Wanderlust

To put it lightly, it’s been a very busy last few weeks. Lots going on – saying sad goodbyes to two and congratulations to another, sprinkles of birthdays and special events, yard work and home improvements, and bunches of family visits and reunions packed into the window of only three weeks. Nice to catch up with everyone and catch up on yourself, even though at times it feels exhausting running and running. Such is the beauty of life.

Of course I have about 20 pictures for every 1 I actually post, so here is the Cliff Note version...

Fremont, Nebraska
Congratulations to Nikki and Junior!
The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast - what more could you ask for? Well, maybe karaoke and grandma dancing to Eminem... We got it all that night!

Omaha, Nebraska
Happy birthday, sis!
Daniela is the only (underage) girl I've known that gets a keg at her birthday party. Ok, ok.... it's not actually for her, but for all those who take part in her birthday celebration. Of course there was spanking involved, but now that I look at this picture, it doesn't seem fair at all - five on one?! These pictures are funny - I have no idea why the washer teams are sucking tikis and leaning left. Nor why I didn't realize it that night.

Poor Dani had a clogged ear that (of course) we all knew how to fix, hehe - peroxide from me and the blaster from Cujo. Here's the action shot that just ended up hurting her worse, but it DID clean out any ear wax that she might have had. Who knew - turns out at the Dr. appt that it was an ear infection. Owww. Needless torture.

Relay for Life - Pocatello, Idaho
That's mom in the pink in the middle of the survivor group - and with Joan and Duane making their way around the track at Davis Field.

Payette, Idaho
Auntie Naomi made it down to Western Idaho, so some of the family made our way over to Uncle Joes for a BBQ/mini reunion. Had some downtime for shopping and lunch in Boise, then over to Payette for the evening.

Back home, we were lucky enough to be home during a visit from both Papa Joe and YuYong, and Mike and Kristen and the kids. Doesn't happen very often, always fun when it does.

The scrappers of the family...

This was Lauren's 12th birthday!

Could this be child endangerment? hehe Or simply a sign of the groovy guy to come. In 13 years to be exact.

Three projects for the yard - no surprise we started them all the same day. Might not have been the smartest way to tackle it, but now that we are almost done, glad we didn't drag them out.

Sprinkler system was the big one - over 400 feet of pipe and hand digging, ugh. In 100 degree weather, no less.

Onto project two - the driveway - ever wonder what 15 tons of gravel looks like? Well, here ya go. The difference between the last time this was done (10 years ago) and this time was a rental of heavy machinery. Which equates to a time difference of 10 days versus 3 hours. Oh, had we only known last time.

And the third and final project (as of now)... the patio. Thanks to Papa Joe for making it look pretty and landscaped.

Ok, really, now the fourth and final project... fencing!

So, this is the Idaho that non-Idahoans must envision... Wide open spaces with surrounding mountains - huge equipment, huge buildings, and huge animals in a ranch. It was pretty cool seeing this way of life, and hearing about even more crazy things that go on. Though I must admit, it also made me want to become a vegetarian - can you call a bull 'cute'? Alas, I am too weak-willed to rule meat out of my diet.

Thanks to the Proctors for having us over to the ranch, the lovely bbq, and the welcoming family.

Fumiko Nakao Ozawa
(April 11, 1915 - June 19, 2007)

Fumiko (Fumi) Nakao Ozawa, 92, passed away June 19, 2007 in Ontario, OR. Fumi was born on April 11, 1915, in Iona, Idaho. Her parents, Yonejiro Nakao and Kiyono Morimoto Nakao, emigrated from Japan in the late 1800s. She attended grade school and high school in Iona. Fumi married Kinsaku (Kay) Ozawa on December 11, 1934 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and moved to Clearfield, Utah where they farmed. In 1937, they moved from Clearfield to Weiser, Idaho, and farmed until retirement in 1963. In Weiser, she was an active member of the Jonathan Club and formed lifelong friendships with the women in the community. To be near her children, Fumi moved to Quincy, Washington in 1967, where she worked at the Quincy Valley Hospital as a dietician. She was also active in the Quincy Valley Hospital Auxiliary and loved cooking, baking and giving friends and family her famous cookies. Knitting and crocheting were also among her favorite hobbies, which she continued to enjoy when she moved to Ontario, Oregon, in 1995. She is survived by her four children Fern (Sam) Maruoka of Quincy, Washington; Ken (Jeanne) Ozawa of Ontario; Max (Linda) Ozawa of Ontario; and Marge (Dan) Cicerich of Portland, Oregon. She is also survived by her sisters Noriko Morikawa of Ontario; Mary (Jim) Kajiwara of Whitefish, Montana; Ruth Hirano of Ontario; Elaine (James) Uyeki of Ontario; her brothers Sab (Tomi) Nakao of Weiser, Idaho; and Ray Nakao of Los Angeles, California; and grandchildren Jeffrey Maruoka of Quincy, Washington and Marci Ozawa of Portland, Oregon. She was preceded in death by her husband, son, parents, three brothers and two sisters. Visitation will be held Tuesday June 26, 2007 at Thomason’s from 5PM to 8PM. Funeral Services will be held Wednesday June27, 2007 at 2:00 PM at the Thomason Funeral Home, Weiser, ID. Interment will follow at the Hillcrest Cemetery, Weiser, ID. The family would like to thank the employees of Dorian Place and Heart ‘N Home Hospice for their loving care.

Ok... so I'll admit... we didn't actually see that much of Riverfest.
But we did manage to catch up with our very own Wild Hogs group, hehe.

Coincidently, and fortunately on our part, OAR was playing at the Big Easy in Spokane this week. It's only a couple hours from Richland, and the show was cheap; so it was a no brainer to snag tickets. To add to our luck, the room I got was just across the street - literally a 2 minute walk. And for after the show, we were also very close to another pub - which of course we stopped at along our way home. The restaurant adjacent to the club was busy hours before showtime, and we realized after waiting for an hour for bar food why. Scarfed the food and scooted in the venue next door in five minutes flat. The opener was Bedouin Soundclash who played for a good 40 minutes and gave away their CD on entry. Not sure if we're getting older or what, but there were more asses than I can remember at a concert. Fighting, pushing and heckling - each other. At an OAR concert for hell's sake, not like a Metallica show. We just moved back to the 'alcohol' section where the people actually had a few inches of air between them and we were happy again. About the alcohol sections - it's a small venue - maybe 1500 heads - but you were stopped from wandering with a beer in the hand in a few different areas. Not sure if it's always like that or they were just expecting more underage kiddies. I can say that know that I'm almost 30, ha. Damn spunky, energetic kids.

So, this is my new ride - like it?

Ok, so I lied. But it's pretty, no? And the funny thing is the guy that owns this has no clue that I am sitting on this bike and smiling for the camera. Ha. He will soon, though...now.... Couldn't resist, Bub, sorry! Cujo just moved the bike from one place to another - however I found that it's quite a different Harley compared to the flaming King I'm used to sitting on the back of. Yeah, yeah, a bike isn't a bike isn't a bike. More reason to get another bike, or a different bike, or paint this bike. Can you tell I'm in the midst of an attempted persuasive brainwash on reasons to spend $ for another bike? On the patient side, obviously.

We have just been happier than shit in this space. I want to remember it's space 42 just in case we come back. And I want to share with everyone who reads this, that may happen to come here and stay in Richland, that this is the space you need to ask for.

It's got everything you could ask for in an RV resort - it's an end spot, so we got 2+ paved parking spaces with room for both our vehicles, bikes, and bike, grass all around, picnic table, pool, hot tub, laundry, showers, cute dogs, and a market right on the site. Ok, the cute dogs don't come with your space, but I'm sure you'll see some. Oh, and our space is across the street from the cute dog run and wash station. Man, we can only go downhill from here.

I was VERY excited when I heard about this event we went to last night - however, I mis-heard the name of said event. It is called Hogs and Dogs. Now, don't mistake that for Haagen Daz. It's a bike rally, not an ice cream rally. We went anyway. Hehe. I think there were thousands of bikes there, it really was groovy. A huge sports field outside simply covered with bikes and people.

All types of bikes, didn't matter. And a trike, for that matter. They gave away a prize of your choice - $10K or a Harley Davidson. Lo and behold, we were stunned to find that we didn't win. I found solace in the beer garden, and Curtis found it by watching the lead singer of the live band. Yes, she was female.