Caity zooms down the giant slide....

Grandpa Treats

Last saturday, a very HOT afternoon, we loaded Caity and Jayce into the van and headed for the Fergus fair. First we toured the buildings, starting out with the children's petting zoo. On to the next building, which had huge turtles, assorted beautiful birds, and even a kangaroo and camel! Wandered through the 4-H area, admiring the home canned produce, handmade clothing, all the various projects people had labored over -- quite an assortment of things!

Then on to the Midway! Grandpa Beaver was very sweet and bought each of them a wristband, which gives unlimited rides, instead of so much per ride. It proved to be an excellent idea and they used it until Beaver and I were tired!

Jayce ran loops from the bottom of a slide, into the funhouse doors. He absolutely loved it! They had to wind their way among walls of glass (with more than one head bumped, while we watched, thinking it was an open area), up stairs, past the funhouse mirrors and down a slide. He ran until I had to take him and wash him down, dirty and sweaty and very happy. Then he'd go back and do it all over again. Beaver and I took turns watching him.

Caity went through it several times with him, but then she ventured on to bigger and better -- the long slide, the glider ride, scrambler and a ship that swung huge loops, scaring me, as she looked as though she'd fly right out (so much space between her and the lapbar!). They also rode in the bumper cars (with bigger kids), enjoyed the merry-go-round several times, once on the balloon and train rides. Later in the evening we topped off the day with some fair food and the kids ended the evening with an ice with combo flavors. They got to add their own ... hmm, it was an interesting taste!

Thanks to Grandpa Beaver for a very fun outing!

Caity & Jayce in the funhouse and riding on the train.

I was losing faith. We were homeless, jobless, and removed from friends and family.

Before we left Minnesota, I still hadn't received my paycheck from my five weeks of employment, driving long haul truck. Now, in a phone call to the trucking company we were told, for the second time, that the check was "in the mail."

In addition to finding a place to park our burdensome trailer, we needed to find an address for my paycheck to be forwarded to. The check would buy us a "little" time.

(In fact, the check would not arrive for several more months, but we didn't know that then.)

I decided to pay a visit to the shoe repair shop, which I had expected to manage when we set out for Portland. Perhaps the new owner would be hiring help. We crossed metropolitan Portland from Troutdale to Beaverton. Beaverton was a bustling suburb. The shop was located there in a busy mall.

It was a tiny shop, but it had a lot of foot traffic passing by. It was a fast paced business that did only while-you-wait work. They glued thin soles right over the old ones, popped on heels, and stitched rips. The new owner was there learning the trade from the Asian lady that I had intended to work for. He said, "No," he would not be hiring.

I had read of a family run shoe factory in the town of Scappoose. It was called "The West Coast Shoe Company." They made high quality, heavy duty boots for loggers. We discovered, on the map, that Scappoose was only about 30 miles northwest of Beaverton -- across the Cornelius Pass.

The narrow paved road across the pass wound up and down and all around through the dense forest. We had to pull to the side of the road frequently to allow the speedy and impatient local traffic to go by.

When we arrived in Scappoose, we were in a different world. Scappoose was a small, old, town near the Columbia River. We liked it a lot. We stopped at The West Coast Shoe Company, and they said their business had been decreasing in size for years, and, "No," they didn't foresee hiring anyone.

Sherry happened to recall that Scappoose was the mailing address of Fern, a minister who had been in Sherry's home area when Sherry was a kid. Even though Sherry hadn't seen Fern for many years, we decided to attempt to look her up. Fern would certainly remember Sherry's family.

The street address was on an address list we had amongst our things. We found the address and proceeded to drive around Scappoose trying to find it. And eventually, in the hills above the town, we did find it!

In Sherry's words, in a letter home several weeks later, she said, "We found [the place], up in the most beautiful hills we've ever seen."

And it did seem like paradise! The forest we had driven through was lush and green. Little creeks and waterfalls laced the hillsides and gurgled under the road. Every suitable surface was covered with thick, spongy moss. Wisps of moss even hung from the tree tops.

The sun was peeking through the mist and the clouds onto a picturesque little farmplace on the right-hand side of the road. There was a barn and several Holstein steers were grazing near it.

A silver haired man, of sturdy build and small stature, was out mowing the wet grass around the modest farmhouse. The house was up on the hill above the road. There was an embankment below it, near the end of the driveway. I parked the car under the embankment.

We were now out of sight of the house and yard.

We looked like vagabonds! And our car looked it, too. Sherry put together groceries for our meals, nursed the baby, and changed its diapers -- in the car. The kids took naps and played in there. We studied maps and read the ads in there. And we were very aware that within hours we'd likely all be trying to sleep in there.

Probably behind some gas station somewhere!

Our trailer's brown canvas tarp was soaked and dirty with road spray. The trailer was clearly overloaded. It had a spare tire hanging on one side, a shoeshine chair tied up on top, a camping cooler strapped to the draw-bar, and camel bells swinging behind. We not only looked like vagabonds, we were vagabonds.

"Well..." I turned and looked at Sherry. "You can go to the door!"

"No. It's not like Fern is going to be here!" Sherry said. "She probably doesn't even get her mail here anymore. Besides, I don't know what to say."

"Just ask if they know Fern," I said. "And see what they say."

"Come with me, then."

"No. Take Amy," I said. "Sarah and I will stay here and watch the car."

Sherry walked up the driveway and out of sight, holding Amy in her arms. I "hid" in the car with Sarah.

She knocked on the door and a short little lady with gray hair and a happy face opened it. She was wiping her hands on her kitchen apron. The man that had been mowing walked over to the door, too. He was wearing bib overalls.

"Hello," said the lady.

"Hello," said Sherry.

"Howdy. Howdy," said the man.

Sherry asked, "Is Fern here?"

"No, but she's coming for supper!" they answered in unison.

"Oh really! I knew Fern in Minnesota when I was a kid. She stayed with us."

"Oh really!" the cute couple responded.

"My name's Sherry. We're in the process of moving to Oregon -- and finding a job," Sherry explained.

"Well! Did you walk all the way from Minnesota?" joked the man.

"No. My husband is parked out on the road. Our other daughter is with him."

"Well, don't be shy! Tell them to drive on in!" said the man.

"We have a trailer," Sherry said.

"Let's go see," said the lady. "It can't be that big!"

"Oh, by the way, my name is Jim. And this is Edith. She's my sweetie," said the man. "What's your little one's name?"

"This is Amy," said Sherry.

They all shook hands. Then, and with eager steps, Jim and Edith led the way out to the car where Sarah and I were introduced.

"Can you stay for supper?" Jim asked. "Fern and Bonnie are coming."

"We-l-l..." I glanced at Sherry, "Yes-s -- I think we could do that."

"Drive on up to the house!" Jim said. "There's plenty of room in the yard."

"Okay," I said.

"Can you spend the night with us?" Jim asked.

"Well ... maybe," I said. "We didn't have any special plans for the night." Inside, I was jumping up and down with glee.

"Well, good! We're happy to have you," he said. "If you'd like to unhook your trailer, you can back it in right next to that little white shed over there."

While Jim helped unhook the trailer, Sherry went in with Edith to help put supper on.

When she walked into the kitchen, she saw Fern and Bonnie's mail laying on the kitchen table. On top of the pile of letters was an unopened one from "Myrtle," a minister of ours back in Minnesota! In fact, Myrtle was the one we had called to let know we were moving to Oregon.

When Sherry saw Myrtle's name on the envelope, she "knew everything was going to be all right!" And it was. We had just met two of the finest people we have ever known.

Jim and Edith, Sherry and Amy, several weeks after our arrival.

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This Week's Special Days
August 6---Heidi Kaye Johnson weds Ryan Lowell Henderson
at noon at 316 Charles Street, Long Lake, Minnesota.
Best Wishes!

This Week's Birthdays:
July 31---Tim Myron
August 6---Sully Michael Brown (1 year)
Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries
August 5---Wesley and JoAnne Sigman (16 years)
August 5---Sheldon and Mitzi Johnson Swenson (28 years)
Congratulations!

More August Birthdays:
'
August 7---Melanie Lehtola
Ausust 7---Weston Johnson
August 8---Erik Huseby (4 years)
August 11---Mitchell Allen Miller
August 13---Jeffrey Todd Aydelotte, Jr. (10 years)
August 16---Jason Quick
August 16---Rod McNeill
August 16---Darryl McNeill
August 19---Christopher Michael Chap
August 19---Jordan Nicole Indermark (2 years)
August 24---Becky Chap
August 24---Maggie Zeppelin (1 year)
August 25---Jeff Aydelotte
August 26---Donna Richards
August 30---Jessica Ann Myron
August 30---Ethan Wallace Horne (3 years)
August 31---Devan Alexander Seaman (3 years)

More August Anniversaries
Z
August 9---Jeff and Twila Anderson Aydelotte (14 years)
August 15---Don and Dorothy Dake Anderson (55 years)
August 15---Russ and Diana Mellon Martin (29 years)
August 16---Eric and Leona Anderson (2 years)
August 28---Ken and Merna Morgan Hellevang (23 years)
August 30---LeRoy and Vonnie Dake (57 years)

More August Weddings
August 20---Shane Michael Swenson and Jayna Christine Lee
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