Father-Son Camping

On Sunday, Will and Nick took off to spend a few days at a little campground less than 40 miles away. Since it was so close, I drove along behind to check it out. Sadly, I couldn't stay because I had go to work this week. While there, we took a walk around and discovered some fun things for Nick to do. Here you see him experiencing a painful miscalculation of motion, after which he cautioned us not to ever expect any grandchildren from him.

(Sorry Nick, I hope you don't read this any time soon. Just remember, if you don't clean your room, I have ways to make you pay!)

For the first time in years, on Saturday I made a full batch of monster cookies for camping with a group later this week. A full batch includes a dozen eggs, two pounds of brown sugar, three pounds of peanut butter, 18 cups of oatmeal, a bag of chocolate chips, a pound of M&Ms, etc. My mixer isn’t big enough to do it, so it involves a good bit of manual labor. I baked a couple dozen and then realized they tasted funny. When you put this much time and ingredients into something, it better be good, really good. Nobody wants to be stuck with hundreds of cookies that look wonderful but taste funny. I looked at the recipe again and realized I had put 8 tablespoons of baking soda instead of 8 teaspoons. Unbelievable. So on Sunday afternoon I said to Will, "Did I tell you I figured out why the cookies taste funny?" He replied that I’ve asked him that question about every two hours since last night, including saying it in my sleep, and furthermore, he didn’t think they tasted funny. I decided it was definitely time for him to go camping because I may possibly repeat myself, but I certainly don’t talk in my sleep. Eric also said he didn’t think they taste funny. I guess I am blessed that after all these years of eating my cooking, their palates are apparently not very discerning. While at the campground, a couple of dogs ran away from a little girl who was trying to walk them. They came straight for the cookies that were on a little table, apparently thinking they smelled great, but Nick, who thinks they taste a little funny but likes them anyway, quickly rescued them, running them to the safety of the trailer. (The cookies, not the dogs.)

Speaking of dogs, I'm not very fond of them. It's one of my biggest character deficiencies. Maybe I'll analyze that in depth here one day (is it genetic or environment?), but anyway, on Sunday people Will works with were camping up there, letting their dogs run around. They came bounding up to me (the dogs, not the people), two or three, maybe a dozen of them, ready to attack as they always are, but I ignored them. Will mentioned later that I did well with the dogs. I said, "I made up my mind to just ignore them. " Will gave me a look and laughed in disbelief. "No, you did not act like you adore them!" It can be so fun when the hearing starts to go!

Will had just been to a meeting with ham radio people, and someone loaned him a "ham stick" antenna to try out. He explained to me all about how it works, something about a fiberglass core and wires. I understand perfectly. I couldn’t believe he would replace his dipole antenna with such a thing. He always has such fun slinging wires through high branches until he gets it just right. Not to worry, he soon got out his fishing pole to cast his line over some high branches. You can never have too much antenna. Here they are, with Nick on the other end. I really have no idea how he does it or what he’s really doing, but using the fishing pole is so much safer than last summer when he was throwing a hammer with string attached over high branches. The best thing is, when I see him again, he’ll be able to tell me what the weather has been like everywhere from South America to Canada, not from a news source, but from real people who live there and get on their radio every day to share with the rest of the world!

Will is holding a fishing pole and Nick is holding blue rope that is very high in the trees between them. Fascinating. It was time for me to go.

So here they are. They have plenty of food and hot drinks, Will has his ham radio, and Nick has a pocket knife. They will be perfectly happy. Eric is working each evening. All alone, I can get lots of scrapbooking done, so I too will be perfectly happy!

The Bronco

Will and Eric have a project -our venerable 1981 Ford Bronco, which we have owned for approximately 20 years. When we bought a new Camry for me in August, Will finally agreed to sell his beloved Bronco. Eric had been driving it, and it was much more practical to pass my old economical Corolla to him. Although he liked the Bronco, the gas bill was killing him and it was needing a little work. So I took a picture for the scrapbook and we took the car to the dealership to see how much they'd give us in trade.

Will was quite insulted when they set it's value at $300. He drove it back home, determined to sell it himself! No action was taken to make that a reality. Will may not appear to be a man who becomes sentimentally attached to anything, but he can't seem to let go of this Bronco. It has taken him on many solo as well as family trips. He has driven it through more bumpy, nearly impassable back roads in the mountains than I care to remember. It has taken us to the Redwoods, Glacier National Park, Canada, Idaho and many places in between, pulling the trailer on many family vacations.

Craig also drove it as a teen, and since it is rather distinctive, people would report sightings to us such as "I saw your big-haired kid in the Bronco playing his guitar at a stoplight."

In September, Eric discovered a website about how things work, namely cars, and got interested in car repair. He asked Will if they could make a project out of fixing and restoring the Bronco. He didn't have to ask twice!

They started with the exhaust system. Last weekend they were going to put on a new muffler. Then they discovered the clutch no longer worked. When I came home to find them sitting around on the patio moping, seemingly unable to proceed due to this unexpected malfunction, I began to suspect that perhaps this project was just an excuse to go to town, buy stuff, and have a latte. This week Eric did some research with our next-door neighbor Michael who happens to work at Cordray Transmissions. He told him the clutch may have rusted together and they should force it apart. When they were ready to try that today, they discovered the battery was dead. Another delay! After jumping the battery, they were able to force the clutch to engage.

I found their lengthy list of things to do, both major and minor, and was amused to see that it included the "stearing wheel" and "wyper blades". As a frequent spelling bee champ during my school years, I used to believe that bad spellers were dumb people. My interactions with my husband have corrected my superior attitude on that! May he and Eric enjoy many trips to town, coffees, and shared frustrations as well as success as they work together on their "To Do on the Bronco" list.

Mulkey Creek Hike

Yesterday was another beautiful sunshiny day, the kind that makes us all long to go outside and spend hours bending over to pull weeds from our flowerbeds. But Nick wanted to go hiking, so as has been my habit for the past 20 years since motherhood took control of my life, I sacrificed my own selfish plans and desires in order to do what was in my child's best interest.

We headed through Corvallis again to the Bald Hill trail head and hiked the Mulkey Creek Trail, a 4.5 mile round trip that only gained 600 feet in elevation. The first part of it was a gravel path through pastures, where we saw cattle, sheep and horses. Then the trail went up through old growth forest. I didn't notice any wildflowers on the way up and mentioned it to Will as we started down. He soon pointed out a trillium to me, and we noticed many of them thereafter. Back in the wilderness hiking days before children, we had quite a wildflower photography habit going.

I love the way the ferns grow on the tree trunks as Nick observes Mulkey Creek.

It was about 5 p.m. when we got back to the parking lot, which was not a desirable spot to have our traditional hot drink after the hike. Will suggested we just go home, but to Nick, the afternoon just wasn't complete without his cappuccino. So we looked for a picnic table in Corvallis as we drove home. Will has an unerring sense of direction, and the first street he turned on had a park with a lone picnic table near the street. He was a little uncomfortable about parking because the parking lane was pretty narrow. Nick and I convinced him it was fine. After all, the curb was not yellow. Nick set up the little stove and soon the espresso was ready. We had no hot pad to help us remove the tin cup, and a small mishap occured when Will used his handkerchief instead. What’s that burning smell? Oops, the hankie is on fire! Nick enjoyed that a little too much. He finally stopped laughing when a police car pulled up. A young officer got out and asked if that was our vehicle. "Does that look like a parking lane to you? ...Well, it's not a parking lane, it's a bike lane." In his own special sarcastic, less than polite manner, he made it clear he thought we were pretty stupid to mistake a bike lane for a parking lane. Will moved the car around the corner, the police officer left, and Nick and I got a bad case of the giggles. The irony of a young officer rudely reprimanding my husband! We were wishing we had Mr. Sarcastic Bear with us, because that officer would have been a very worthy recipient!

School Projects

I hate big school projects. For one thing, it is way beyond many students to organize their time and energy to get through all the steps necessary for successful completion. Another thing that really bugs me is that some parents get far too involved and make the normal kids who have to do it all themselves look really bad. When you work at the school your kid goes to, you’re never sure if the teacher is looking down on you because your kid so obviously did everything himself and it looks like it, or if they appreciate that this is a true reflection of your child’s understanding and abilities, not his parents. I firmly believe a kid should do his own work.

I will never forget Eric’s 7th grade science project. All the projects were on display in the hall for a couple of days during parent conferences, and his display was the most talked about, must-see project that year and probably ever since. The title was "The Effect of Urine on Plants". The display was two tomato plants, one that had been watered normally and one that had been watered only with Eric’s urine. Naturally, it was a very stunted, sickly looking plant, and we all nearly died from the fumes in the car the day we had to transport it to school. Eric and the other 7th graders thought it was quite fascinating. Yes, I worked in the office of that school and got to hear the comments of students, their parents, and teachers. I was so proud. One parent told me that when she was growing up, her brothers often urinated off one side of the porch, and her mother could never understand why everything she planted there died!

Today the big 8th grade science roller coaster project was due. I wonder how many students were still putting theirs together last night? Nick and his cute little partner worked separately on calculations and write-ups over the past couple of weeks but just got together Monday after school. They worked on it again yesterday from 5:00 to 10:55 p.m. I’m sure the only reason for this terrible last minute crunch was Nick’s misfortune of being at the beach last Thursday through Sunday. Last night Will could hear them laughing and chatting as they worked and expressed to me his belief that they weren’t just working on a project. I told him there's nothing else going on, Nick told me she's at least a 9 on the Ditzy Scale. Will headed to bed at 10:45 and quietly suggested that I "hurry them along". Why do I have to be the bad guy? I believe they’re doing their best. "They’re both blond," he muttered. They finished a few minutes later.
This afternoon all the projects were on display in the school cafeteria. The sixth and seventh graders came through and voted for their favorites. Nick and Sunny had a very large container of licorice when it started, and it was gone by the end of the period. They got a lot of votes. But they were not the only ones giving out candy and getting a lot of votes.

We're Number One!

The drive to Lincoln City on Friday afternoon was interesting - rain, sleet, and snow, but it wasn't cold enough for any of it to stick so the roads were clear. I had a good murder mystery on CD so the drive passed very quickly. The house that the middle school kids were retreating in was on Devil's Lake and had a great view with a big deck all along the back of the house. Nick said there was two inches of snow in the morning and the leaders ambushed them with snowballs after getting them to line up for a group picture! The Oregon coast doesn't get snow very often so they were very excited to experience it there. I was very glad to hear that Nick had made it all the way there without becoming carsick. Last year he became a legend in his own time after snacking on Funyuns and Mt. Dew, becoming carsick, and sharing his recently consumed snacks all over the van.....As I was sitting in the parking lot just before they left, I saw Nick stick his head out a window and pretend to be sick, so I assume he was planning ahead, practicing the right way to do it.

When Nick got in the car to return home, he anounced he'd had three hours of sleep the previous night and promptly passed out, so I enjoyed the book again most of the way home. He came straight into the house, fell on the couch and went to sleep again. By the time I got him up and we were ready to head for the big championship game, we were a little later than we wanted to be. About a half mile down the road, Will wondered if he had turned off the espresso maker. I could hardly believe it. Will never does things like that, but I've certainly done my share. So I enjoyed the feeling of superiority in spite of being a bit annoyed as we turned around and went back. (It was turned off.) However, down the road a little farther was a very recent accident with a pickup on each side of the road. We had an eerie feeling that perhaps we had just been removed from harm's way. We pulled over several times for emergency vehicles on the way in, but fortunately made it to the game with a little time to spare.

We only had 7 players there so I was especially glad we were able to get Nick back. These boys once again played fantastic basketball. I abandoned my usual well-modulated polite encouragement and yelled and cheered with the loudest of them. They led the entire game and won 53-32. Nick had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Galen, Anisa, Duane and Brendan came to lend their support. Cousin Rick and Joan were on the other side cheering for their friend Cody Gerig. (Hopefully they cheered a little for Nick too!) It was great fun.


When all the congratulating and awarding was over, Nick was in a hurry to get back to his friends at the coast. We took the time to stop for some food at an A&W, and were fortunate enough to be seated next to three teenage girls wearing matching t-shirts that said "Bachelorette" across the back. Now to backtrack, after Wednesday night's game, while we were eating dinner and perhaps I managed to have a few food/drink mishaps (but no choking), Will gave Nick some advice about what kind of girl to choose when he's ready to find a wife. Here it is: "You'll want to choose someone no higher than a 7 on the Ditzy Scale. That way she'll always be fun, but she won't totally drive you crazy." Very interesting. Anyway, after eavesdropping on these "Bachelorette's" a little, Nick observed that one of them was a 10 on the Ditzy Scale. So if you ever hear the men of this house share a rating of a female, please be aware it's not the usual shallow judgment of physical attributes. We go way beyond the surface around here.

While discussing where to spend the night, I told Will that Mallorie said there was an extra room at the house where all the kids were staying. Wouldn't it be great to stay there, hang out with Nick and save money at the same time? Nick was pretty alarmed at that idea, and argued very persuasively that we wouldn't enjoy it at all because they stay up really late and are very loud, so we allowed ourselves to be talked out of it. But I suggested maybe it would be fun if we came over for breakfast because we know they have great meals there. He passionately talked us out of that too. Could it be that he enjoys a weekend away from parents as much as the parents enjoy a weekend away from kids?

We found ourselves a room at the Sea Gypsy with a great ocean view. I sat in the car while Will went in to register us. He came back to the car and said with a wicked chuckle, "She asked if I wanted a room on the second or third floor. I told her I'm with a young one tonight, she can make it to the third floor." He wasn't sure exactly where the room was though because the girl was a "Gothic mumbler". But we found it easily anyway!

The next morning - see the snow on the hill on the right?

Then as luck would have it, we were walking in the beautiful sunshine on the beach the next day when I noticed a group of kids and was about to remark on the crazy kid wearing shorts and no shirt. Hmm, he has hair just like Nick's. Oh, it IS Nick! Will thought we should just keep walking and leave him alone. But first I had to get a picture with my zoom lens so I could prove to him that we'd been doing surveillance on him. As I was getting the picture set up, they noticed us so I quickly snapped the picture and we turned and ran away as fast and a far as we could (for at least 30 seconds.) So the picture didn't turn out very well, but it reminded me of one of those pictures you see in the tabloids where they spy on celebrities and get blurry pictures, so I want to share it anyway.

We ran into them in the parking lot as they were leaving and we were heading to lunch. We offered to take Nick to Mo's with us and then return him to the group, but amazingly he once again declined our offer. I thought of my brother Mr. Iced Tea Forever back there in landlocked Indiana as we sat here in Utopia enjoying our clam chowder (although much less of it than Mr. ITF would have ingested!)

So, a very fun weekend. We called our wonderful brother/Uncle Galen and wished him a Happy Birthday tonight. He informed me he has reached the age that our Grandpa Troyer was when he was killed in a car wreck - 57. Here's to a safe, happy year and many more!

Sweet Vindication

Remember the bitter defeat suffered a few weeks ago when Nick and two other members of his basketball team fouled out and the team lost in overtime? Wednesday night they met again to play for a spot in the championship game. Nick's team overcame a 0-2 deficit and led generously the remainder of the game to handily win 56-47. They were awesome and they all stayed out of foul trouble!

The trouble is, there is no school today due to grading, and Nick had long been anticipating the church middle school youth retreat in Lincoln City. They left yesterday after school, and the championship game is tonight. His coach tried to get the game changed, but no luck. So, weather permitting, I will take a nice drive to Lincoln City this afternoon. Who would have thought snow would be causing road problems in March? The sacrifices a mother must make.....

The Terrible Teens are History!

We are no longer the parents of three teenage boys. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since we started this joyful as well as painful journey of parenthood, beginning with that unbelievably powerful love for that tiny helpless baby. Craig left his teen years behind as he turned 20 years old yesterday. Earlier in the week I asked if he was coming home for dinner on his birthday. He said he had a hot date but if it fell through he’d be glad to come. I had to inform him that I will not be a back-up plan if I am preparing a birthday dinner! The nerve! So we made a date for Sunday. I invited Uncle Galen and Aunt Carol to join us.

As always, I took his requests and prepared his favorite foods – steak (which he declared delicious even though it was not bloody enough for him), mushrooms, fettucine alfredo, green bean casserole, and I added fresh pineapple, green salad and rolls. He wanted peach-mango cobbler instead of birthday cake. He got peach cobbler. It was a lot of food, and I thought preparations were going very smoothly until I knocked over the alfredo sauce just before adding it to the fettucine. Most of it splattered down the front of the stove and all over the floor. I should have taken a picture of Will and Carol cleaning it up. They did a great job while I improvised by adding a can of cheddar cheese soup to the little alfredo sauce remaining. It was tasty. Cobbler was not conducive to candles, so I produced one candle for each decade. I couldn't decide which picture to use, so I'm sharing both.


Craig is enjoying his job at Albany Music and Sound. He can’t believe he gets paid to unpack wonderful guitars, play them, and set them up! It’s the perfect place for a future rock and roll star to work. I pray that as a 20 year old young man, the coming year will be one of maturing, experiencing the love of God in his life, and seeking after Him. We love you Craig!

Ain't we a happy looking group! Galen, quit whining, you really don't look all that short!

We Hike Again

This morning we headed off to the Fitton Green Natural Area (a Benton County park) for what our computer printout described as "a good hike through a new natural area that includes several elevation changes". I found the car trip there particularly enjoyable, because I was serenely confident in my ability as navigator to arrive with absolutely no screw ups.There would be no exasperated sighs or pitying looks from the driver for my failure to understand and communicate the directions. This was a once in a lifetime destination. How often can you get on a major highway near your home and not have to make even one turn the whole trip? Highway 34 becomes Harrison Blvd which becomes Oak Creek Road which then dead ends at the trail head! It just doesn't get any better than that!

Will and I will celebrate 23 years of marriage in May, and the first few years of our marriage we did many hiking and backpacking trips, most of them in wilderness areas. Our lives have changed a great deal since then. In wilderness areas, we never saw the sight that greeted us near the beginning of the trail - two junked cars that have become fern and moss gardens!

Nick had a friend with him and as I saw them running uphill ahead of us I gasped, "How can they possibly run!" Will informed me that he would be up there running with them if he weren't staying back to keep me company. He is so considerate!

This was a 4.3 round trip that had a major up hill, down hill, up again and down again. Lots of old growth trees, including some gigantic oak trees. There was a nice panoramic view at the top, overlooking Philomath, and it was clear enough to see the Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson. Someone had apparently found it fitting as a gravesite for something, we presume a beloved pet.

As we were on our last downhill leg of the trip, I commented to Will that one thing hasn't changed - he still enjoys walking uphill and I prefer walking downhill. He said "When you walk uphill, you are accomplishing something. Walking downhill feels like you're cheating something." I spent a few seconds pondering that statement, suspecting it might be profound. I had never thought of it that way before, and I don't think I like what it says about me if I apply it to life. So I will just leave it as an interesting insight into Will's character.

When we reached the parking lot (long after the two boys), we once again brewed our espresso and a hot drink for the boys. I was horrified to discover that our folding camping chairs (which have unfortunately remained on the top cargo container above the Durango since last summer) have all become moldy. I was unable to be seated because I find mold and mildew extremely distasteful.
I am feeling a bit sore already tonight. Nick came home and mowed the yard then collapsed on the couch declaring he was exhausted. Very soon thereafter he miraculously regained his energy when some girls called and wanted to go bowling! I'm about to go see if scrapbooking will revive me!