Back in MA; kind of missing the Pacific Northwest

My visit to Oregon was terrific. It was a whirlwind of activity and although I had no specific agenda when I flew out last week, the process of dealing with my McMinnville property took form. Mom and I drove to Mac on Thursday to take care of the Water and Light transfer and met with some realtors whom I've known most of my life since they were in our church. They had some terrific ideas about facilitating improvements on the property and I was quite excited about working with them. The following morning, Stan listened to what I laid out as our options and suggested holding an open house on Sunday. I scrambled to put the ads in local newspapers and set out to work on cleaning up the yard. Mary Bernards Allen was unbelievable in the support she gave me. Come to think of it, she's always been unbelievable in the support she gives me. When Mom and I drove up on Saturday, there was Mary mowing the lawn!! We worked the rest of the afternoon and it felt really good to have a project together. We're dirty, scratched and bloody but still smiling:

Then we went to her place and sat on the deck beneath the water mister that Steve had installed. We sipped lemon drops beneath the fine mist, laughing, telling stories and enjoying the sunshine. Kara breezed through:

When Steve returned (he had taken Ross to buy a Lance Amstrong type bike in Salem), we went to the Golden Brew Pub for dinner. It was terrific. Ross with his new bike (below) before he left for the inagural ride with his friend Sean:

Sunday, Mom and I hurried out to Mac after I delayed departure in order to deliver a job to a client in MA for a Monday meeting with the CEO (this wasn't a vacation--I was still working as far as my clients knew). I had put together a spec sheet on the house that morning and I photocopied it at Staples then went to Wal-Mart to buy "FOR SALE" signs. As I asked an associate to help me locate them, I was stopped by a man who asked "you're selling a house?" This turned out to be the " signa" as in "Under the Tuscan Sun" because it was these very nice folks who have submitted the best offer and who will be owning my property if all goes well. We actually met lots of nice people throughout the day. Mary and Steve came by a couple of times to sit with us. She cleans up "real good":

McMinnville is a really nice area of the world.
On Monday, we drove over the coast range to visit with Cheryl, Sheldon and Brian in Manzanita. We went out to breakfast at Wanda's and then on to the beach for a while. We watched kite boarding or whatever it's called -- quite dramatic as they soar 20' into the air above the surf. Christy spread her blanket over the huge log but before long she grew far too warm. I looked over to see her blanket glowing red. It was on fire!

It was great to see Brian again and he's doing great. He's going to have a bright future, I'm certain. I only wish that Bernie could have been there as well. Here we are in Cheryl's and Sheldon's back yard and below at the beach.

I posed by the Tsunami Evacuation Route sign. What a tourist:

Mom and Christy pose at the overlook on highway 101 with Manzanita visible below:

Christy took us out for a lovely meal at Camp 18 on the ride home.
The next morning I flew back home and Stan collected me at TF Green Airport in Providence sporting a new vanity plate for the MINI: "MTRING" Ah...yes, we're motoring in the MINI.