Devlins Travels

Polishing floors and putting up walls

2011-11-26T17:32:00.001-08:00

2011-11-06T16:08:00.001-08:00

New photos

2011-09-03T16:00:00.002-07:00

Tearing stuff down

2011-04-07T08:06:00.001-07:00

We are in the process of pulling out the carpets and removing some boards so that the loft area will be more open.

Kitchen:

Living room:

Upstairs bedrooms:

Our New (to us) House

2011-04-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

We signed papers yesterday. We're so excited!!

March 2011

2011-03-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are still alive and doing well. Lots of changes in the air. Hopefully next week I'll be able to share a little more.......

Here's a little history lesson for you that will make more sense next week, hopefully...

http://www.oregongenealogy.com/baker/historybc/dooley_mountain.htm

http://www.roadsnw.com/rnw/674

http://www.mountainzone.com/mountains/detail.asp?fid=1915656

http://rodjules.com/pacific_northwest/pnw_route_12.php

Winter hiking

2010-12-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

We took the dogs "snow hiking" today. I think we all had fun...

Making the Move.....

2010-11-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

I got a job! Yippee!! I start on November 15. So, once again, we'll be making Baker City home. It's hard to explain how it feels driving there from Sunnyside - as I drive around the last corner that drops down into the valley and the mountains first come into view - it's always felt like coming home. I can't wait until this summer when it's time to ride again! When we lived there before we knew we were spoiled by having such nice riding roads around us, but until we lived in Sunnyside we didn't realize just HOW spoiled!

So......on to the next adventure....

On the road again....

2010-10-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have decided to move back to Baker City. Here is the place we are renting for the time being. The job search begins......

Back of house

View from kitchen window

Front yard

View from back yard

July 2010 Update

2010-07-02T11:51:00.004-07:00

http://comics.com/rose_is_rose/

Hum.....let's see...............nothing really exciting and/or new has been going on.

In May, we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. In June, I updated my two tattoos. We managed a short, under 100 mile ride to a car show in Yakima.

I'm feeling like one of my favorite cartoon characters....Rose is Rose. Rose's alter-ego is Vicki the Biker Chick. When Rose needs a change she becomes Vicki.

I'm finding it more and more difficult to keep our great adventure of 2007 out of my mind. A friend made a comment something along the lines of "don't be sad it's over, be glad you got to do it." That is very true, however, I want to do it again. I'm torn between the desire to have a nice car, a house, my dogs and cats, and my own bed to sleep in every night, and the desire to get rid of it all again and hit the road. I'm wondering if there's a way to have it all. Yes....I want to have my cake and eat it too. Isn't that the purpose of baking the cake in the first place? To eat it? Anyway, just feeling a little nostalgic today and wondering how/when we can do it again.

May 2010

2010-05-19T12:05:00.003-07:00

There really hasn't been much going on to share lately. Jim is still doing the commute thing from Baker City to Sunnyside on the weekends. We did sell the Teton and now he is living in a travel trailer that we can pull with my 4Runner. He said the entire trailer is the size of the bedroom of the Teton, but he is managing. He has already done some remodeling - took out the two twin size beds and put in a full size mattress, removed a cabinet, and is in the process of deciding what to do with the two benches and table at the front of the trailer.

We are still making landscaping improvements to our property in Sunnyside. My goal is to have a nice green lawn by the end of summer. I'm tired of sand being tracked in everytime we go in the house. We made the parking area a little smaller so we could make the back yard a little bigger. Glutton for punishment? Yep, but that's okay - I'd rather mow more lawn than sweep up sand on a daily basis.

The critters are still eating and shedding on a daily basis. Tank has decided he loves Charlie and if Jim takes Charlie with him somewhere Tank sits in the corner of the yard and howls until she comes back. They have made a game out of trying to catch the squirrel that always *just* manages to get away by the tip of it's tail. Buddy and Precious, the wild cat, are keeping the house rodent free (knock on wood!). Three of the critters have a pretty good system down - Precious catches mice/voles/gophers/etc. and chases them into the back yard where Charlie takes over herding them around, then when Tank sees they have something, he runs over and gulps it down with one big vicious snap. Yum!! I've seen that happen twice - once with a field mouse and once with a gopher. Buddy is rather anti-social so who knows where he is when all this is going on.

We haven't done much riding this year. Jim is planning on riding his Virago back and forth once the weather makes up it's mind to stay nice. I am getting a new front tire for the R6 this weekend and Jim is getting a rear tire for his FZ6. Maybe that will inspire us to ride a little more.

I was looking up the routes for the Run for the Wall and Rolling Thunder this morning and feeling a bit nostalgic. I think we're still having a hard time settling down and doing the daily work routine. One of these days..............

The Pooches

2010-01-27T08:23:00.002-08:00

On January 1 we adopted a dog named Tank from Mikey's Chance Canine Rescue: [Mikey's Chance]

It's been an adventure so far - mostly good. Had one little incident where Tank thought he might want to eat Buddy for dinner and we thought we were going to have to send him back, but we decided to work a little harder with him and so far we haven't had any more excitement. Tank and Charlie get along good. They have amazing dog-bone wars - Tank steals Charlie's bone, Charlie steals Tanks bone, Tank has two bones, Charlie has none, then Charlie has her's back. That goes on for hours.

Flashback...

2010-01-13T18:37:00.002-08:00

My first bike - 1988 Honda Shadow:

Sitting on my brother's bike a LONG time ago:

I received notice that a really old website that we had is closing, so I am moving some of the content here.

MOTORCYCLE TRIP 1998 Day 1 (our first "long" trip on the bikes)

On September 17 Jim and I left Baker City, Oregon, just at the break of dawn, headed for Crater Lake. We got off to a rough start. Within the first 1/2 mile we already had a small problem - our bike to bike intercoms weren't working correctly, and of course we had to blame each other while standing on the side of the road. We thought we had them working, but as we got further down the road we discovered they weren't. Whenever Jim's bike reached 3,000 rpm's or more, his intercom would quit working. After about 5 stops we finally just quit talking to each other and got on with the ride. Several times we had to slow down for deer crossing the road. At one point a car came around a curve with it's lights flashing, so assuming there was a cop up ahead we slowed way down. Instead of a cop waiting around the curve, there was 4 or 5 cows standing in the road. Thank goodness for that car or we would have really been in trouble! We got to Crater Lake at about 2:30. It was pretty cold up there so we had to break out the extra clothes. We were meeting up with Jim's Uncle Pat, who rides a Harley. We rode around the lake at a pretty quick pace due to the cooler weather, then headed out to find a motel. We were planning on camping out, but at our first fuel stop Jim informed me that he had forgotten the tent, so we weren't able to rough it (darn!). My fuel light came on and we started looking for a gas station. We passed a sign for a town, but didn't see anything there so we kept going. About 5 miles down the road we decided we better turn around and head back to fuel up. Eventually we ended up in Medford, Oregon, just after dark. We put on 457 miles the first day. That's the longest I've ever ridden in one day. I was expecting to be a lot more tired than I was, but surprisingly I was ready to go some more. The riding conditions couldn't have been better. Only once did we have to stop for road construction, and that was only for about 10-15 minutes.

The next day we woke up to a slight drizzle. Usually we ride a while, then stop for breakfast, but we decided to eat first and give the rain a chance to go away. No such luck. We were heading for the Oregon Caves, then on to Crescent City, California. The countryside around Medford is beautiful. Lots of farmland, trees, and hills. We passed a wheat field full of ducks. And when I say full of ducks, I mean full of ducks. They were everywhere. I've never seen so many ducks at one time in one place. We passed by two deer and two fawns in someone's front yard. We *thought* we were on the correct road to the Caves. We rode up a curvy narrow road. In other circumstances this would have been a great road, but the further up we went, the narrower it got, and the harder it rained and the more fog we got in to. We were only able to go about 15 mph. Finally the road split into two more roads. We parked and looked at the map. Neither road was on the map. Oops. While Jim and his uncle debated which way to go I was putting on more clothes and a second pair of gloves. Chaps only cover so much, and my seat (Mustang seat) was wet. It stayed wet for a day or two. We decided to turn around and go back. On the way down Jim hit a patch of oil or a larger than expected puddle and almost took a short cut down the hill. It was ten miles one way, so now we've gone 20 miles on a road in the middle of no where. We pass the farm with the deer in the front yard again and get into the next little town and ask a guy pulling weeds how to get to the Caves. "Well, you turn around and go back up that there road and where the road splits you take the right fork. It'll take you right there." We all just kind of looked at each other with really stupid looks on our faces. Jim's uncle finally asked him if there was any other way to get there. Sure was. The alternate route is the one we ended up taking. The final road leading up to the Caves is a great twisty road. At one point there is a sign that says "vehicles pulling trailers not recommended past this point". Sure could see why. We reached a place where they were working on a bridge. In Oregon when they're working on a bridge they install stop lights on either side and you have to wait until it's your turn to go. On this particular road they had about a 1/2 mile of road blocked off which was just a narrow one lane section and we weren't able to see if there was any cars coming due to the curves. We didn't have any problems on the way up, but on the way back we encountered an old woman who decided she didn't want to stop at the light. Jim's uncle made it through before she ran the light, I met her at a pretty wide spot in the road so I was okay, but Jim had to go off into the edge of the forest to keep her from hitting him. He said she was just staring straight forward all the way. He didn't even think she saw him. Jim said he thought about kicking the car on its way by, but since they were going opposite directions was afraid he'd break his leg or foot. The rain had really started to fall not to long after that and it rained all the way from there to Crescent City. Jim's brother and his brother's girlfriend from Los Gatos, California, met us in Crescent City. That night we decided to take a walk after dinner and ended up down at the boat docks. While we were there we saw flames coming out of one of the boats parked on the far side of the docks. The flames were about 3 feet high, and we were getting concerned, so Uncle Pat ran to a nearby boat, and pointed it out. They radioed the Coast Guard, who called the local police and fire department. All these people show up with sirens wailing and start running around and pretty soon we see someone come out from the cabin on the boat. Poor guy, I can only imagine the surprise he got just for trying to barbecue his dinner!! We quietly walked off, just in case they decided someone was going to jail for all the commotion we caused.

The next day we went from Crescent City towards Eureka so we could go into the redwoods. Talk about some extremely huge trees. If you've never been in a Redwood forest I would highly recommend it. It's almost like being in another world. We stopped and went through the Trees of Mystery and did some hiking in other areas along the road. At noon Jim and I turned around to head back up to Brookings, Oregon while his uncle and brother headed back to the Bay Area. We were meeting some friends (John and Rhoda Strode) that we met at the HSTA get together in Cascade Locks in August. We got there about an hour early so Jim took a nap lying on his bike. We ended up meeting in a lounge/restaurant/gift shop where 1) the manager was going to card me (yippee) 2) they must not have liked motorcycle riders because they tried to move us from the restaurant to the lounge, but we left instead. We found a motel and had dinner, and called it quits for the night.

Sunday we rode up the Oregon coast, stopping along the way to see the ocean view and take pictures. After lunch, John and Rhoda headed home and we continued up 101. We met a guy riding a Harley from British Columbia to Reno via San Francisco. He encouraged us to go to Victoria, B.C. and gave us his map of the area. At that point Jim and I had no particular place to go. We needed to be in Olympia sometime during the week but up until then we really didn't have a plan. We spent the night at Newport.

Monday we just rode. We decided to try out the intercoms again, and they were working okay. We decided that our cellular phone must have been causing to much interference for them the work correctly. Who knows. We crossed over from Oregon to Washington on the bridge at Astoria. Wow, that is one long bridge. I didn't think it was ever going to end. One side of it is pretty high into the air and the other 2/3's of it is right on the water. Towards evening we started looking for a place to stay. No such luck. We finally saw signs at Lake Quinault for a resort and lodge that was two miles up a road we had to turn onto from the main road. They wanted more than we wanted to pay so we decided to go up the road. It was getting dark and cold so we weren't looked forward to it. We both bundled up as much as we could and started to leave, but as we were starting to pull out, the motel manager came out and told us he'd knock the price down $10, so we took him up on his offer. We were glad we ended up there, though. The view was marvelous. The sun was just setting over the lake and it was beautiful. We were in the Olympia rain forest, which neither one of us had ever been in. It's a beautiful place. When we were eating dinner Jim asked the waitress where the closest gas station was. Oh, about 60 miles up the road, but there wasn't any guarantee it was open. That caused a slight panic. We already had 84 miles on the bikes, so that was going to be pushing it for my V45, depending on the road. The joke was on us. About three miles down the road there was gas stations and motels. We just figured the people in Lake Quinault didn't get out much.

We decided to head to Olympia for the night. Highway 101 from Forks, WA to Olympia is a blast. It's well maintained and twisty and fast. The traffic was rather heavy through the Port Townsend area, but after that it thinned out considerably. There is one thing to watch out for though: log trucks. They travel pretty fast but don't like to slow down going through the small towns that are scattered out along the road. At one point, I believe it was when we were going through Liliwaup (now I know it was Forks), we slowed down to the required speed through the city limits. The truck objected to that and was so close to me that I could see the individual bugs on his grille through my mirrors. That shook me up a little bit, but we made it through town in one piece. As we were speeding up on the other side of town, Jim pulled out to pass a horse trailer being pulled by an older pickup. All of a sudden he moved back in. I assumed there was a car coming and moved back in also. When I looked in my mirrors before moving in I noticed the grille with the bugs again. The reason Jim had moved back into the right lane was because he noticed how close the truck was to me (I think he was going to pass with us) and he thought it had hit me. I hadn't noticed it was that close until I went to move back into the lane. Finally we were able to pass the horse trailer and the truck behind us wasn't, so we escaped having to travel with him for the rest of the way to Olympia. In Olympia that afternoon we took a wrong turn and ended up in downtown Olympia. We managed to get turned around and on the right path to some friends house in Lacey.

From Olympia we were going to go to the San Juan Islands or Victoria, or both. We hadn't really decided yet. We rode from Olympia to Port Townsend and then decided to get on 20 and do the North Cascades ride to Omak, where Jim's mom lives. We had a day to spare, but we were getting to the bottom of the money allowance and decided we'd do the San Juan's and Victoria some other time. We rode the ferry to Whidbey Island (the first time on a ferry, whooppee) and were going to call on another friend, Chris, from the SabMag list, that we had met at the HSTA gathering. Jim called and left a message on his machine that we'd be there sometime that evening. We weren't sure what time he got off work and decided to ride around Whidbey Island. So, we rode around a bit and called again to see if he was off work yet. Finally we got to some town on Whidbey Island and decided to take a break. Jim went over to find out from someone where exactly Suquamish was, since it wasn't showing on the map. HA. I was looking at the map when Jim came back and showed him that we were on the wrong island. He, of course, didn't believe me, then when he did believe me, decided it was all my fault. So, he called Chris to tell him we wouldn't be there. Sorry, Chris. We ended up in Concrete, Washington.

We left Concrete on Thursday morning right behind a rain shower. Actually, we were in it but could see blue sky behind us and rode slow, then stopped for breakfast, and by the time we were finished the rain had stopped. We rode on wet roads the entire day, but we stayed dry. The Cascade Loop, or North Cross as Jim calls it, is a beautiful ride. In a couple more weeks the leaves will be changing color and it will really be a sight. I was riding pretty slow, riding close to the edge of the road looking down, down, down, into an almost dry river bed, at the huge boulders, when I happened to look in my mirrors to see two motorcycles (VFR's) closing distance pretty quickly. I caught up with Jim about the time they caught up with me. I moved over so they could pass, which they did just as we were approaching a tunnel. I don't know if Jim just didn't realize that it wasn't me behind him or if he was just being a butt, but he wouldn't move over. As soon as we cleared the tunnel they roared past him like we were sitting still. Jim made some kind of comment later about them being crazy *&^%$%& for going that fast on the wet roads. Not to long before that he had to take a corner a little wide because he started slipping in the middle of it and I think he was still a little shook up from that. We stopped at a few places to see the sights and continued on to Winthrop, where we ran across the two VFR guys again. They were parked and standing by their bikes. We goofed off in Winthrop for a while, then took off. Not to far out of town, who should end up behind us but the two VFR guys again. We were behind a slow moving truck, waiting for a spot to pass when they passed us and the truck in a no passing zone. Jim said, "wow, that's fast" as they zoomed by. He wants to ride a VFR now just to see how fast they'll go. We were expecting to see them catapulted into a tree further up the road, but we didn't cross paths again.

Friday around noon I was going to ride on to Sunnyside, WA by myself to visit my family, when Jim decided he would ride with me half way (to Ephrata) then back to Omak. Something about him wanting to end up with more miles on this trip than me, I think. Omak and Okanogan are about 5 miles apart. We didn't even reach Okanogan before we had to turn back. A storm came up and we were totally soaked in five minutes. So much for that idea. It rained for a short while, but by the time it stopped I decided it was to late in the afternoon to go, so we left Saturday morning together for Sunnyside.

We spent Saturday night in Sunnyside. Early Sunday morning (5:30) Jim got up to go watch some hot air balloons take off in Prosser, about 10-15 miles away. He kept bugging me to go, but 5:30 is *not* a good time of day for me. He got back around 10 and we got ready to take off for Baker City, around noon. We rode on the freeway to the Tri-Cities, then got on the secondary road to Walla Walla and then over Tollgate Pass and on to Baker City.

We rode a total of 2238 miles. The first day was our longest, 457 miles, and Friday was our shortest, 5 miles. We had a great time, saw some great sights, took lots of pictures. Both bikes ran great. We didn't have any problems at all. Mine is leaking oil somewhere. By the time the week was half over all the chrome was a dull black from the oil. About every other day I would need to add some. We haven't figured out yet where it's coming from. Also, I noticed it has a really bad vibration at 40 mph and 70 mph. The front tire is starting to cup pretty bad, so I'm guessing that that might be the cause? Winter projects, I guess. Jim didn't have any problems at all with his bike except the blinkers, which don't work until the bike has been well warmed up. He was going to fix them before weleft, but didn't get around to it.

If anyone ever has a chance to ride up the Oregon coast (Highway 101) or do the Cascade Loop I would highly recommend it. By far, I would say this is the best vacation we've ever taken. We didn't really have any plans, just a general idea of where we wanted to go and a few places we needed to be, and a date for returning. Other than that, it was pretty much planned out day by day. Neither of us wanted it to end. We're already planning what we can do next year.

Volcano, CA 1999

We left Baker City Wednesday night to stay in Ontario, OR, at a friends house so we could get an hour head start on Thursday morning. Wind, wind, and more wind and a wind chill reported at 33. It was a brisk ride. Jim had to tell me know how fast I was going, which was past the limits of my speedometer, but I had figured the sooner we got there, the sooner we'd be warm.

Thursday morning was cool, but hardly any wind. For a while anyway. Eventually it caught up with us, along with the rain. So, Thursday we rode in wind and rain all day. Nothing exciting happened, except providing a tour bus an interesting view while Jim and I tried to get me into my one piece rainsuit on top of my leathers while standing outside a restaurant in the drizzle. And, what would a road trip be without road construction. We had a 15 minute wait and while we were moving around trying to keep warm the flagger informed us that Reno had been snowed on earlier in the day. We stayed all night in Sparks, NV, just outside of Reno.

Friday morning was cool, but the sun was trying to peak through. Carson Pass was cold and long. If it wouldn't have been for us freezing and a few spots of sand in the road it would have been great though. The road was nice and curvy, and the view was pretty nice also. Make sure you fuel up before you hit it though if you have a bike with a small tank. We were getting near panic when my fuel light had been on for about 20 miles. Finally, a gas station!!

We arrived at Jim's Grandparents, near Railroad Flat, where we were waiting to hear from Don Peter and the Strodes, who we were going to meet in Volcano. Around 6:00 they called, just as were sitting down to dinner. After dinner, we headed out to meet them. We did cheat though: we drove Grandpa's car since we knew the meeting was going to last a while and I can't see to drive after dark.

It was quite the sight, rounding the corner into Volcano and seeing all the bikes lined up. We parked around the corner and walked up to the motel. Didn't want EVERYONE to know we were in a car. Just the few that knew us needed to know that!! We waited around for a while, met a few people, then had the rider's meeting. Lots of stories were told and everyone introduced themselves, but there was a lot of names to remember. We left after the meeting and headed for home, with Don and the Strodes following. Uncle Pat and Aunt Cathy were waiting for us at Jim's Grandparents. They rode up from the Bay Area on his Harley.

Saturday morning we took off, all bundled up for the weather. At each stop (fuel, looking for air for my rear tire several times, and finally when we found some) we had to take a few layers of clothes off. First a sweat shirt, then the jacket liner, and thiner gloves. It was a beautiful day. It couldn't have been better. Not to hot, not to cold, no wind, just perfect.

At the first stop sign (on our way to Volcano) John Strode was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't understand him, so I rode on. The Stodes and Jim and I all have Chatterbox communicators, so we can talk to each other through those. When they're turned up loud enough that is. At the gas station he informed me that my rear tire was low. Really low. So, the search started for some place with air. Yeah, right. Good thing we left early enough to do some riding, because it took us a while to find a station with air. Finally, after Jim asked some guys standing outside a grocery store where we could find some air, which sent Rhoda and I into giggling fits, as Rhoda started gasping for air saying, "air, I need air", we were pointed towards Pine Grove. Okay, down the road we went, finally finding an air compressor that worked, then on to Volcano. Again, the bike line up was great. This time we fit right in. After a while, everyone started breaking up into groups. We were the second "relaxed" group after Uncle Milt's group, although after a while we caught up to them. At the next stop some reorganizing was done, and off we went. The roads were wonderful. Anyone learning how to ride a bike in that area would definately be a good rider. Curves everywhere. I don't think there was very many stretches that didn't have curves in it. The views were great, the roads were great, almost made me want to move there. We rode with Don Peter, who was our leader, Jim, me, John Strode, Rhoda Strode, Uncle Pat and Aunt Cathy. Don led a great pace and didn't take any wrong turns. Although if he would have we would have just followed him without knowing it. Only one road was in poor shape, and it only lasted a short while. Hardly any traffic and a few bicyclists at the beginning. The scenery was breath taking. When I think of California I always think of cities and smog and people. This ride changed my mind. It was really beautiful.

Lunch was good. The poor staff ran around like crazy, but everyone got served and the break was nice and relaxing, allowing for more visiting and tire kicking. After that we went back to Jim's Grandparents house and waited for the BBQ to start. Yum, lots of food. Again, we took the car because we didn't want to have to eat and run. I'm glad we did take the car, after seeing the driveway!! Wow!! We knew when we found it. Bikes everywhere, people everywhere. Good food. Great company.

We really enjoyed meeting everyone and putting faces to names. I wish we would have been able to spend more time with everyone, but Jim only gets to see his Grandparents once or twice a year, so he wanted to spend some more time with them, and I don't blame him, so we spent as much time with them as we could.

Thanks, Ron and Doe, for everything. You did an excellent job. No one was left hungry, and if they were, it was their own fault. It was nice to meet everyone who contributes so much to the list, and those who rode so far.

Sunday morning the Strodes and Don Peter left, meeting up with Steve and Irene Frost. Jim and I just sat around, visiting Grandpa and Grandma and Jim's two brothers who came up from Los Gatos and San Jose.

Monday morning: BLAH!!! Rain, rain, rain. More rain. We suited up for the rain. I felt like an austronaut in all that gear. I could hardly lift my leg up high enough to get it over the seat. Off we took. We had to change our route because of snow and ended up going into Sacramento, where it finally stopped raining. Thank goodness!! It stayed cold though. We ended up in Alturas, CA for the night. We were shooting for Lakeview, but the clouds were getting darker and we were freezing. Just as we were pulling the bikes up to the front of the motel room it started hailing. What timing!!

Tuesday: it looked nice. Looks are deceiving. It didn't rain though. It was cold when we took off, and just got colder as we went. About 20 miles from Lakeview we had to stop and put on more clothes. At Lakeview it started snowing, raining, and the wind was blowing. More clothes.

Not to far into that stretch of road we saw a sign on the side of a pickup parked on that side of the road that said Cattle Crossing. They meant it!! They were herding about 70 or more cows plus their calves down the road. We had to come to a complete stop as there was cattle everywhere, walking down the middle of the road, taking their time. Once they all got past us we took off again, dodging cow piles for the next few miles. Only in Oregon!! After that we had to dodge bike-eating potholes from hell. We stopped in Burns and warmed up and took off again. Between Burns and John Day it snowed. And we're talking big flakes here. At the BBQ Eric was saying something about having to wipe off snow from his visor and windshield and we kind of laughed at him (with him, not AT him), and he told us he was serious. NEVER laugh at someone!! It will come back to haunt you. We were wiping snow off our visors and windshields. It was cold, the snow was falling, and we were putt-ing along at about 30. Finally, into John Day. The sun peeked through while we were fueling up and we managed to waste about 15 minutes there trying to get as much warmth into our bodies as we could. The last 70 miles into Baker City was cold, with some snow and a little hail, but not to bad. At one point Jim got so cold he almost missed a curve. About halfway into it he started yelling something about gravel and a few other words I couldn't understand (probably a good thing). Then he straightened up and hit the brakes. I made it around the corner and slowed down to let him catch up. Later he said he was just so cold he couldn't lean the bike over anymore. That's the first time I've ever seen him do anything like that, so I was shaking so bad I thought I was going to have to pull over to regain some composure. That was the closest thing to an OOPS! we had the entire trip, and that was just fine with us.

We had a great time and are planning on attending next year. Again, it was great meeting everyone and I wish we would have been able to spend more time with everyone. Maybe next year!!

November and December 2009

2009-12-14T15:01:00.004-08:00

With the temp's in the 20's during the day and 0 at night, Jim's been having a tough time keeping the fifth wheel thawed out. Poor guy! Went home to Baker after the motorcycle show to find everything frozen solid. The heat tape just couldn't keep up with the freezing temp's and him not being there for a few days to thaw stuff out on a daily basis.

We had a great time at the motorcycle show - spent the night with one of Jim's high school buddy's on Friday night and met up with a couple of friends on Saturday at the show. The drive to and from Seattle was uneventful. The roads were clear both ways and we only got lost a little bit, as opposed to way lost in bad neighborhoods kind of lost. Sat on the bikes and made "vroom vroom" noises so we didn't feel so bad missing out on riding this winter. It didn't help much though!

Jim has a new project. He traded one of his motorcycles - a V65 Honda Magna - for a 1964 Ford pickup. The pickup runs well and is now named Ol' Yeller. Jim's going to paint her John Deere yellow (of course) and white. But, not wanting to be short one bike he bought a Yamaha Virago. I think we have 9 or 10 bikes now....two project Fords....my Mustang....his Fairlane.....plus our daily drivers.....and a Toyota Camry station wagon for sale. Almost sounds like the 12 days of Christmas song.

We spent Thanksgiving in California with Jim's Dad and family. Jim got to tease and torture the nephew's. The niece wasn't quite ready for him, but next year, watch out! In his bid for favorite uncle, he grabbed a carton of ice cream and some spoons and sat on the living room floor with Lucas (the youngest nephew) and ate right out of the carton. Joshua needed his in a bowl.

Thanksgiving - 2009 - in San Jose, CA with Jim's Dad and family

Jim's nephew's and niece

1st Birthday Party

Proud Papa of a 1 year old

Brewing beer and fixing bikes

Jim's "new" truck. Traded a V65 Magna for it.

Motorcycle show in Seattle, 2009

It's Like Christmas...

2009-09-27T21:07:00.002-07:00

We got the last of our stuff out of our storage trailer - everything except my Mustang and Jim's Fairlane. It'll be like Christmas when we start unpacking! Now we need to start working on our next 5....or 10....or 15 year plan. Who knows what's next for the Devlin's...............

Eastern Oregon Disorganized Ride 2009

2009-09-25T10:55:00.005-07:00

On the weekend of September 19th, several of us got together for a disorganized ride. We had no plan, just a place to meet. We had eleven people, counting Jim and I.

Some of our friends in Baker City were kind enough to let us barbeque at their house and some of our other friends who live nearby came to visit also.

We rode a little over 200 miles on Saturday. The majority of the ride was on twisty roads. On Sunday, Jim and I and a friend from town rode part of the way with Brian, adding a little over 200 miles to the weekend total.

This is the route we rode on Saturday:

View Larger Map

September 8, 2009

2009-09-08T20:18:00.003-07:00

Charlie, the hell hound:

Can you see me now?

This is what a bike looks like that has run out of gas on the side of the road:

We went to a wedding reception in Surrey, BC on Sept. 5. We left Sunnyside at 9 a.m. and got there between 3:30 and 4:00. We spent about an hour at the border crossing due to all the traffic.

On Sunday, we went to Richard's house in Abbotsford, BC. Had a great time with Richard and his wife, ate authentic Korean food, and met their son and dogs. On Monday, Richard escorted us part of the way home, in the rain and mid-40 degree temp's. We crossed at a little crossing called Nighthawk. The small border crossings are much better than the larger ones. We were through in about 5 minutes. We were in a hurry to get home so we could get Charlie from the kennel. We were trying to make it on minimal stops. Well.....that backfired on us. I ran out of gas about 2 miles from Soap Lake. Jim had to run into town and get some gas for me. When I made it to the gas station I told Jim to go ahead and go without me. I still needed to take a bathroom break and we were running out of time. Jim took off and beat me home by about 15-20 minutes. He made it in time to pick up the hound dog.

We had a great weekend, even though we did spend part of it riding in the rain and the cold and running out of gas. We got to see quite a few friends we haven't seen in a while and we got to make new friends along the way.

Here it is, September already!

2009-09-01T20:24:00.005-07:00

A Pictorial Update:

Last weekend of August: Jim and Penny go dirt biking in the Eastern Oregon hills near Baker City:

The wild kitty we adopted many months ago is starting to get a little friendlier, and Buddy has a buddy:

Penny gets a new haircut that works curly and straight, and has to get glasses.

Jim and Penny go to Colorado the end of June to help in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Charlie is growing up:

Our Day at the Races

2009-06-02T19:30:00.002-07:00

We spent the weekend at the World Superbike races at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. It was SO COOL!!!!!!!! Jim and I and a friend from Canada rode from Baker City to Peyson, UT on Friday where we stayed with Jim's cousin and his family. It was great getting to spend time with them and getting to know them better. On Saturday morning we rode to Tooele and watched the races, then back to Peyson for the night, where we were joined by two more friends from Baker City. On Sunday morning we all rode back to the races. After the races Jim and I and Richard started our ride back to Baker City. We rode about 1800 miles for the weekend. A great time was had by all.

Great Day Riding

2009-05-17T14:42:00.002-07:00

Went for a short ride today around the area. Stumbled upon an old car show in Moxee, WA, then had a lunch break in Zillah.

What happens when boys go out to play.....

2009-04-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

Ready to ride!

2009-04-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

2009-03-30T15:34:00.004-07:00

Jim and Charlie. She's about 3 months old now and smart. Jim's teaching her lots of tricks and when she wants to, she does them well.

Our new dual sport - 2004 Suzuki DR650. I rode it around my parents place this weekend and managed to scare myself - in a good way. It'll be great practice and I'm sure it will improve my street riding, especially since I hate gravel.

2009-03-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Our newest toy. We're going to enter the world of dual sporting.

This is what happens........

2009-03-26T18:41:00.002-07:00

This is what happens when you spend the day running around visiting friends............

New news

2009-03-24T19:57:00.002-07:00

I guess our biggest "new" news is that Jim has moved back to Baker City and gone back to work for his previous employer. He is living in our fifth-wheel behind the shop. He has a 10 second commute! He comes home Friday night and goes back to work Monday morning. So far it's been okay. I keep a 'honey-do' list for him when he comes home. He hasn't had much of a chance to work on it though with all the 40 year old birthday parties we've been going to lately!

Speaking of which, we're planning one for me! I either had to participate in the planning or be "surprised" with whatever he decided to do. Uh-huh! I decided to go along with it willingly. I believe it's going to be the weekend of May 9th and 10th. My birthday is on the 22nd.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated....

2009-02-23T12:56:00.007-08:00

In June I will be walking nearly 26 miles over the course of two days as a participant in an Avon Walk for Breast Cancer event. I am honored to be walking with thousands of others who have made the same courageous commitment: to help raise awareness and funding for this devastating disease. We will sleep in tents, shower in trucks, and push ourselves far beyond what we ever thought we were capable of doing.
.. ..
I’ve committed to raising at least $1,800 for this event. The Avon Foundation, awarding funds the money raised from these events to help advance medical research into the possible causes, prevention, treatment and cure of breast cancer; medical care for breast cancer patients; support services for patients and their families; educational seminars; and early detection programs. Your donation will benefit the whole picture - cause, cure, care and support.
.. ..
I can’t do this alone. To donate to this cause and support my efforts, please go to www.avonwalk.org, click on “Sponsor A Walker,” click on Rocky Mountains then enter my name. This will take you to my personal page to make your donation online. Or you can mail a check made out to “Avon Walk for Breast Cancer” directly to me. Your gift will be appreciated more than I can possibly tell you.
.. ..
Thank you for your generous support.

www.tinyurl.com/pennydevlin

2009-02-03T19:54:00.002-08:00

My new tattoo. There's a bloom for every year Jim and I have been married.

2009-02-03T19:52:00.003-08:00

My new tattoo

My new tattoo. There's a bloom for every year Jim and I have been married.

Updates and ............

2009-01-25T21:08:00.004-08:00

We finished the dining room/pub area. Jim put up cedar boards on the bottom half of the wall, put up a new window sill, and put in a door between the main part of the house and the mud room. The kitchen is almost finished. He sealed and polished the floor, finished tiling, and put up a new window sill. All that's left is mop boards, touch up painting, and building the pantry.

In other news......... what's a country home without a pup? At this point in time, her name is Charlie - subject to change until the name "settles." Buddy's not to happy about the new addition, but hopefully he'll come around with very little blood shed. Charlie is a Blue Heeler, or Australian Cattle Dog. We've always known them as Blue Heeler's, but the dog books call them Australian Cattle Dogs. She's only seven weeks old, so all she does at this point is sleeps, eats, and poops, with a little play time thrown in for good measure.

Still moving forward...

2009-01-03T10:14:00.003-08:00

Jim has the back splash up. All that's left of that project is the grout, which he hopes to finish this weekend, and to finish wiring in the plug-in's. I have to do a little touch up painting, and then the kitchen will be finished! Ho-rah!!!

2008-12-21T17:35:00.001-08:00

the bar is officially open

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2008-12-21T15:07:00.000-08:00

Moving in the snow - why change tradition?

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Almost there...

2008-12-17T21:23:00.002-08:00

We're moving in on Sunday, whether we're finished or not! We'll be close enough to work around what's left. WhhoooooHooooo!!!!

2008-12-11T20:08:00.002-08:00

Just waiting for the grout - Saturday morning.

Buddy helping me wash the paint tray.

The fun continues

2008-12-09T21:17:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow he gets to start cutting the edges to fill in the remainder of the floor. WhooHooo!!

And the work goes on and on and on...

2008-12-08T19:50:00.002-08:00

Work continues on the house. We're planning - hoping - to be in by Christmas.

Progress

2008-11-25T19:31:00.003-08:00

Cupboards, waiting to be put on the wall...

The walls the cupboards will be put on.

Water line to the house...

We have water! The new well and pump are in and the house is plumbed in. All that's left of that project is to fill in the ditch. Progress has been slow lately. Jim's been suffering from a bad cold/virus infection and my bosses son (23 years old) died suddenly and I just didn't feel like doing much. We're both starting to move forward and get back into the swing of working after work again.

Jim's working on the kitchen now. He has a little more taping, mudding, and sanding to do, I'll paint, then the cabinets will go in. We have them all except one so once the walls and ceiling are painted we can start putting them in.

More Progress

2008-11-08T18:37:00.002-08:00

Progress

2008-11-01T20:14:00.005-07:00

Work on the house is progressing. We're almost finished with the bathroom. All that is left is the tile around the window and replacing one of the bathtub surrounds that is cracking.

The "workout" room is finished except a little touch-up paint on the closet doors, and our bedroom will be finished once we finish the floor, which should be done tomorrow afternoon.

The spare bedroom is ready for painting, then we'll move on to the hallway and living room. Whoohooo!!

We took a break for Halloween festivities. Guess who's who....

Buddy recovers from an infection caused by another cat bite or scratch. Poor baby. He's on the mend. Has already brought in a live mouse and two birds. Uurggggg!!!!!

I need your support!

2008-10-27T15:51:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I have accepted the challenge and am participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Did you know that every three minutes, another woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer? I didn't, and I was shocked to learn how prevalent this horrible disease has become in this country.

I am eager to get started with my fundraising and I need your support! I have pledged to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer as part of my participation in the walk. Your contribution will help to support medical research into the possible causes of and cure for breast cancer, education and early detection programs, and clinical care and support services for women with breast cancer in communities across the country. There is a special focus on helping medically underserved women, the poor, minorities, the elderly, or those with inadequate health insurance. And much of the money granted by the Foundation goes back to the communities where it was raised, supporting everything from local grassroots programs to national organizations.

It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you for your support; you really do make a difference.

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk2009/Denver?px=4446869&pg=personal&fr_id=1810&et=ItLfH39_8N9NQ0SXcA8mEg..&s_tafId=341836

Some email systems may send your response to the Avon Foundation, not to your walker/donor when you push "reply". Before "sending", please confirm that your message is addressed to your intended recipient (above). If info@avonfoundation.org appears as a recipient, please delete and add the correct recipient email.

Ongoing Project

2008-09-22T18:20:00.003-07:00

Before, during, and after. We had to replace the insulation behind the shower as it had leaked at some time and turned the normally pink insulation black. Ick!! We put in a new window and will be putting in a new shower surround and tiling the floor.

2008-09-16T20:17:00.001-07:00

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The House Project

2008-09-15T21:54:00.003-07:00

Saturday, we went for a 225 mile ride towards Chinook Pass and back down White Pass. It was a gorgeous day for a ride. After the ride, we went to Grandview, WA where they were having a grape stomp competition that my sister and niece were participating in. It was a ton of fun! The grapes were squashed by teams of three. The winning team came all the way from Wyoming to take the prize. Their son-in-law's family has something to do with one of the local wineries, so they came all the way to help out.

Sunday, we gutted the bathroom in our new house and went to Tri-Cities and bought a bunch of new stuff to put in. Jim finished gutting it tonight so he could add more insulation to the walls.

Tomorrow the project will continue.

Update

2008-09-09T20:51:00.002-07:00

Howdy all, just an update on our adventure. Penn is working for an irrigation company. They supply the water to the farmers. I am helping the local motorcycle shop out in the service dept. As if that is not enough with the care taking of Penn's parents and property, we have a job one weekend a month changing the ads in the shopping carts at several stores. we felt we were getting too much sleep so we bought a fixer upper from Penn's parents. Their renter moved out and they did not want the hassle of another renter, so they made us a deal on the place. It has 3 bdrms, 1 bath. It is just over 1000 sqft, has a nice garage/shop, out building, trees and is on five acres. Plan is to have the inside fixed up by Thanksgiving and move into it. next spring get the outside done. So when the situation with Penn's parents change we we sell it and hit the road again. Penn's cat Buddy keeps us entertained. Tonight just as the sun was going down, Buddy was sitting on top of my car when a large owl swooped down and at the last minute it decided Buddy was too big for dinner and aborted the mission. Buddy bristled up, the owl was on the fence post and Buddy still on top of the car in a stare off. Still enjoying life, its all good, J&P

A job!

2008-09-05T21:31:00.002-07:00

I finally got a good job - and it's local. I only have to drive about 10 miles to work. It's a great job and the people have been really good to work with. Jim's working full time at the Yamaha dealer now.

We are also in the process of buying a house and five acres. It was a rental house of my parents and just down the road from them. Their renter moved out and they don't want to rent any longer, so we're going to take it off their hands and fix it up.

It has a small garage, so that makes Jim happy, and the interior needs lots of decorating, so that makes me happy.

Haircut

2008-08-07T09:10:00.002-07:00

I did forget to share this. Jim decided to get a hair cut. He donated almost 12" of hair to Locks of Love.

August Update

2008-08-07T08:40:00.003-07:00

I thought it was time to post a short update.

There hasn't been much going on around here. We've been taking short rides. I have close to 5,000 miles on my bike. Most of them from riding with Jim between his trips to and from California where he works occasionally for his Dad. When he's not working for his Dad he works at Desert Valley Powersports in Prosser as a mechanic.

I've been looking for a job. I've sent out numerous resumes and gone to a couple of interviews. One of the main obstacles in this area is that I am not bilingual. Yesterday I signed up at a temp agency who thought they wouldn't have any problems finding me something. I passed all the clerical/data entry/math tests with flying colors. I may end up having to commute about 40 miles though.

We have been asked several times what our future plans are. The main reason we are here is because my Dad has Parkinson's. My parents own about 15 acres, counting a rental property and a piece they are holding a contract on. My Mom is having to take care of all of it because my Dad isn't able to do it anymore. She is in her mid seventies and needs hip surgery and my Dad is 80. We thought this would be a good time for us to help them out since we're not tied down to a fixed location.

It's been hard living here. It's not a pleasant place to live. The crime is high and it's not an area we would normally live near. One of our goals when we first took off was to find a place to live and we haven't found that place yet. We've found several we don't want to live in, and we have some ideas of places that we liked, but we aren't finished exploring yet. It's been difficult to settle back into a routine and having a fixed schedule.

We are looking forward to continuing our adventures when we are able to. In the meantime, we'll take short trips and keep plugging along so when we are able to hit the road we can go for several months again.

First Impression of a New Ride

2008-04-13T17:05:00.002-07:00

Jim and I made the mistake of going to the local Yamaha dealer's open house a couple of weekends ago. Desert Valley Powersports - Prosser, Wa - GREAT PLACE. As soon as we walked in the door there was a yellow R6 right in the way. It was like a magnet. Like that Radio Shack commercial where the woman and her husband are walking down the hallway of a mall and she's talking away but he's been sucked into the Radio Shack store - I was drawn to that pretty yellow bike. I sat on it - way to tall. We looked at it and tried to figure out where luggage would even fit. I told myself I was perfectly happy with my old (2005) R6. I didn't need a new bike. I wasn't even looking for a bike. My old bike had 37,000 very happy, very satisfied miles on it. Never had a bit of a problem with it. Still looks brand new.

After dragging me away from the bike we made our way to the parts counter and while Jim was waiting for the parts guy to look something up for him he made the mistake of "suggesting" I go ask the dealership owner how much he'd sell that pretty yellow bike for, using my bike as a trade in. Before the words even finished leaving Jim's mouth, I was gone! I think I may have even ran someone over trying to get over there. (Not really, but it sounds good!)

I took my brand spanking new, bright yellow R6 out for a short 150 mile ride today. I've been back almost two hours and am still grinning! What a blast.

It's way tall for me. I had to find the tallest pair of boots I have and wear those instead of my regular riding boots, and still could only get one foot down. However, once I got used to it, the bike is so light it's not really that bad. I started practicing only putting one foot down last year anyway, so that helped a lot. On my previous bike we cut the seat down so I fit better. This bike's bodywork is wider so we won't be able to do that. I ordered some lowering links that should be here any day. We're going to take more time setting up the bike than we have in the past when we've lowered bikes. May also play with the suspension first too, to see if that helps.

It's a little wider than my previous bike and leaned over a bit more. At first I thought "oh oh" but once I got used to it decided I like it better. On my other bike my right wrist almost always went numb shortly after taking off. On this one it didn't do that. Must have been a strange angle on the other bike.

On this bike I feel like I'm taller (up in the air more) when I'm on the bike. We used to have a Bandit and when I rode it, it felt like I was way up in the air. This one feels like that too. I don't think it's that much taller than my previous R6. Not sure what causes that feeling.

It sounds so cool! Not sure if it's the short pipe on it or what, but I can hear the bike's engine more than the last few bikes I've had....and it sounds good!

The only complaint I have is the seat - harder than a rock! Doesn't Yamaha know there's softer foam out there?

Did I mention that it's pretty and yellow? And takes off from stop signs really, really fast?

HEEEEHEEEEE!!!!!!

2008-04-02T20:40:00.002-07:00

2008-03-03T19:30:00.003-08:00

For links to more riders blogs.

http://www.mbiweb.org/

2008-02-29T19:22:00.004-08:00

Our newest toy - a 1999 Mazda Miata. Jim bought this for me on Valentine's Day, so I'm telling everyone it was my Valentine's Day gift. It's my winter-time motorcycle.

We're still in Sunnyside. Jim's going to be working in California mid-March. I have been working at a local farm in the office.

Jim's been working on his brother's Ascot, trying to keep himself busy and trying not to go crazy because he left his bike at his brother's place in Palm Desert.

Short update

2008-01-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

Just a short update - Jim turned the big 4-0 on January 14th. He got a brand new 2007 Yamaha FZ6 to celebrate the big day. He traded in his FJR at Desert Valley Motorsports, who have been great to work with.

http://www.sunnysidemotorcycle.com/

For Christmas, my sister gave us a cat. We named him Buddy. Buddy rules the roost and thinks he is a dog. He tries to (pretend) bury his food and occasionally begs when we eat. He is turning into the king and we are his loyal subjects.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2007-12-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

The adventure of a life time

2007-12-10T10:44:00.001-08:00

Some of you asked how the trip was and is. Here is a cliff note version. We put
29000 miles on in 5.5 months and we still did not do or see as much as we
thought we would. Do not get me wrong we had a great time and do not regret
what we did or did not do. We made a lot more friends, put faces to names
and saw things you would not traveling down the freeway at 80. We rode into
Dryersburg Tn for lunch, the owner of the cafe asked if we were there for
the rally? What rally I asked? He said the boss hoss rally. He gave us
directions to the town square, it was a town square. Boss hoss's everywhere.
We were able to sit on some. It is things like this that has happened, that
one could not plan in a two week vacation. Most part everyone was friendly
and helpful. We sure did meet some interesting people. We did learn that ALL
of Quebec Canada speaks french. I do not, and we were lost in the country
some where trying to get directions. I love you BC guys:) We have a lot more
stories, those are for later around the campfire. Our plan is to travel this
summer also, staying closer to the west side at least until labor day
weekend, lobster is so good and than we are off to Newfoundland. We sure
missed all our friends here in the west. We are now living in Sunnyside Wa,
in a 39 foot fifth wheel trailer on Penn's parents small ranch. We are
helping out where ever we can. Hope to see you all
real soon. Oh yea we liked Ore-gun, SC,Tenn, Ark are the four states we
would live in, that is as of right now, have not made it to the southern
states yet. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Enjoy
the ride, life is too short not to eat dessert first, J&P or P&J your pick:)

The move to Sunnyside

2007-12-10T10:38:00.001-08:00

Howdy everyone,

An update of where we are and how we are doing. We decided to move to
Sunnyside Washington to be closer to Penn's parents to help them out.
Here is our story on the move. Came up to Sunnyside to get the trailer
spot ready. Don and Lorraine are Penn's parents, they have a piece of
property that is between them and Penn's nephew's (Lance) place. There
is a new septic system on it. We had to locate the septic tank; Don
and Randy (Penn's bro) located it.

Monday we drove to Sunnyside, 750 miles 8 hours:(

Tuesday we dug and found the inlet pipe and brought it to the surface
and prepared it for the trailer dump hose. Then we located the
irrigation pipes, this way I would not cut through them with the
trencher. The trench is for the electric and water.

Wednesday we rented a trencher and dug the ditch, 340 feet from the
house, and 260 from the well. While I was trenching Penn and Lorraine
dug out around the irrigation pipes I did not cut through. Lorraine is
74 years old and out worked Penn and I. Trenching was easy work, but
the machine was worn out. The chain jammed once, no problem I had the
proper tool to repair it, 8 pound sledge hammer. Then Penn and I ran
the water line and electrical conduit.

Woke up Thursday morning to 4 inches of snow. Penn and I finished
gluing the conduit together, and then we finished connecting the water
line to the well. Turned the breaker marked well off, Penn stood in
the yard with a hose running the pressure out of the tank, well the
breaker was for the old well, Penn stood there for 10 minutes and the
pressure never changed. Now I had to call Randy and ask him which
breaker he used for the new well. Once the correct breaker was flipped
it did not take long to run the pressure out of the system. Than I
built the landing pad for the trailer, by the end of the day we had
water, septic hook up and a landing pad. Again Lorraine out worked us.

Friday morn Randy and his crew came over and ran the power to the
landing spot. It only took them about and hour and a half to run the
wires, connect to the breaker box and connect and mount the plug to
the pole. Fast and easy when you have professionals at hand, Randy is
an electrical contractor and has his own business. I drove back to
Selma to get the trailer ready to be moved. Penn and Lorraine filled
in the ditch, Penn said her mom out worked her again.

Saturday I prepped the trailer, Dad and uncle Pat came up to move the trailer.

Sunday we got up at 5:00am connected the trailer to the pickup and
drove to Sunnyside. It was raining, at times it was a frog strangling
rain. Called Penn from Cascade Locks Oregon to find out if Satus Pass
was clear, no it had packed snow and ice, traction tires required.
After some discussion and ice cream we opted to go around the pass. It
only added about 40 minutes to the trip. We tried to get here before
dark, missed it by about an hour. There was still snow on the field in
which we placed the trailer. Dad pulled into the field and started to
spin, uncle Pat and I chained up dad's rear tires. Dad was able to
move until he throw a chain and got stuck, had to get the ford tractor
to pull him out, got the chain back on. The front of the tractor was
raising up, uncle Pat volunteered to lay across the nose and hold it
down, let the rodeo begin. After much maneuvering the trailer was in
place. Penn and her mom went and got dinner KFC, after dinner and a
beer we all felt better. I love living in a trailer, the moving is
simple, couple hours to prepare the trailer, couple more to organize
it when you arrive.

Monday Dad and Uncle Pat left at 6:45 am, the snow was gone.

Penn and I appreciate and thank you for all your help. Everyone went
above and beyond the call of duty and no one died.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. See you soon.

Here are our new addresses, mailing is POBox 697 Sunnyside Wa, 98944.
Physical address is 530 Camp Lane, Sunnyside Wa, 98944

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, hope to see you real soon J&P

Update

2007-12-03T17:21:00.001-08:00

We're now living in Sunnyside, WA next to my parents. We decided since we didn't have much to do in the Grants Pass area we might as well move to Sunnyside to help my parents out around their farm.

Hoping to get Internet service soon and will have more updates then.

2007-10-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Just after leaving Portland, we hit a big hail storm.

Having the trailer delivered and set up.

Our new home.

The surrounding area.

Settling in..

2007-10-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

Got the trailer set up and are unpacking stuff right now. Good day to do inside stuff - it's been raining out all day.

Devlinstravels2

New photos up at our webshots page - Devlinstravels 2 - starting on page 28

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560267772cMgglx?vhost=good-times&start=324

Settling down

2007-10-13T20:57:00.001-07:00

We're in Sunnyside, WA right now, getting some stuff out of our storage trailer to take back up to our fifth wheel trailer. It was like Christmas, going through our goodies and finding our stuff. We're hoping to have our trailer delivered to Lake Selmac - www.lakeselmac com - on Wednesday so we can start getting settled in. Once we do, we'll try to update the blog about the last leg of our travels.

--
http://devlinstravels.blogspot.com

Found the perfect spot for

2007-10-10T17:52:00.001-07:00

Found the perfect spot for the trailer. Next to a really nice lake - Lake Selmac.

www.lakeselmac.com

Redmond, OR

2007-10-08T21:05:00.001-07:00

We're in Redmond, Oregon. On our way to Grants Pass to set up the
trailer. Picked up the pickup in La Grande and loaded my bike in the
back of it. Weird to drive a four wheeler instead of a two wheeler.
Kept reaching for the clutch lever everytime I slowed down.

Devlins Travels

Polishing floors and putting up walls

New photos

Tearing stuff down

Our New (to us) House

March 2011

Winter hiking

Making the Move.....

On the road again....

July 2010 Update

May 2010

The Pooches

Flashback...

November and December 2009

It's Like Christmas...

Eastern Oregon Disorganized Ride 2009

September 8, 2009

Here it is, September already!

Our Day at the Races

Great Day Riding

What happens when boys go out to play.....

Ready to ride!

This is what happens........

New news

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated....

Updates and ............

Still moving forward...

Almost there...

The fun continues

And the work goes on and on and on...

Progress

More Progress

Progress

I need your support!

Ongoing Project

The House Project

Update

A job!

Haircut

August Update

First Impression of a New Ride

HEEEEHEEEEE!!!!!!

Short update

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The adventure of a life time

The move to Sunnyside

Update

Settling in..

Settling down

Found the perfect spot for

Redmond, OR

Twin Falls, ID

Monticello, UT

In albuquerque, new mexico. Hot

Dalhart, Texas

Oklahoma

Arkansas

Arkansas

Clarksville, TN

Westward Ho

Tennessee

Virginia

Harrisburg, PA

Thank you's

Newest photos

Danbury, CT

Maine

In nova scotia. Beautiful place.

Abbott, Maine

In casselman, ontario. Hot out.

Sudbury, Ontario

Marquette, MI

Duluth, Minnesota

Minot, ND

@ fort peck, montana. Great

Thank you

Newest Happenings

Photos from Penny - Devlinstravels2 and more...

Milwaukee, OR

Plans