Random Saturday Posted On Tuesday

Backside of PO Boxes. Green lidded tubs are for people who will not pick up their mail.

My initials, randomly placed in order, at the store.

In the mailbox when I arrived home from work and shopping. Guess I know what I am doing July 4th. Lawn tractor races.

Throwback Saturday. One of my favorite photos of our Stearman Biplane.

Son took these with a GoPro camera (out in the windstream!). Hubby is in back piloting.

Farmland below. Yellow at upper left is upper wing. Grey diagonal post at bottom right is wing strut.  Pilot can fly from both seats - Flying alone is always done from back cockpit.

 
My new smart phone had an unfortunate incident that it may never recover from. I liked the Blogaway app (android) and used it extensively to upload blog posts with lots of photos in Japan. 

These photos are from my old phone - which is still working, However, it can't do Blogaway and my old BlogIt app is in an unbelievable snit.

To get the photos here onto the blog, I have to email myself the photos, then download them, then upload them. Gah.

Good thing I have a homebrew festival (six! of the neighbors are now making their own beer) to look forward to.
Gah.
 
 Except I can't drink beer. The grains and barley really bother my poor intestines. Oh well, there's always a sunburn to obtain while timing the tractor races.

Clear Lake

Happy 4th of July everyone!

My husband and I drove down to Clear Lake today. We could have driven down to my brother's place at Rockaway Beach but our daughter was taking some friends down there and it was agreed that we could possibly cramp her style. Whatever.
So- we came up with an alternate plan of fishing Clear Lake. Just a couple of hours away, it turned out to be a particularly beautiful summer day. This lake is just past Detroit Reservoir - just on the other side of the mountains.
Gorgeous views of the Three Sisters and Three-Fingered Jack were our gift. That's about when I recalled - oh,oh - the camera. I had forgotten to even think about it as we drove up Hwy 22 through the forest with the river alongside us. When we reached Detroit Dam and the reservoir opened out - we were still enjoying the drive. But when the mountains appeared, that's when I remembered the camera.
But if we had brought the camera, we would not have been entertained all day with the pair of eagles fishing for their nestlings. It would have been hotter than 75' (just perfect!). And -- this is the big one -- we would not have caught any fish. Isn't that the way?

Clear Lake has a campground which we have stayed in many times. The especial times we have had there are part of our family time. This lake is special to me because there are no motorboats allowed - no jet-skis, no noise other than oarlocks creaking as you row you boat.
Not to mention the ducks dive bombing each other over presumed territory infringement.

There were other women rowing, besides me,who preferred to row looking ahead.
Trust me - you get a lot of practice and it doesn't take long to find your mojo.

We fished using Powerbait in neon yellow/pink. We caught our limit of both fish and sunburns.

Rockaway Beach Fourth of July

These aren't totally random parade watchers. They own the house next to my brother's and were having a four generational reunion at the beach.
The Rockaway beach parade was exactly how the Canbyland parade used to be a few years back. In Canby, you can walk beside your 'float' and place a candy in a kid's hand. No throwing of the candy anymore. Friends who were in this year's Canby parade said there is about four pages of "No Throwing Candy from Your Floats!!!" now.
Here in Rockaway - they close Highway 101 for an hour while the parade goes through. People were setting up their chairs at 6am when my Mom & I went for a walk to get the Sunday paper at the market.

My sister-in-law says that most of the people in the parade aren't from Rockaway Beach.
So - you get the tractors, the really snazzy convertibles, the car with the rumble seat, the bikes with training wheels, drill teams, Tillamook Cheese Princesses, & etc. Floats on the beach tend to start with towing the boat and filling it with kids.
Now - in Canbyland, the parade has gotten pretty litigated with no throwing of candy, no running of kids. Although the horses have been allowed back since the incident in 1994, what has taken the  place of small town fun is all the political peoples handing out political flyers.
Not so in Rockaway Beach. Evidently, the political peoples haven't found Rockaway Beach yet. 

Flamingo Jim's in the background. The totally ideal, satisfying, beach store of everything you really want to haul home.

But wait - it's not over yet.
At 1pm, we have the Weiner Dog Races in the city park.

 Watch a video of Rosemary getting SECOND PLACE! Yeah Livy.

Getting Lexi ready. Requires a Starter and a Catcher.
Lexi placed second last year but had a wild hair this year and ran off course to create her own course. Her grandmother, Pug (Spottia) won a race this year but at the semi-final decided to run a more psychological race keeping the other dogs running in circles and going back the way they came.

Spottia did win the dress-up challenge. As a sweet old grandmotherly type with her spectacles and cape.

I wish I had more space on my camera card for the final part of the dog races: Cool tricks.
This was open to any dog.
The best was an old brown lab who slowly lumbered himself out to center field with his partner.
The handler put her hands together like holding a gun, pointed it at the dog and said, "Bang, Bang".
The brown lab slowly laid down, rolled over to his side, then onto his back with his feet up in the air, and ever so much slower, over to his other side and got up. He must be about Rocket's age - around 10. The whole playing dead deal.
This was a show stopper. NO other dog out there could come close in a cooler trick.

Rocket's Holiday