Back in Flagstaff, July 28 - August 16, 2021

While in Oregon, we saw lots of news about the monsoon season hitting northern Arizona and lots of flash floods. Upon returning, we were surprised by the amount of damage to the nearby Sinclair Wash trail.

We got some new plants for the front entrance of our home.

Megan visited and among other hikes, we went to the Flagstaff Farmers Market where we saw some very artistic breads.

Our Flagstaff HOA had the annual meeting on August 7 and one of the issues was the deterioration of our stone walls.  To make the point, two mornings later this large rock had fallen off this wall - no one was apparently injured.

We discovered Campbell Mesa Trails on the east side of Flagstaff.  There are five loops and we hiked the Continental and Sinagua loops.  Acre after acre of wild flowers due to all the monsoon rains this year.

Besides finishing the fence project, Megan helped me replace the screen mesh and splines on our seven windows with screens.   We also got this nice spider plant and hung it from the skylight in the master bath.

As anyone who has followed the news knows, Covid and the variants have come back and the pandemic has returned (it never really left).  My sister Helen cancelled her Sept. 1 trip to Flagstaff and her Sept. 28 trip to Scotland.  Martha cancelled her Sept. trip to South Carolina.  We are now wearing face masks when ever we go inside any place except home.  I will watch the numbers but if the trends continue, my four fall trips may be cancelled.  

We will have Covid for a long time - the latest news is that it is recommended that we get a third dose of the vaccine about 8 months after the second dose.

Travel to Oregon, July 17 - 27, 2021

We finally felt safe breaking out of the Covid pandemic and flew to Portland to visit Ben and Martha.  There were surprisingly no issues at the airports or on the planes.

We walked to the Farmers Market and I went across the street to Mr. Plywood, a local hardware and lumber company - I scouted out the supplies we would need for putting in landscaping stairs in Ben and Martha's back yard.   

Each morning, I would quietly leave the house. around 5:00 a.m. and walk to the 7 - 11 store  which is open 24 hours a day.  Besides getting my early morning coffee, the three mile round trip got me some exercise.  I went through the section of Portland known as the Jade District - many nationalities here, especially from Asia.  I had a hard time figuring out the 82 Tidnea de Mariscos until I saw it correctly as Tienda - Spanish for shop.

On my way back, I would stop in the courtyard of Portland Community College, a school known for their art programs.  I found this interesting statue made of thin sheets of metal, looking solid from the side but transparent from the front.

We four went to the coast for three days, staying in a rental in Neskowin,  It was a lovely house with lots of room for all of us and several interesting antiques.

Walking the beach, we saw starfish,  the Ghost Forest and Proposal Rock.

Refinancing our mortgage was delayed two weeks, but while in Neskowin, the credit union sent a notary to us and we signed the hundred or so pages of documents to close on the loan.

The beach and the town were quite nice and I hope we can return for a longer stay.

Everything was very lush and colorful through out the town.

Then back in Portland, we worked on several projects - cutting Ben and Martha's large table down to a smaller size, trimming overgrown bushes in the back yard and installing those landscaping stairs.

Our timing was perfect, as the weather was great and the travel went well.

We felt so good about it all that I booked flights for four more trips, Portland in September to dog sit while they go on vacation, El Salvador in October with Fuller Center for Housing and two trips to Spain in November and December with Vaughan Town.

Still in Covid pandemic, May 24 - July 16, 2021

We continued to hike, this was on the informal trail that parallels the Bow and Arrow Trail.

One of the projects we did was to expand the patio with pavers so that the grill could be moved there.

On June 5, we hiked the loop trail in Griffiths Spring Roadside Park - a pleasant walk in the woods.

We found this strange bug in our townhome.

At the Flagstaff Farmers Market, there are always interesting things to see and do.  Who would expect Alaska salmon and jobs in Arizona?

Another project was to install two shelves here for more storage under the stairs - photos of the finished project will come later.

This dent was caused by the entrance control arm at the car wash - it was up and totally came off.  It only cost $1700.00 to fix and took a week at the auto body shop.  Insurance paid all but the deductible and that was paid by the car wash company.

We received many cards and gifts for our 46th anniversary.

It was so dry that many trails and the national forests were closed.  We had smoke and ashes from nearby forest fires.

In a large forested area where we have hiked many times, they have started cutting down trees, putting in utilities and streets, and soon will be building homes.

We applied for and got HOA approval to change the back fence from one with openings to no openings - we will add insulation and hopefully cut down on the noise from the streets and highway behind. us.

We sometimes get unusual things from the CSA, in this case an odd shaped carrot.

That. nearby construction continues apace.

While we have been vaccinated, we still are careful - we will take our first trip in July to visit Ben and Martha.