I’m back from a much-needed vacation last week. Took a solo trip out to Portland/Vancouver to visit my Brother. I flew out Sunday afternoon. We have a regional airline (Allegiant) that has direct service from Des Moines to Portland, which makes the trip very easy. Flight time is right around three hours. Granted, not the most luxurious plane, but for the price and not having to deal with a connection, I’m not going to complain. My neighbor on the plane was a retired journalist for one of our local newspapers. Fascinating guy… he covered politics during the late-60’s through the early-90’s and had a lot of great stories from ‘back in the day’, which made the time in the air (pardon the pun) fly by. Always nice when you can make a new friend – we exchanged info and agreed to get together for coffee at some point in the future.
Sunday night was low key. We grilled steaks, sipped some local IPAs around the fireplace, and discussed the week’s plans. While the main goal of my trip was to spend some time with my brother, the secondary purpose was to also help him out with his house repair/remodel. For a little bit of context (and without going into all the details), his ex-wife decided she didn’t want to be married anymore so he had to sell their house in Portland and find something quickly that he could afford with his income. The housing market being what it is in that area combined with the tight deadline to sell/buy didn’t leave him with many options. The house he bought is a neat mid-century single level with a great layout. It has a good roof and a solid foundation, but everything in between needs serious attention. The upside is that he has spent many years in the trades and has the skill and knowledge to do most of the work himself. The house is also in an up-and-coming neighborhood with a lot of young families moving in and rehabbing the houses.
One thing that my brother doesn’t have a lot of experience with is electrical work. The bulk of the electrical update has already been taken care of by an electrician, but there were a handful of nuisance things like a finicky dimmer switch, broken outdoor lights, and a new-used fan that he wanted installed. He was working during the days Mon-Wed, so I entertained myself by tackling those things. Being an older house, some projects took a little more work than expected, but I had the time to dig into them and it was nice to be able to take care of those things for him.
Wednesday night we went to a couple breweries and then went to watch the Timbers play Orange County. We had perfect weather and great midfield seats. Close enough to be able to really enjoy the action, but up high enough to easily see the entire match. I’d never been to a soccer match in person, but it did not disappoint. The Timbers Army were a wild group and made for a fun atmosphere. While there were some questionable calls from the officials, the game itself was high energy and entertaining. The Timbers ended up winning 3-1, so everyone was in a good mood.
That green beer was from Great Notion Brewing (
https://greatnotion.com/). It’s a sour called Bicycle Day. Hands down the best sour I’ve ever had.
Since the weather had been so nice and everything had a chance to dry out, we decided to make Thursday yard cleanup day. My folks had spent a few weeks visiting before I went out. During that time, Dad got busy with the chainsaw got the long-overgrown trees and bushes cleaned up. Initially we were just going to rent a U-Haul pickup to bring the debris to the processing facility, but I suggested getting a box truck instead so we wouldn’t have to deal with tying/tarping down the yard waste. Good thing we did because both of us severely underestimated the volume of material in the piles Dad had created. We ended up stuffing the 10’ box truck to the ceiling, but we got it all in one trip. After that we removed an old rotted garden box from his front yard and got the ground leveled and ready for grass seed. We also dug in some paver stones to create a path from the back deck to the trash and recycling cans.
Friday we made a trip to Home Depot and got all the drywall purchased to finish off the current rooms under renovation. Before we could start on the drywall, we insulated the utility room to help reduce the sound through the walls from the water heater, washing machine, and dryer since the room falls between the master bedroom and the living room. We knocked it out fairly quickly – he cut the insulation while I hung it. Definitely one of those 1+1=3 type projects. Yes, we were mixing R13 and R15 batts, and yes, there are certainly better products for sound control. We were just using up all the odd pieces he had accumulated throughout the project. In a case like this, putting something in the walls is better than nothing, and using up the odd materials you already have on hand is better than spending money. Sometimes good enough is good enough.
Saturday was The One Moto Show. I’ve wanted to attend this show after learning about it several years ago in Gregor’s Mid-Century Moto Mecca Makeover build thread. Timing wasn’t right the first couple of years, and then C19 threw a wrench in the gears the last few years. I was bound and determined to make it this time, and I’m glad I did. I’ve been to a lot of motorcycle shows over the years, this is by far the best show I’ve ever been to. It has something for anyone who is interested in two wheels. Choppers, bobbers, dirt bikes, dual sports, American, European, old, and new… all interesting in their own way. Great vibe too… cool venue, not terribly crowded, and lots of families and kids hanging out. While I don’t have to go every year, I will make a point to go every few years. I took a bunch of pics, but the galleries on the website do a lot better job than the snaps I took with my phone. I did run across a couple of familiar bikes, most notably this one.
We left the show mid-afternoon. I suppose I can only geek out over bikes for so long before my brain goes numb from the sensory overlaod. We thought about maybe hitting up a brewery, but the idea of spending such a beautiful day inside just didn’t seem all that appealing. I suggested that we swing by the house to pick up Junior (my brother’s golden retriever) and take a little drive to get some nature. Banging around the backroads in my brother’s 1998 Subaru Outback Sport ended up being just what we needed.
Ended up at a cool waterfall and took the doggo for a swim. The water was ice cold, which is why my brother is standing on the rock.
Wandered around the woods for a little bit looking for Sasquatch, but no luck. Maybe someday.
Sunday was low-key. Wandered into Portland to pick out a couple gifts for the kids and checked out a cool lumberyard. Got packed up and headed for home. The flight was smooth as could be. There were only two empty seats on the whole plane, and they were both in my row. I even moved over to the window in case someone wanted to swap seats for a little more legroom, but nobody did. While I already can’t wait to go visit my brother again, I’m glad to be home.
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