Peace Man

Here's a better view, almost didn't want to eat it, you will be happy to know it was realy goooooood!!!!!!

Peace on Orange good will to all who view our foolishness.

Dairy Queen blizzard this ain't!

This is TightRope. She just appeared one day a couple of years ago, had 4 kittens, and decided to stay.
This is a dark picture of our first cat. Lady was given to Heather for Christmas by Lacey's dad, Dirk, and is
at least 15 years old. She stays in the untility room most of the time, except to eat.

Little Man, 9, in bed with his cookie.

Emmy,14 in Feb., guarding her cookie.

Richard with Minnie and Oscar. Minnie is about 10 and Oscar will be 15 in Feb. We had him before we got Lacey!

Looking out the back door towards the corner of Berglund, Idaho Blvd. and Petersburg.

Another view out the back towards Letha School, which, by the way, will have new tennents soon.

View out front window.
You all have a great New Year!!

Richard and Cathy

Deal Struck!!

Ollie is real worried about paying us for helping her move. Actually, we did very little, and took 2 or 3 items over to her new apt. which she hasn't moved into yet. It has been bugging the crap out of her to pay us for this help. She calls up (second call in two days) about 4 this afternoon, and wants to know if she can give us something for helping her move. And I said "No, family helping family, I didn't do this expecting to be paid." But you know Ollie, her mind was made up. So she said she had this blue recliner that needed a new cushion, and we could have that. Trying to put the old gal off, I told her I had to run it by Cathy for approval. Then she said " I also have this old suitcase full of vibrators". And the picture that went through my mind, you cannot imagine, or maybe you can, and I know you guys thought of the same thing. In the background, I can hear Cathy snorting and choking and trying to keep from laughing out loud. In the mean time, Ollie is still talking to me about this suitcase full of vibrators and how we can sit on one, put one behind your knees or even use one by hand. Now the picture is clearing up, bizarre thoughts strolling through my brain,and when I can finally talk without sputtering and tears running down my cheeks, Cathy hauls ass for the bedroom and shuts the door. I can hear her in there hooting and hollering, the dogs start barking, there's somebody knocking at the door, I'm about to pee my pants, and Ollie's still trying to tell me about these vibrators! Tell me we don't have fun around here!! So, deal is struck, and we are headed to town to pick up our new toys. Don't know if they are battery or plug in type. Guess it doesn't really matter. So any time you want to stop by, we will have good vibrations. Take a number, no charge.
Later
RB

Another one bites the dust!

We got this advertisement in the mail today. It tells us the usual holiday greetings and wishes, but then goes on, in a letter to us on the inside, that Tyler's Gem Pharmacy has sold out to Sav-On Albertsons!!!! Now, don't that just beat all? As of Dec. 20th, no more Tylers. Rob will go to work for Albertsons for a while, and so will his employees. I guess he couldn't deal with all the BS that goes with today's insurance and Medicare. Sure will miss him.

CB

pissed off your Mother

Yes I made your Mother mad, and no it was not hard to do. Her Dr. appointment is on the 9th in Boise. Cathy was going to take her. But she started running her mouth about Cathy trying to run her appointments and telling her what to do. She wanted an understanding that she was going to have it all her way. Well B.S. I will be damned if your Mother is going to Bad mouth Cathy in any way shape or form especially when Cathy goes out of her way to be nice to your Mother, and help out where she can, Cathy does not have to put up with any verbal abuse.The buck stops here. I told her to get her own damn ride and walked out. She can call 1-800-Dial a ride , for all I give shit. So the next time you talk to your Mother and she starts bitchin, this is what actually happened.
Later
RB

60 Big Ones

This sucks, a 20 year old mind and a 60 year old body, what the hell do you do now?? OH !! Thanks everone for the B day greeting's . And how do you spend your B day ? Why working on Clay's piece of shit car from 0900 t0 2300 that's Navy time for you land lubbers. But it's fixed and out the door, next. Got a call from Carla an Mitch they sang happy B day ,thanks. Didn't even have a beer, can you believe it? Got to take care of this old body, I think beer is just about history.I can still remember my 7th B day we lived in the old Bishop house and Nora B. Horn Grang Ma, one each. Gave me a Bow Tie , don't remember the color, for my B day. Damn ! ! ! What a let down. You would think Grand Mothers would be more sensitive to a young fellers dreams of becoming a Cowboy or rocket scientist, I think I shall seek counseling, beer does not help. Well so much for young Dreams now it's getting older memories and Hard fought experiences. Looking forward to the next 60, cause I'm going to live long die old and leave a butt ugly corpse.

later
RB

Toooooooo Muccccch Turkey

The girls of the day. Cathy, Ollie, your Mother, Lisa, Cathy's Mom Peggy.

It started out ok, you know just like any other turkey day. All the nice smells, mouth watering, hunger pains from skipping breakfast, so you would have room for two pieces of pumpkin pie with cool whip, you know what I mean all you old chow hounds. We had a honey soaked ham with our turkey and all the rest of the good stuff. That was the good part. As far as food goes. The rest of the day I'm still thinking about. Lisa brought Cathy's folks over from Mt. Home. So I thought I would be nice and send her off to town to get your mother and Ollie. I'm thinking it would be easier to get in the car than the truck. Boy was I wrong!!!! Your Mother BITCHED the whole way out from town, "WHY CANT RICHARD COME PICK US UP IN THE TRUCK IT'S EASIER FOR ME TO GIT IN", can't you just hear it. Makes your ears ring. Poor Lisa heard about her hair color, the dogs and anything else you can think of. And Ollie was sitting in the back seat just grinning from ear to ear. When we finished dinner, nobody was ready for dessert yet, but Mom had to be running things still, so she insisted we bring out the birthday cake she made for Ollie. (see photo above) It's supposed to be chocolate with chocolate frosting, with M & M's spelling out "Happy Birthday 83rd + 1 day. The candy melted, she spelled 83rd as "8Erd" and it tasted really bad. (make photo larger) Cool whip didn't even help. When she got ready to leave she offered to leave us some, but I declined graciously and suggested she give it to ladies at the apt, building. Anyway, Ollie got a kick out of the deal cause she didn't have any idea she was going to get special recognition and sang to. It was kinda cool putting her on the spot. Tomorrow we get to start the move. And your mother promised to stay home!! Like that will ever happen. All in all, it was a nice day. Hope yours was too.

Later

RB

Turkey Day's A Coming!!

Just a note to tell everyone we hope your Thanksgiving is safe and delicious. We will have 9 total here. Us, Lisa, Virginia, Ollie, and my mom and dad.

Richard is going to try to get my dad to narrate a DVD I had made last year. It is from film he took in 1962 in Pakistan. He was TDY there for a year. If we can get his narration taped, the guy who made the DVD will add the voice over. We have to do it this way so dad doesn't get nervous. I would like to get this before anything happens to him. I have a vest, veil, pants, shirt and he has a lot of stuff too. A camel saddle, dungees (religious thingies).

Then, after turkey day, Rich and I will help Ollie get packed. She is moving into the apartment building where Virginia lives. Her apartment is #214 in the other wing of the building. She gets her key tomorrow and we can start moving stuff in on Friday. Ollie is still in shock, and a little apprehensive, but she needs to be in before the 1st so as to not have to pay lot rent on the old place. We promised her it would be a lotta fun. (the moving part).

Got this little poem from my AARP sponsor. Thought it was cute so am passing it on.

"SPECIAL POEM FOR SENIOR CITIZENS!!

A row of bottles on my shelf,
Caused me to analyze myself.
One yellow pill I have to pop,
Goes to my heart so it won't stop.
A little white one that I take,
Goes to my hands so they won't shake.
The blue ones that I use a lot,
Tell me I'm happy when I'm not.
The purple pill goes to my brain,
And tells me that I have no pain.
The capsules tell me not to sneeze,
Or cough or choke or even sneeze.
The red ones, smallest of them all,
Go to my blood so I won't fall.
The orange ones, very big and bright,
Prevent my leg cramps in the night.
Such an array of brilliant pills,
Helping to cure all kinds of ills.
But what I'd really like to know....
Is what tells each one where to go!

There is always a lot to be thankful for if you take the time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt."

River Trek-- You can start at the top this time.

First stop on river trip, had to dry out. Water's temp 47, we were almost as blue as the boats.

Dry those t-shirts people , fine day on the river, nice and warm ready to go again.

Come on you pusseys !!! You can't back out now, so what if the worst is still to come. It's only water, no soap in it.

Start of nature hike to water falls in cave, cut stone steps and rope ladders !! OH MY!!!

All that water coming out of that hole in the rock, wonder where it all comes from.

Kind of dark for pictures, but it looks a lot better in person.

Looking staight up from water falls. Nice rock.

Looks like a dead end , but keep going , to the left and around the corner is the water falls. I took this on the way out.

Coming back out and down those nasty rope ladders and stone steps. Look out for that lizzard!!!

Just sit down and slide.

Stop pushing you're almost next, Ican see the river, we're saved, get your hand off my lunch.

Just more rocks. If you missed these , don't worry there's more.

Lunch stop and loose sand , screw it, lets eat here. Ican't get no satistraction. How about those purple legs? Does that tell you how cold we were?

This be boat and Frank, mighty Walapai's Indian river guide and boat driver, tourist sitter, chef and buddy.

Front of boat!! When we started, that piece of plyboard wasn't there, so the water just came up and over the front and into our faces, mouths, noses,you name it. We got no pics of the rapids cuz we were the last boat through, and we were too busy hanging on. The other boats got good ones of us, but they didn't share.

Same lunch stop, I made it up the hill, loose sand sucks, going down was a snap.

We could of had lunch in the shade and the mind was willing but the bod wasn't. And dragging a fat gal up the hill was out of the question. There's always next year.

On the river again. This last twenty miles is flat and no more rapids. The start of Lake Mead.


Looking up at more big rocks.

Separation Canyon. All you history buffs should know the story. This canyon goes into Utah.

You'll have to read up on the details.

Looking up again. Man, there's a lot of rocks down here.

Speed it up boss, we're heading home!!

These three peaks are part of the Walapai' spiritual history. The peak on the left is Coyote, middle is Bear, and the right one is Lion. Learned about these at the Dude Ranch where we sat at the campfire and listened to Michael Jackson.

Closer view of the Spirit Guides.

The boats in front of us.

This group of boaters where out for 3 weeks, we dropped off some supplies for them. Everyone has to have a permit from the tribe to even be on the river. There is an 8 to 10 YEAR waiting list. That is what the man said. The guides bring down what is needed, ice, food, etc. All of that for a small fee of course. Oh yeah, plus gratuities. That statement was behind every paragraph of literature.

Part of our group. The next day, they were going to rent Harleys from Las Vegas and ride on another tour. They were from Pittsburg.

This photo doesn't show how really beautiful this landscape is. The colors are indescribable and the size is in comparable. How do you like them big words?

Coming to the end. Ain't you glad?

Here's Hank! Or Frank. Take your pick. The young lady is from Ireland, works at a radio station in London.

Richard's new hat. I was smart and hid it when the guide said we could lose them in the rapids. Guess who didn't listen. Red hat on its' way to Mexico by way of Lake Mead. Sure hope the catfish don't fight over it.

Irsh lady and London man. This pretty lady put on makeup before we left. The river quickly took it off. She had freckles that weren't there before! And black streaks down her cheeks. Great sense of humor about it all though.

Coming into Helicopter pick up zone.

Up Up and Away! Damn I hate the back seat. I'm scared of heights and so they stick me by the window!

Point and Shoot! Short ride and tight quarters. Pilot and 2 in front, 4 in back.

Coming over the Rim!

Look out below! Lord help me. Damn that's a long way down!

Still Flying. Looking for solid ground.

Eureka! Safety is in sight! Where's the out house?

Next stop, the Walapai' River Ranch for the "Tranquility Experience."

Next moring at the ranch. Breakfast for the crew. Ah, the smell of fresh horse apples. Like we never smelt that before! Just like home. Except the flies are bigger!

Just waiting for some one to PAY for a ride.

Just one of the guests at the Dance Hall. This is Clyde. Food was great, and lots of it. The first night, we were almost too tired to eat, but it smelled so good! BBQ, corn, beans, cold milk. And chocolate cookies. All this after we had a hot shower and clean clothes. No radio, tv, phones, newspapers, just pure tranquility. It was wonderful. Especially after the raft trip. We weren't sure if we would make it to dinner, it was a job to get off the bed to go eat.

There's Clyde's buddy Cecil. Live music on Friday and Saturday night. Of course we were there on a Tuesday nite. We got to listen to the crew.

The Crew! Most evenings, there is an old fashioned gun fight at the OK corral. Every one of the men came over and spoke to Rich. They found out we weren't "dudes" and they could relax. Had some interesting conversations.

Dance hall junk.

You guessed it, more stuff.

Time to go to work.

Medicine Man Wa-ka-liva. He drew his name in Walapai' on a rock. Skyline of peaks and mesas. His name means "Broken Sky." You have to see the drawing, it was done in Sharpie Marker on a rock. It really is a treasure.

Two dummies trying to bit a horse that didn't want to cooperate. He ends up standing on a bucket. The headstall was already on the horse, bit attached on one side. This operation concluded with us rolling in the dirt laughing our butts off. 45 minutes later...success. What a cowboy.

Another sign said "Free Beer! (tomorrow)"

Sheriff Bob. Right after breakfast. The whole crew were the sheriff. No one wanted to be a deputy.

Meet Michael Jackson, this is he, all his buddys call him "the gloved one". He was our campfire story teller. Well, that's it boys and girls. The trip is over, it's back to "lost wages" and the flight home. Stay tuned for the next adventure, like next summer there is a Hells Canyon jet boat trip being planned, if you want to go, just let us know, and send money.