August 11, 2010
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August Family Letter
August, 2010
Dear Family,
I was sitting in my chair just settling down for the evening and maybe watch a little TV. I got up to go out to the garage to help Judy Lynn set up the drill press so she could drill some holes in a piece of wood to make a set-up to tie bows. As I was passing the computer, all of a sudden I remembered that today is the 10th, and the family letter is due to Brent by midnight, and if I do not have the letter to him by then, I will have the WRATH OF BRENT pointed at me, and NOONE, and I mean NOONE would want the Wrath of Brent centered around them. So I dutifully sat down to begin.
As usual, July is one of the busy months for the motorhome rental business, and this month was no exception. Our June started out pretty slow, but from the middle of July to now, things have been really hopping. I have had to make several trips to Seattle to deliver and retrieve motorhomes, more than usual because at the beginning of the summer we were not getting too many bookings, so we decided to book everything we could get. One weekend I went up to Seattle three times. A couple of weeks ago I flew to Las Vegas to retrieve one from a one-way renter. It was a fast trip. I flew down on Wednesday, drove late into the night and then came on in to Gresham the next day. I thought about the family living in Las Vegas and others along the way home wishing I had time to stop and visit, but I had to be home for Friday so I had to move right along.
I did want to tell you one thing that happened on the way home form Las Vegas though. I was driving the MH just past the Oregon boarder somewhere and my cell phone rang. It was a good friend of ours, Dennis Tanner. He and his wife Jeanie are about the same age as us, and they used to live in our ward so our kids (they had five) grew up together. Years ago when I started working the motorhome rental business, Dennis wanted a motorhome, but did not think he could afford it on his own, so he bought one to put in the fleet just like I did. He first got a 27’ Class C, and then a couple of years ago he upgraded to a 30’ Class A. So I have worked with him a lot with his motorhomes over the years. Sometimes he would even check his own out to the renters and sometimes when he was busy I would do it for him. This spring he called me and told me that he would not be putting his motorhome into the fleet this year. His wife has been having some health problems and he did not know how many years she would be able to go with him in the motorhome, so they decided to take theirs out of the fleet and would just use it a lot this summer.
In the telephone call, he asked me if I had any MHs to rent for that coming weekend (remember, this was Thursday). The way he said it, I thought he was joking, but found out that he was in The Dalles (about 1-1/2 hours up the Columbia Gorge from Portland) stranded. He had Jeanie and some of their family with him in the MH and a van with more grandkids following. They had stopped in The Dalles to get some fast-food for the grandkids and when they got back in his MH, it would not start. They were on their way to Mountain Home (just south of Boise) to a big family get-together and so were in a fix. I told him that the only MH that was available was the one I was bringing home and that it was damaged some, but not hurt mechanically. I told him I would call the owner and see what his plans were for fixing the MH. I did so and found out that the owner’s fix-it guy could not fix it till the next week, so gave me permission to let our friends have it. All these conversations took place over many miles of travel, and by the time I got it all put together, I was only about one-hour away from The Dalles. Dennis could not believe his good fortune, not only in being able to get a motorhome, but that I was driving his way and I was going to be able to DELIVER it to him that quickly. I called home and Judy Lynn got Kelly to jump in the Denali to come and get me, and he and I arrived at The Dalles at about the same time. We found Dennis and his family and watched them move most of their “stuff” into the motorhome I had with me. His motorhome and the one I was driving were very similar, the same length, the same floor plan, just two motorhomes made by different manufactures. They were in a hurry because they had lost almost the entire day, so they looked like a bunch of ants moving things around! It took them quite a while to make the exchange, so Kelly and I left before they completely finished. I could see that my watching was only making Dennis worry, so I just politely asked if I could help any more, and when he said “No”, he and his family thanked me profusely and Kelly and I left for the one and one-half hour drive on in to Gresham. It made me very happy to be able to help a good friend and I know they also appreciated it. Someone on their side was looking out for them.
On the 19th of this month I will be going to San Francisco to pick up another motorhome. I am trying to get Kelly to go down with me to see his daughter Jessica who is living down there now. I will have to let you know later if we are able to put that one together. I can just see me driving a 34’ motorhome downtown SF looking for where Jessica lives, but that is the plan. We will take her to lunch or dinner or something.
Last Thursday evening Douglas and Garna threw a surprise birthday party for Kelly down at the bowling alley near us. We had ALL (except Josh and Chad who were on the Priest high adventure along with Kirk and Kyle) of our family that live up here at the party including Jacki’s sister Monica and her three girls that were down here visiting while Brian and Chase were at scout camp. It is the first time that Judy Lynn and I have been bowling for many years, probably twenty or thirty. We were VERY rusty. Way back when I was not a really good bowler, but would average 135 or so. Well, we bowled two games and I did not break 100… close… in the 90s the second game, but not so good. It was pretty funny watching Sawyer and Quinn trying to get that heavy ball down the lane! We had a great time with all of us there together and have decided that we will have to go again some time. Thursday nights are dollar nights, so we all can afford that!
Here are some pictures of Kelly’s BD party:
Kelly cutting his birthday cake
Left: Randy, Teri Lynn Jay, Kelly, Douglas, Garna, Kenny
Right: Someone messed up!
Kelly, my bald spot, Heather — Courtney, Quinn, Bailey & Sawyer
(Courtney and Bailey are Jacki’s Nieces)
Finn and Gwen wondering what is going on
Heather, Teri Lynn and Gwen
Here are a few pictures showing the excitement of having a 16 month old in the house.
Gwen went missing one day and here is where we found her
Gwen figured out how to get from her crib to the dressing table.
Guess she thinks it is fun watching things from the dressing table drop to the floor.
I guess that’s enough for this month. A few more weeks of rentals and then we should become human again.
I hope this letter finds you all well. Know that we love you, Judy Lynn & Roger
Comments (2)
the joys of parenthood & in your case, grandparenthood. That toilet shot made me throw up a little. So disgusting.
I have
already that kind of information. Thank you!
Roofing Tacoma
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