Today is Grandma's Birthday

Happy Birthday 1980-ish

Gertrude Young passed away on October 2nd, 2009. She was 95 years old, survived by
two brothers, two daughters, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

That's what the newspaper said.

Seems like enough information when it's someone I don't know.
But it doesn't even scratch the surface. There is so much more.

When Grandma passed, my sister-in-law, Jeannine started an e-mail going around the family, asking each of us to share a memory about Grandma. It's a great idea, and as I was thinking about all of the wonderful moments with Gram that I wanted to share, it was really tough to choose just one. I'm sharing a few more out into the universe so that when my friends and family read it, she will be honored.

The Little Things
I was winding a ball of yarn the other day, and I remembered that Grandma had taught me how to wind the ball so that the end pulls from the middle instead of the outside of the ball. I wonder how many things I do every day that I learned from her?

Speaking of Knitting

Gram (and Mom) both taught me how to knit. She was always very practical, but at the same time wanted to make sure it was fun. She taught me to weave in the ends as I go along in the project. Not to leave all that tedious work for the end. Good advice.

Ever Relevant
Up until just the last couple of years, Grandma kept up on what is going on in the world. She read the paper daily and was good for a lively conversation on politics, local news, sports. She had an open mind, would listen to my point of view and freely share hers. After her eye-sight failed, we read many newspapers together. We would read articles, and talk about what we thought. Local news, Bob Welch and Dear Abby were her favs. I would read her horoscope, she thought that was a little ridiculous, but she would get a laugh. I treasure that time we had together.

Cast Iron

Gertrude & Gene

I can remember having huge family dinners at Grandma's house in Fall Creek. She cooked for 20 people on a great big wood burning stove and her meals were fabulous! I am practicing with cast iron pans, and think of those times when I use them. We would all gather around their big ol' dining room table with card tables added on out into the living room. Piles of fried chicken, home grown vegetables, such a happy place to be.

If we stayed late enough on Sunday evening, we would see the beginning of Disneyland and we got to see the NBC Peacock fan it's tail in COLOR. (Our TV then was black and white.)

The Little Post OfficeGrandma worked at the Little Fall Creek Post Office on Saturday mornings.  Paul and I would take turns getting to spend the weekend at Grandma's, so we got to go to work with Gram pretty often.  The Post Office is tiny in my memory and you know how things are usually smaller than you remember?  So that tells you how small it must have been.

It was freezing in there and she would build a fire in the wood stove first thing to warm it up, and then we'd be peeling off sweaters like crazy in no time.  She would sort the mail into the slots, and folks would come in and visit and pick up their mail and some cheery words from Gram. I was amazed how she knew everyone and everyone knew her too.

Grandma & me at LA Zoo 1971

The Wanderer
Between Grandma and Aunt Ruple, I don't have to guess too hard where my love of travel came from.  After she moved in to Eugene, Gram used to take me, Paul and Mom on road trips every summer.  We would pack up her little lemon yellow Chevy Luv pick up truck and Paul and I would throw our beanbag chairs in the canopy and ride!  (Yes, I am a child of the 70's.)  We saw Oregon in style.

Gene, Gertrude & Friends

I really admire her sense of adventure.  She went on tons of trips with her girlfriends from Lakewood Park.  They drove all the way to Vermont to see the Fall Colors.  Branson.  She'd drive to Montana with Uncle Dave (her brother).  She was always exploring and enjoyed every minute of it.




Polly Anna
Steve's Mom called Gram Polly Anna, she said her Dad used to call her that too, so she really liked it.
And she was.   

Beauty
Gram just got more beautiful every day.

You are loved and missed today and every day.

Northern Michigan

We are lovin the mitten state! 

There are a ton of little beach towns. They are so inviting with their colonial architecture, touristy shops, art galleries, cafes, and of course there's the lake. We have been working our way down the Western shoreline so it's the Lake Michigan side. Drove through the Upper Peninsula (the U.P.) in the dark, darn it, so we will have to go back when we can see the scenery. 



The towns are deserted (especially the smaller ones) after Labor Day.  I think that will be our favorite time to visit. There are a gazillion hotels, motels, cabins we can see that the summer months are crazy here.

Mackinaw City

Mackinac Bridge in the background

Towns go from population 1,000 to 20,000 in the high season.  One dealer told us the traffic backs up for miles in both directions from their town because there is only the one main highway that goes through a lot of the towns.   Maybe they'll slow down and buy a Hobie!

We took Saturday afternoon off to walk around Harbor Springs and see if we could catch our Ducks in a sportsbar.  Someone gave us a tip that there was a bowling alley in near-by Petoskey that may have the game.  We blasted down there, and sure enough, they gave us a table right in front of a big screen with those Ducks whompin up on the Huskies!!!  Huck the Fuskies!  hehe

Harbor Springs

Harbor Springs

That's some clear water!

Barns of Michigan State

OK, so it's not quite Bridges of Madison County, 

and I didn't get to meet Clint Eastwood 

(and I think 1 or 2 were in Wisconsin) but,

I'm loving the barns!  

We got to see the Land-O-Lakes farm (at 55 mph)... that was pretty cool too.

Jellystone Park

Just outside of Kansas City in Lawrence, you can stay at Jellystone Park, complete with Yogi, the Ranger and Boo Boo.

And they have the CUTEST Kabins with the cutest dogs and the cutest campers!

Joplin, MO

Chippewa Falls, WI

We had a great time visiting friends in the Minneapolis area.  Our sales manager from Stohlquist lives and works from here, so we got to visit with him.  Cannon Paddles, who Steve has worked for 8 or so years now, has their HQ, paddle assembly and warehouse in the area.  We spent a day with Stu and got to see the whole set-up, including the manufacturing plant where the plastic blades are molded.  Steve got to assemble his own paddle to take with us as a demo. There is so much more to it than you would imagine.  There are so many steps, and everything is done by hand to ensure a proper fit on the shaft.

Stu & Steve making his paddle

The Great Lakes Road Trip - First Day

Well, we're off!  We have 8 new states to explore and meet our new dealers.  After much deliberation, we decided to take the Jet Fighter (aka: Dodge Caravan) instead of the RV.  We're not known for being light packers . . .

Jack & Lucy have their own beds in front of all that stuff. 

So we left Texas on a beautiful 90 degree day, and spent our first night in Mt Pleasant, TX, in the KOA Storage Shed. Seriously.

After a long day of repping, we got in to Tulsa, OK after dark to set up camp. Steve made the best Ramen noodles ever and we decided to see if all four of us can fit in a two-person tent. It worked out pretty good with Jack sleeping out in the vestibule.

We knew we were next to the Will Rogers Race Track, but what we didn't know was that they would set up the starting gate and do some practicing about 5 am. 

The horses were beautiful and so powerful. It was amazing to see them running from so close up. All my "horses running fast" pictures were a bust.  :-)  More soon!

Gruene Hall

Gruene Hall in Texas has all this fabulous history.  Built in the 1880's it is the oldest dance hall in Texas and many country legends have performed there over the years.  Willie Nelson, George Strait, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett just to name a few. 

We went in tonight to have a beer and listen to the band.  It's really cool with an old wooden floor that has seen many a two-step.  There are stages on both ends of the hall, a smaller one up front and a larger one in the back.

The band tonight was using the smaller stage, so we sat on the edge of the larger stage to relax and listen.  I was totally absorbing the history, vibe, and ghosts of country stars who've long outgrown the place.  I told the two Steve's I was going to go walk in the steps of Willie and I walked up on the empty stage.  I pictured Willie and the boys on this very stage, their notes still resonating, their sweaty hand prints still on the door jam leading to the dressing room. 

I thought I would go check out the back-stage dressing room.  Exited stage left, went down the steps, and there was a dark hallway.  There was an ancient cigarette machine in the corner, and the smell of beer, smoke and ummm..... something else.  I walked a few more steps and and there I was face to face with Willie, well someone's willie.  It was now the men's restroom.  How embarrassing.  If I had entered the hallway from the dance floor like a normal person instead of from the stage I would have seen the big ol Texas sized "Men's Room" sign.

It was still cool.

Lori's In Texas

Lori is such a great friend. She took a road trip and drove the van for us, from home all the way to Austin, Texas.  Dang!

By the Campfire

Chuck went with her on the first leg and we all met up one evening at their campsite at Lake Mary, CA. They weren't expecting us, I saw the van, so I knew they were close by. It was pitch dark, so was wandering the campground calling Luuuu Lu in my best Homer Simpson fake whisper voice until we found them. 

Chuck went on with Lori until Las Vegas and then she was on her own til we met up again in Fort Stockton, TX.  For her birthday, we did one of our biggest demo's of the year in Austin. (darn it) We were up early, moved the whole trailer to the demo site, so she couldn't even sleep in, no breakfast in bed. Instead, she helped us get set up for the day. (You're the best Lu).

At the demo the next day she got bit by a brown recluse spider.  It turned into a pretty big deal. This picture was early on the second day. It got really ugly.

Damn Spider

OK, we did get to show Lori some fun stuff in Austin too. 

Two-Steppin at The Continental Club

Dinner at The Grove, Barton Springs

Lori & Steve-O Shady Grove

Lone Star for All!

South Congress

Motorcycle Diaries

Our first day!

For vacation this year, we bought a 1984 Honda Goldwing Interstate motorcycle! Huge thanks to Robert, who scoured the ads, had Craig's List on auto-update to his phone, and went with us to look at every touring bike for sale in Lane County.

We picked up the bike just in time to join Robert, Ann, Joe & Carrie for a ride up the MacKenzie River.

We had a wonderful summer of riding with Robert & Ann. We went about 2,500 miles. So many beautiful pictures of Oregon's fabulous scenery. So here is a bit of the photo album of our summer on the road . . .

Crater Lake

Alsea Falls

Columbia River Gorge

The Sampler

Newport Bay

Takoda on the MacKenzie

Foggy Morning at the Lighthouse, Hwy 101

Stopped for visit with Mike & Renee

Bridge of the Gods

Lava Beds, Old Hwy 242

Big Guy in a Little Shower!

Beaver Marsh Motel