28JUL-02AUG12 - Sultan, WA (if its tuesday it must be ziplining)

28JUL, Saturday, was the 120th year birthday party for Steve & Dan described in the previous BLOG entry. We were blessed with great weather, great food (elk burgers, brats, dogs, sesame teriyaki chicken, escargot filled mushrooms, & side dish after side dish), & most important - great company! Everyone was very impressed with the two decks built by us, even if they were missing some stairs. The day included the unveiling of the first US Coast Guard submarine, many spirited ladder ball games, & a bigger fire in the fire pit. As always there was way too much food left for us to eat; but thankfully the “kids” are here & it should all go fast!
The next day, Sunday morning, Ed jumped on his Harley to head back to Sprucewoods, Manitoba, Canada. After cleaning up from the party everyone headed to the Iron Goat Trail to go hiking. See below BLOG for when we hiked the first half of it two years ago. Corrie decided to wait for us at the Interpretive Center. Raymond had his son Jaxson on his back; of course Jaxson conked out within the first mile. It was a great two hour hike, even if we did see several signs of bears in the area.


http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2010/08/test.html

http://www.irongoat.org/

Monday everyone except Corrie headed into Seattle for sightseeing. In less than six hours they managed to see – Dan’s paternal grandparents house on Capitol Hill & the great free view from Volunteer Park; the center of the universe in the Fremont neighborhood; Dan’s maternal grandparents house on Queen Anne; Seattle Center site of the 1962 World’s Fair; ride the Alweg Monorail to downtown; Pike Place Market; walk the Waterfront; lunch at Ivars; Curiosity Shoppe; Pioneer Square; & finally back to the car to Dan’s parents house in Redmond. Of course we had to get those “classic” family photos with the troll under the Aurora Bridge, Ivar & the seagulls, & the Pike Place Market pig.

Tuesday, 31JUL, Dan, Raymond & Joe headed to the Future of Flight for the Boeing “Factory” tour. While Corrie, Rebecca & Jaxson took it easy & did some shopping. The Boeing tour is of their Everett, WA, plant where they assemble 747s, 767s & their newest product 787s (aka The Dreamliner). The building is the largest building in the world by volume & was built in the early 70s specifically for the 747. A very interesting tour. Upon the boys return to the house they were shown a vintage Radio Flyer Retro Rocket that Corrie had purchased for Jaxson’s first Xmas. Of course she couldn’t wait, & had Jaxson riding it immediately. Dinner was at Red Robin followed by walk on the banks of the Skykomish River.

http://www.futureofflight.org/

Wednesday is off to zipline at Canopy Tours NW on Camano Island; leaving Grandma with Jaxson for most of the day. Dan, Rebecca, Raymond & Joe conquered their fears & had a great time; including a ride on a Unamog(sp?). In fact they “wished” the ziplines were longer & faster! That evening we were joined by all of Dan’s sister Sharon’s kids – Aimee, Marisa & Julia, along with five of the six of their kids & Aimee’s husband Ben. The only three people who didn’t make it were Marisa’s husband Dave, Julia’s husband Casey & Aimee’s oldest Savannah. It was the first time in decades that our kids had seen some of their cousins (certainly all at one time).

http://canopytoursnw.com/

Thursday morning, 02AUG, we slept in before finishing packing & taking Rebecca, Raymond & Jaxson to the airport. Since we were early to the airport we stopped at the Pancake Chef for a late breakfast as we have done in the past (see Ryan RV Express BLOG link above for more about the Pancake Chef).

It was a great six days, but we told them next time come for two weeks so we can spread activities out!!!

01-27JUL12 - Sultan, WA (still building decks)

From 01-22JUL we continued to work on big deck in front of the house & finished on 22JUL with most of the “detail” work. We have one set of stairs on each deck & just need to add a few more sections (five more actually).

Total Materials for the deck not including benches & railing:

-five 4”x6”x16’ pressure treated beams (112 lbs each)
-twenty concrete piers w/adjustable beam “saddles”

-thirty five 2”x10”x16’ pressure treated joists (90 lbs each)
-ten 1”x6”x16’ kiln dried cedar deck boards
-thirty 1”x6”x8’ kiln dried cedar deck boards
-one hundred 1”x4”x16’ kiln dried cedar deck boards
-seventy joist to beam brackets
-@3300 hidden deck screws driven by drill
-over 860 hand driven 10 penny nails
-@250 stainless steel screws
-108 deck screws
-28 half inch galvanized bolts w/washers & nuts
-no bandaids

During this construction activity we found time to have Fourth of July hamburgers with our neighbors; & make a few major purchases. First the mowing deck on our free ride’m mower finally fell apart & forced to decide about big money on repairs; or a little more money for a used one; or bigger money on a new one? We went with a brand new one. We also finally got a big screen TV for the house, so we didn’t have to keep running to the RV to watch TV. Dan wanted the latest 80 incher at Costco, but was “talked” into a smaller model.

Ed Riesmeyer, Corrie’s brother (see below BLOG link for our recent June visit at Ed’s in Canada) arrived on 23JUL after a 2-1/4 day motorcycle ride from Brandon, Manitoba! Even though Ed was a little saddle sore; he & Dan headed into Seattle the very next day for sightseeing. In less than six hours they managed to see – Dan’s paternal grandparents house on Capitol Hill & the great free view from Volunteer Park; the center of the universe in the Fremont neighborhood; Dan’s maternal grandparents house on Queen Anne & the great free view from Kerry Park; Seattle Center site of the 1962 World’s Fair; ride the Alweg Monorail to downtown; find the site for Ryan Furniture Store now leveled & replaced by Benaroya Hall; Pioneer Square & Occidental Square; National Historic Klondike Museum; walk the Waterfront; lunch at Ivars; Curiosity Shoppe; Pike Place Market; & finally back to the car to Dan’s parents house in Redmond.
http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2012/06/08-17jun12-spucewoods-mb-canada.html
The next few days were spent making final preparations for the big “120 year” birthday party! 120 years old you ask? Well Dan’s favorite cousin, Steve (who you have read about many times in this BLOG, including wife Bonnie), turns sixty at the end of July; & Dan turns 60 at the beginning of August. So Dan had the brilliant idea (at least he thinks it was brilliant) to combine these momentous occasions into one big 120 year birthday party on the 28th of July. So invites were sent out to family, family in-laws, & various black sheep members of both families.

To add further pressure to the situation the “kids”, daughter Rebecca & hubbie Raymond, along with our favorite grandson, Jaxson J Pitre, arrived at 0130 on 27JUL. So after recovering from their late night arrival, we spent the rest of the Friday enjoying our new grandson & making last minute preps for party. Final preps included the building of the Coast Guard’s first ever submarine, & the start of a series of not so friendly ladder ball games. That afternoon Steve & Bonnie arrived in preparation for tomorrow’s event (see below BLOG entry for our last visit with Bonnie & Steve). They drove over in their camper, so we were able to test out both of our newly installed RV outlets; as well as our first fire in our fire pit.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2012/06/18-21jun12-kittitas-wa-via-glasgow_23.html

22-30JUN12 - Sultan, WA

Our drive from Bonnie & Steve’s on 22JUN12 was through rain storms that continued all the next day; even knocking out power in the area. By Monday the 25th we finally got a break in the weather & began working on outdoor projects. Unfortunately Dan pushed his luck with the tractor & got it stuck all the way up to the rear axle! At least once or twice a year we get the tractor stuck (or hung up on a stump) & usually get it “free” by ourselves. No such luck this time, & we needed Marty our tractor guy to come by & winch us out the next day.

We spent 26-28JUN laying down a major portion of deck planks on our big front deck. At the same time Dan began building a “test” bench on our STD (small test deck). Remember being taught about the dangers of spontaneous combustion in school? We are using a natural rosewood oil to seal the deck. We left the oil soaked rag on the deck in the sunlight. Thirty minutes later Dan came outside & smelled smoke? He then barely noticed the rag giving off wisps of smoke. The outside of the rag looked “normal”. Only after he picked it up, did he realize how hot it was & the inside was charred black!

18-21JUN12 - Kittitas, WA (via glasgow & missoula, mt)

Monday, 18JUN, somewhat recovered from all the wedding activities, we got an early start from Ed & Elaine’s for the trip back to Sultan, WA. Having experienced the pleasures of driving on the secondary roads in North Dakota destroyed by the thousands of semis supporting the oil drilling boom in ND, we decided to stay in Canada as long as possible before re-entering the USA. So we crossed the border at Ambrose, ND, & immediately got grilled about why we were crossing the border at such a remote location??? After explaining that we were looking to avoid oil field traffic, we were informed that we were going to be in the heart of heavy semi traffic & bad roads!!! Thankfully the Border Patrol agent was wrong & we sailed thru Williston, ND, without problems!

After surviving ND we overnighted in Glasgow, MT. As we set up camp we discovered that the right rear leveler wouldn’t go down or retract. This is the leveler that we had worked on at Camping World back on 16APR; obviously they didn’t fix the problem! Thanks to the poor economy there no longer is a RV shop in Glasgow anymore; so we made arrangements for a tow company to try & solve the problem at 0800, the next day. Dan mistakenly left all the wood blocks & steel pry bar under the leveler that night; & the air bags leaked air & settled on the wood & steel. But when we started the RV & the leveler mysteriously worked?

Tuesday was not pleasant drive thru rainstorms & wind; but we ended up safely at the same RV park outside Missoula that we stayed at on 02JUN on the drive to Canada. Wednesday was a much better weather & drive, arriving at cousin Bonnie & Steve’s by mid afternoon. But first we had to stop at 50,000 Silver $ in Haugen, MT (a Ryan family tradition described in our previous BLOG) for breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find gas prices had dropped 30 cents (!!!) in the ten days we had been out of WA state! Gumbo was extremely happy to be back on the Kiesel farm in eastern WA state & celebrated by rolling around in road apples. After setting up camp it was time for a great meal cooked over an open fire. See BLOG link for our last visit with Bonnie & Steve.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2011/07/01-08jul11-monroe-kittitas-wa.html

Late Thursday morning, 21JUN, we took Steve & Bonnie’s boat & headed to the Columbia River. After launching the boat the first stop was for lunch at a location called “sand bar” (that’s it, just a sandy beach with no amenities). While there we were treated to 25 or so Big Horn Sheep wandering down from the cliffs to eat the tender young foliage on the bushes & drink water. Cousin Steve being a licensed Master Hunter with WA state, said this was a very rare occurrence! Dan circled around the herd for photos & was treated to a young ram coming up to within 15 feet of him. A truly amazing sight for everyone!

Then we motored up the river to Crescent Bar. The below BLOG details how the long time residents of Crescent Bar are trying to keep their little slice of heaven from being swallowed up by high price condos. At the end of the day it was leisurely cruise back to the boat launch. When we got back to the RV we discovered Gumbo was not pleased about being left alone & had shredded several newspapers & magazines all over the floor!

08-17JUN12 - Sprucewoods, MB, Canada (wedding bells are ringing)

Thursday afternoon, 07JUN, set up camp on Ed & Elaine’s after the “wonderful” drive we had thru the oil field activity of North Dakota detailed in our previous BLOG. Every couple of years we visit Corrie’s relatives in & around Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Usually this is tied into a reunion or special event (like a wedding). This time its Corrie’s brother & wife’s, Ed & Elaine, marriage of son Jason Riesmeyer to Katelyn Miller. See below BLOG entries for our last visit to the Canadian side of the family back in SEP09.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.ca/2009/09/04-18sep09-sprucewoods-mb-via-swift.html

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.ca/2009/09/19sep09-clear-lake-mb.html

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.ca/2009/09/20-26sep09-sprucewoods-mb.html

Since Ed is now fully retired, he was available the next day, Friday, to help Dan make some repairs to the RV. First up was a more “permanent” temporary repair to the engine exhaust which almost caused the RV to catch on fire when we left Rebecca & Raymond’s back in MAR12. First they discovered the muffler shops in Brandon could not bend four inch exhaust pipe. Eventually they found a four inch tip that Ed could weld to a piece of four inch pipe he had in his shop. The last step was to attach both exhaust pieces with stainless steel pipe clamps that will outlast the engine. Next up was fixing the generator exhaust hanger that we fixed three years ago.
Later that evening the four of us headed to a neighbors house for impromptu party. Just like in the states there was plenty of good food & drink, along with good company. One thing that was different was the launching of fireworks after the sun set. Seems fireworks are sold all year in Manitoba, & it is not unusual to fire them off at parties, receptions, etc.

Saturday was a family surprise party for Alie, Corrie’s half sister. Most of the Riesmeyer family was there, including a couple of “new” nieces/nephews we hadn’t met previously. Again there was good food, drink & company; but since this was a daytime affair, there was no fireworks.

In between parties we assisted Ed & Elaine with preparations for the wedding on Saturday, 16JAN. On Tuesday, 12JUN, Tuesday, Ed took Dan to Shilo the Canadian Armed Forces base where Ed used to work to visit the RCA Museum, Canada’s National Artillery Museum. This is a very nice museum tracing the history of artillery corps in Canadian History from the first royal British units sent to Canada, to today’s modern mechanized Canadian units.

Trivia – what country had the third largest navy in the world at the end of WWII? What does the poppy flower & the poem “The Flanders Field” have to do with Canadian “Gunners”?

http://www.rcamuseum.com/English/eng_home.htm

Meanwhile Corrie was running-around visiting various relatives who we hadn’t seen at Alie’s party and/or weren’t going to see at the wedding. Dan kept himself busy by helping Ed by trying to stay out of Ed’s way as he worked in his shop (more like a small industrial facility measuring 20ft by 40ft!).
Friday, 15JUN, was the wedding rehearsal, which we did not attend but Ed & Elaine had to. Since Ed & Elaine were hosting the wedding party for food & drink after the rehearsal, we assisted by heating & preparing the food, setting out drinks, setting up the buffet, etc, right before everyone arrived after rehearsal; more good food, drink & company; but no fireworks.

We forgot to mention the wedding was going to be an outdoor affair. The entire week since our arrival the weather had been pretty “iffy” for any outdoor event. Saturday, the day of the wedding, we awoke to a moderate rain; but one hour before the wedding the weather broke & the rain did not return until one hour after the wedding. The wedding was in the small town of Wawanesa, Manitoba, overlooking the Assiniboine River. Turns out Wawanesa was the birthplace of one of the largest Canadian insurance companies; & once a year there is a corporate meeting in town in the company’s old building.

http://www.wawanesa.com/index.html

The reception, dinner & dance were held at the Junior Ranks Club on the Shilo base. It was a great day & evening with lots more good food, drink & company; but again no fireworks! One interesting thing at the reception/dance was the serving of a midnight meal right before the party broke up. Apparently this is a Manitoba (Canadian?) law that requires the serving of food & coffee for late night functions that involved the serving of alcohol. We know food & coffee will not sober-up someone who is already drunk, but it can’t hurt. Besides you know Dan, he is always ready for more food!

Sunday, Father’s Day, we all recovered from the wedding & preparing for the wedding! But there was one more event – the opening of wedding gifts by Jason & Katelyn. So it was back to Wawanesa for the event; & more food, drink & good company, but still no fireworks. Finally it was back to Ed & Elaine’s to just relax & slowly get the RV ready for tomorrow’s departure.