Month: October 2012

Growing up we always have people we admire.  For me one of those folks was Les Schertenleib.

Les and Edna lived just down the road from us so we saw them quite a bit.  Everything from helping them out during harvest to pulling soft-water taffy, or helping to make mince-meat pie.

Les was, well, a little bit of everything in my eyes.  He was a rancher, owned an orchard, a logger and most importantly, a friend of the family.  When in need he felt comfortable calling on our family and vice versa.

A couple of examples;

When I was young, probably ten or so, Les called Dad and told us to bring guns (Les was the only person I knew who had a mobile phone…long before cell phones).  He had shot a mountain lion…possibly two and didn’t want to go after them on his own.  As I said earlier Les was a rancher and they had been having their way with local livestock.  Mom, Dad, and both brothers grabbed their rifles…all except me!  Off we went into the forest.  We met with Les who was feeling rather sheepish because it turned out the mountain lions were actually bobcats (either would have scared hell outta me).  We helped to haul them down.  They had the softest fur I’d ever felt.  I’m sure I’ve omitted bits but that’s how I remembered it.

I remember when Mom called on Les in the middle of the night to help with the pregnancy of one of our  milk cows.  She was ready to give birth and there was something wrong with the delivery.  Dad was working at Forest Grove, OR and both big brothers were off at college.  Les showed up a few minutes later and he and I went down to the barn.  I’m not sure why Mom wasn’t with us…anyway, it turned out the calf was trying to come out sideways.  He reached up inside her and got the calf turned headfirst.  By this time the cow was too worn out to push so Les told me to wrap a rope around the calf’s front hoofs and we would have to pull it out for her.  Les was really patient with me.  I was scared to death.  We pulled it out and everything was right as rain for both cow and calf.

I guess my favorite memory of Les is one of watching him play guitar and sing with Judy Walker at Sam and Judy’s house.  I don’t know what the party was, but I was mesmerized at how well he played and how many of the old-time cowboy songs they knew.

Several years later Mom gave me a copy of a cassette tape of Les singing those very same songs.  It was the best Christmas present I received that year.

While I was up visiting Mom we went to town and visited with Les at the local nursing home.  He was there mending a broken hip or leg I think.  He was 91, and although hard of hearing, he was lucid as ever.

Mom called me earlier this past week to let me know that Les passed away just a few days after our visit.

It’s with tears in my eyes that I write this, because no one likes to lose their heroes.

After spending a couple of weeks with Mom and Gene in Tonasket it was time to head back to Vegas.

My old POS made it back to Spokane without any issues and I dropped it off at Bill’s Import Auto Repair, a fairly small, modest shop in north Spokane.  They had been recommended as being good Subaru mechanics.  I spoke to the owner and told him he would have it until my return in December.  Actually there was a fair amount of discussion between us about what I was considering doing to POS, but I won’t bore you with it.

My brother Wes showed up and gave me a ride back to his house where Ryan’s Subaru was waiting.  We grabbed it, drove back to the shop, unloaded POS, and transferred it all into Ryan’s (including Rosa’s bike on the roof rack).

Prior to heading back to Wes’ I told him I wanted to pick up some .38 cal ammo.  He said the closest place was Warehouse Sports at the Northtown Mall.  As we arrived he directed me to the parking garage….WHAM!!  Yep, Rosa’s bike took a hell of a shock up there….FUCK (sorry folks, no easy way for me to say it).  Besides bending the seatpost, and breaking the Freeload rack, it managed to screw up the roof rack on the car.  After several minutes of frantic work at the top of the ramp we were able to get the bike off the roof and get the hell out of the parking garage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent watching Son’s of Anarchy episodes on Netflix with the occasional F-bomb uttered by me at random moments.

I hit the road with no determined destination, but was headed towards Hood River, OR.  This route took me through the Tri-cities of Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, WA.  The area that serves as home to the Hanford Nuclear site, as well as home for the pinhead who bought my beloved BMW vert earlier in the year.  I won’t go into a full-blown rant, partly because it would shine on my own foolishness, but mainly because it would be hard for anyone except pinhead and I to appreciate what happened next.  I decided to stop by pinhead’s workplace to let him know that the final check he had given me had failed to clear and to let him know of my displeasure at having to detour to deal with it.  After a few minutes of discussion it was decided I would follow him to his house where he would make good on the final payment.  As we were driving on the freeway I began to see smoke blowing from the right rear tire.  It was as though my faithful old Beemer was letting me know it would serve no master like it had served me and to prove the point it decided to blow the tire apart in front of my eyes.  Mr. Pinhead wrote me another check on the side of the freeway with the understanding that it would clear the next day (it was promptly cashed the following morning).  Karma is always at work in my world.

I got into Hood River and spent a few wonderful minutes visiting with Ashley and catching up on her latest news regarding her desire to backpack through Europe next year.  She was preparing to open the doors at the sushi house where she works so I didn’t want to take up too much of her time and hit the road to Camas, WA.  Camas is only about an hour and a half away.  I was looking forward to seeing Brandon and Kirsten.  I had met them on my previous visit to Camas and was looking forward to seeing them again.

Brandon and I had a few drinks and some dinner prior to Kirsten showing up.  It gave us some time to discuss some potential business ideas of mine.  Brandon is a shrewd businessman and is an expert in his chosen field of work.  I like being associated with people like this.  You people know who you are…or at least I know who you are.

We ended up going back to Brandon’s where I was graciously given the use of the guest bedroom for the night.  It was a night I won’t soon forget (although parts of it I would gladly if able).  To give you an idea, the next morning over coffee Brandon told me that Kirsten was afraid that he’d “killed the Dos Equis man”.  That brought a smile to my hung over head.

I hit the road again and had a sobering drive to south central Oregon.  For those of you who have never been in this part of the country…well, put it this way, there’s a reason you’ve never been here.  I hit the wide spot of Burns just as the sun was going down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the drive through Oregon and Nevada were uneventful, but once again I was taken with the beauty of the Nevada skies.

 

A few days after Aaron went back to Vegas I decided to work my way back to Mom & Gene’s in Tonasket.  I had the choice of taking either my POS or the newer one, but in good conscience I just couldn’t leave it parked in front of my brother’s for God knows how long.  So, I packed up POS and was on my way.

Once again I wanted to go a route I’d never taken before, so I went directly north with the intention of going as far as I could without crossing the border (they frown on firearms crossing the border).  I drove up towards Newport, WA (just across the state line from Priest River, ID…a beautiful area).  I came across a cow pen with something that caught my eye so I stopped for a pic.

I gave a ride to a kid hitchhiking who was on his way to Newport.  He was on his way back home from Spokane.  This is something I probably wouldn’t have done in my former life, but I was glad to have done it.  Perhaps it has to do with receiving lifts from time to time as I rode…

I dropped him off and left a message with my nephew Nick, who works nearby in Priest River.  Unfortunately I could only leave him a message.  I grabbed a pretty good rendition of chicken fried steak and eggs at Audrey’s.  Several cups of coffee later and I was underway yet again.

My next stop was in Ione, WA…actually I stopped a few miles outside of Ione, at a farm right next to the Pend Oreille river (pronounced Pon-der-a).  I stopped at a farm to take a photo.  I’m afraid my rendition is a far cry at capturing the beauty of the sheer cliff walls I saw.

I was lucky enough to spot this old-timer, Monte, as I got to the farm.  He was kind enough to let me photograph the place and chatted with me for the better part of an hour.  I told Monte I would come visit him again after I got the POS running well enough to come over the pass from Tonasket.  He told me he’d have a pot of coffee waiting for me.  God I love meeting people.

My telling Monte I’d come back to visit once I got the POS running good wasn’t an idle comment.  I call it a POS for good reason.  It’s got over 300k miles and the power plant is worn out.  The valves and probably the top is in dire need of some tlc.  I’ll be getting this done over the course of the next six weeks or so.  I got a clear indication of how worn out it was as I went over Tiger pass.  I had to shift down to third to get over the pass.

So no doubt several of you are wondering why the POS.  Subaru’s ability to travel in snow is legendary.  I don’t believe in the disposable/discardable nature of the world and want to keep it running as long as it wants to.  I know other of you have different takes on this, but oddly enough I didn’t ask you your thoughts because this is mine.  No offense meant.

I got home without any fanfare.  Beautiful all the same.

The weather has held with highs in the high 70s.  The lows were evident in the mornings for a few days…

Small town life isn’t for everyone, but anyone who knows me knows that although Las Vegas has been my home town for almost the last 36 years, it was never home.  The Okanogan valley has always had my heart and on this trip I really felt its pull.  It’s time to come home.

With that in mind I’ve found a place that’s going up for auction next month.  It’s 2.25 acres.  At first glance you wouldn’t give it a second glance.  But if it can be had at the right price it might be worthwhile.  Only time will tell.

Only time will tell what it will auction off at.  I am however, ever hopeful.

So Rosa flew back to Vegas on Tues and my youngest son Aaron was due to fly up late Thurs night.  Why you ask?  A fair question indeed.  Aaron is a Senior in high school and is still deciding on which university to attend.  I knew he was interested in San Diego St and was surprised to hear he wanted to check out Wash State Univ…home of the Cougars…go Cougs!  Regardless I was happy to know he was coming up.

However, there is more drama to be had prior to his arrival….

Although I’d bonded with the beater POS(my generic reference to my new Subaru…the Roo) I figured it might be a good idea to take it to Rob @ Rob’s Automotive in Spokane Valley.  Wes has been going to him for years and trusts his judgement/ability.  That’s good enough for me.  I called Rob and warned him what I was up to.  It only took a cursory look for Rob to declare my car a heap and demanded its removal in order to keep his property values up.  Well, if I give it some thought perhaps there was more dialogue than that.

About this same time I had been looking for bike racks and came across exactly what I wanted…and guess what, it was mounted to the same model Subaru as mine except ten years newer and in a helluva lot better shape.  Did I mention he was selling the car too??  At a really good price?  Yep, I bought the racks…and the car too.

But getting back to Aaron…He flew in late Thurs evening and I was damn glad to see him.

We took off for our WSU campus tour the next morning and what a good tour we had.  The campus is beautiful and sizable to boot.  I think Aaron was suitably impressed.

We spent the rest of the weekend kicking around Pullman, Greg & Jeannie’s house in Colton and down in Lewiston (love the smell of the paper mill!).  All in all it was a good time.

Sunday morning saw us heading over to Moscow to meet a Subaru enthusiast who agreed to look over my POS (did I mention Aaron drove the newer Roo while I drove the POS…it was a Roo caravan…breaker, breaker 1-9).  He pulled the plugs and put in a new set of NGKs and while doing so found one of the wires hadn’t been seated too well on one of the plugs as well as a pin-hole leak in the upper radiator hose.  After all was squared away we took off for Spokane via some back roads I’d never driven.  It was a great drive to Tekoa where we stopped for some chow.

Pretty uneventful.  I got Aaron to his flight on time and asked him to call me when he got back to Vegas.  He did, but it was with bad news.  His dog Cooper had to be put down earlier in the morning.  Coop had been a faithful companion to Aaron, Ryan and Paula for several years and I know his loss will be felt by all…but especially by Aaron.  Without doubt, he was Aaron’s dog.  It’s so easy to get attached to ’em. Via Con Dios Amigo.