You would think our lives would start to slow down after having been living on the road for 3 1/2 years, but oh no, only the names of the activities has changed.

One of the first projects we started was to clean up the pond. This pond holds about 5,000 gallons of water, is about 30 ft long and 10 ft wide with a waterfall that drops about 10 ft and is about 15 ft long. We thought the pond was only about 1-2 ft deep but later found out it is 3+ ft deep. The pond was overrun with water lillies, so much so we couldn’t see the bottom of the pond, only the root bed. As we waded into the water to start pulling roots we found out how bad the lilies had taken over. We were pulling root beds that were 6-12 inches thick and a block of about 6-12 inches square and weighed about 10-20 lbs waterlogged. We tried multiple methods of pulling all this out and finally settled on using a limb cutting saw to cut through the roots and pull small blocks out at a time. What we didn’t realize until much later is that we were only pulling the top half of the root bed. It took us several weeks of working in the pond to get it all cleaned out. In the process we found that we had about 20 fish, a frog and that the water was waist deep. We could only work on it for about an hour at a time before the filter would clog, the pump would start to starve and the waterfall would quit running. So we would stop for the day, clean all the filters and get the water rolling down the waterfall and start again the next day. We found it to be back breaking work. Once all the plants and the root bed were gone, we drained the pond, tried several pieces of equipment to clean all the mud and muck and then used a power sprayer to clean all the rocks and liner, then started filling with water. In the meantime, we had caught all the fish and had put them in a water trough in the sewing/mud room. It was such a great sense of accomplishment when we released the fish back into the pond and could actually see them swimming around and also see the bottom of the pond and listen to the water falling off the rocks and splashing into the pond.

For relief from the back breaking work we found Southern Oregon Massage. Jason and River are a fantastic couple and he provides a great deep tissue massage. He spent time learning about our aches before he started working on us and we felt great afterwards. This is going to become a regular activity. River runs the office and takes a great interest in our projects such that we have become friends as well as clients.

In addition to the pond work, trees needed to be trimmed, sprinklers needed to be replaced and repositioned and the timers needed to be programmed.

When we began our full time RV adventure we had sold all our furniture so now it was time to start buying. Our first piece/s was a steam punk style crank table and chairs so we could sit and eat. We found this table in Medford. The table has a glass top with numerous different size gears lying horizontal below the glass. It has a hand crank which allows the table top to be raised or lowered depending on the height of the chairs.

Teri found an estate sale where they were selling a nice looking sectional sofa. We went and looked at it and couldn’t pass it up. The only problem was how to get it home. It wouldn’t fit in the Jeep and the seller couldn’t deliver. So off I went to Uhaul where we rented a truck for the afternoon and got the sectional home. We didn’t realize until much later that it was a hide-a-bed. No wonder it was so heavy. We stored it in the garage for the time being as we were waiting to get the carpet replaced and didn’t want it to be in the way or have to move it multiple times.

The 2nd week of July saw us driving to Bend, Oregon. I had entered a race called the Bend Dirt Fest. As a bonus, Kevin (my coach/trainer) and Nycoal and their family decided to do a family vacation in Bend and Kevin was going to race with me. Teri and I had driven the motorhome and stayed at the Sun Outdoors Bend RV park again. This was the same park we had stayed at previously and we really enjoyed it. It was also just a 15 minute drive to where Kevin and Nycoal were staying and also a 15 minute drive to the race venue.

When we arrived, we opened the microwave to cook dinner and found that the microwave would not turn on. I checked the breakers, the power cord and fuses. Everything was working properly but no power to the microwave. After several searches online we found a YouTube video and decided to try that. We had also started looking into replacing the microwave but that wasn’t something I was looking forward to. TheYou Tube solution worked. It was a glass fuse located behind a panel in the microwave. Once I found the proper fuse, all was good. So the day before the race, Kevin and I went out for a short ride to experience some of the course and to prep ourselves for the race. We greatly miscalculated the length of the pre ride and ended up riding 30 miles in 3 hours of the 40 mile race course. Way too much the day before a race. Not only that, but I took a header over the bars on one of the rocky technical sections. No damage to the bike and I was unhurt. During that time, Teri and Nycoal had gone for a hike along the DeSchutes River. Race day Kevin and I lined up with about 100 other riders and off we went. Kevin was gone with the lead group while I was huffing and puffing along towards the back. Once on course and on the singletrack it was gratifying for me to ride past several riders who were stuck or were walking through some of the rocky technical sections. Yep, I fell a couple of times when I got stuck in other sections and couldn’t get my feet unclipped from the pedals fast enough. But I pushed on. 40 miles and 4 hours later I rolled through the finish line. What a surprise when I learned I finished 3rd in my age group. Kevin had finished 3rd in his age group as well. It was a nice finish.

One afternoon we all went to the Kahneeta Hot Springs Resort. When we walked in, we were shocked with what we saw. We were expecting several hot spring pools similar to what we had experienced in Pagosa Springs, CO. At The Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs there were multiple small hot spring tubs that would hold about 6 people with varying temperatures. The hotter pools had a strong sulfur smell. Here as we walked toward the pools, we found a children’s pool, a huge play pool and several smaller pools twice the size of the pools in CO. The sun was up and it was hot. We rented a cabana to get out of the sun when we weren’t in the water. It was more like a public pool setting. But it was relaxing and Kevin and I both took advantage of the cold plunge. Yes, the cold water hurt but it was a great feeling to get back into the hot pool.

The Denz family stayed at a BNB in Sunriver, just south of Bend. On another afternoon we all went and enjoyed the waterpark there. 2 huge slides that were fast flowed through a tunnel before you emptied into the sunlight and the water.

Back at home we continued to work on the pond until it was done. The flooring folks showed up and started tearing out all the carpeting and over the course of the week installed the new LVP wood flooring. It looks fantastic and so much better than the spotted and dingy looking carpeting.

How do you mow 2 acres of yard? You buy a riding lawn mower. After researching mowers and talking to folks, we went to Lewis Equipment here in town and purchased a zero turn riding lawn mower. When I first started mowing, I found it tricky to learn. You steer it with 2 levers. Both forward to go forward, both back to reverse. Push them opposite of each other to turn and centered is neutral. I found I could turn a circle fast enough that I could have thrown myself out of the seat. It felt like I was riding a spinning bull without the bucking. Meanwhile Teri was busy clearing underbrush from all the vegetation in the yard and finding drip system issues that needed to be repaired. Teri has also had the opportunity to jump back into one of her other passions, sewing. She started sewing curtains for all the windows. She did some fantastic work.

On July 17, just 1 month after moving in , during the afternoon, I had seen a cloud building above the mountain directly east of us. As the crow flies, the mountain is only about 1 mile from us. The cloud looked strange but there were other clouds building in the area as well. We started to hear helicopters and planes flying overhead which was a bit unusual but we didn’t pay much attention. At 530pm, the power went out. What a strange feeling. We had never lost power in the motorhome and now we were experiencing another new challenge. Shortly after we received text messages and emails from the power company and the internet/cable company that the power had been turned off for safety reasons. We didn’t understand this but continued on with our day. Then we received a text from Kaila, our realtor, advising there was a fire very near to us. That’s when we checked the Watch Duty app. The Board Shanty Creek Fire was only 2 miles away from us as a crow flies on the east side of the mountain where I had seen the ‘cloud’. That’s when I realized it had been smoke. The Level 2 (Get Set) evacuation notice extended west from the fire towards us to the road that was 1/4 mile east of us. We got very nervous. We were so nervous we loaded the motorhome with clothes, hooked up the Jeep and had the motorhome pointed out the driveway in preparation of leaving. In some ways I felt this was an overreaction but at the same time I had the thought running through my head ‘only 1 month in the house and we could lose the house’. Once everything was ready to drive out, we went to dinner. On the way home, in the darkness we could see the glow and at times the flames from the fire on top of the ridge. We monitored the Watch Duty app very closely and could see that the fire was working it’s way away from us. The next day the air had the sound of planes flying all day long. It reminded me of a WWII movie. The local firefighters, the hotshot crews, and wildland firefighters provided a very aggressive response to the fire. We learned that the fire had started in a homeless camp where people had been cooking meth. Their property was the only structure lost as a result of the fire other than the forest based on information we had been provided. Landon and Sara (we met them in Bend last month) checked on us and offered us a place stay and park the motorhome if we had to evacuate. Kaila had also offered assistance. As the days passed, the fire stayed east of the ridge and along with some helpful winds and the firefighting efforts that we monitored, our anxiety slowed and about a week after the fire had started the level 2 was lifted. I later learned that several other folks in our area, outside the Level 2 area, had also prepped trailers and go bags in preparation of leaving. This helped us to feel comfortable with our decision to prep and to not feel that we had overreacted.

Back to the yard work. We had drawn up a blueprint of the yard to identify all the sprinklers and the timers that controlled them along with their locations in hopes it would help future owners when we decided to move on. It won’t be soon. The lawn needs to be mowed about once per week and Teri has the never ending chore of weed control in the various planters around the property. I continued to train going to Planet Fitness while Teri trained at home. Wednesdays were still my climbing days and I would ride to Dollar Mountain in the center of town to do my hill repeats. 6 miles to the starting point 1.5 miles to the top, 800 feet of elevation with an average grade of 10%, then 6 miles home with total mileage dependent on how many repeats up the mountain I do. Depending on how sadistic Kevin was feeling would determine how many repeats I had to do each week. I ‘ve worked my way up to 5 1/2 repeats as I prepare for my next race. Each week as I ride, I see different animals. Deer, turkeys, squirrels are regular partners while I grind my way up the mountain. In the meantime, Teri is at home watching the deer wander through our yard, walking over the rear patio and just enjoying eating on our trees and fruit while she continues to clean up the vegetation.

We finally became official Oregonians as we obtained our drivers licenses and vehicle registrations. This is the first time in my life I have not had an AZ drivers license or AZ vehicle registrations. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we went to DMV. I also have to get used to calling it DMV. In AZ the department is known as MVD. When we arrived the line was about 30 people long 30 minutes before the doors opened. However the line moved quickly and once we had our ticket, we only had to wait about 20 minutes. The staff were extremely friendly and the process went quickly.

As the month wore on, we continued to see deer on our property and along the major neighborhood road. The young bucks are getting their antlers and the fawns are growing up.

I am venturing out and trying new trails around the area. The local trail system is Cathedral Hills. We are 1/4 mile from one of the trailheads of this popular riding and hiking area. The people I have encountered have all been very pleasant and courteous on the trail. On one ride I encountered a blind man. Yes, he was walking with his red tipped walking stick along with his wife and 2 dogs. As I pulled to the side of the trail and we exchanged pleasantries, he asked if there was room for him to pass by me. I had provided plenty of room and he passed along.

Sarge has been in a new found heaven. He loves the property and had not left the property but spends his time hunting critters in the grass and plants. He has caught several garter snakes that he likes to play with. He hasn’t learned that if he lets it go, it’s going to slither away. When the snake does make its escape, Sarge whines and searches in vain. He’s not vicious with them, he just wants a playmate. One evening as we were preparing to call it a day, we called and called for Sarge. He didn’t show his face. His airtag wasn’t connecting to the phone as our cell signal is weak in this area so we weren’t sure where he was. When he did arrive, he was panting, was full of burrs and seemed stressed. He was also missing his collar. We later determined his collar had come off while at the neighbors (we haven’t met them) and he hasn’t been back over there since.

We are starting to see temperature changes since we’ve been here. When we arrived the temps were ranging from the lows in the 60’s to highs near 100. They have been slowly dropping with the averages in the low 50’s to 90. It has been a nice change. The folks around here have been complaining about how hot it is. We kind of laugh and think, this isn’t hot, it’s definitely not Phoenix hot.

The county fair came along and we went to the opening night. It is a small fair in comparison to the Maricopa County Fair and the amusement rides are more for the younger crowd. This particular night was the Bull Riding. The night started off with the Pledge of Allegiance, a salute to the flag, the National Anthem and then the kicker. They were playing a tune over the loud speaker that had the lyrics of ‘tick-tick-boom’. Well on the 3rd cycle of this set of lyrics, the boom was an explosion from the center of the arena. You should have seen the people jump. It was great fun. The bull riding was an international affair. This was the Challenge of Champions Bull Riding Tour in which 26 men from OR, WA, ID, AK, CA, NV, AZ and Australia compete in a series of bull riding events held in various states and this was just one of them. It was quite entertaining.

On one of my bike rides I went to Brown Mountain which is about 90 minutes east of us toward Klamath Falls. I didn’t realize this had been a volcano until I rolled up into the lava flow. It is also home to Lake of the Woods which is nestled amongst several mountains which I believe are all volcanos. I met a young lady on the trail who had a huge backpack hanging off her back while she was hiking. We chatted for a few minutes and she introduced herself as Annika. She was hiking from Mexico to the Canadian border and was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. She had started at the Mexican border on May 1. She agreed to let me take her picture for the purposes of the blog.

My most recent race was the Oregon 6 which was a 6 hour mountain bike race. The first loop was 10 miles. The first 5 miles were climbing on a service road with an average grade of 7%, then you descended 5 miles. The subsequent loops were 7.5 miles long with the initial 3.5 miles of climbing with an average grade of 5%. Then you guessed it, 3.5 miles of descending. I completed 5 loops finishing in 6:02. Had I finished the 5th loop in under 6 hours, I could have gone out for another. As it was I finished in 8th place out of 9 riders in my age group. On the last loop I stopped to help a young man with a flat tire. As I came around a corner, I could see him on the side of the trail. His bike was upside down and he was holding the rear tire. I asked if he needed help and he said yes, so I stopped. He was about 10 years old and said he didn’t know how to put the tube in the tire. His rear tire had gone flat and he was trying to fix it. He said he had been in 1st place by about 12 minutes with about 9 loops. I was impressed. I showed him how to install the tube in the tire and he started pumping it up and said he was good and I could go. When I checked later, I learned I had spent over 3 minutes with him. Had I not stopped, I would have had time for another loop and would have finished in 5th. As it was, when I finished the last loop, I found his parents and explained the situation. They had been a bit worried because it was taking him so long. In hindsight, I would have done the same thing all over again even knowing I could have had another lap. Helping this young man and giving the family a sense of relief was a comforting feeling for me.

We know we are becoming a part of the community when we no longer have to use Google Maps to find our way around town to some of our regular haunts. Fred Meyer for food, Home Depot for home maintenance/repair stuff, Jimmy’s Classic Drive In for milkshakes. You get the picture. When I stop in to get my haircut, Natalie refers to me by name and of course we have become friends with Jason and River as well. We have noticed that most of the businesses around the area are sole proprietors and family owned businesses. This is both a blessing and a curse. We have found it difficult at times to make contact when we need a contractor but when we do get service, they are extremely friendly and do good work.

As we close out the month, we had our first heavy rain. The rain started with large drops that became a torrent which then turned to hail. The hail was marble sized and it was so loud hitting the sky lights and the roof in the living room we couldn’t hear the tv even with the volume at max. Our neighbor actually had her skylight cracked from the hail. What a way to close out this chapter.

Until next month, Stay Safe.