Barry & Joyce's Adventures: July 31, 2019

June 27, 2019

As most of you know I have had problems in the past with my legs and have had both of them “rotor-routed” a couple of times. A couple of months ago I started having some pain in my left calf again so I asked my cardiologist to refer me to a vascular surgeon to get examined. On the 26th I had an appointment at Oregon Vascular in Bend.

They did an ultrasound of both my legs and technician told me that blood was flowing good on in my right leg but not so good on the left. In the afternoon I had another appointment to see Dr. Nelson who recommended I have angioplasty done on the leg.

During the procedure Dr. Nelson put in two stents in the leg just below the knee to make sure the artery stays open.

June 29, 2019

So far is going well after my leg was cleaned out. I did have some minor pain in my calf yesterday but that has now gone away. My surgical nurse called to check on me yesterday morning and told me that that is normal since the lower part of my leg hasn’t had that much blood flowing for some time. I’m not ready to run a marathon yet but I am feeling much better.

July 1, 2019

Today we will be saying goodbye to Jerry and Marilyn Howlett who we have been hosting with here at Smith Rock for ten years. We first them at our Initial Host Training in Salem back in 2008 and we became good friends. Adios treasured friends. Good luck with your new home building and safe travels always. We love y’all and hope to see you again sooner rather than later.

Yesterday we had Quentin and Carine Malrain from France visit Smith Rock. They are driving their modified 1948 Citroën 2CV from southern Peru all the way to Purdue Bay, Alaska and then all the way across Canada. Check them out here: http://ptiket2ride.free.fr and https://www.facebook.com/PtiKet2Ride

July 2, 2019

This morning we sadly said goodbye to our friends Jerry and Susan Wentzel. We met them several years ago have hosted with them here at Smith Rock for several years. We hope to see y’all again soon.

July 5, 2019

We had a relatively quiet 4th of July, just the way we like it here at Smith Rock. We did have a lot of visitors and campers but since it was hot a lot of folks stayed away.

July 27, 2019

Wow, I can’t believe how fast time has flown by.

We have stayed pretty busy here at the park. Even though it has been hot the last couple of weeks we are still experiencing a lot of visitors and campers.

On Tuesday we took our RV to Dale The Mobile Mechanic to have it serviced. Including all the parts, labor and fluids it cost us $1213. Hey, he did give us a $26 veteran discount.

Last evening Smith Rock hosted Hunter Noack, a classical pianist who grew up in Sunriver, OR. For the past few years Hunter has been traveling all over Oregon with his 1912 9 foot Steinway piano doing what he calls the “ In A Landscape" tour.

Hunter played several pieces from Beethoven and Chopin to some more modern classical works. One (that I can’t remember the name or composer that wrote it), was the highlight of the night for me. Before playing the song Hunter told a story of what he thinks about when he plays it. He imagines himself standing in a beautiful meadow and off in the distance there is a mill. He is drawn to the mill and the closer he gets the sound of a milling machine gets louder and louder. Then he sees a worker standing nearby who is gazing out the window and Hunter thinks he is day-dreaming about the beautiful sunshine. So, when Hunter plays the song he tries to emulate those feelings on the keyboard. I closed my eyes, listened closely and I could actually feel the machine getting louder and louder. Then Hunter is planing this beautiful melody representing the day-dreaming worker. Next, the music changes to represent the milling machine consuming the day-dream and then finishes with a soft ending. It was amazing.

The following pictures were taken by another photographer.

During the concert Hunter was joined by James Edmund Greeley, an American Indian with tribal ties to Hopi from the Mesa people of Arizona and Warm Springs-Wasco from the Columbia River people of Oregon. James played two songs, one on a small flute that was made by his mother and the another on a more traditional flute. The second tune morphed into “Amazing Grace”. That was the night’s highlight for Joyce.