Millhollens and Farmans visit

Enjoying Hood Canal Beach

During our monthly visit to Eugene for treatment we had several fun events: a 70th birthday gathering for Ted Hulbert, a birthday dinner for Bertha, with Roy who came down from Vancouver. We also attended a Cascade Chorus concert in which neighbor, Walt Stoeffler, is a member. After we got back to Hansville, Bertha and Gary and Anne Millhollen traveled from Eugene to Vancouver where they met Roy and Suzanne to travel on to Hansville for a long weekend. They arrived Thursday evening, the day a 29 day stretch of no rain was broken. We were hopeful that weather would be perfect for the weekend but that was not to be. Friday morning we took advantage of low tides and explored the Sand Dollar beach.

Sand Dollar Colony

It is amazing to see the nearly black sand dollar colonies with thousands of them clustered together. Of course we avoided walking on them but did collect some of the white shells of deceased members of the colony that had washed away from the colony. Later we stopped by the house to clean up a bit before going to the local casino for a great lunch buffet. On the way past Norwegean Point in Hansville we observed a submarine being escorted, you can see Whidbey Island in the background across Puget Sound.

Submarine being escorted by coast guard.

We spent the afternoon exploring Bainbridge Island with views across Puget Sound to Seattle. We also enjoyed exploring the Town & Country Market which is known for food products from around the world. That evening we feasted on Reuben sandwiches created by Roy from meats, cheese and bread from the Bainbridge Island market.

Seattle in the background across Puget Sound

Saturday morning after our oatmeal pancake breakfast we all loaded into Roy’s van for a trip to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park, just 60 miles from our place. We were concerned that the clouds might block the views of the mountains but were pleasantly surprised to have great views of the nearly 8000 foot mountains from the 5000 foot high ridge just 17 miles from sea level at Port Angeles. There were several deer grazing in the meadow that almost seemed tame to entertain us as we walked the trails for better mountain and valley view points.

Olympic range from Hurricane Ridge

As the clouds started to close in we moved out of the Olympic Mountains and over to Port Townsend to explore the historic town that was built in the 1890’s. We also visited historic Fort Warden but as the wind was picking up and rather cold we did not spend much time out of the van. We arrived home after a full day and had a light dinner before feasting on apple pie topped with ice cream.

Fort Warden Lighthouse near Port Townsend

Sunday morning we again visited the beach during low tide before moving on to Poulsbo, a historic town settled by Norwegians. We could not see the Olympic Mountains as we sometimes do as they were hiding in the clouds but did enjoy views of the marina and all of the activities on the waterfront. After another full day we returned home for pizza followed by ice cream. Of course all through the weekend there was lots of visiting but Monday morning arrived and it was time to say our good byes. We really enjoyed the long weekend, even though it seemed shorter than 3 days!

Kingston ferry on Puget Sound

Doe and Fawn adventure...

Recently we had an interesting deer story. Ray was out front using the weed eater when he noticed a doe and her two young fawns crossing the road in front of our house. They were startled by an oncoming car and the mother went on one side of our fence while the two fawns went for the other side of the fence. From the kitchen window Nancy saw the spotted fawns in our back yard with their mother on the other side of the fence in the neighbor’s yard. Soon after one fawn went into the woodsy section in front of our house and we saw her a few times. The other one kept running back and forth along the fence, with the doe watching from the other side. The babies make almost a mewing sound, like a young kitten when calling to their mother. The mother was trying to get the fawn to come and it ran into the fence a couple of times. It came onto our pickle ball court and Nancy got a picture of it looking at its mother across the fence. She also got fairly close to the fawn and took a couple of cute pictures with the telephoto, trying not to scare it too much. We kept watching the doe and fawn, and our neighbor was also watching. Sensing a little help was needed to reunite mother and fawns, Ray circled the house ending up behind the fawn and with gentle encouragement it moved towards the front yard of our house through the carport to the end of the fence. As we gently “herded” the fawn toward the road the doe moved along the other side of the fence keeping an eye on the fawn. They finally met up at the end of the fence where mother and fawn bounded across the road and into the trees. We didn’t see the second fawn, but figured it was hiding and would get back together with mom as soon as possible. We were sure the fawn must have been in a safe place hiding until the mother called it. A day or so later we talked to our neighbor who had just seen the doe and her two fawns. Apparently this doe has had twins for the last few years and we were glad to know the twins were back with their mother. The fawns were so cute and it was interesting to watch the drama. Of course we are glad the story had a happy ending. Occasionally we spot the doe and fawns in our neighborhood and have seen them another time in our back yard with the fence separating the fawns and doe. They no longer seem to be panicked by the fence and eventually negotiate back together. Soon the young ones may be able to jump the fence and we look forward to seeing that.

Wildlife is abundant...

With spring in full force we started seeing lots of wild life around our house. We have a few deer that wander through taste testing now and then. Even though one neighbor has been trapping and relocating raccoons we have noticed one or two passing through our yard, sometimes in broad daylight. Unfortunatley they have avoided having their picture taken. We have also noticed a couple of chipmunks that forage for food in our garden area. Research has revealed they are probably Townsend chipmunks. They are so cute eating a strawberry and it sure takes the little guys a long time to eat just one berry. There is an old stump that is very popular and sometimes we have observed a Stellers blue jay claiming the high point with the chipmunk scurrying around until the jay leaves so they can clam the stump. We also have several Douglas squirrels which are also small but bigger than the chipmunks with black tufted ears. The squirrels and chipmunks are constantly on the move and hard to photograph but fun to watch.

Ray ended the month with his oral surgery on the 27th. He came through very well, with almost no pain but eating will be a challenge for a while. He is scheduled to have a partial plate fitted sometime in September or maybe as late as October.

January 2008

January: – We made it official by setting our retirement date for June of 2008. That means it is time to start working on last minute trips, sorting and getting ready to leave Germany. With a retirement date set the end of school, pressures are double the normal stress. We have to complete the school year as well as pack out, clear post, clear DoDDS and prepare to move. In the States it is normal for a retiree to work the last day and go home to start retirement. In DoDDS retirement means moving out of your house, leaving the community and starting all over somewhere else.

Spring brings flowers...

Front and Side yard

On May 1st, at the end of our road trip, we met our Roseburg Gourmet Group (been together over 30 years) for a wonderful dinner at the Culinary Institute in Portland where Anita Totman works. It was a wonderful dinner with lots of visiting. Being home for much of the month of May we were able to really enjoy the colorful rhododendrons, azaleas, tulips and other flowers in their prime. As this was our first spring in Hansville we had not seen the multitude of colors and varieties before. Pictures are better than words so this entry is mostly of views taken at our our place. The house sits back from the road with a wooded area near the road and behind our house which makes it seem like you are in the middle of the woods. We can see the neighbors on either side to remind us we are not totally isolated.

Back yard

Spring Road Trip Details

Ready for a spring road trip...

After a cold winter we decided a road trip to places with warm and sunny weather was what we wanted so we started thinking of a trip to southern destinations. To start developing a plan we sent messages to family and friends with rough details about our proposed road trip. With a tentative schedule planned we went to Google Maps to finalize the plan and that is when we realized what a big road trip we had scheduled, over 8,000 miles! We were excited about the trip and eagerly packed and left Hansville the middle of March with the first stop in Vancouver WA to see Brett, Kasey and Cecilia as well as Roy and Suzanne. Then it was on to Eugene, OR to start my treatment as well as do projects around Mom’s place. Our plan was to use the 5 weeks between treatments to travel. We began the REAL road trip on March 20. With nice weather, we headed further south to Modesto, CA where we visited with Nancy’s sister and family (Jan, Al and Tara). Had a nice dinner at Chevy’s on Saturday evening for their anniversary and went to church on Sunday. On Monday it was time to head further south and east to Henderson, NV for a brief visit with Jo and Ed Hiramoto. We were glad to share some time with them but also glad we were able to have a longer visit with them last fall. We did have a very nice buffet dinner at South Point Casino and walked around the new “M” Casino, where we did some wine tasting (automated system, using a “credit card”) and saw beautiful views of Las Vegas at night from the view terrace at the top.

Jo and Ed Hiramoto enjoying the desert

The next day it was time to move on. On Jo and Ed’s recommendation, we drove to Bullhead City and went on a scenic back road to Oatman, an Old West town, where we saw a staged gunfight (we HAD to see it because the road was blocked until it was over), and saw wild burros. We drove a section of the old Route 66 through beautiful rugged country, enjoying some desert wildflowers and an interesting old cemetery There was a wooden cross for “Jimmy Hoffa”. Ray insists it must be authentic since it said “UAW”! Because of the winding roads and stops to see things, we were late arriving in Surprise, AZ where we had a nice but short visit with Diane Barr and her son Bruce.

Nancy, Ray with Diane Barr
Surprise, Arizona

It was nice to finally see her home and catch up on news of mutual friends. We had a good dinner at Olive Garden. In the morning we enjoyed a delicious quiche and helped her pick grapefruit and lemons from her trees. Then it was on to Las Cruces, NM to see Ken & Diana Knapp. In the morning Ray went walking with Ken, his sister, Judy, and Casey, the dog. We loved exploring the area with them and relaxing at their home overlooking the Las Cruces valley and the rugged mountains surrounding it. The historic downtown area of Old Mesilla was quite interesting and we enjoyed learning about the history of the area. Also were surprised to see many pecan orchards. We went out to breakfast at a great place called The Shed. Before we departed Ken shared some well known Hatch peppers and a recipe to share along our trip.

Ken Knapp at home in the kitchen

Las Cruces, New Mexico

It was a long day traveling from Las Cruces to Austin, TX to see my brother, Greg and his wife, Geri. Texas is a huge state which takes a couple of days to drive across. We enjoyed the hills and formations and blooming yucca. While in Austin we enjoyed visiting with family and their friends and neighbors, as well as exploring some of the area. We drove out in the Hill Country to Cow Creek, where we walked and found interesting rock formations with crystal geodes imbedded in them, and found numerous “Devil’s Toenails”, which are fossilized shells. On Sunday we attended the Orthodox Church where we became educated on some of the origins and practices of the church. After brunch, we drove to Barton Springs (very cold spring water). We just looked, and remembered Ray diving in years ago on a very hot day and gasping for breath because it was so cold! Also climbed up to Mt. Bonnell, at 775 feet the highest point in the area. Enjoyed seeing blooming Bluebonnets along the roadsides and in fields.

Greg and Geri
Austin, Texas


It was another long day across the other half of Texas to Gulfport, Mississippi, where we met Bob and Pam Goodman for a short but fun visit. We were amazed at how much damage is still visible in the area from Hurricane Katrina. There is some rebuilding along the coast - expensive looking homes and Casinos, which can now be built within approximately 800 yards (can’t remember the exact distance) of the water, instead of having to be on boats off the shore. There were still empty slabs or cement pillars with no longer a house on top. We also saw a few lots of FEMA trailers or “shotgun houses”. Of course we enjoyed some very tasty sea food at a nice restaurant while in the gulf coast area.

Bob and Pam Goodman

Gulfport, Mississippi

We had another long day into Florida, a state we had not visited before. Late in the afternoon we arrived at Clearwater to see Mary Anne and Philip Caltagirone. An added treat was seeing their daughter, Anne Marie, just before she departed for a business trip to California. While having dinner on their deck overlooking Clearwater Bay we were entertained by flamingos flying by, pelicans diving for fish, and other shore birds. They have a beautiful view of Clearwater Bay, the city and the curved causeway bridge across the water. During our stay, with excellent tour guides we saw beautiful botanical gardens where we saw an alligator, and a lovely old neighborhood with huge oak trees draped with dangling moss. In that area we saw Hulk Hogan’s mansion, and the classic old Biltmore Hotel complex which is being renovated. We stopped to walk on the Clearwater beaches and had a lovely lunch at a café on the bay where we saw egrets and pelicans mingling with fisherman on the dock. Have seen many types of birds which we have enjoyed. A warm sunny day added to the ambiance. Phillip grew up in the area so it was fun to see it through the eyes of a native.

Mary Ann and Philip Caltagirone

Clearwater, Florida

All too soon it was time to drive across Florida to Merritt Island where Pat & Patty Fitzgerald live with their four little Maltese dogs. We did not have time to see Cape Canaveral which was nearby, but we did enjoy seeing Manatees feeding and playing in Manatee Cove. Touring the area we saw another alligator and then had a great meal with them at their favorite restaurant. What a fun evening we had visiting while in their hot tub. It had been a warm (83 degrees) and slightly humid day with a little rain, but still very pleasant. In the morning Ray couldn’t find his socks, which he’d left in his shoes. He and Pat had a good laugh when they found the socks in Bella’s favorite hiding place where she likes to stash her “treasures”!

Watching Manatee
Ray and Patty Fitzgerald
Merritt Island, Florida

We then turned north and traveled to Fayetteville, NC to see Cindy Vargo. We decided that South Carolina may have the cheapest gas prices but also the worst roads. The cell phone proved valuable to find her place, because we were in the area, but made a couple of wrong turns, even with our Google map printouts. Maybe we need to get a GPS as well. We enjoyed dinner at a German Imbiss restaurant that made us think we were back in Germany. We only had a short time with Cindy but knew we were going to be stopping back by in a few days. We did enjoy seeing her nice condo with a back deck which looks out on a waterway with lots of trees, birds, turtles and other wildlife. We stayed up late visiting.

Cindy Vargo and Nancy

Fayetteville, NC

The next day we needed to get to Chester, Virginia, to see long time friends Marilyn and Gordy Slifer. We can trace our friendship back to BC (Before Children), 40 years ago in Heidelberg, Germany. We laughed a lot as we reminisced about our years of memories and talked about our grandkids. Their daughter, Sara, and her husband Peter and 1-year-old Jesse were staying with them until they move into a rental house and we enjoyed visiting with them, too. Unfortunately Marilyn had to leave for a trip the next morning, but we continued to enjoy our stay in the area. We enjoyed seeing the place where Peter and Sara will be living and in the evening loved seeing and hearing a first class Easter Cantata at the Baptist Church where Peter was a member of the choir. Had a nice dinner all together and stayed up late talking with Gordy. Before we knew it we were on the road again to Suffolk, Virginia, to see Bill and Kitti Schmitz.

Bill Schmitz with his 1966 Mustang

Suffolk, Virginia

It was a stormy day but we enjoyed exploring historic Smithfield on the way. We enjoyed a great spaghetti dinner that night, prepared with Kitti’s famous spaghetti sauce. Enjoyed a walk in their neighborhood in the evening. Unfortunately Kitti had to work the next day but we loved touring with Bill in their 1966 restored Mustang convertible. Too bad the weather was too cool to have the top down. Stopped for lunch at a Virginia Barbeque place. After Kitti returned we enjoyed dinner and another walk in the neighborhood. The next morning we had a special bonus of visiting with Sue Johnston who we also knew from Germany. She had just flown in from visiting with her daughter in Hawaii. Soon it was time to say goodbye and we headed south for Fayetteville and a longer visit with Cindy Vargo. After dinner we walked around her pretty neighborhood and loved seeing the blooming azaleas, wisteria, dogwoods, etc. She had to work the next day so we had a lazy morning and then went driving in the area. We decided not to try to find the apartment where we had lived in Spring Lake in 1967/68 when Ray was at Fort Bragg, so drove out into the countryside and found two historic old towns of Carthage and Cameron. Took pictures of a couple of historic old churches and had a picnic on the wooded grounds of the old Presbyterian church. Came back through Pinehurst and Southern Pines which are famous for golf courses. Met Cindy and had a nice dinner in old downtown Fayetteville which has been restored nicely. Walked around town and a nice park and then back home for another good night of visiting.

Anne, Jane, Arianna and Mikaela Seeman

Marietta, Georgia

As we headed southwest we passed through Augusta, GA while the Masters Golf tournament was being played. We are not really golf fans but did find it interesting and found ourselves paying more attention to the tournament. We reached our destination of Marietta, GA for a visit with Anne Seeman, her girls and mother in time for wonderful home cooked dinner. It was interesting to spend the evening watching the live news coverage of tornado watches in the area. Technology made reports very interesting. Nancy and I had never experienced being in a tornado watch area before. Fortunately they did not come close to Marietta, but we got a call from Deanna Lawson that they were having tornados in Tennessee also, including a terrible one which hit Murfreesboro, about 30 miles north, which devastated many homes and killed a young mother and her 9-week-old baby. Deanna had been holed up in Walmart with a bunch of people until the danger had passed and she wanted to let us know they were okay. While in the Marietta area we had a mini DODDS reunion hosted by Dave and Carolyn Douglas. It was great seeing them as well as Dan and Gayle Parker. On Easter Sunday we were honorary Catholics for a day at a large catholic church. It was packed and we found ourselves comparing the service to the Orthodox, Baptist and Methodist services we had attended along the way. The day we left, Monday morning, there was added excitement, because a huge old oak tree in Jane’s yard was blown over by high winds, blocking the street and making quite a mess. Luckily the tree did not come down on the house!

Bill and Deanna Lawson

Manchester, Tennesee

Once the tree was cleared enough that the road was passable we were on the road to Manchester, Tennessee, to visit Bill and Deanna Lawson. While in Tennessee had a great time discovering new nature hikes and water falls that were flowing full with recent rains. One was Burgess Falls, which was the biggest and most impressive falls. The other area was called Fiery Gizzard, and had a beautiful stream with several falls. One day we helped medicate cows on the farm. During the process 10 calves were separated from their mothers and you can bet we heard a lot of bellowing. Nancy had a fun time mowing the large yard with the rider mower. Just as she was finishing, a big black snake poked its head up from behind the steering wheel to look around. It had been riding in the mower for over an hour when that happened. She vacated the mower in a hurry! Unfortunately we did not get a picture of the nearly 5 foot long hitchhiker. On Saturday we enjoyed a visit from our niece Tarah (Farman/Yurchenko) and her husband Michael and his mother, Nina who was visiting from Russia. They enjoyed a tour of the farm, especially when Bill called the cows for a treat. We returned to our Methodist roots by attending church with Bill and Deanna that Sunday. In the afternoon we had a good visit with Michael and Lisa Lazalier (Charles’ & Kari’s long-time friends) and little girl, Elsie. They surprised us all with the announcement that Elsie was expecting a brother or sister. Reluctantly we had to leave, knowing we had some long days driving ahead of us.

Michael, Tarah and Nina

Manchester, Tennessee

The first day we made it to Kansas City, Missouri. We celebrated Nancy’s birthday with nice dinner at a restaurant the motel suggested. The next morning we were up and headed west making it to Cheyenne, Wyoming for the night. It has snowed the week before and there were still some traces of snow in the area. The next day we enjoyed traveling through desert country and saw many antelope. The end of another long day brought us to Wells, Nevada. The next morning we experienced snow in the desert as we traveled on to Reno to spend the night with long time friends Carol and Lou Brewer. It was a much shorter and easier drive on to Modesto, California, with a nice stop to visit with Gerry Green and Ralph James in Nevada City, California.

Passing through the wide open spaces...

We had now gone full circle and enjoyed sharing our road trip adventures with Jan, Al and Tara. We enjoyed being Methodists again on Sunday before heading north Monday to Eugene. There we helped with some projects as well as started my next treatment. Then it was on to Vancouver to connect with Brett, Kasey and Cecilia and also spend some time with Roy and Suzanne. Before leaving the area we enjoyed an afternoon in the Portland zoo with Brett, Kasey and Cecilia. We enjoyed having Brett ride with us to Hansville to recover his car that had been left there. That evening we arrived back in Hansville bringing our road trip to a close. Brett spent the next day doing a few projects around the house before picking up his car and heading back to Vancouver in the late afternoon.

Ray and Bertha with Cherry Tree

Eugene, Oregon

Now that we are getting settled back in Hansville we calculated we that we had actually covered over 9500 miles in 7 weeks! That reminded how huge a country America really is. There is so much to see and we only scratched the surface of the areas we passed through. We loved the adventure but had a lot of work facing us after being gone for 7 weeks, The out of control lawn and piles of mail were begging for our attention. We are enjoying a new stove, dishwasher and hot water heater that our landlords installed while we were away. We do have a good landlord (our son Brett and wife Kasey). Living in Hansville is like a vacation every day and we enjoy taking mini road trips to explore this area!

Another Hansville sunset on Hood Canal

Ray turning GREEN

tackling the lawn

April – Planning and Trip highlights

Rugged Nevada canyon lands

Las Cruces, New Mexico

The highlight for his month was a 7 week 9500 mile road trip to see teacher friends and family across the southern part of the country. As this is such a huge country we felt we should concentrate our travels in the southern states. When the weather is warmer we plan to concentrate on the northern sections. On our trip we enjoyed seeing many friends and only wish we had more time to explore our diverse country. Highlights during our trip included but were not limited to route 66, alligators, manatees, flamingoes, cardinals, being in a tornado watch area and having a huge tree toppled in front of a friend’s house the day after Easter. In Tennessee we had time to enjoy hikes to waterfalls, as well as time on the farm. If you want more details of our road trip you will need to check out the April 2009 Road Trip entry. Upon our return we found piles of mail that needed attention as well as a yard that begged for care after seven weeks of neglect. We also kept busy working to arrange doctor and dental appointments. Nancy got off easy with the dentist but I will be having oral surgery in preparation for some partial dentures.

Burgess Falls, Tennessee

Clearwater, Florida