Ryan in motion

2008-08-22T18:40:00.001-07:00

Our daughter Alysia Mae Eaton.

Memorial Day 2008

2008-05-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

On Friday before the holiday @9am I headed for Mossyrock solo, just me and the dogs. Beth had to work and would ride up with my Aunt & Grandmother Saturday morning.

It rained most of the way up, but it was a good drive. Traffic was still light. I stopped in Morton for a Mocha and a snack and still made the park in 90 minutes.

As I entered the main loop I saw that my Aunt Nanci & Uncle Joe were settled into their site. As i drove around the loop to our site, I was surprised that only a handful of folks had decided to come up on Thursday. I was able to back into the spot and be set up in about 30 minutes.

Friday turned out dry after the morning drizzle. Saturday turned out to be wall to wall sunshine for almost the entire day. Thunder and lightning arrived after dark. Man did it rain. But by 8am Sunday it was dry and never rained again the rest of the weekend.

Beth arrived with my Aunt Glenda & Grandma Ruby about 11am on Saturday.

Aunt Glenda catching some rays!

Grandma telling us "how it is"!

All in all it was a great way to start my weeks vacation. During witch I was able to get our bathroom painted and start on the garage clean up.

Its official!

2008-04-26T14:05:00.001-07:00

I am going to be a daddy!

Into the swing of Spring

2008-04-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here it is almost the end of April. Out bathroom project is mostly done. Just have some painting and trim work that we will wrap up some rainy weekend at home.

We have now been able to get away two weekends in a row! On the 11th of April we headed south and spend the weekend camped on the Columbia River at the Columbia Riverfront RV Park in Woodland,WA. Not as nice as some of our favorite spots, but camping on the Mighty Columbia is great non the less.

On the 18th of April we headed to Portland,OR to meet Herb & Diane. They have spend the past 3 1/2 months in the South West where its WARM and mostly DRY! George & Connee also made the journey, so it was a full compliment of Dilectics!

Stay tuned for a big announcement. I think we might have gotten to the bottom of Beth ER trip and all the crap she went through right after that.

A week!

2008-03-23T09:58:00.001-07:00

Well we made it to the weekend and no trips to the ER. Beth went back to work Friday. She is still very sore, both the muscles from her seizure, and her lower back from the Lumbar Puncture and the following Blood Patch.

We have not heard anything from the Neurologist about the MRI, so we assume it was fine. They said they would call if anything was found and they wanted her to come back in.

Hope everyone has a great Easter!

ER again

2008-03-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday night brought another trip to the ER for Beth. Her back, neck and head had been sore ever since being discharged from the hospital. But now the pain was getting worse. A short consolation on the phone with a Multi Care nurse and we were en route to the ER.

They performed an blood patch on her. This is injecting blood into the area where they performed the Lumbar Puncture a few days before. This helped some but not allot.

After 2 injections of Dilaudid "Hydromorphine", she was no longer in pain and comfortable.

I woke up with a screaming headache this morning that is now under control. I am patiently waiting for her neurologists office to return my calls.

One hell of a scare

2008-03-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night Beth called me and said she had a migraine that made her pull over, but she thought she could make it home. She did. After she got home, she made some soup then took some medication and laid down. After about 30 minutes we were en route to the the emergency room. It was the worst migraine she had ever had, this from a person who is a sufferer of chronic migraines.

Upon arrival to TG's ER (shortly after 8pm on March 12th) we were placed in a pre ER screening room. Beth actually passed out for a short time in this room.

After a preliminary screening she was placed in a ER bed in the hall until a ER room was open.

They medicated her several times with no relief for her pain. They also did a CT scan that came back negative.

By midnight or shortly after we were in a ER room. She was still in allot of pain and told the Dr she was scared as she had never had a migraine that hurt like this or would not go away with the drugs @ the hospital. About 2 minutes after telling the Dr this she has a seizure. This scared the shit out of me. She has never had one before!

After this they ordered another CT scan and did a lumbar poke (spinal tap) to check her spinal fluid for signs of meningitis or an aneurysm. Both came back negative.

At 4am I had to go home. The dogs were home and needed to be let out and fed. I was able to get a couple hours sleep then head back to TG.

At 1030am on the 13th she was still in ER waiting for a room in ICU. By noon they had a room and moved her up to the 4th floor. Still hurting at this point, but not at the level she was when we got to the ER the night before.

They did a EEG test and that came back negative. By now her pain was down to a 2, and most of that could be attributed to the lumbar poke.

Friday night March 14th @ 7pm she was released to come home. She has to follow up with her neurologist next week, and our family Dr.

No one really knows for sure what triggered this headache. It was nothing like any migraine she has ever had, it came on instantly and was almost immune to the narcotics in the ER. She can feel it when she has a headache coming on and most of the time head it off at the pass with OTC meds or mild prescription meds. This was like someone turned on a switch.

As of now she is home, tired and sore but resting.

Busy Busy

2008-03-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

We have our bathroom torn apart right now repairing damage from a leak.
In the interim we have been staying in our 5th wheel in the driveway. (I really didn't want to get up in the middle of the night and go to the 5th wheel for a bathroom break).

My cousin Rick has actually been doing most all the work all the bathroom. I try to stay outta the way and help when needed.

What floor? :-)

Half way through this project I ended up trading off our 5th wheel on a newer larger higher end unit. The deal was too good to walk away from.

Well back to the grindstone. Hope everyone is well!

Camping Season 2008

2008-01-05T11:54:00.001-08:00

I know it is early in the year, but we try to take the RV out even in the winter. Spent the New Years holiday with two couples we camp with often.

Anyway, in 2008 we have several trips planned to Mossyrock Park. We are also going to be visiting Alder Lake Park, Belfair State Park (assuming it get opened back up from the floods), Fort Stevens State Park (Oregon) , South Beach State Park (Oregon) and a trip to a private campground in Dayton, OR.

All of the above are reserved sites on set dates during the "Camping Season" May-September. Between now and then we will camp here and there as the urge hits us and the weather cooperates.

We are always looking for folks to join us be it either for a day visit, or to travel with. So if anyone wants to go camping drop us a line. Most of the sites we reserve allow for an additional tent on site, or if you have an RV we might still be able to find you a reservation for the places and times we will be there.

Happy 2008 everyone!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

I hope the holidays finds everyone in good health. We have been fighting the "crud" ever since Thanksgiving.

All of your shopping is done, and I am on vacation until after the New Years Holiday.

Ohhh what a week

2007-11-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

So we return from our Thanksgiving weekend camping trip. Life is good as we head for home. However the closer we get to home the more I feel like I am starting to come down with something. By the time I get the trailer backed into the driveway, all I want to do is rest. I never even unhooked it. I parked it, drained the fresh water and all the lines (freeze protection) and went in the house.

By 6pm I knew I was not going to make work on Monday. So I called one of my dispatchers at home and let him know I was going to sit out Monday. I loaded up on Nyquil and hit the sheets about 730pm. I slept fairly well until about 8am. I ended up sitting out Tuesday as well. Just was not in the cards.

Wednesday I returned to the working class. Not feeling 100% by any means I knew I could function and get the job done. Poor proper planing ahead of time by a couple of dispatchers led to one of the worst days I have had in a LONG time.

Up @3:30am, out of the driveway before 5am. Spend 45 minutes digging out a usable trailer in our yard. Then be at our rail facility by 7am to load. On the road for Hubbard,Oregon by 730am.
I make a pit stop in Castle Rock,WA for a bit to eat and thump the tires. All is fine.

At 11:15am I pull through the South bound scale on 99E in Hubbard,OR. On come the park light. I meet the scale master about 1/2 way between the scale house and my truck. He says I have a flat tire. We he was right. However it was more then a typical flat. It was a ruined driver tire with a 3" wide x 3/8" think piece of steel through the face of the tire. Well at this point I'm "out of service" for almost 3 hours. Only 5 minutes from where I was supposed to deliver.

I get the tires replaced and the load delivered. I call in and head for our facility in Vancouver,WA where I am to meet another of out trucks that has went and loaded my North bound load for me.

Arriving @ Vancouver I find Harold (he drives my other truck) in the yard (pouring down rain no mind you) trying to trans-load some material for the driver that is still out loading my load. I jump on a fork lift and we work on this load. By the time we got done, it was almost 630pm and we were SOAKED to the bone and COLD. Needless to say I was out of hours at this point and was not going to make it home. To top it off the driver with my load was no where in site. So off to a motel I go with no change of clothes and a bad attitude.

I got a room and was able to sleep maybe 4 hours in very small stints between coughing and the noisy heater in the room.

My 5am wake up call comes and I feel more tired then when I arrived at the motel 10 hours before. I shower and head back to our Vancouver facility. The load I am to bring North in now in the yard. I proceed to tie it down and head for Auburn,WA where my first drop is.

By 11:15am I am in Auburn dropping 6 of the 24 units on my trailer. This went well! Things must be looking up! I finish off the load by delivering the balance to our Seattle warehouse. Then to our main yard for fuel and tomorrows dispatch.

Once in the main yard I turn in my paperwork. Giving the out of service citation from the prior day to our safety and compliance dude. The I hand in my motel bill to the boss. He comes uncorked thinking a flat tire from road debris is in no way his fault. Well no it's not, however it is not my fault either as I don't run crap over for the heck of it. Had it been a trailer the situation would have been the same. I would have been out of service and a tire would have to be replaced. Keep in mind the lease I have with them states that the company pays for all flat repairs and that I pay for tire replacements on my equipment.

Well after some harsh words and a little yelling I finally convince him that even if I didn't have a flat, I would still have run out of hours. Because the trailer I needed for the North bound load was over 2 hours behind me (due to poor proper planning by dispatch) and I would have never made it back to Vancouver with the load before the truck that loaded it for me. So in the end I would have still been out of hours in Vancouver and in need of a motel room. Hind site being 20/20 I think the boss was pushing my buttons. I have known him for over ten years and we know how to push each others buttons! Some of the people I work with will roll over and let other walk all over them. Me and a few others will not. Unfortunately my boss is one of the few that does not like to roll over very easy!

Well now its Friday and I am on the verge of another chit house day. I have been trying to get a load loaded for almost 2 hours at this point and can't see being en route to Portland for at least another hour.

The bonus to being gone one night unexpectedly is the wife and puppies were happy to have me home.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T17:24:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is a holiday that I have always looked forward to. Is it the food? The time off from work? The chance to visit with family and friends? I think its all of the above and not in that particular order.

The last couple of years we have hosted a huge Thanksgiving day feast at our house. This year was not any different. Just a few less folks in attendance. Beth & Myself, my mom, my aunt Glenda, grandma Ruby, Rick & Dee along with their kids Adam & Sarah.

Beth made a wonderful turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pies and her once a year apple pie.

My mom cooked a huge bone in ham that was to die for.

My aunt made a pumpkin pie.

My grandmother made her famous Yams! Green Bean casserole and corn bread stuffing.

Rick made is fantastic potatoes and Dee brought homemade fudge and her wonderful Cheesecake Pumpkin pie!

Along with all the trimmings we had plenty to eat!

Last year just before Thanksgiving we traded off our old Toy Hauler
for a used but well taken care of 5th wheel trailer.

The first chance we got to use this new trailer was the weekend after Thanksgiving 2006. So in 2007 we planned a camping trip for the weekend after Thanksgiving. 2006, snow and rain. 2007 RUN and COLD. I will take sun and cold anytime!

This year we were joined by our good friends George & Connee and Georges sister Sherri. We had a great time. Brought leftovers from Thanksgiving for Fridays dinner. Saturday I made everyone pancakes with strawberry topping. Saturday night we had french dip sandwiches. Sunday was a potato & egg breakfast with lunch/dinner on the way home at the Little Creek Casino in Shelton. Fun was had by all. Looking forward to New Years Weekend @ The Ocean!