for us. It's looks fairly new and consequently well cared for. The house is on the west side of town, off of River Road. The only down side is that the house doesn't come with a butler.

The family ate at "The Old Spaghetti Warehouse" tonight. The fare was acceptable, the service was kind of weird, and the atmosphere was noisy. We had a nice discussion about Socrates, Plato and other random topics.

After dinner we drove up to Keizer and looked for a "For Sale By Owner" house that a co-worker had mentioned to me. We didn't find the house, but we did find some rain, several one-way streeets, and a couple of erratic drivers. The highlight of the drive was a family discussion about the merits of animal rights laws. Is it appropriate to concentrate on saving animals while at the same time allowing babies to be aborted? We decided that the both issues need attention and that the real problem are the individuals that would choose to save a baby whale, yet sanction an abortion. Since Allison is into Plato and Socrates, the conversation kept drifting to the question about whether or not we can even think about things that we don't know about, and if our thoughts are even relevant. No great answers were found, but the conversation was definitely engaging.

We're all home (Residence Inn) now, and getting ready to tuck the little tikes into bed. I hope you all have a great weekend!

-Shannon

2006-01-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Hi again.

Here's the latest on the house.......home inspector discovered that the front porch was falling off of the house! We talked about it for just over 30 seconds and decided that we would pass up the house. Too bad, because it was a really nice place. Our new plan is to move into a rental and start building a house. Our target rental location is Monmouth, but that could change, depending on what's available, the number of M&M's in a King Sized package, monthly preciptation in South Africa and the overall intensity of solar rays penetrating the ozone layer over Costa Rica.

Cameron is big into sound and video systems these days - after I promised that whatever house we moved in to would have a home theatre. That was a bad move on my part, but a promise made is a promise kept - so they say. Cameron is reminding me that I will have fun watching football on the home theatre screen and that he will never stop thanking me and that I will be a very popular dad. Wow, I'm motivated now. Let's go buy that home theatre!

Elaina and Faerynn had a tea party today. From the looks of the pictures, I wasn't sure if it was a seance or something else. Low lights, candles, tea, food and flowers (I'm sure that there were rock crystals close by too). Seriously, I think they had a great time, and it made for some cute pictures.

We had pizza tonight for dinner (compliments of the Residence Inn and Figaro's). Cameron had ?? pieces. I told him to stop, but he just kept stuffing it in. Daniel ate so fast, that I couldn't actually say for sure that I could see his jaws moving. It was a big blur.

Speaking of Daniel, he is enjoying RuneScape these days. He has a friend (sycobites) in Idaho that he helps regularly. Apparently they are coloring all of the civilians in the town.l

Bethany is doing great, but had a meltdown yesterday and today. Moby Dick and advanced chemistry are getting the best of her. I have no doubt that she will rally.

Take care,

Shannon

A new day

2006-01-08T19:03:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my inaguaral blog, and thanks for visiting. The Glasscock family is looking forward to moving out of the Residence Inn and into a "normal" house. Monday is the big day to go down to the title company and put the house in escrow. I sure hope that we're doing everything right, since we're not using a real estate agent. We found the house on craigslist.com, for sale by owner. We're hoping to be in the house by the end of the month. That's all for now. Have a nice week.

-Shannon