Finally, a New Bike

Well, not so new (2001), but new to me.

Many of you know that I drag raced motorcycles several years ago. I sold my dragbike and got out of the sport after I ran out of money about 10 years ago.

I don’t plan to race again, but I have purchased a new bike. The distance of my commute, the fuel economy of my pickup, and the price of gasoline, have all combined to push me to this decision.

Kawasaki ZRX1200RMy new bike is a 2001 Kawasaki ZRX1200R. It’s classified as a “Naked” bike which is sort of a sport tour bike. It’s got more of a sit-up riding position than an all out sport bike, so it is a little more comfortable for the commute. At the same time, in it’s stock condition, it is probably just about as fast as my old dragbike was, but I don’t feel the need to find out.

Another Nice Visit

We enjoyed the pleasure of a visit, this past weekend, from Uncle Art and Aunt Ruth.

Art was in the Yakima Valley for his high school class reunion in Grandview. He brought his sister, Ruth, to our house to visit while he attended the activities in Grandview. Following those activities, Art returned to our home and spent the night, Saturday.

We had an enjoyable time – visited and played table games.

I enjoyed hearing about some of the early years of my Grandfather. The conversations reinforced my belief that I have a very strong heritage and that I owe much of my successes to the groundwork that was laid out by my forefathers.

I thank God every day for my great Christian heritage.

A Visit from Long-Time Family Friends

We had the pleasure, yesterday, of visiting with Harold and Karen. Harold taught school at Kirkwood with dad early in their careers for a few years until they moved to Edmonds.

During the time they lived in Toppenish, they all attended church together and shared many activities. Ted and I were both born during that time period. Harold and Karen’s first child, Debbie, was born very nearly the same time as Ted.

After they had moved to Edmonds, I remember visiting them at their home several times. Their son, David, was a year or so younger than me. I always enjoyed going to their house to play with David.

While Harold and Karen were here yesterday, we spent most of our time just visiting and reminiscing. I had a great time listening to them and my folks share the highlights of their times together.

Later in the evening, we went to the Yakama Indian Nation’s Heritage Cultural Center to walk the trail around the neighboring RV Park. That include much more visiting and reminiscing. After that, we sat around the table to play the “Sequence” board game.

We all had a very pleasant time.

Kart Racing

The race season is well under way, now. Austin has competed in two of the first four races. In the races he competed in, he came in third place in both of them.

Kart GridThere will be a total of nine races throughout the year. They accumulate points for their finishing position in each of the races and then throw out the two lowest race day points totals for each driver. Since Austin missed two races, those will be the two that are discarded. We have to do very well for the rest of the season.

Austin is in the blue #27 kart. In this particular race he was starting from the pole position, meaning that he was the fastest qualifier for the race.

The kart he is racing is the same chassis that he has had for the past two seasons. We added the blue, new style bodywork for this season. He has a new 4-cycle engine, rather than the old kt100 Yamaha 2-cycle that we have been racing for several years. The 2-cycle class fell victim to severe attrition at our track. We felt that the best decision for us would be to join a class that has more and stronger competition.

All of our races are at the Tri-Cities race track. Here’s the schedule:

  • July 1
  • July 21 – Saturday Night Race
  • August 19
  • September 16
  • October 14

Welcome to the Real World

Alyssa graduating from NNUIn early May, we trekked to the Boise, ID area (Nampa to be exact) to attend my oldest Daughter’s graduation. She has been a nursing student at Northwest Nazarene University for the past 4 years. It has been a great experience for her. She has grown mentally, socially, and spiritually.

She has elected to remain in Nampa and has rented a house with four other girls who are friends of hers from the University. This past Monday, she began working as a registered nurse in the ortho-neuro department at St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise.

We are extremely proud of Alyssa and her accomplishments. She has grown into a very fine and beautiful young woman. I’m sure that God has great things in store for her in years to come.

Apartment Fire

Apt-Fire-1Apt-Fire-3Early last Sunday morning, the apartment complex at the end of the block from Mom and Dad’s house burned down. The building was a total loss. Two people were killed in the fire which has been investigated by the ATF and determined to be caused by an arsonist. They have a suspect in custody.

Apt-Fire-2I took these pictures on Monday after the ATF arrived and began investigating the cause of the fire. While taking the photographs, I was asked by a security guard to be sure that I don’t photograph the faces of any of the ATF officers.

Editors Notes of 6/20/07 – Today, less than two weeks later, the structure has been completely removed and all that is left is a smooth patch of dirt.

We’re Moving

We sold our house in March and are now living back in Toppenish with my parents. We have purchased an acre of property in East Valley and will be building a home. Here’s what we’re building. I’ve added a picture of the view from our property.

View of Gap from Norman RdThis is the view from where the back of our house will be. The gap in the hillside is the one you go through to get from Yakima to the Lower Valley. Our property borders an orchard to our west and a canal to our south. There are only a few homes on the adjacent properties, so we aren’t completely isolated, but it should be relatively quiet in the neighborhood.

First Post

Gotta start somewhere. This may get interesting sometime, but right now you just have to bear with me.

My first few posts are coming soon. They will contain pictures and descriptions of events that have already happened. It will take me awhile to catch up with everything that I’ve wanted to post since I first got the idea of putting this all in a blog.

My wife read the “about” page and hated it. She said, “So, it’s all about you.” And I said, “Yep.” Hey, I can’t even figure out what’s in my own head. What would make me think I could figure out anyone else’s