While we enjoy the many Fiestas we partake in during the winter months in Mexico, we truly enjoy the great USA holidays, especially the Fourth of July. We not only celebrate our nation's independence, it is an opportunity for special family reunions. Summers in the Dakotas and Minnesota are short, thus we have learned to squeeze lots of outdoor activities into a short period of time. Yes, July was a time for celebrations. Keep us informed by clicking on the email link Larry and Glorine. | ||
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| July began with a big Barnhardt reunion in Bismarck. These five women were the reason and the stars of the reunion. They are Diane from Bismarck; Lynne from Portland, OR; Jackie from Lincoln, NE; Lori from Bismarck; and Nancy from the Twin Cities. All five were born in 1961, which means they all turn 50 this year. Their moms and dads are Larry's five older siblings. | With such a unique reunion, it attracted over 40 cousins, nieces, nephews, uncles and aunts who came far and wide to help celebrate, get acquainted, reacquainted and caught up with each other. Joining Lynne is her daughter, Elizabeth and next to Diane is her brother James, both of Bismarck. Larry just loves these events--unfortuneatly they are few and far between. | |
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| On to Minnesota to spend more time with our daughter Denise and her family. Here is one of the gifts Clara got for her 5th birthday. | And what Clara gets, also belongs to little Chase. He thinks he is big enough to do anything his big sister can do. Looks like he has the basic idea down. | |
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| And not to be out done, Grandpa Larry got into Craig's kayak, but stayed close to the shoreline. We hear this is beginning to become a popular activity on Lake Chapala, Mexico. | The Fourth of July, means parades, picnics and lots of fireworks. As he did last year, Grandpa Larry got directions from Clara and Chase and designed and entered the pontoon into Prior Lake's parade, with the Space Shuttle theme. | |
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| In addition to boats, pontoons, and jet skis, this was the newest addition to the parade, lake surf boards. Unlike last year, we did not take place in the parade. | The City of Prior Lake puts on a spectacular fireworks display and had their fire engine spraying anyone who dared come close enough to get drenched. Many of the lake homes got into the spirit with giant flags and special firework displays of their own. | |
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| After the Fourth of July, Glorine flew to California to help out with the grandkids while Carmen was between nannies. One Sunday the whole family took Glorine to ride the Great Orange Balloon, which is part of the Great Park in Irvine. The balloon was tethered to the ground but rose nearly 400 feet in the air giving them a spectacular view of Irvine, California. | "Field Trip Thursday" Carmen and the girls came up with this idea to make summer more interesting. This trip was to the county fair and included a visit to an ice sculpture display--brrrr! They also took in the 4-H display, a few rides and ate fair food, like cheese dogs (without the dog) and an Australian potato which are deep fried potatoes soaked in a fish and chip batter and served with a variety of toppings such as Ranch dressing, cheese dip, and more. Hmmmm! | |
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| While Glorine was in California, Larry went on to the RV Rally in Redmond, Oregon and soaked up three days of RV info, including the evening entertainment. Here is Bobby Vinton, still wooing the audience at age 70. | In addition to seminars and an unbelievable exhibits with nearly anything one can hang in or on an RV, Larry snooped into some brand new RVs. This rig caught his attention because it was so aerodynamically designed yet had all the interior features one needed to live in. | |
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| Larry found this motor home to be the most unique RV he had ever seen. It comes with a built in patio that slides out to bring the outdoors right into the living space. For $800,000, Larry still prefers an old fashion picnic table. | In addition to RV stuff, the Rally brings together friends and acquaintances. Here Larry is with Jerry Shea who he met at a KOA campground in Bismarck last summer. Thanks to Jerry, we bought into an RV membership group that provides deep discounts on RV resorts throughout the USA, Mexico and Canada. When they saw each other at the Rally, Jerry and his wife Mary invited Larry over for great food and conversation. | |
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| After the Rally, Larry spent the night with Doug and Jean, friends we met in Ajijic last winter. Their home is in Crescent, about 50 miles south of Bend. They treated Larry to some great sightseeing near their home (here is Salt Creek falls--the second biggest falls in Oregon 60' wide and 286' tall). It was great catching up and seeing their "slice of heaven" they call home. | After being a part for nearly two weeks (the longest since we got married) Larry picked up Glorine at the Portland airport and we headed to the RV, now parked near Tillamook at an RV resort on the Oregon coast. Yes, we had a little catching up to do. Here Glorine is tending to the laundry while Larry is doing some RV maintenance. | |
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| Our cousin, Jim and his wife Dorothy, live five mile south of our campground. Claudia, Lou and Brian came over to visit and we had a chance to visit with them. | Jim has a boat at a marina near their home in Garabaldi and was kind enough to take us crabbing and deep sea fishing. While we got skunked at fishing, we trapped nearly 40 crabs. | |
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| Of the 40, only 16 were keepers, as they had to be male and a certain size. Jim taught Larry how to cook and clean them and get them ready for eating. | Here is the first of three meals we made of the ten crabs Jim gave us. Right from the shell into hot melted butter, mixed with a ting of garlic. Hmmm, were they good! | |
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| The Oregon Coast is truly special. Unlike other states, the entire coastline is publicly accessible. State parks dot the coastline with miles and miles of beachcombing and hiking trails. | We explored two of the eleven historic lighthouses that line Oregon coast. All have been decommissioned, but still are remarkable structures with interesting history of keeping "most" sea going crafts from crashing into the rocky shores. | |
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| Because the entire Oregon coastline is open to the public there are no gates, fences or private property that keep anyone out. Walking the beaches, beachcombing, and watching birds, seals and sea lions are great all over because of this accessibility. | Watching wind surfers, sailboats, and large commercial ships in the ocean were great scenes we enjoyed along our Pacific Coast, especially here in Oregon. | |
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| Making time for family. Larry's nephew, Steve, Elaine and his family drove up from Eugene to Claudia and Lou's home in Salem for an evening family get together. Steve moved to Oregon from Nebraska 15+ years ago and loves it. It was a fun evening playing with him and his kids. | Cole, in front, is one of Steve's four children, (all of whom have memories of Uncle Larry indelibly etched in their memories). Kyle is Steve's nephew who moved to Portland about a year ago for a job in "non-destructive testing" whatever that means. He loves his job as well as living here in Oregon. | |
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| Another wonderful day catching up with friends from Ajijic. Here we are with Donna and Alistair who live in Portland. They have rented their Portland home out for a year while they try out living full time in Ajijic. They are great cooks and treated us to a wonderful lunch. | We spent a couple of nights with Glorine's niece Vicki and her husband Mike, who works here at NIKE. We walked around some of the 17 buildings named after major sports figures on the 200 acre "campus" and took advantage the employee store, where we got deep discounts on NIKE apparel. | |
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| After a visit to the NIKE campus, we spent the afternoon at a Greek Festival that was going on in the neighborhood. After enjoying some ethnic food, we posed for this picture with Mike, Vickie and Emily. Another fun event on a beautiful sun filled day in Oregon. | In addition to great food, Greeks have unique music and dance. Glorine and Vickie joined these youngsters after one of their perfomances. It was fun watching them trying to keep up with their dance steps. | |
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| More relatives. Here is Glorine and Vickie with a long lost relative. He is Brady Bullinger and is the grandson of Glorine's sister, Sally. Brady recently graduated from the University of Oregon and lives a few miles from Vickie and Mike in West Portland. Nice visit. | Before leaving Portland for our campground, we stopped at Larry's nieces place in Vancouver, Washington. Lynne is one of the five nieces that was born in 1961. Above, she is pictured with her daughter Elizabeth and here with her husband Jim and their son Chris. | |
July's web page includes July 1 through July 31.
