We have been sitting more or less stationary for over two months now. We arrived back from our Alaska adventure on September 9th, and here it is now November 13th. We still have a couple weeks to go before we finish Judy’s session with the oral surgeon. She is in the process of getting some titanium implants to replace a failed bridge. That will take us through Thanksgiving. We will finish up a couple last minute details and then we will look over the situation in the Siskiyou Mountains and see if we can escape to the sunny Southwestern United States. The weather is getting rather chilly here at night and forces our heat to run a lot. Recreational vehicles are not known for superior insulation.

Meanwhile we have been mostly staying at the Elks lodge in Hillsboro which is close to our daughter’s family, Renee, Neil and Georgia Ann. We periodically take a trip somewhere which allows us to dump our tanks and reset the “stay a while” clock. We have several regular loop rides that we do on the tandem bicycle that keeps us in shape. We regularly divide our time between home repair projects and spoiling Georgia Ann. I am also working on my repertoire of bluegrass songs to be ready for the winter festivals in the southwest.

Today was a fairly typical day. About mid morning we wandered over to St. Helens. My goal today was to visit with my old compatriots at the paper mill, and Judy was headed for a church bazaar workshop. I had my computer along and started showing my friends a collection of Alaska trip photographs. I only got about a third of the way through the “selected photos” before the lunch period was over. That group is only about a third of the photos I took. If you invite me over be sure you don’t ask me to show all my photos. After Judy finished her workshop about three we stopped in Scappoose and went for an hour bicycle ride in our old stomping grounds around the Scappoose dike lands.

We got the bicycle back on the car just before dark, it was getting rather cold too. On the way back to Hillsboro we called ahead and made our plans for a family dinner with Renee and Neil. Judy cooked some of the dishes and Neil cooked some, then we drove over to Renee and Neil’s home for supper and an evening of spoiling Georgia Ann. We disappear again when Georgia starts getting ready for bed. I then practice guitar a while and Judy has a sewing project she is working on. We check out the ten o-clock news then we wander off to bed.

This is getting way too predictable. It is definitely time for some new adventures. It is time to start the wander-lust again.

Well we send our love to all and we will see you down the road somewhere.

Gary and Judy Dinsmore.