01-31MAY23 - Sultan, WA

First week of May is off and on rain.  We spend breaks between rain falls pressure washing deck and concrete patio.  Lesson learned, don’t wait ten years between cleanings😊

Tuesday, 09MAY, Dan spends most of day putting up the pool; usually don’t do this in May, but we may have 80s and 90s forecast this weekend into next week.  Wednesday gorgeous day all day sun and high 70s; Dan finishes assembling the pool and begins filling it.  Also rolls out solar array for heating pool water; hopefully tomorrow get pool pump hooked up.  Corrie applies water sealer to recently cleaned small deck; Dan mows.

Thursday Dan at food bank most of day; then heads home to finish hooking up pool to solar array for heating pool water and then mows; during day Corrie applies water sealer to one third of big front deck and gardens.

Friday AM, 12MAY, Dan heads to Sultan Food Bank; great sunshine all day; solar array raises pool temp from 60 degrees to 72 degrees; Dan starts packing truck for tomorrow’s trip to Pitre’s in Silverdale.

Early AM Saturday, 13MAY, we head to Edmonds ferry to Pitre’s in Silverdale for Mothers’ Day.  The Edmonds/Kingston ferry route is the most popular in WA (ie most vehicles/passengers) and has the largest two state ferries to handle the traffic.  Unfortunately one of the jumbo ferries had an engineering casualty, so there is one jumbo ferry & one medium size ferry on the run and we missed two ferry runs before we got on.  But as always spectacular views on a clear day!  BBQ hamburgers for dinner and rhubarb/strawberry pie with Rebecca, Raymond & grandboys; one game of cribbage before bed.

Sunday Mother’s Day; great sunshine but means near record high temps.  Corrie helps Rebecca planting and gardening all around exterior of house and two raised vegetable beds.  Raymond slow smokes/BBQs a chuck roast; great dinner; and then nothing more done.

Monday AM pack truck and off to the Kingston ferry; for once no wait to load ferry😊   Back to home mid-day  and temps already in low 80s (day sets record for earliest 90 degree day in Seattle by almost one weeks).   Corrie immediately starts hydrating garden; Dan starts pool pump pumping thru solar array, heats water up to 80 degrees, so Dan takes test swim.  Thank goodness we insisted on house being built with heat pump/AC.

Wednesday. 17MAY, mostly sunny day; Dan finishes sealing last of the big deck & misc small areas not already done.  Thursday mostly sunny; Dan at food bank most of day; Corrie spends most of day preparing for tomorrow’s visitors (Pitre’s, and their friends Johnny & Sebastian.

Friday (son Joe’s B-day); finish getting house/property ready for visitors.  Sround lunch time the pitre’s show-up, followed by their friends Johnny and Sebastian.  Their plan is after visiting with us, having lunch, is heading to Leavenworth for the weekend and Johnny’s B-day.  Of course the grandboys wanted in the pool asap; then BBQ burgers & salad for lunch, before all the guests hit the road to Leavenworth in two cars.  We will dogsit Rebecca & Raymond’s dog Roux.

Saturday; outdoor choirs while we still have sunshine; looks like dishwasher is kaput☹  Sunday, 21MAY, temps 15 degrees cooler, cloudy, and light rain off/on.  Rebecca & Raymond stop by to pick up their dog Roux.  During the day off to Lowes to purchase new dishwasher☹ Unfortunately no one able to install it until 01JUN.  Monday AM Corrie for girls’ day out with Jan Formisano.

Finished the month of May mostly doing choirs - pressure washing south side of shop/RV garage and our cargo trailer; Corrie gardening, gardening and gardening; mowing and more mowing; volunteering at food bank; spraying weeds taking over the driveways and edges of the lawn; etc.

For Memorial Day Corrie takes some of her home grown poppies to give-back to the military personnel passing out paper poppies by the shopping areas.  Last APR was fourth coldest on record; but MAY will be second warmest on record, even though most of month was cloudy and overcast? 

01-30APR23 - Sultan, WA

April fools day; two soccer games; first is Jaxson’s in Seattle.  He is goalie and because his team is short players, mason gets to play with him.  Since we were already at Rebecca and Raymond’s in Silverdale, we had to drive into Seattle for the game.

Second game is Mason’s back in Gig Harbor followed by laser tag team party for Mason’s team.  So we go to Mason’s game; and decide to skip laser tag & we head back to Silverdale to take care of the three dogs.  Both games extremely cold temps.  Meanwhile son-in-law Raymond is at Army drill.

Tuesday, 04APR, back home in Sultan we wake up to one inch of wet snow on the ground.  Sun quickly comes out for nice weather.  Wednesday very good weather; Corrie gardens, Dan starts preparing RV for another volunteer “house re-building” in Omak/Okanogan, WA.  Then does some mowing.

07APR daughter Rebecca, husband Raymond & the boys vacation on the shores of Lake Chelan for a few days.  Sunday 09APR (easter) not much done, Dan finishes getting RV ready for tomorrow’s RV departure.

Monday, 10APR, early AM departure to Omak/Okanogan, WA.  Short route is over Stevens Pass on US-2; but small possibility of snow, so Dan takes Snoqualmie Pass to Blewett Pass, then on to Okanogan.  Purpose of this RV trip is another volunteer weekend by Dan’s Habitat buddies like he did in SEP2022.  During these trips we assist local relief organizations in rebuilding homes that were burnt out by the several wild fires over the last few years.  No snow on drive but lots of rain adds two and half hours to drive.

The Ryan RV Express: 01-30SEP22 - Sultan, WA (🎂 grandson mason is 9)

Dan set up camp at Okanogan Fairgrounds; then meets other volunteers at Rancho Chico Restaurant in Omak for traditional arrival dinner.  Then back to the RV to recover from the drive, before tomorrow’s full work day.

Tuesday join some of the volunteers at the Pope house; Dan works on interior window trim for seven windows; installing grab bar in bathroom; cleaning new cedar deck for staining.  That evening is first group dinner prepared by volunteer Joe - lasagna, salad, Texas toast and marionberry pie for dessert.

Wednesday back to Pope house; Dan works on removing all interior & exterior doors, removing hardware, painting and rehanging.  Group dinner prepared by Dennis – chicken wrapped in bacon/chip beef and baked in mushroom gravy sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes and assorted brownies for dessert.

Thursday AM back to Pope house; Dan works on finishing door installation; then applying metal sheeting to concrete walls below both decks.  Group dinner prepared by Jan with baked salmon, asparagus & baked potatoes with all the fixings, desert was left over items from first two days.

Friday AM, 14APR, full crew off to the Ames House.  Where we spend ten hours installing wheelchair ramp and posts/railings on deck from start to finish (plus one set of stairs).  Means starting with Sono tube with concrete for footings, installing railing posts; then installing railings.  House is not finished so no water, no electricity; means running generator and making vehicle runs for more gas (and more water for cement).

Long, long, day so Dan suggests no showers and head straight to pizza place in Omak for final dinner.  Unanimous vote of approval since Dan will pay for pizza🙃  Then back to RV for hot shower and early to bed.

Saturday AM. 15APR, Dan spends two hours getting RV ready for drive home to Sultan.  No one in office to pay, so Dan writes check and drops it thru door mail slot.  Uneventful drive home, and Dan sees people still skiing at Stevens Pass Ski Area.  Dan gets home just in time for light drizzle.

Sunday just a day of relaxation, not much done - some gardening in between rain showers & continued tidying up RV.  Our daughter Rebecca posts the following on Facebook  -- 

Jaxson and Mason finished their first year of select soccer 9 months of practices and games. They absolutely loved it. Jaxson’s team finished in first place for spring league and Mason’s team finished in second place. Both boys had wonderful coaches. It was fun watching them improve and developing bonds with their team mates.

Thursday, 20APR, we prep for tomorrow’s departure to the Pitre’s in Silverdale.  Today was the “coldest” high temp recorded in Seattle ever.  Friday AM off to Pitre’s for Raymond’s b-day tomorrow; not much done there.

Saturday (earth day & Raymond’s b-day); not much done during the day.  Late afternoon we head to iFLY in Tukwila, WA, for Raymond’s gift from Rebecca.  iFLY is a giant verticle tube with a monstrous fan in the bottom.  You put on a special suit and you can “fly” in the hundred mile an hour wind created.  Raymond, Jaxson & Mason did very well; Raymond’s b-day dinner was at Olive Garden (one of his favorites).

Indoor Skydiving in Seattle | iFLY (iflyworld.com)

Sunday AM, 23AUG, up early to pack up truck, catch ferry to get home before lunch.  Unpack truck and not much done rest of the day.  Tuesday Corrie has girl’s day out with Jan Formisano.

Friday, 28APR, beautiful weather with record high temp.  After lunch Dan starts pressure washing one side of RV garage/shop metal building.  Record high temp (81), but April will be fourth coldest on record.

Saturday more great weather; Dan starts pressure washing small deck.  Then Corrie joins in; ten years of inattention to decks has made this task hard.  Sunday (last day of April) half sunny/half cloudy; little more deck cleaning and mowing.