Holden's Video of Alyssa's Visit 2008

This is a video that our grandson, Holden, took at his house in Arlington. Susie was visiting her daughter, Kristi ,and Holden for the weekend. Holden's cousin, Alyssa, was visiting for the day. Susie thought this would be a good kids video for our Blog. Hope you enjoy.

The picture is of our Susie, back in 1977. She drove this Unlimited Hydroplane for a promotional thing for the radio station. Since it was a sanctioned run of a 1 mile straightaway, it be came a World Record as the fasted woman on water in a propeller driven boat. She clocked the run at 163.043 mph. The record will likely never be broken as the sanctioning body does not want to run any risks and assume any liability for this type of record, as we understand it. Maybe the APBA would have another answer. Anyway, if you look in the Guinness book of world records, it's there for July 27, 1977. Her name was, then Sue Williams, nick name Seattle Sue. We are all VERY proud of her. Below is a video of the record run - a little grainy but pretty cool. Hope everyone enjoys!!!!!

The bottom picture is of our 'autographs' on the overhead center beam that is being put up at the Wenatchee Regional Events Center. The top is of the events center construction taking place. This is across the street from the Walla Walla Park. It will be a 4300 seat hockey arena the can also be converted to have concerts and other sporting events. Completion date is set at Sept. 17 of this year. It should be done, then as there is some stiff penalties if not. the video is of some of the ceremony that we stayed to enjoy. As you can see, lots of people were there for this 'top-off' ceremony. This is a $20 million project and is supported by Most of the people living in the Valley. It's very exciting.

In the early morning hours of Monday, Mar. 3rd, Ecoterrists from ELF set off incendiary devises in new homes in the Maltby area in Snohomish Co. Fire District 7 firefighters initially responded and called for more help. As many as 5 multi-million dollar houses were burned to the ground. The picture, at left, are some District 7 firefighters. From left to right, Chad Berg(our son-in-law), Lt. Rob Fisher(a good friend of ours & Chad's boss), and firefighter Shouse. The picture was copied from CNN news. You might be able to view the sight at the following: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/03/seattle.fire/index.html#cnnSTCPhoto . we are very proud of our Firefighter family and all they do for the good of the citizens.

Today is Thursday, Feb. 28th. I got a call from Lt. Agnew of the Chelan Co. sheriff's office today. She works in Emergency Management. Since I decided, recently, to start volunteering with Chelan Co. in the area of Search & Rescue, I have been doing some things out of that office. She wanted to know if I wanted to go for a helicopter ride today. I had earlier talked with her about hitching a ride in March to do some GPS & mapping on Badger Mountain for Emergency plans on evacuations on that mountain, in the event of a wild fire. So I went down to the heliport and hopped on the Sheriff's one of two 'birds'. We first flew up to the Cashmere area to take pictures of the County Fairgrounds for future training. Then Up onto Badger, in the snow, and checked some roads. Then we headed south, down the Columbia River to check on a place that may have a Meth Lab somewhere on the property. Then back upriver, back to Wenatchee. It was a great ride. Sorry for the bouncing in the video. It's a little unsteady, at times, and you're strapped in pretty tight and can't move around much to take pictures. But it wasn't too bad. Enjoy. Rick

On February 23rd, several brave souls braved the 38 degree waters of the Columbia River at Walla Walla Park in Wenatchee. They were there, raising funds for the upcoming Special Olympics. The event was MC'ed by Mike & Dani Utley. some of you recognize Mike. He was a professional football player for the Detroit Lions. He received a permanent spinal cord injury during play and is in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He and his wife are active in fund raisers, in our valley, usually those associated with handicapped persons. He is the primary organizer of the Dam to Dam bicycle ride fund raiser that Susie has ridden in the last 3 years (100 miles). Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal is seen in the video as he has participated for the last seven years in the event. I did not get the amount raised but it generally averages about $4000.00 each year.

Well, folks. Here's another attempt at a video for our Blog. It didn't turn out too bad but I've got a bit more practicing to do to work out the glitches. Hope this works for everyone. I get my lessons from my buddy in Montana, good old Eric. He has had very good luck with his Blog and the video's. I hope I can do as well so we can post them more, especially this summer. I got Susie the new Video camera for Christmas and she has used it some. The last time she went over the hill to visit kids she let Holden take movies. We haven't even checked that out, yet. Might be interesting. Anyway, hope you enjoy the video. Take care everyone and talk at you soon.

I've joined the Chelan County Sheriff's Office Volunteer Services group. This last week I went with them on a training exercise up in the Lily Lake area above Wenatchee Heights. The training was with Lake Wenatchee Snowmobile club and the Lake Chelan group. Also joining them were several Deputies who are with the Search and Rescue portion of the Sheriff's Office on snowmobiles. The exercise involved a lost and injured snowmobiler off the groomed trails. The exercise went well and we all learned a lot. We also had a lot of fun. I helped run the Communication van at base camp as well as acting the part of an Information Officer, writing Press Releases for the event. All ended well. And, it was a truly beautiful day. The weather is starting to improve around the Valley. Warmer during the day but still winter cold at night. Spring will be here soon. Hope this finds all well.

Construction has been continuing throughout the cold weather and snow on our Events center. It's come a long way in just a few weeks. The inside has the cement seating in place. I think they come along and bolt the seats down to the cement. The owner/contractor, who owns a hockey division (southwest, I think), assures everyone we will have a hockey team, in place, on opening in September. They also have other events already on tap with Disney on Ice and a couple of concert events. It's exciting for most. There are still a number of skeptics in the Vallley.

Our new Snow for first of February. About 4" of new on top of nearly a foot that has hung around for over three weeks. Out neighbor, Jimmy, was out this morning plowing the driveways and road. Our house is on the left, in the photo on left. It's a little warmer, this week so things may start melting off. There will be a heck of a lot of water running around here in the next while.

This is more of a test to see if I can add video. It's a short piece of Susie working at the sewing machine, planning her next project. She goes through 'spurts' and does several. Today it was finishing a winter coat (it looked great) and then starting on decorations and bedspread for Alyssa. It looked great also. If this works out, there will be more video's. Stay tuned.

YES, THAT'S ME.
Sorry I haven't kept up. A little problem with my health. Came down with pneumonia on Dec. 22 and ended up in the hospital. I couldn't breathe very well but otherwise not bad. The kept me and pushed antibiotics for three days. On Xmas eve they sent me home, with oxygen attached. Thought I was doing okay until around New Years Eve. I got to feeling very bad and my chest hurt very badly. I thought I had a cracked rib from some of the coughing. Susie wanted to call an aid car and I protested. I went to the doctor for follow-up on Jan. 2. She listened to my right lung and sent me to x-ray and blood tests. When the results came back, she said my right lung was full of fluid and I needed to go back to the hospital. I spent another 7 days and got my lung drained with a BIG needle. More antibiotics and rest. Finally I went home. I have been resting, pretty much, since then. I get out a little but just a trip to the store brings me back home to my lounge chair to catch my breath and rest a bit. The doc said a couple months until I'm back to normal. It's cold outside so nothing much going on, anyway. TV sucks but I read a lot. I have been looking in the mirror and didn't like what I was seeing. With being sick and all, I was looking pretty poorly. So, I was starting to fear that Susie might call the cops and have them take me down and thow me under the bridge with the other poor souls , Sooooooo - off came my beard. Susie wasn't home when I cut it but when she came home, it took a minute for her to notice. She said it makes me look a lot younger. Maybe a little. Anyway, I don't look so scruffy. Some of you out there may not have ever seen me without a beard or did but don't remember. I grew it in 2004 after hunting. Anyway, I don't look forward to shaving again but I will manage. But it's really cold when I go outside. Temps at our place have been in the single digits at night and teens in the day. Snow this weekend, they say. We have had a foot of snow on the ground since the 2nd of Jan. Well, enough for now.

Forgot to mention I bought a new car over the weekend. We had been looking to get rid of my truck as it only gets 11 mpg. We started looking around and settled on a Toyota Corolla. I picked it up and surprised Susie with it when she got home. It gets 37 mpg hwy. and 31 in town. We will save a bunch of money on gas. Not going to drive it in the nasty weather, right now. Still have the big truck for the snow and bad weather.

Well, more winter weather for us. Been snowing for a couple of days. About 6" or so on the ground. Susie was over on West side with the grandson while his parents were in Portland for a bike race. I talked her into coming home a day early as the 'Pineapple Express' is coming in behind all of this snow and cold. The west side folks are busy building an Arc as flooding is predicted by Tuesday. She had an interesting trip back, driving through a small avalanche just on the west side of summit and a total white out in Tumwater Canyon. But she made it okay. We may have rain coming to us tomorrow which will create a real wet, slushy mess. Anyway, we're finishing our Christmas shopping and enjoying life. This Tuesday I have a information meeting that the Mayor has put together for new applicants for the Council position. Try to let everyone know what the job entails and the time involved. I think the application process ends Dec. 20. The interviews will be held on Jan. 3, 2008. We still don't know if they will announce 1 or 2 openings as Craig Larson has not, yet, given notice for an ending date. Slowwwwwwwwwww process. More later.

Snow started yesterday, around 4:30 p.m. and is continuing. We have about 3" so far but it is just snowing lightly, now. It's beautiful around here when it's all white. The roads are well maintained as we have LOTS of plows, City, County and Private contractors. Our temp.'s are going down and will stay in the teens and low 20's through the weekend. Will see more snow over the weekend. This is not the 'big dump' though, as we usually get each year of over a foot. That comes in a week or two, I think. Christmas shopping under way, buying for the grandkids. Still working on selling my truck so we can buy a small car for some better gas mileage. We're looking at the Toyota Corrolla which gets about 34 mpg. Would save us $150-200 a month. We'll see how it shakes out. Sue is heading over the pass this a.m. to watch one of our grandsons as his folks go to Portland for a bike race for the weekend. fun times we are having. More later.

It's Monday after Thanksgiving. We are waiting for snow to begin. Doing some Xmas shopping here in Wenatchee. Above is the first walls of our Events Center. They are working very hard on the project, even on the weekends. It's pretty exciting!! Across the street are some Condo's going up. Basement, and first level are up on first units. I think the business portions are on main floor, then living upstairs, as I understand. Okay - we are staying in for the evening. The roads have been coated with freezing rain and it's 29 degrees out. Had to put special 'chains' on my feet to get the paper & mail, out front. Listening to radio, they have multiple accidents happening all over the county from the black ice. We need a good snow cover on the roads. Enough for now.

No pictures to post for Thanksgiving. Too many things going on. We visited with family during the week prior and then had our dinner on Turkey Day. That was a good experience. My step-son and I put a 13 lb. turkey in the smoker. Had never done that. When we ate, we were delightfully surprised. Very rich and very moist. We are going to do it again for Xmas. Came back home to colder weather. Overcast and very cold.

Here is Susie pushing the cut apples down the chute into the grinder. Below that is the container that the ground apples are 'pressed'. Pete, in foreground, is turning the wheel to 'smash' the apples and then the jusice flows into a bucket underneath. Quite a production but lots of fun. We worked about 2 1/2 hours and got about 3 bins of apples made into juice.

Making Apple Juice - grinding and smashing on the top, full process below that.

This is our apple juicing operation. A bunch of friends got together at Pete's place. He's the Manager of the Colockum Wildlife area. He got a donation of 4 bins of apples and he invited a group of us to come help with the process. Washing, cutting, grinding, smashing, straining and bottling. We all took several jusgs home with us. It was a wonderful fall day with lots of sun and blue sky and good friends. And the juice was soooooo good!

Okay - so I'm going to start trying to keep this Blog going and be a little more current. As my election try didn't work out, maybe I have a better chance now. Applications are now out for 2, that's right, 2 vacated positions on the City Council. Seems Craig Larson doesn't want to be a Chelan Co. Port Commissioner AND Wen. City Councilmember. So - 2 positions are going to need to be filled. My chances have gone way up, I hope. The whole process, now, will be slow in coming together. Christy is leaving soon, as her husband has said her new job in Iowa starts Dec. 1. Larson is staying until the Budget is done. That should be about the 1st part of Dec. Now the question is: how will they decide who gets which position. Christy's is a four year and Larson is 2. Christy's spot pays $665 month and Larson's $550. Whoever gets appointed ,on either, has to run for the position in September of 2008. More money for campaign!!! I am excited as I want to be part of this process. Our Arena is started and going very well. The big crane is in position for lifting walls. Walls going up the week of Nov. 19th. Condominiums are being built right now, down on the waterfront, adjacent to Walla Walla Park. Wish we could afford one. Will try getting some pictures to post of the construction. We're all looking forward to winter and the snow flying.