The Gate...FINALLY!

After nearly 2 months and 2 different welding shops, the new gate is finally installed!! We had it custom made using 2 decorative panels (that are visible in the center) we bought at D&B Farm Supply for $20@. These would have cost over $100 each to have them made locally. Thanks China!! haha
And before anyone starts soapboxing about outsourcing all our jobs to China, we paid nearly $900 to a local CDA shop for this damn thing! Kenton could have hammered it out in less than a day for under $100 in materials, but he's in Tucson and we're in CDA :( He'll get lots of work on the AZ properties :)

Barb leaves Sunday for another 2 week stint in Alabama. I'll be in CDA until the 14th, then to Twin Falls for 5 days with mom and dad, then on in Tucson first part of October to oversee the delivery and install of the park model trailer we just bought for Kenton & Tina to live in.

19th Anniversary on Priest Lake

Had a great 2 days on Priest Lake at our friend's Don and Mary Shea's lake house. They took Barb and I out for a boat ride today. Priest Lake is absolutely gorgeous this time of year and the water is clear and looks just like the Caribbean! Their boat is on a rail system that winches it out of the garage and down a rail system right into the lake. Very cool! We took their German Shepard Schatz along for the ride. Mary baked a special birthday/anniversary cake for us...mmmm

Sunset Dinner Cruise & Wooden Boat Show

Bus friends Rick & Joni from Coos Bay Oregon stopped by for a 4 day visit so we took them on a sunset dinner cruise and a tour of the annual CDA Wooden Boat Show. The dinner cruise was fantastic and we got a closer look of Duane Hagadone's new house. His new sailboat was also at the boat show. 60' of glorious woods and it can be sailed by just one man (or woman) Barb said :P Monday we head up to Priest Lake for an overniter at our friends Don & Mary Shea's lake house to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary.

Seaplane Morning

Got up this morning and the rain had finally stopped :) Beautiful Sunday morning so we headed for our walk around the boardwalk. Noticed the Brooks Seaplanes sitting just waiting for a rider. I had planned on taking Barb up next week for our 19th anniversary, but the lake was smooth, the sun was shining, and the blue sky was awesome. So we jumped on board for a fantastic 30 minute trip around the lake! We even flew over the condo on the landing approach. Now we know why we love it up here in the summer!

ZZ TOP in Tucson

For my 50th birthday, Kenton and girlfriend Tina took me to the ZZ TOP concert at the local Indian Casino here in Tucson. Friends Jeff & Traci Skinner joined us. What can I say? I'm 4 days from 50 and I can guarantee you that Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill are OLDER than I am since I recall listening to their music when I was in high school...haha Actually, they did a great job and the concert was one of the few revival tours that I enjoyed :) THANKS kids for the ticket!!! I also admired the 3 PREVO buses that they travel in. I figured each one has his own private coach. What a way to travel!

CDA Patio Almost Done

Barb has been a busy girl while I was away. I think her hidden talent is as a landscape designer. She found the idea for the water can fountain in a magazine and has created a marvelous water feature for the back patio! The iron gate is also underway and should be installed in a few days.

Final Days in Twin Falls

Spent the past 3 weeks here in Twin Falls with my parents (Kevin's). Dad is undergoing an oral chemo treatment for his colon cancer but is doing remarkably well. Even good enough to do a quick flyover of the parade in Buhl. The flows at Shoshone Falls were running above average for this time of the year so it was nice to go down to the canyon and see them.

Heading to Tucson until Aug 4th then back to CDA. Barb has the back patio all done and I'm anxious to see it. Still working on the wrought iron gate...seems the fabricator is "busy", so Barb is headed down to his shop with her coveralls on to help him finish it. Wish Kenton was up here and it would be done by now.